baked kisses

My affection for Mark Bittman is no secret, and I recently tried a banana bread recipe from his Diner's Journal column in the NYT.

The bread was a bit drier than I normally like it, but the exterior crust was so golden, crunchy and delicious, it's really the perfect bread for toasting and smearing with butter.  Also, the recipe only calls for 3/4 cup sugar, so this will not be the sweetest banana bread you've ever tried.  Just to compare to other banana bread recipes, I did a little research and found one that calls for 2 1/3 cups sugar! Holy hell, that's a lot. But the recipe is from Boston's own Flour Bakery, so I'm sure this would make a decadent treat.  I brought the finished loaf to a BBQ.

Even though Mark says that this is meant to be a bread not a cake, the next time I make it I'm going to add more banana or possibly a little vegetable oil or buttermilk to add some more moisture. The coconut adds a really nice "what's that?" flavor, and I'm looking forward to using this secret ingredient in other baked goods.

The recipe can be found here.

cooking for one - corporate apartment style

One of the biggest challenges of living in a corporate apartment for three months is not having your own stuff.  And when you enjoy cooking and baking as I do, you come to appreciate all of the small things in your home kitchen that you take for granted.  My collection of spices, my Le Creuset pot, a baking sheet (I had to buy one my first week just to roast vegetables), measuring spoons, whisks.... you get the idea.  Tonight I drew inspiration from chef and food editor Mark Bittman and made a terrific meal that was about as close to one-pot cooking as it gets.  My sister introduced me to Marks book Food Matters several weeks ago, and in addition to the eye-opening and also disturbing details about our planet's current agricultural and environmental conundrum, he provides a series of really delicious, easy recipes that I've been eager to try.  His Orchiette with Broccoli Rabe took 30 minutes on the dot to prepare, and was a delight.  I was lucky to find fennel seed and red pepper flakes in bulk at Whole Foods, where I also had dozens of fresh sausage varieties to choose from.  I am going to definitely keep this one in my back pocket - would be great for a big dinner party or even a date.