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Banana and butternut squash loaf

Posted on September 6, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

One of the last things I did before running out the door before our holidays (amazingly the first time I wasn’t running like a lunatic due to being so late) was to throw the remaining (very ripe) bananas in the freezer. It gave me a (silly) sense of pride to know we weren’t wasting them. It’s the little things after all!

While we were away I came across an unusual recipe for banana bread from Simon Rimmer with the added ingredient of butternut squash. I’m always looking for different ways to use up bananas and this recipe definitely piqued my interest.

I made some changes to the original recipe. I reduced the sugar and used chopped walnuts instead of pecans. I also reduced the amount of nuts as hubby isn’t a huge fan and it seemed an excessive amount also for me too. The original recipe is topped with a cream cheese icing which would work wonderfully, but I wanted to keep my loaf dairy-free and simple so just drizzled the cooked loaf with honey. It also means I feel no guilt eating it for breakfast 😉

The end result is a lovely dense and very moist cake with a subtle taste of banana. If anyone guessed this cake has a vegetable ingredient, I’m certain they’d never guess butternut squash. Another way to sneak some veg into your children’s diets perhaps? And if you have any pureed butternut squash in the freezer leftover from your munchkin’s earlier weaning days, I can’t think of a better way to use it.

BANANA AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH LOAF

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 50-60 mins
Makes 1 loaf
Freezable

120g sugar
1 egg
150ml vegetable oil
2 bananas, mashed
225g butternut squash, cooked and mashed
275g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g walnut pieces
drizzle of honey to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg and vegetable oil. Fold in the mashed banana and butternut squash.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Fold this dry flour mixture into the wet banana mixture. Stir through the walnuts.

Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Drizzle honey over the top of the loaf before serving.

Variations:

  • add sultanas or raisins for added sweetness
  • omit the walnuts if putting into a child’s lunchbox

Tip: If you have the time, it’s much better to peel your bananas before freezing them, as peeling a frozen or defrosted banana takes some skill. Just peel, throw in a ziploc bag and freeze.

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Quiche muffins

Posted on August 10, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Thinking of something light I could make for a friend dropping in for lunch that would also be fine for Nicholas, I remembered coming across a recipe for making mini quiches without pastry. For some strange reason I hadn’t saved it on my Pinterest cooking board, so I had to make it up. Thankfully not that difficult.

Instead of pastry, the muffin ‘cases’ are made with ham. One of those brilliant ideas you wonder why you never thought of it yourself. Even if you buy ready-made pastry you need to cut it out and prebake it just to make sure it cooks through. Not that I’m a lazy cook (well…) but I do love a super quick recipe that requires very little thinking. Also not having pastry means it’s great if you happen to be following the Dukan diet.

I tried using prosciutto for some and slices of peppered cooked ham for others. While the ham was yummy, the prosciutto was nicer because it crisps up, especially around the edges. If you use prosciutto, be careful not to add too much salt to the egg mixture as the prosciutto is salty.

Like traditional quiches you can really add almost anything you want. Fry up some onion and pop it in the bottom before you pour in the egg mixture, do they same with mushrooms or asparagus tips, add a slice of tomato or, my favourite, add a dollop of creme fraiche.

I have yet to master lining the cups so the egg mixture doesn’t run out (you can see in my photo that it looks more like the prosciutto is through the muffin rather than encasing it), but so long as you grease the cups beforehand and then run a knife around the edge after they’re done, it doesn’t really matter.

They’d be great in lunch boxes or to take on a picnic. I can also see them smaller as party finger food. Definitely versatile! I haven’t tried freezing them yet; they’d probably need a bit of time in the oven to crisp up after thawing.

QUICHE MUFFINS

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15-18 mins
Makes 6 large muffins

6 slices prosciutto (Parma ham)
6 eggs
2 tbsp milk
20g cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
Oil for greasing muffin tray

Preheat oven to 175C.

Lightly grease a 6-cup muffin tray and line each muffin cup with prosciutto.

Lightly beat the eggs and milk together and season. Pour evenly into each cup (don’t worry if it doesn’t seem enough mixture as it will rise as it cooks). Sprinkle over the grated cheese.

Cook for 15-18 mins until egg mixture has set.

Variations:

  • Add a dollop of creme fraiche to each cup before pouring in the egg mixture.
  • Put lightly fried onion in each cup before pouring in the egg mixture.
  • Add cooked mushroom or asparagus tips, or sliced tomato

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Butter bean pasta sauce

Posted on August 6, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

This is a super quick pasta sauce you can whip up in the time it takes for the pasta to cook, and using tinned beans means no cooking!

The amount of milk is an approximate measure; it depends on how much the beans soak up. If you let the sauce stand before using it, the beans will continue sucking up the milk and the sauce will become drier. Trust your own judgement as to how much milk to add.

