Lisaopolis.comLisa’s Adventures in the Kitchen

The last couple of weeks I had been having a major craving for brownies. Lately it has been pretty warm outside so I have been avoiding using the oven. However today was a much cooler day, so I decided to take the plunge and make the brownies.

I wanted to make a new kind of brownie, like none that I had had before. I had an idea to make banana brownies and searched online for a recipe. I found a recipe that seemed like it would be quite yummy, but there were a lot of things I didn’t like about it. In the end the recipe served more as an inspiration for my brownies then anything else.

I combined many of my favorite ingredients to make what is now my newest favorite brownie. Kahlua, two varieties of chocolate chips. Coco powder, pure vanilla extract, and of course bananas are some of the ingredients that made these brownies into something amazing.

My brownies were too die for! The mint chocolate chips, Kahula, and banana created a symphony of flavor in every bite! I ate my brownies warm (after only cooling for about 10 minutes), and plain with no ice cream or frozen yogurt. There was really no need for anything like ice cream to enjoy these brownies to their fullest. However I am sure they would be very yummy with some vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream!

Here is my recipe

Banana Brownies  (inspired by Easy Banana Brownies)

¾ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 heaped tbsp coco powder
1/3 cup mint chocolate chips
1 tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 large eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar (not packed)
¼ cup salted butter (melted)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp Kahula
¼ cup skim milk
2-3 bananas mashed or pureed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl combine the flours, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add the coco powder and stir to combine. Stir in all chocolate chips. In a blender, add the melted better, and mashed banana, vanilla, Kahula  and eggs, milk and brown sugar. Puree. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until a thick batter is formed. Pour into a 9X30 pan (or desired size). Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm.

I was recently thinking to myself “its been ages since I have made any bread”. It’s true I don’t know how it happened but somehow I totally went off of bread making. I love making bread, so I am thinking it was probably work that got me off of my bread making spree. Needless to say I am back on the bread baking bandwagon.

This morning I made two loaves of Focaccia bread. Focaccia bread is one of my long lost loves. Years ago when we use to have a bread maker I made this type of bread ALL the time. It really was one of my favorites. However after our bread maker broke I hardly ever ate focaccia bread let alone made it.

This morning I was paging through my favorite vegetarian cook book when I came across a recipe for focaccia bread. I decided today was the day to make it.

Onion Focaccia Bread (adapted from Vegetarian – edited by Valerie Ferguson)

Onion Focaccia
(makes two loaves)

6 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp white sugar
1 tbsp quick rise dried yeast
4 tbsp olive oil (plus extra to drizzle on top)
2 cups lukewarm skim milk
2 tbsp dehydrated minced onion
2 tbsp dried parsley
red onions (diced)
green onions (diced)
Chives (diced)
Grated low fat marble cheese

Preheat oven to 170 degrees F (or your lowest oven temperature). Once the oven reaches this temperature turn the oven off. In a large stainless steel bowl add: the flour, sugar, salt. Mix well. Add the yeast and mix thoroughly. Add 4 tbsp oil and the lukewarm milk and knead the for 10 minutes. Cover with plastic warp sprayed in olive oil. Let rise in oven for 30 minutes or until double in size. Remove from oven. Divide dough in half. On two pizza pans roll out each ball of dough until it is flat and pizza shaped. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed in olive oil. Let rise in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle desired amount of grated cheese over each bread. Sprinkle on onions, and chives. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over breads. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes.
Serve warm with a favorite soup, salad or pasta.

I love cheesecake. Since we’ve had a lot of cherries in the house recently and some of them were getting a little to soft to eat plain, we decided to make a cheese cake with them (my mom and I). We are both huge fans of cheese cake so, making the cake was a easy decision to make.  I made the cherry pie filling from scratch (to use up the cherries) while my mom worked on the crust and filling. The result: a to die for cheese cake. It was not too sweet, or rich. It was everything a cheesecake should be soft and creamy, sweet, (from the cheery pie filling) with a mildly crunch vanilla wafer crumb crust.

