Brittany's Pantry
I often struggle to come up with the correct words to make you understand just how good a recipe is. Granted, ALL of the recipes I post here are good or I would not actually pass them along to you. That is the whole point of this, right? I test and search out different recipes and I share the best ones with you. That is how this relationship works.
But are you really making these? I wonder sometimes. Should I have been more insistent about just how fantastic the Sweet Potato Biscuits are, especially with apple butter smeared on them while still warm from the oven? Was I successful in describing the ease at which Simple Soup goes together, making it the ideal fall/winter weeknight meal for one person or ten? Yes, it is silly to lay awake at night thinking about these things, but it is true! I mention it now because I came across a recipe this week that I have made many, many, times before, but not for at least a year. It was one of those moments where my eyes light up and I get all excited and say, “Oh, yeah! I forgot about this bread! I haven’t made this in ages!” And then I make it and I can’t be-lieve that I have been without it for so long. I have no idea where I got the recipe, but I always follow it exactly. No tweaking necessary.
There are a few things that make this bread irresistible. While I like food that contains chocolate, many times you have to melt it separately and then add it to the baked good or dessert. True, this isn’t the end of the world. But depending on the food, and in this case banana bread (something that shouldn’t take you all day to make) I didn’t want to mess with the extra step. This version uses cocoa powder; way better for you, faster, and simpler to do. Also, instead of a chocolate bread with bananas in it, this is a full on banana bread with super banana flavor-AND a chocolate bread. It has all the moist sweetness that makes banana bread addictive, but it is actually fudgy with chocolate. Not healthy by any stretch of the imagination, but it could be worse, right?
So have I convinced you to make this? Was my description enticing enough to make your mouth water with anticipation? Just trust me. Make this. Make it. Make it make it make it make it make it!
One Year Ago: Simple Soup
Double Chocolate Banana Bread
As with most quick breads, these freeze great. Make sure your bananas have speckled skins for the best flavor.
In the bowl of an electric mixer add:
1 c sugar
3 bananas
1/3 c canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Mix to break up the bananas and combine all ingredients. Add:
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c cocoa powder, sifted to break up the clumps
Mix just until combined and fold in:
1 c chocolate chips
Bake in a large, sprayed loaf pan at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted into the center (try to avoid a chocolate chip!) comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes and then turn out to cool completely on a rack. This can be made in smaller loaf pans or even muffins tins, just adjust the baking time accordingly.
Baja Fish Tacos
Brittany wrote this on 20 September 2011
avocado, fish, gluten-free, lime, seafood, sour cream, tilapia
I confess. If you had asked me, oh say, ten or twelve years ago, if I liked fish tacos, my answer would have been a very firm “No.” The fact that I had never had a fish taco at that time would have been irrelevant. I am from Minnesota you see, and we do not generally cover our fish with a lot of fixings and flavor cover-uppers. The fresh taste of walleye straight out of the lake and fried up that same day cannot be beat. Period. I am, as I have said before, my Father’s daughter. The thought of drizzling it with sauce and lettuce and cheese just made me shudder. In fact, it kind of still does. I had no clue that the quintessentially traditional fish taco is actually made with Wahoo or Mahi Mahi. Not exactly the daily catch in our 10,000 plus lakes.
When I moved to San Diego, everything changed. They were everywhere! I couldn’t get away from them! Between the street vendors, fish taco restaurant chains, and seeing them tacked onto every menu of every other restaurant like some kind of west coast requirement, I figured I better try one. I mean how sad would it have been to move back to the Midwest and say I never had a fish taco?! Sad.
So one day, standing at the end of a pier and staring out at the Pacific, (Oh! How I miss the Pacific!) my grumbling stomach deemed it necessary to purchase a fish taco from the weather beaten shack that was sharing my space at the end of said pier, looking like it would disintegrate into the ocean any moment. Technically it was a lobster taco and not a fish taco, but it was made the same way, with simple spices and a light topping of some kind of zesty sauce-thankfully, used sparingly- shredded cabbage and a bit of cheese. And it was sooo gooood. Nothing like I though it would be. It was so fresh and so light and so absolutely scrumptious, I decided then and there, as the seagulls threatened to dive bomb me in the hopes of getting a bite, that this was in no way breaking the sanctity of fresh fried lake fish. Instead, it was entirely different, hardly related, and perfectly safe to obsess over.