You can easily make as much or as little sauce as you want, either using just a couple of tablespoons of beans to make one serving or using the whole tin and freezing the leftover sauce. Why not experiment using other different types of tinned beans?

BUTTER BEAN PASTA SAUCE

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 0 mins 🙂
Makes about 300ml of sauce
Freezable

1 tin butter beans (approx. 400g), rinsed and drained
Approx. 1/4 cup of milk
Pinch of salt (optional)
To serve: 1 tbsp grated parmesan

Put the rinsed and drained butter beans in a small food processor. Add about half of the milk (and salt if using) and blend until smooth. Check the consistency , adding more milk and blending again as necessary.

Mix through cooked pasta and sprinkle generously with grated parmesan.

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French toast soldiers (sugar-free)

Posted on August 3, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Breakfast. I’m never that creative with my own so I guess it’s logical that I struggle to be creative with Nicholas’. Mashed banana and yogurt has been our staple since his early days of weaning. He still eats it about three times a week, it never fails (he starts chanting ‘nana!, nana!’ as soon as I pick up a banana), and I can prepare it while still half asleep. But regardless of whether or not he gets bored of it, I get bored preparing it and also feel guilty that I should be giving him more of a variety of food to start the day.

In the early months of weaning I did grated apple, grated pear, grated apple and pear (!), and baby porridge. I don’t know why I never thought of French toast then. Slightly crispy on the outside, and lovely and soft inside, it’s certainly something a baby can tackle with their super strong gums, and a great baby-led weaning food. It’s also a nice way to introduce baby to other flavours like cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

Thanks to Once a Month Mom, I discovered you can freeze French toast after you make it (saves you throwing away the unused egg mixture), make it into kabobs, and, more surprisingly, you can hide vegetables in it (she adds butternut squash puree!). I haven’t tried adding vegetables, but I have tried adding some mashed banana and also applesauce to the mixture before dunking the bread and these additions both work well.

You can dunk your soldiers in applesauce or a warm berry compote, drizzle with golden syrup or maple syrup, or serve them with fruit on the side (raw or stewed). Nicholas seems to like them as I do – plain with a drizzle of honey.

FRENCH TOAST SOLDIERS (SUGAR-FREE)

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Makes 1 toddler serving
Freezable

1 slice of bread, cut into 4 or 5 ‘soldiers’
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg
1 tsp honey (optional)
a couple of drops of vanilla essence (optional)
1 tsp butter

In a bowl large enough for your ‘soldiers’ to lie down in, lightly beat the egg, milk, and cinnamon or nutmeg (and honey and vanilla, if using).

Lay your ‘soldiers’ in the eggy mixture and let them soak on both sides while you heat the butter in a small frying pan over a med-low heat.

Fry the bread for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.

Variations:

  • add mashed banana or applesauce (or even pureed butternut squash or sweet potato!) to the mixture before dunking
  • use cute cookie cutters to make different shapes of ‘soldiers’ to surprise your little one

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Sugar-free berry bread pudding

Posted on August 1, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I’m very lucky not to have a fussy eater. Nicholas not wanting to eat is usually a sign he’s not feeling well. However he has a mixed response to berries. Strawberries were amongst the first fruit he ate and he loved them (I read after that the recommendation is to introduce them to babies later), but after a few months he started spitting them out even when I mixed them in other things. I now mush them up as much as I can and put them in yogurt and he’s ok. He likes blueberries and loves squeezing blackberries. Is it just a boy-thing wanting to squeeze stuff? He grits his teeth and strains with the effort of testing his strength. Food is the most fun to squeeze because all the juice comes out down your hand and arm and papa’ says ‘Why are you making all that mess?! Don’t do that!’ It’s so much fun! 😉

Anyway, back to eating berries. I wanted to make Nicholas something with berries for dessert apart from just mushing them up into yogurt. I thought why not add them to a simple bread pudding; their sweetness plus some honey would mean I could leave out the sugar. And the great thing about bread pudding is that it can also be served cold, cut into fingers for a snack or even for breakfast. It also freezes well and it’s a great way to use up stale bread.

This really is a dessert for the whole family and you can use pretty much any fruit you have on hand. For babies, use fruit they’ve already been introduced to. Mashed banana or grated apple would work well. A grated sweet apple or some applesauce/apple puree adds more sweetness if you think the fruit you’re using isn’t sweet enough. Sultanas and raisins are also a great addition, but they need to be softened for babies (soak them in warm water for about half an hour before adding them).

I used a small casserole dish and cut my bread in half diagonally to spread it over the bottom of the dish a bit more. You could also make individual puddings in ovenproof ramekins. You need the bread to soak in the custard mixture to get all soft and gooey so choose a dish not much bigger than your bread slices.

