Banana-Coconut-Walnut-Cinnamon Muffins by The Careless Cook

 

Banana-Coconut-Walnut-Cinnamon Muffins by The Careless Cook

 

What if you need to feed muffins to about twenty hungry ladies who have flitted past the age of consent long ago and hurdled a few other milestones?  What if you only have an hour or so to complete this wondrous task?  Now let’s up the ante.  Suppose your culinary career and high hopes for a settled and peaceful home-life rides on your performance?

 

Can it be done?  Well, of course and The Careless Cook will lead you on, smiling and cheerful.  Who knows, you may even get in return sly winks from your fatted calves and promises of sweet reminders of your youth, like chocolate cookies and your grandmother’s peanut brittle.  If you are lucky, you may even get pecks on the cheek, but I wouldn’t count on it.  There are limits.

 

Admittedly, The Careless Cook keeps a well-stocked larder, so if my three faithful followers lag behind in the fundamentals of chefery, they may need to make a quick trip to a nearby grocery.  And let that be a lesson to you!

 

It’s football season, so I’ll put it this way:  Are you ready to cook?  I SAID:  ARE YOU READY TO COOK?  YES, you scream, as we break the huddle and head to the kitchen.

 

Time to get on with it.

 

Sometimes the best recipes may be found on common packaging and so it was with this one from a box of Bran Flakes.  But, of course, being careless by nature and habit, The Careless Cook had to make a few minor changes, all of which are pleasing.

 

Banana-Coconut-Walnut-Cinnamon Muffins.

I realize that’s a mouthful. You may want to casually 

 mention Bran Muffins and let your hungry hordes guess

 the rest.

 

NOTE:  You may have noticed I frequently use my food processor for blending bakery dough or batter.  NOT THIS TIME.  ALL IS HAND MIXED IN A BOWL, WITH A WHISK.

 

Ingredients

 

2 cups of bran flakes

1 ripe banana, mashed

1 x 13.66 ounce can of coconut milk, or whatever amount your can says

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract…I just used a slosh

1 ½ cups of flour. I used unbleached all purpose

½ to ¾ cups of chopped walnuts

1 good handful of sweetened, shredded coconut

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or a bit more

½ teaspoon salt  - don’t you just hate it when recipe

writers turn up their noses to show off their delicate sensitivities by specifying what kind of salt, like kosher salt or sea salt?  Yes there are some minor differences, but with ½ teaspoon, sodium chloride is sodium chloride!

 

People sometimes ask me, is salt really kosher?  No.  It’s a heavy grained salt, with no additives, used to season or preserve kosher meat.

 

Puttin’ It Together

 

Preps:

Heat your oven to 375ºF (with my oven, which runs a little hot, I used 350ºF)

Smear a 12 cup muffin tin with butter.  I used my fingers to smear and to make sure the tins were well coated. 

 

I was making 20+ muffins, so I used two 12 cup muffin tins and only filled them halfway.

 

1. Put bran cereal and coconut milk in a large bowl and stir well. Add banana, sugar, vanilla, and egg.  Stir until well blended.  Now whisk in remaining ingredients (except for flour and baking soda) until well blended.

 

2. Whisk together the flour and baking soda, and blend in with the other ingredients, a little at a time.

 

3. Put the batter in the muffin tins and shove them in the oven for 20 minutes.  Since I was only filling my cups half full, I used 18 minutes. Either way, test by inserting a toothpick in a muffin.  Should come out clean.

 

Time to finish that morning snifter of brandy and pat yourself on the back, if you can still reach your back.  If not, either join a yoga class, or ask the ladies to do the patting.

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Thai Curry In A Hurry

Thai Curry with Tomato Chutney 

Chicken off the grill

Garnishes

Ah, Thailand.  Friendly people, great food, excellent prices, which reminds me of a trip to Krabi, on the southern coast, by an azure sea, with a beautiful beach, and fragrant coconut oil spread deliciously over…ah,but that’s another story.   I will say this.  There were vast amounts of Singha Beer involved and my recollection is as fuzzy as a cotton picker’s navel. 

Ok, curry.  Thai curry.  How is that different from Indian curry?  Are you nuts?  Taken leave of your senses?  Everyone knows that Indian curry comes from London and Thai curry comes from a really cute chick wearing a sarong.

This time, let’s forego the distant travel (biting tongue, holding back tears) and bring Thai curry to our own kitchen.  But, before we get started, let’s get one thing straight.  There are as many different Thai curries as there are Thai cooks.  So mine isn’t the Thai curry you remember from the drunken weekend in Bangkok? Dry up, quit whining, and pass me an icy bottle of Singha. 

A recipe for Tomato Chutney follows the curry recipe.

The Curry Recipe:

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, trimmed

5 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 Tablespoons peanut, or other vegetable oil (30-45 grams)

1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced thinly (onion about the size of your fist)

2 14 oz cans coconut milk (.8 Liters) Open them one at a time.  You’ll see why in a minute.

3 Tablespoons curry powder (or to taste) I use a mixture of hot and mild.

1-2 Tablespoons garam masala.   I know this is an Indian mixture, but I like it.  Don’t have any?  Just season as necessary with more curry powder.

            2 Tablespoons fish sauce

            1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

            Black pepper for the chicken

Garnish: lemon wedges, fresh cilantro leaves, dried coconut, peanuts, cayenne pepper

1.     Salt and pepper the chicken pieces, and grill them.  When they’re done, cut into one-inch cubes.  For my European friends, an inch is about 2.5 mm

2.     As the chicken is grilling, heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic and stir.  Add the sliced onion and cook until wilted.

3.     Add the chicken, the first can of coconut milk, all the spices, and the fish sauce, and cook until all the spice is blended and the sauce begins to thicken.  If you don’t have enough sauce, add all or part of the second can of coconut milk.  Taste and add more salt, or spice as necessary.

4.     Serve over rice and garnish individually.

Tomato Chutney

I like to serve tomato chutney with my curry, even though it is definitely not Thai.

Easy to make.  Difficult to forget.

            1 Tablespoon oil

            1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes

            1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

            1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds

2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained

            1/2 lemon

            1/3 cup raisins

            1/2 cup sugar

            1/2 teaspoon salt

            Heat the oil in a pan and add the spices.  When the seeds start to jump, add the tomatoes.  Thin slice the lemon half and place the slices over the tomato mixture.  Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened.  Stir in the raisins, sugar, and salt.  Stir until all sugar is melted and the sauce is consistent.

            Taste a scrumptious bite of the curry.  Takes you back, doesn’t it.  Makes you wish you were single, I mean you had more than a single serving.  Several questions about my Thai curry are constantly thrown my way.  Will Thai curry cause your heart to flutter and your eyes roll back?  No, but it will make you forget Budweiser, fill your nostrils with a strong scent of coconut oil, and leave you yearning for the beach.  Will Thai curry increase your sexual awareness to the point that your dog whines, while your wife, and many of the neighbors pretend to be asleep?  Likely, but no personal experience.  Wink, wink.