Chocolate Banana Bread

One of the most loved recipes on the site is our banana bread, and one thing people seem to like to do to change it up is to add chocolate chips to it. That’s sort of a no-brainer, right?
Dear banana bread lovers, putting chocolate chips in your banana bread is like having your bananas and chocolate go on a date. Lovely and sweet, yet still separate and distinct. After a while both want something more—a merging of wills, a commitment!
Well, if chocolate and banana were going to do the deed, this would be the result—a richly chocolate banana bread, infused with cocoa, speckled with chocolate chips, with warm hints of butter, vanilla, and allspice.

Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour
• Yield: Makes one 9x5-inch loaf

Do not use Dutch processed cocoa for this recipe, only natural unsweetened.
Melted coconut oil can be used in place of the butter. The flavor will change a little and you may get a hint of coconut in the result.
There is only 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of baking soda in this recipe for leavening, so make sure your baking soda is still good! (See more info on baking soda and baking powder.)

Ingredients

• 3 large ripe bananas (easily mashable)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed, light or dark)
• 1 teaspoon salt (1/2 a teaspoon if using salted butter)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 5x9-inch loaf pan

Read More: Chocolate Banana Bread

Quinoa con Queso

One of my favorite foods is quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), a grain-like seed native of South America. It’s a lot like couscous, but nuttier in flavor, and smoother on the tongue. It’s also high in protein and completely gluten-free. You can make a pilaf with it, or use it for stuffing, or just eat it plain. I recently stumbled upon a recipe for quinoa with queso fresco in this book, and then found many other variations online. As I played around and experimented with this recipe I had two revelations. The first is that quinoa tastes great with milk poured over it. The second is quinoa tastes great with cheese (queso).

Who knew?

If you’ve never had quinoa, I urge you to try it. It’s incredibly easy to make. If you like quinoa, but have never had it with milk or cheese, trust me, this is good. Here we are using queso fresco, a Mexican fresh farmers cheese, but you could also use Cotija, feta, or mozzarella. You can keep it simple with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and cheese, or dress it up with zucchini, roasted chiles, or potatoes.

Quinoa con Queso Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Yield: Serves 3-4.

If you want, you can add more vegetables up front to this dish, for example, sauté some chopped zucchini along with the onions. And/or serve with new potatoes, either chopped and mixed in (cooked of course), or served alongside.

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 large fresh tomato, cored, chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped large green chile, either Anaheim or Poblano (optional)*
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon fresh, finely chopped)
• 1/4 pound (4 ounces) fresh farmer's cheese, or queso fresco, cut into small cubes
• 1 cup milk
• Fresh basil, cilantro, or chives for garnish (optional)

*See How to roast chile peppers over a gas flame.

Read More: Quinoa con Queso

Rabbit Stew with Mushrooms

I have been bugging Hank Shaw for years for a good rabbit stew recipe and he’s finally delivered. Thanks Hank! ~Elise

Years ago, I asked Michelin-starred Chef Dominique Crenn what dish she was most proud of. She said rabbit with mushrooms, the way her mother made it. I never did get her recipe, but I love rabbit, and love mushrooms, so here is my take on a dish I imagine Chef Crenn might like.

This dish celebrates the onset of cooler weather. The combination of rabbit (you can easily substitute chicken if you are unable to find rabbit) mushrooms, butter, stock and roasted garlic are as wonderful as that first crisp day, when leaves are falling, schools are back in session, and football is on the TV.

Mushrooms come into their own in fall, and I highly recommend you use as many varieties of fresh mushrooms as you can get your hands on. Most supermarkets will have at least a couple kinds, and the more varieties the better.

Dried porcini mushrooms are readily available, and they add a lot to the flavor of this stew, as does their soaking water. You need to strain that water to get out any bits of dirt or grit, but it’s easily done with a paper towel or coffee filter.