SUGAR-FREE BERRY BREAD PUDDING

Prep time: 10 mins plus soaking time (30 mins or overnight)
Cook time: 30-40 mins
Makes 4 toddler servings (or 1 toddler and 2 adult servings)
Freezable

2 slices of bread, crusts removed
3/4 cup mixed berries, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp honey
Small piece of butter

Butter a small ovenproof dish and lay one slice of bread in the bottom. Sprinkle the berries over the bread and then sprinkle over the cinnamon. Top with the second slice of bread.

Lightly beat the egg, milk, vanilla and honey together. Slowly pour over the bread soaking it all over. Leave to rest for about 30 mins for the bread to soak up the liquid (or overnight).

Cook at 170C for 30-40 mins until the egg mixture has set (you’ll still have some liquid from the berries) and the top is a light golden brown.

Variations:

  • try different fruit such as mashed or sliced banana, grated or sliced apple, cubes of pear, etc.
  • add a grated sweet apple or some applesauce/apple puree for extra sweetness
  • add sultanas or raisins
  • try different types of bread (white, wholemeal, raisin bread, brioche etc.)
  • add a pinch of ground ginger or nutmeg
  • add some chopped chocolate to be more indulgent (and not sugar-free!)

Other uses:

  • cut into fingers and have cold for breakfast

Tip: use the leftover bread crusts for French toast skinny fingers or toast them to dip into hummus as a snack. If you’re not going to use the crusts immediately, just pop them in a bag and freeze them for later.

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Lemon posset – adult recipe

Posted on July 27, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Being an Aussie living in Britain, I don’t experience that many cultural differences (I even say ‘flip flops’, rather than ‘thongs’, without really thinking now, although I always have a little chuckle inside!). And British cuisine isn’t that much different to the food I was brought up on (lots of meat and three veg, and always a roast for Sunday lunch). But there are occasions when I come across something I’ve never heard before, let alone tasted, and I’m reminded that of course there are cultural differences.

A couple of years ago at a friend’s birthday party as we were deciding on dessert from the set menu, hubby leaned over and asked me ‘What’s lemon posset?’ I didn’t have a clue. And neither did our friends sitting around us, none of them being British. Hubby was happy to take the risk while I opted for something chocolatey (sorry, chocolate versus lemon? No contest!).

The lemon posset looked very simple when it arrived, accompanied by some berries and shortbread. Then we started eating it. It was divine! Creamy heaven. I had to find out how to make it!

A quick search on the Internet and I quickly understood why it tasted so good. Cream. A lot of cream. Oh and sugar and lemons, but it’s basically just sweetened flavoured cooked cream.

Aside from only having three ingredients, it’s also super easy to make and it’s a dessert you can make ahead of time. Being a lover of rich food I tend to make my servings quite large, usually too large for other people. In reality a little lemon posset goes a long way. A small bowl or even a shot glass of it is plenty when accompanied by some fruit and/or biscuits. It can also be a homely dessert or easily transformed into something rather posh (use espresso cups or wine glasses, top with crystallised lemon peel or icing sugar-dusted berries). Your guests will think you’ve been slaving in the kitchen all day.

LEMON POSSET

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: less than 10 mins plus 2-3 hours to set
Makes 6 adult servings
Keeps in the fridge for a day

600ml double cream
140g caster sugar
2 lemons, zested and juiced

Put the cream and sugar in a large saucepan. Over a medium heat, slowly bring it to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. As soon as it starts to boil, drop the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Take the saucepan off the heat.

Whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Add the juice gradually (you might not need it all) and keep tasting it until you’re happy with the flavour.

Pour into 6 serving bowls and refrigerate for 2-3 hours until set.

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Quick salmon pasta sauce with crème fraiche and dill

Posted on July 23, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

This recipe is actually my hubby’s creation, which I’m stealing! While I’ve made something similar in the past, our approaches to cooking for Nicholas are rather different. I focus on speed of cooking and the fewer things to clean up afterwards the better. Hubby sticks to his Italian roots and does things ‘properly’!

My version of this cooks the salmon in milk in the microwave, then everything else goes in the same bowl as the salmon (why dirty another bowl?!). Hubby’s version is a bit different…

Quick salmon pasta sauce with crème fraiche and dill

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Makes 1 toddler serving

30-40g fresh salmon fillet, with skin removed
Drizzle of olive oil
2 tbsp crème fraiche
A pinch of salt and pepper (optional)
1/2 sprig fresh dill, chopped

Chop the salmon into small cubes (about 5mm). Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a small frying pan over med-low heat. Add the salmon and cook for a minute or two until just cooked.

Take off the heat and stir in the crème fraiche. Season, if using. Add your cooked pasta and mix in the pan. Sprinkle over dill and serve.

Variations:
– Use fresh or tinned tuna instead of the salmon
– Replace the crème fraiche with yogurt or cream
– Use chives or parsley instead of the dill

Other uses:
– Use the sauce as a crepe filling
– Dollop the sauce over a baked potato

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