If you are a cheese cake lover you need to make this cake stat! It’s perfect for hot summer days since its served chilled.

Here is the recipe

Cherry Cheese Cake

Cherry Pie Filling (adapted from about.com)
6 cups cherries pits and stems removed
4 tbsp corn starch
1 ½ cups white sugar

Add cherries corn starch and sugar to a large pot. Mix well. On medium heat stir the mixture constantly for 15-20 minutes or until a thick cherry pie filling forms.

Cream Cheese Filling (adapted from Philadelphia cream cheese box)
2 boxes light cream cheese
½ cup sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs

In a large bowl add the: cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs. Beat until smooth.

Vanilla Wafer Crust (adapted from Philadelphia cream cheese box)

1 ½ cups vanilla wafer crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup margarine (melted)

Combine, crumbs, sugar, and melted margarine in a bowl. Mix well. Press into pan )11X7 or desired size). Bake at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes. Cool.

Bake the assembled cheesecake at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until the centre is almost set. Cool. Top with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight before serving. Enjoy.

If you haven’t guessed by now, muffins are one of my favorite breakfast foods. I love making new varieties and putting new twists on old favorites. This morning I decided to give a new favorite a new twist. Since by berry oatmeal muffins turned out so well, I decided to try making another variety of oatmeal muffins. I turned my typical banana chocolate chip muffin into a yummy oatmeal banana chocolate chip delight.

My banana oatmeal muffins were simple, much less exotic then my berry oatmeal muffins. However taste wise they were very delicious. They were soft and flavorful with hints of rum extract noticeable on a subtle level. The texture of the coconut complemented the texture of the oatmeal perfectly. Of course I added some mini chocolate chips since they go oh so well with banana.

Here is my recipe (adapted from berry oatmeal muffins)

Oatmeal Banana Muffins
*makes 12 medium sized muffins

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 cup oats
1 tbsp baking powder
½ cup white sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup salted butter (melted)
1 cup skim milk
2 medium sized bananas
2 large eggs
¼ cup medium shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp rum extract
¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl add the: oats, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir until well mixed. Add the coconut and chocolate chips, and stir to combine. In a blended add the bananas (peeled), skim milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and rum extract. Blend until smooth. Add the blender mixture to the flour mixture and stir until smooth. Spoon into muffin tins. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy.

I love oatmeal. My mom recently made some oatmeal raison cookies that were very yummy. The cookies inspired me to try to make some oatmeal muffins. I had actually never made any muffins with oatmeal in them before (surprising considering how often I bake muffins). I was also thinking about making berry muffins, so I decided to make them into oatmeal berry muffins. I added some mini chocolate chips to the muffins since I love chocolate. They were the perfect addition to these muffins! The tiny size of these chips distribute the chocolate much more evenly then using larger chocolate chips. Regular chips work too though. For the recipe I adapted one of my own berry muffin recipes that didn’t have oatmeal in it.

My muffins were amazing!  They were actually quite fluffy (considering they are oatmeal muffins) which I love! The berry to chocolate ratio was perfect! They are also not too sweet to be eaten for breakfast. They are a major hit (only 4 left and I just made them 3 hours ago, soon to be 3 left). I will be making these again.

Here is my recipe

Berry Oatmeal Muffins (adapted from chocolate chip blueberry muffins)
*makes 12 medium sized muffins

1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
1 cup oats
1 tbsp baking powder
½ cup white sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup salted butter (melted)
1 cup skim milk
1 cup mixed berries (I used raspberries, blueberries and blackberries)
2 large eggs (beaten)
¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tins. In a large bowl add the: flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Stir in the berries and chocolate chips. Add the beaten egg, and stir. Add the melted butter and mix well. Add the milk and stir until a smooth batter forms. Spoon into muffin tins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm or cool.