Rabbit Stew with Mushrooms Recipe

• Prep time: 45 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4

Rabbit are often available at specialty markets, fresh or frozen, or can be ordered by your local butcher. If you can find fresh rabbit, have your butcher piece it out for you. Otherwise, see How to Cut Up a Rabbit.

Alternatively, you can simply brown the whole rabbit, and put it into the stew whole. Then remove it later and pick off the meat.

There is an optional step to making this stew taken from classic French cooking (Antonin Careme) that transforms a good dish into a great one. Mash the rabbit or chicken’s liver, mix it with crème fraiche or sour cream, then push it through a fine sieve.

The result is a pink slurry that will thicken and enrich your sauce. If you choose to take this step, do not let your stew boil once the liver-crème fraiche mixture is in it or it will curdle. If you want to go halfway with this final step, mix in a large dollop of crème fraiche or sour cream in at the end.

Ingredients

• 1 ounce of dried porcini mushrooms
• 2 heads of garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 rabbit
• 3 large shallots, chopped
• 1 cup sherry or white wine
• 1-2 cups mushroom soaking water
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped into large pieces
• Salt
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Read More: Rabbit Stew with Mushrooms

Radicchio Salad with Green Olives, Chickpeas, and Parmesan

This recipe is brought to you in partnership with The California Olive Committee.
Radicchio is such a beautiful vegetable on the table, but those vibrant purple leaves are so bitter that it can be tricky to figure out how to work them into a recipe.
Here’s one idea: a light, but satisfying salad full of buttery California green ripe olives, nutty chickpeas, salty Parmesan cheese, and a sweet balsamic vinaigrette.
All these flavors and textures balance the radicchio, making a colorful, elegant – and quick! – seasonal salad for your dinner table.

Radicchio is a member of the chicory family along with endive, escarole, and puntarelle. It looks similar to a small head of purple cabbage and can range from fist-sized to soft-ball-sized. Look for it near the cabbages and leafy greens at the grocery store.
Buy heads of radicchio that feel very firm and tight when gently squeezed and that feel heavy for their size. Avoid heads that look like they’ve been battered about or that feel soft or wilted — this is a sign that the radicchio is old or has been poorly handled during transit.
Back home, store your radicchio in the crisper drawer. Individual heads will keep well for several weeks.

The California green ripe olives are a key player in this salad. Not only do they look oh-so-lovely against the purple of the radicchio, but they add a sweet, buttery flavor that makes a nice counterpoint to the leaves themselves. Plus, they come already pitted, which makes prepping them for this salad a breeze.
Did you know that California produces over 95% of the olives grown in the United States? What’s neat is that California Ripe Olives are not grown on mechanically run, industrial farms. In fact, multi-generation farming families work hard to bring high-quality olives from the grove to your pantry.
When it comes time to grate your Parmesan cheese, use a Microplane grater or the finest holes on your cheese grater. This creates thin, airy strands of cheese that melt into the salad and help flavor every bite.

Radicchio Salad with Green Olives, Chickpeas, and Parmesan Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Resting time: 10 minutes
• Yield: 4 to 6 servings

This recipe works best with finely-grated parmesan cheese, grated on a microplane or on the finest holes of your cheese grater.
If you can't find radicchio, substitute frisee, endive, or another bitter green.
During the summer, try grilling the quartered heads of radicchio before slicing them into pieces for the salad. Grilling brings out sweetness in the radicchio!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 large or 2 small heads radicchio (10 to 12 ounces)
• 1 16-ounce can California green ripe olives, drained, rinsed, and roughly chopped (6 ounces or 1 1/3 cup dry olives)
• 1 16-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Read More: Radicchio Salad with Green Olives, Chickpeas, and Parmesan

Ramp and Parsley Pesto

Please welcome Hank as he shares one of his favorite things to make with wild foraged ramps, ramp and parsley pesto. Outstanding with pasta, though I ate half of this straight with a spoon. So good. ~Elise

Ramps arrive in the East Coast well before good basil can be found, so I’ve adapted a classic cool-weather pesto from Liguria, in Northern Italy, that uses walnuts and parsley instead of basil and pine nuts.

