Zesty Cook » walnuts

Bread and A Banana… Or {Banana Bread}

zesty — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:00:01 +0000

The end of the week is here! This week flew by, hard to believe we are in May already. Guess what I just remembered last night? It is mother’s day on Sunday. Opps sorry Mrs. Zesty – I will get on it as soon as possible and surprise you for Sunday. I have a couple of ideas in mind so it will just be a matter of execution
on Saturday.

As for this sudden craving I had… banana bread. I had some lonely looking bananas hanging in the freezer that were just aching to be warmed up and cooked. What better way to use up bananas with on of my favorite breads in the whole world. Moist, tender, soft, fluffy banana bread! Give this recipe a try if you have a craving like I did and I am pretty confident you will not be disappointed.

Today, I thought I would share with you my take of a classic bread – Banana Bread! One of my all-time favorite loafs and a great way to use ripened bananas.

Every now and again I feel the need to add some nuts to my Banana Bread recipe for a different texture and flavor combination. With this loaf I chose the “Walnut”.

Ingredients

2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Tsp. baking soda
1/4 Tsp. salt
1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup white sugar
2 Eggs, beaten
4 Mashed overripe bananas
1/4 Cup walnuts

Method

Preheat Oven to 350°.
Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and white sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended, then toss in the walnuts.
Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
Let bread cool in pan for a bit, then flip it out onto a wire rack.

ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When bananas are on their last leg on your counter, a great place to store them for either smoothies or baking is in the freezer. They freeze very well and it will help prolong their useful life.

I hope you get some time in the near future to try this banana bread. As I mentioned earlier, it is one of my favorite loafs to make and eat. A slight problem is that I tend to eat the whole loaf. I especially love the two end pieces. Do you like the end pieces?

Weekend is upon us… any big plans for you? I hope you have fun with whatever you choose to do and I will see you back here on Monday!

Oh, one last thing, if you haven’t checked out our recipe e-book yet, you can download it here for free.

Take care

zesty

Banana Walnut Bread

zesty — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:00:39 +0000

Happy Wednesday! WOW what a week. I am pretty excited to see the holiday around the corner for tomorrow. I had a lot of fun this week especially the blogging aspect of it. Despite the fact that work and zestycook.com consumes a large majority of my waking day… I love it! No complaints from being busy over here. Do you like being busy?

Today, I thought I would share with you my take of a classic bread - Banana Bread! One of my all-time favorite loafs and a great way to use ripened bananas.

Every now and again I feel the need to add some nuts to my Banana Bread recipe for a different texture and flavor combination. With this loaf I chose the “Walnut”.

Ingredients

2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Tsp. baking soda
1/4 Tsp. salt
1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup white sugar
2 Eggs, beaten
4 Mashed overripe bananas
1/4 Cup walnuts

Method

Preheat Oven to 350°.
Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and white sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended, then toss in the walnuts.
Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
Let bread cool in pan for a bit, then flip it out onto a wire rack.

ENJOY!

Holiday is upon us… any big plans for you? I hope you have fun with whatever you choose to do and I will see you back here on Friday!

Oh, one last thing, if you haven’t checked out our new recipe e-book yet, you can download it here for free.

Take care

zesty

Asparagus Bacon Walnut Salad

zesty — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:00:44 +0000

When I need a brain break, I just think about eating and cooking.

This asparagus bacon walnut salad really follows the zesty motto…. quick and easy yet packed with flavor. This asparagus dish will easily work as either a side dish or a salad depending on both your mood and your dinner plans.

It literally takes no time to make and requires very little preparation. In this particular case I used turkey bacon as it was on sale. Even though I have never tried it before, I enjoyed it immensely. I noticed a number of similar qualities to real bacon minus the grease.

As a little treat to compliment the salad is homemade rosemary focaccia bread that I picked up at the bakery…. yum. This stuff was amazing.

I don’t eat asparagus very often but every time I do I always wonder why I don’t buy it more often. Perhaps it’s because it can be fairly pricey at the local grocery store.

See below for the brief instructions on how to make this dish.

Ingredients

Asparagus (about 12-15 pieces)
4-5 slices cooked turkey bacon (chopped)
1/4 Cup walnuts
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar

Method

Preheat pan to medium-high heat.
Add Olive Oil to warm pan then add bacon, asparagus and heat together for 5-7 minutes.
Once Asparagus is tender toss in the walnuts.
Cook through for 2 minutes and finish with a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar.

ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When cooking with asparagus do not over cook them. I like to shock them with high heat for only 5-7 minutes to allow them to heat through but also keep the crunch.

I am on the road tonight so stay tuned or a Virginia post on Friday. Have a great day.

Take care

zesty