Yesterday was another cold and rainy day. When it came to dinner I defiantly wanted something warm. I decided I wanted some soup for dinner. I had been thinking about making pea soup for some time, but I had never made it before so I was always a bit hesitant to give it a try. My mom is the queen of pea soup making. Her pea soup always turns out well. It is nice and thick and the peas are completely dissolved. The ham gives it that traditional pea soup taste that only pea soup has. I wanted my soup to be just a good as hers so I got her to give me the recipe. Of course once again her pea soup recipe is another recipe that she has never written down, so she gave me the recipe verbally while I was making it.

My pea soup turned out really well, but it wasn’t as thick as hers usually is. I think it’s because we didn’t quite have enough split pea’s (she usually puts in 1 cup and I had a fair bit less then that) so next time I make it I will definitely be adding more peas to it. I also added perhaps a wee bit too much water to the soup initially. However my mom said to fill the pot ¾ full, but then she later said 2/3 full might have been better. This is the reason I really prefer written recipes. However after making this pea soup (and taking notes as I made it) I know have a recipe for it, to follow next time. My pea soup was still very yummy, hearty and warm. Perfect for the cold weather we had.

Here is the recipe

Mom’s Pea Soup
Serves 4-5

1- 1 ½ cups dried split peas
1 white onion
Deli ham
2 carrots
3 medium sized potatoes
2-3 stalks celery
½ cup lentils
½ cup barley
1 tsp salt
black pepper (to taste)
1 bay leaf
a dash allspice
a dash ground cloves

Fill a large pot about 2/3 full of water (use more water for a thinner soup). Bring water to boil. Add dried peas. Reduce heat once boiling to medium heat (as long as the bubbling continues. The peas need to boil for about 2 hours to dissolve). Dice the onion, and add it to the pot. Dice the potatoes, celery, and carrots, and add to the pot. Chop the ham to desired size pieces and add it to the pot. Add the salt, black pepper, cloves, allspice and bay leaf. Continue to boil on medium heat until 2 hours has elapsed from the time the peas were added. Once the two hours is up, add the barley and lentils (they don’t taste as good if cooked very long), and continue to boil for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

A few days ago I decided to do some more experimenting in the kitchen. This time there was no recipe involved at all, I completely went out on a whim and made something that I had no idea how it would taste. That something was a baked salmon stuffed with light herb cream cheese, and coated in a sauce I created and then sprinkled with cracker crumbs. The result was a very tasty baked salmon. I will definitely be making this again! I served it with baked potatoes and corn on the cob.

Here is my recipe

Baked Stuffed Salmon
Serves 4

One large Salmon Fillet (frozen)
Salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
Garlic powder (to taste)
Paprika (to taste)
Balsamic vinegar (a few drizzles)
Lemon juice (a few drizzles)
Worcestershire sauce ( a few dashes)
½ tsp Dijon mustard
½ cup light mayonnaise
A few shakes light parmesan cheese
½ – 1 cup cracker crumbs
Light herbed cream cheese (½ cup or more)

Defrost fillet for about an hour (removed from package and place on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil). Cut the fillet into desired number if pieces. Season with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Set aside for another hour or so, to let the spices absorb. Drizzle lemon juice and balsamic vinegar over fish. Set aside for about 30 minutes to let it absorb. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Make slits in each piece of fish (where the cream cheese will be stuffed into. Stuff with cream cheese (more is better for a more moist fish). In a bowl add the mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce a small amount of cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Stir to form a sauce. Spread over fish. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs. Bake in the preheated oven for about 60-70 minutes. Serve immediately.

This morning I was in the mood for muffins. I wanted to make a new kind of muffin, but I didn’t have any particular recipe in mind. I took a quick inventory in the fridge and cupboards, and counters and came up with an idea. I decided to put two of my favorite ingredients together: bananas and poppy seeds. I was a bit skeptical of the combination since I had never seen them combined in a recipe, however I was very pleased with the result. My muffins had the lovely banana flavor that I love with the poppy seed taste that I adore. Both flavors were fairly pronounced but went together very well. I used some rum extract in my muffins since rum complements poppy seeds and bananas very well, and I think that contributed to the irresistibleness of these muffins. I toped each muffin with a little sliced almond to give them a little more crunch.

