Bananarama

I have been making these muffins since college. While they are not my magnum opus of muffins (that post is yet to come) they are simple crowd-pleasers and can be whipped up in a snap. There’s plenty of room to play with ingredients should you be in the market for a more wholesome, filling muffin (suggestions posted along the way) or make as is for a wonderful breakfast indulgence or even dessert.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

2-3 large ripe bananas, the more spots the better
2 T sugar, or to taste (if your bananas are ripe enough you’ll hardly need sugar at all. I am usually satisfied with a few teaspoons. Adding chocolate chips also helps me get away with a less sweet batter)
1 egg
1/2 c. oil (oil makes a crispier muffin, but yogurt can be used instead for a fat-free but slightly chewier muffin – just don’t use Greek yogurt as it makes the muffins kind of sour.)
1 t. vanilla extract (optional)
1 1/2 c. flour (I used whole wheat here, slightly nuttier taste but contributes to that wholesome breakfast goal)
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. chocolate chips (optional) – or walnuts, or whatever you fancy in a banana muffin

1. Mash bananas with a fork.




2. Combine the rest of the wet ingredients (egg, oil/yogurt, vanilla) and sugar.

3. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. I find recipes always say to use a separate bowl but all you really need is a big enough measuring cup : )  

4. Fold flour mixture into wet ingredients.


5. Add chocolate chips.


6. Pour into greased muffin pan. Fill about 3/4 full, or more for bigger muffin tops.



7. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until edges are golden-brown and tops spring back when lightly pressed.
7.

Sunday Night Soup

I love soups, stews, and basically anything you can eat out of a bowl. They’re healthy, usually require only one pot and very minimal hands-on time, and can often be made without a trip to the grocery store. You just throw everything together and let it cook, the longer the better. The problem with working 12+ hours a day is there’s very little time to let things, well, stew.
Enter the crock pot. I inherited one from my mother-in-law a few years ago, and am slowly realizing how great a solution it is to my time shortage issue. Plus, coming home to the aroma of intense flavors that have been simmering all day is a wonderful antidote to the trials of intern year.
I recently came across Real Simple magazine’s post on their most-pinned slow-cooker recipes. This black bean soup recipe caught my eye. Raised half Hindu and half Jewish, cooking pork is something I know very little about. But this recipe was pretty persuasive in its simplicity so I decided to give it a try. It turns out navigating the pork section of the grocery store was the hardest part. I found the final flavor a little overwhelmingly hoppy (then again I don’t like hops) and one-dimensional in its flavor, so I added a few spices and reduced the beer.  The end result was perfectly hearty, but not too rich for a nice end-of-the-weekend meal. The husband even had seconds.

Beer-braised pork and black bean soup

1 large onion, diced
1 lb dried black beans
1 chopped chipotle en adobo with 1 T adobo sauce
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
2 chicken bullion cubes
1 bottle beer (I used an IPA but a lager would probably work better)
1.5 lbs pork shoulder
2-3 cups water

1. Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Set on high for 5 hours.

2. Pull apart pork, discard fat and bones. Add more water as needed/desired (I tend to like a thicker soup but it could be watered down more).

3. Serve with a dash of lime juice, a dollop of sour cream (we used plain Greek yogurt, almost always just as good and it definitely is here), and cilantro and cheese as desired. Serve with a nice crusty bread. Or tortillas.

Postcall Pretzels

When you’re post-call, or jetlagged, or just really sleep- deprived, food just seems to be the only answer. Tucking into a warm bowl of soup or a crusty loaf of bread does wonders for weary limbs and overtired minds. Or maybe it’s just me. But whenever I find myself with a wide open day after being up all night, all I want to do is cook and bake. It probably helps that I spend most of the night (after saving all the patients of course) browsing recipes on Pinterest and getting hungry.

Which is how I found myself, after a week of night float in the PICU and too wired to nap, tackling these pretzel rolls. You may have noticed that the pretzel is making a huge comeback. It’s the hipster baked good of the moment. I mean, the Grange’s brunch menu has a pretzel bread french toast option (which is amazing, by the way). It was only matter of time before I, helpless in the face of overwhelming trends, attempted my own pretzel bread.


After carefully scrutinizing the recipes (read: yummy photos) on Pinterest and cutting out any with too many fancy ingredients or too long a wait (Let rise for another hour?! But what will I eat??) I chose this one. It’s simple, quick, and as delicious as the photos promised. The trickiest part is probably taking the time to roll them into smooth balls instead of dunking chunks haphazardly into boiling water, which I learned after producing a few lumpy (but still delicious) specimens:

Pretzel Bread

2 Tbsp. butter

1 c. milk (I used skim, whatever you have probably works)

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 packet (7g) yeast

3 cups white flour

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg

large-grain salt for decorating

1. Heat milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat, to 100 degrees. This is important, as temperatures over 140º can kill live yeast. And then you’d have matzoh.

2. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl, and add brown sugar and yeast. I used a candy thermometer to avoid casualties, but any thermometer probably works. Or just heat the milk to warm, not hot.

3. Using your dough hook, start the mixer. (For those without, I’ve heard spoons and hands are pretty good at making bread too. And according to some old-fashioned types, much more satisfying.) Slowly add flour  and salt (mixed with in measuring cup beforehand). Beat until dough is smooth. If it’s super sticky, toss in a handful of flour until it’s manageable (you should be able to pick it up and scrape it off your fingers without too much effort).

4. Transfer mixture to an oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise for 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Half-fill a large pot with water (I used the one below), add baking soda and bring to a boil. It’s important to add the baking soda BEFORE you boil. Otherwise Chemistry ensues. And nobody likes chemistry.





6. Form dough into balls, sized to your liking. I made a few dinner (burger)-sized rolls, and a bunch of bite-sized ones. As I mentioned earlier, make sure to roll balls until each is smooth and uniform.

7. Drop balls into boiling water, let cook for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to oiled cookie sheet (I used cooking spray on an old beat-up one since I couldn’t bear to tarnish my new shiny ones with baked-on oil).

8. Brush each roll with 1 egg beaten with a few splashes of water. Sprinkle with the largest-grain salt you have. I didn’t have the presence of mind to shop for big salt beforehand, by my kosher salt worked out ok.

9. Bake for 15 minutes at 400º, then turn oven to 350º and bake until browned to your liking.

10. Let cool. Or just eat them all standing up.