Dinner with Bud

My father and stepmother are making their fall move from their farm in Arkansas to their "fishing shack" in Florida.  They arrived about noon on Saturday and spent the night with us, leaving early this morning.  For dinner we had:

Beef Filets with Pomegranate-Pinot Sauce

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes (you can do this, right?)

Fall Salad with Apples, Walnuts, and Stilton

Bananas Foster Bread

All of these recipes are in the October, 2010 issue of Cooking Light.  Are you seeing a theme here?  When I get the new issue, I immediately try new things!  As the month progresses, I'll use other sources or go back to old favorites.  As a matter of fact, my plan for this coming week draws from a different source every night with nothing from Cooking Light. 

But back to Saturday night.  I've never bought a pomegranate before and I must say I'm not that impressed.  The seeds had a texture that I didn't like that much and I really couldn't taste the pomegranate.  I guess I'll stick to Walter's famous Pomegranate Martinis in the future!

Everything else was great, though.  I chose the Bananas Foster Bread because I'm always on the lookout for good banana bread recipes.  We buy bananas every week and often end up with "ripe" ones that I hate to throw away, even if they do go into my compost.  Plus I figured that I could wrap some up for Daddy and Grace to eat on the road. 

Here's how I started.  I like to get everything out first, what the French call mise-en-place.  That way if I'm missing something, I can make substitutions or go back to the store before I start cooking.  Which happened, by the way, when I started making the Pomegranate-Pinot Sauce.  Who would have thought I'd be out of pomegranate juice?



I've really become a convert to weighing flour instead of measuring it.  So much easier!

My friend Leslie Hanna bought this great yogurt for me - Thanks, Leslie!

And here's the finished product - everyone liked it!

Here's Bud and Grace as they were leaving Sunday morning + a picture of Bud with his brown-eyed girl in her jammies!

Bananas Foster Bread

Bananas Foster Bread


This adult interpretation switches all of the sugar to brown sugar and cooks the mashed bananas with butter and cognac or dark rum. And it's topped with a slightly boozy glaze.

Yield:  16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)


1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
1 cup packed brown sugar, divided  I used half dark and half light
6 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
1/4 cup cognac or dark rum, divided
1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt  I didn't use fat-free :)
2 large eggs
6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed  not sure what this adds, but I bought a bunch - look for future recipes with flaxseed!
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Cooking spray
1/3 cup powdered sugar1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, and 3 tablespoons cognac in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat; cool. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Add yogurt, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.

4. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter, remaining 1 tablespoon cognac, and powdered sugar; stir until well blended. Drizzle over the warm bread.

CALORIES 194 ; FAT 5.8g (sat 3g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.9g); CHOLESTEROL 34mg; CALCIUM 32mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31.1g; SODIUM 181mg; PROTEIN 2.9g; FIBER 1.5g; IRON 1.1mg

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2010