Fast forward a dozen years or so and I find this recipe for tilapia fish tacos in a Cooking Light magazine. So I try them, beating my family off with a spatula because they tried the fish right out of the pan and then ate so much we couldn’t actually have them for dinner that night. The fish is so good, it is like slap-your-thigh-roll-your-eyes-to-the-heavens kind of good. With my pregnancy making my stomach extremely unpredictable these days, I was just waiting for the right time to make them again. Yesterday, when I went to the store to get milk, I walked past the most beautiful Tilapia fillets I had ever seen. I didn’t even pause but turned to my 2 year old and said, “I MUST make fish tacos tonight!” And so I did. I discovered a few things along the way. Leftovers, something we didn’t have the last few times I made these, are fantastic. Cold from the fridge makes this fish great for lunch at work the next day, so make a few extra fillets. Second, a little acid takes the flavor of these tacos from fantastic to over the moon great! Don’t forget a squeeze of lemon or lime. Trust me on this one. The fact that these can be made in a matter of minutes makes them a great weeknight meal. The Pacific in the background is completely optional.
Beautiful tilapia fillets, seasoned and ready to go!
One Year Ago: Pork Roast W/Mustard & Peach Glaze
Baja Fish Tacos
Adapted from Cooking Light
As I mentioned above, these tacos are even better with some kind of acid. If you add a splash or two of lime juice (bottled is just fine) to a large scoop of sour cream and stir until smooth, you have the perfect accompaniment. A finely minced jalapeno in there is great too! It cools the spice just a bit and cuts through the richness of the fish. It really makes a difference! If you aren’t a sour cream person, a squeeze of lemon or lime over the fish just before you eat it will also do the trick!
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4-8 tilapia fillets
Mix all the dry ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle the fish fillets evenly on both sides. Saute in a bit of olive oil over medium heat until JUST done. Three to four minutes on the first side and only about 2 minutes on the second side. Serve in small corn or flour tortillas with avocado, tomatoes and finely shredded cabbage if you have it. Don’t forget the lime sour cream too!
Roast Broccoli: A Nutritional Powerhouse
Brittany wrote this on 17 September 2011 broccoli, gluten-free, parmesan cheese, vegetarian
I am going to be honest here. All that stuff about people not liking broccoli and kids shrinking away from it in horror-I pretty much think that is all a load of bunk.
Most children I know love the stuff. Most adults I know do too. But how are you preparing it? Raw with dip? Steamed? In a stir fry? Did you know you can roast it? Did you know that roasting it gives it an entirely different flavor that is so unexpectedly wonderful that it just may convert the handful of you out there that do not like broccoli? Oh yes. It is that good. Of course the fact that it contains uber amounts of anti-cancer phyto-chemicals called glucosinolates (as does cabbage and cauliflower), potassium, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and iron, make this a vegetable that needs to be added to your weekly menu. Your health depends on it!!
So I will make this easy for you! Literally! It takes just a few minutes to throw this together and you can add it to the oven of whatever you might already be making for dinner. It is quick and a nice change of pace. Dusted with Parmesan cheese and you have yourself a beautiful side dish that is great pretty much year round, but would be a fantastic addition to a holiday table this year.
One Year Ago: Tator-Tot Hotdish
Roast Broccoli
Broccoli
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan
Rinse and trim the broccoli into bite sized florets. Shake dry. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat all of the broccoli. Spread the vegetables evenly out again and roast in a 400 degree oven until bright green and crisp tender. They will be lightly browned and fragrant when done, about 15 minutes, depending on the size of your florets. Carefully spoon the broccoli onto a bowl and toss with Parmesan cheese.
Love a Good Recipe?
Then you’ve come to the right place! I’m Brittany, and I share tested, trusted recipes you’ll love. I prepare & photograph food, obsess over the perfect recipe, and enjoy grins of delight when I serve up something awesome. Enjoy!