Here is my recipe.

Banana Poppy Seed Muffins
(makes 12 medium sized muffins)

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup (not packed) brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
½ cup skim milk
2 tsp white vinegar (t0 make sour milk)
2 large eggs
2 tsp rum extract
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup poppy seeds
3 medium sized bananas (peeled)
¼ cup sliced almonds

Grease muffin tin. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl combine: the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and mix well. Add the poppy seeds and stir to combine. In a blender add the: bananas in pieces, eggs, vanilla extract, rum extract, olive oil, sour milk and blend until smooth. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until smooth. Spoon into muffin tins. Sprinkle on the sliced almonds. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden on top and a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted. Serve warm or cool.

What is your favorite type of muffins?

About a week ago, I decided to do some more experimenting with cranberry muffins (since we still had some cranberries in the freezer).  I found a recipe in the Company’s Coming Mostly Muffins recipe book by Jean Pare for Sunny Cranberry Muffins. I changed the recipe quite a bit to suit my tastes and the ingredients on hand.

My muffins were a huge hit! I made them in the morning for breakfast and all 12 were gone by noon. They were super soft, with a crunch on top from the lightly toasted almonds. The muffins were very flavorful. The rum extract complemented the pineapple juice very well which created an explosion of flavors!

I will definitely be making these again. My mom liked them so much she made them this morning!

Here is my adapted recipe.

Cranberry Almond Muffins
*makes 12 medium sized muffins

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs
½ cup sour milk (add 2 tsp white vinegar to skim milk)
1 tsp lemon extract
2 tsp rum extract
½ cup pineapple juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
¼ cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tin. In a large bowl add the flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix well. Add the cranberries and stir to combine. Add the eggs, sour milk, rum and lemon extracts, pineapple juice, and olive oil, and stir until a smooth thick muffin batter is formed. Spoon into muffin tins. Sprinkle with almond slices. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm or cool.

A few weeks before mother’s day my mom started talking about a cake she had not made in years. It was a pineapple carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I asked her where I could find the recipe, and then I made it for her as part of her mother’s day gift.

The recipe was originally from one of her coworkers who passed away in a plane crash 15+ years ago. I made huge changes to it since it was way too unhealthy for my liking (even though cake is meant to be unhealthy, it took unhealthy to a place I didn’t want to go).

I was a bit skeptical of putting crushed pineapple in the dough with out pureeing it (I puree almost all fruits and vegetables in my baking except berries), but since it was part of the original recipe I did it, and I was amazed at the result. The crushed pineapple took the carrot cake to a whole new level that I didn’t know carrot cake could go to. Delicious would be an understatement. It was heavenly. I also added some coconut to the recipe since coconut and pineapple where made to be together. The cream cheese icing was a bit sweet for my liking even though I reduced the amount of icing sugar in it.

My mom loved the cake.

Here is the recipe.

Marlene’s Carrot Cake (adapted by Lisa)
Makes one 9X13 cake

1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups chopped carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple
3 eggs
½ cup olive oil
1/3 cup pineapple juice
¾ cup skim milk
2 tsp rum extract
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Cream cheese icing

8 oz light cream cheese
1 ½ cups icing sugar
¼ cup salted butter
¼ cup pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. Prepare 9X13 pan (grease or spray). In a large bowl add the: fours, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and white sugar. Mix well. Add the coconut and pineapple and stir until well combined. In a blender add the: chopped carrots, olive oil, eggs, vanilla extract, rum extract, milk, and pineapple juice. Blend until smooth. Add pureed mixture to the dry mixture and stir until smooth. Pour the cake batter into 9X13 pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool. Ice.

To make the icing

In a medium sized bowl add the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, and pineapple juice and blend with electric beaters until a smooth soft icing forms. Ice the cake once the cake has cooled.  Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers.