Resolve vs Passion = Not Destined to be Thin Anytime Soon – Banana-Blueberry-Swirl Muffins

  New Jersey’s Finest from the Summit Farmer’s Market on Sunday

Every day I awake with renewed resolve to get back onto my healthy-eating regimen –  the one where I eliminate sugar and grain from my diet…………  And then, as my big cup of coffee begins to take affect, my mind starts working.  Some days I can direct myself off of the baking thing and focus on great savory dishes – (see below) sans anything “bad”.  Some days, well that just doesn’t work.  Like today…….  Oh well, so that was lunch!

Well, you know me, I tend to get into mischief in the kitchen and honestly,  when I do stay away from the oven, my life seems to be lacking.  Over the past week or so I made a chocolate cake, a peach pie and today I got to thinking about those perfectly-ripe-for-baking bananas which were hanging around in my fruit bowl.   And so, I took off to work.

I spent some time thinking about summer fruits and bananas and, well, I settled on the blueberries – because they do combine well with the bananas, now don’t they.

Here is the recipe I wound up with:

Banana-Blueberry-Swirl Muffins – adapted from Amy Bites

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup vanilla sugar or brown sugar

2 eggs room temp

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup creme fraiche

1 1/2 pints fresh blueberries

3-4 very ripe bananas

a generous squeeze of lemon juice

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp

• Preheat oven to 375F.   Line 2 cupcake pans with 18 paper liners, set aside

• In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 pint of the blueberries with the lemon juice until they soften.  Mash with a potato masher and cook until they form a thick syrup – 5-10 minutes.  Strain through a sieve and set aside to cool.
• Mash the bananas with a fork until softened, but leaving some texture

• In a medium bowl, whisk together, flours, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda.  Set aside.

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and add sugars and beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.  Scrape down sides of bowl.  Add the eggs and vanilla and blend completely.
• With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients alternating with the creme fraiche and bananas, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (1/3 dry, 1/2 bananas/creme fraiche, 1/3 dry, 1/2 bananas and creme fraiche, 1/3 dry)
• Mix just until flour disappears; remove bowl from mixture and fold in the remaining 1 pint blueberries.
• In a cupcake pan, divide batter to make 18 muffins.  Spoon a scant teaspoonful of the blueberry syrup onto the top of each muffin and swirl into the batter with a thin knife.
• Sprinkle turbinado sugar over each and bake for about 20 minutes or until tops spring back when touched gently.
• Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Remove to cooling rack.  Serve with sweet cream butter.

please note:  today when I made these I used only 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour; while they baked up well, when they came out of the oven and cooled a bit, they became a little too moist and dense for me – I like a little better structure and crumb formation – and so I added the 1/4 cup of whole wheat pastry flour to the recipe; feel free to play around with this flour amount and selection; they tasted great as they were but next time I am going to go for the better crumb.

 

  you can see that when this cooled, it became extremely moist and dense – It tasted great but I’d like a slightly drier muffin crumb.

 

Should have stayed on this recipe while I had the chance; tomorrow’s another day – such an occupational hazard!

SUZANNE GOIN’S GRILLED HALIBUT å la NIÇOISE WITH HARICOTS VERTS, OLIVES, CHERRY TOMATOES AND ANCHOVY BUTTER – courtesy Sunday Suppers at Lucques

6 halibut fillets, 5-6 oz each

2 lemons

2 tblsp plus 1 tsp thyme leaves

1/4 cup sliced flat-leaf parsley

3/4 pound tiny fingerlings or other small potatoes

1/4 cup plus 3 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

1/3 lb haricots verts, stems removed, tails left on

3 extra large eggs

6 oz baby spinach, cleaned and dried

1/2 cup pitted Niçoise olives

1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots

6 tblsp unsalted butter

1 tsp minced anchovy

1 cup small cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 tblsp sliced basil, green and opal if possible

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Season halibut with the zest of one lemon, 1 tblsp thyme and 2 tblsp parsley.  Cover, and refrigerate at least 4 hours
• Preheat oven to 400F
• Toss the potatoes with 2 tblsp olive oil, 1 tsp thyme and 1 tsp salt.  Place the potatoes in a roasting pan, cover with foil, and cook 30-40 minutes, until they are tender when pierced.  (depending on their size, age and variety, cooking time will vary)
• Light the grill 30-40 minutes ahead of time (for charcoal).  Take the halibut out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before cooking it, so it comes to room temp.
• Blanch the haricot verts in heavily salted water 2-3 minutes, until they’re tender but still al dente.  Remove to a baking sheet or platter to cool.  Bring the water back up to a boil, and carefully lower the eggs into the water.  Turn the heat down to a very low simmer, and cook the eggs exactly 9 minutes.  Remove the eggs to a bowl of ice water to cool completely.  Peel the eggs, and cut them in half.  Season with salt and pepper.
• Place the spinach and olives in a large salad bowl.
• Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 1 minute.  Pour in 1/4 cup of olive oil, and add the sliced shallots and remaining tblsp thyme to the pan.  Cook 1 minute, until the shallots are just wilted.  Add the haricots verts and the potatoes, and seeason with 1/2 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper.
• When the vegetables are hot, toss them into the bowl of spinach and olives.  Season with another 1/2 tsp salt, pepper and a generous squeeze of lemon juice.  Toss well to dress the spinach and wilt it slightly.  Taste for seasoning.  Arrange the salad on a large platter.  Tuck the eggs among the spinach leaves.
• Meanwhile, when the coals are broken down, red and glowing, (or your gas grill is heated), brush the halibut with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place the fish on the grill and cook 2 minutes.  Give the fish a quarter turn, and cook a minute or 2 more.  Turn over, and cook until it’s just barely cooked through; peek inside to check for doneness.  When it’s done, the halibut will begin to flake and separate a little, and the center will still be slightly translucent.  Remember, the fish will continue to cook a little more once you take it off the grill.  Arrange fish on top of the salad.
• Return the vegetable pan to the stove, and heat over medium-high heat.  Add the butter, and cook a few minutes, until it starts to brown and smells nutty.  Add the anchovy, cherry tomatoes, 3/4 tsp salt and a few grindings of black pepper.  Cook for 30 seconds, shaking the pan often, until the tomatoes release some of their juice.  Squeeze some lemon juice into the butter, and taste for balance and seasoning.  Stir in the basil and remaining 2 tblsp parsley.  Spoon the sauce over the fish and around the salad and serve.

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From the yard today:

Enjoy this Summer weather while it lasts – it is HOT but it’s really not humid – great beach weather!   Humidity is only 46%!

Please send me your organic cures for japanese beetles – they are all over my Roses!