Only in this case I am substituting the garlic in that pesto for fresh ramps, which are a kind of wild onion that has a pronounced garlic flavor.

I blanch the greens first to keep them vivid; if you don’t do this, your pesto will oxidize and turn brown in a few hours unless you cover it in olive oil.

If you can’t find ramps, use green garlic. Both are available at farmer’s markets in spring, although ramps are tough to locate west of Minnesota.

Ramp and Parsley Pesto Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Yield: About 1 1/3 cups

Serve this pesto like you would any other: With pasta or in risotto, on crusty bread or as a dollop in soup.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated parmiggiano-reggiano cheese (you could also use pecorino)
• 1 small bunch parsley
• 1 small bunch ramps or thin green garlic
• Pinch of salt

Read More: Ramp and Parsley Pesto

Berry Tart

Buttery crust, rich creamy filling, and juicy ripe berries—this is what you want in a berry tart, right?

Look no further. This is the tart. As my father says, “don’t change a thing.”

It’s actually much easier to make than it looks!

First the crust. It needs to be firm enough to hold the tart, but not so firm that it is tough and chewy. (Who wants a chewy crust? Yikes!)

The perfect tart crust is similar to a butter pie crust, but with the addition of powdered sugar, and little vanilla, and an egg.

No need to roll it out. You can just press the crumbly dough mixture directly into the pan. Then you pre-bake the crust until golden brown.

Then comes the filling. We are whipping up mascarpone cheese (a slightly acidic Italian cream cheese) with whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a touch of orange zest for sparkle.

(By the way, if you’re in a crust free mood, this filling is so good just put it in a bowl, top it with berries, and add a splash of Amaretto.)

Finally, the berries. I admit my decorating chops aren’t quite Martha level, but whatever. Arrange the berries on top of the mascarpone filled crust and top with some melted jelly to make them glisten. Gorgeous!

Berry Tart Recipe

• Prep time: 40 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Crust freezing time: 1 hour
• Yield: Serves 8 to 10

The crust will have more flavor if it is browned, than blond.

Ingredients

Tart Crust

• 1 1/2 cup (200 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (50 g) powdered sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp (10 Tbsp or 140 g) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

• 1 cup (8 oz) mascarpone cheese
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) cold heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (43 g) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange or lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 oz (85 g) raspberries
• 8 oz (225 g) blueberries
• 8 oz (225 g) strawberries - stems removed and halved or quartered
• 4 Tbsp (60 ml) apricot jelly or orange marmalade
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or lemon juice

• Equipment needed: Food processor, a 10-inch wide, 1-inch high fluted tart pan with a removable bottom

Read More: Berry Tart

Refried Black Beans

So, when it’s finally your turn in line to order at the taqueria, and the nice lady behind the counter asks, “what kind of beans?,” (to go with your burrito, taco, carnitas platter, etc.) and you gaze upon your choices of pinto beans or black beans, refried or whole, what do you say?

For me, it’s always a struggle. Must. Make. Up. My. Mind. They all look so appealing. I was raised on refried pinto beans, which mom still makes at home at least once a week. But black beans? They’re so good! There’s something about them, almost a smoky quality.

And then there’s the “whole” or “refried” question to be answered. If the beans are for a burrito, then naturally I’ll want them refried. They’ll stick to the tortilla better and won’t spill out as I eat the beast. (Burritos around here tend to be on the hefty side.) Actually, usually I’ll want them refried, which by the way, isn’t really “re” fried, but just fried and smashed, with more oil and seasonings, after the beans are first cooked in water.

Here is our recipe for refried black beans, or frijoles negros refritos, a Mexican and Southwestern staple. Consider it a base. You could easily add some jalapeños to it, more chili or chipotle. You can garnish with cilantro, green onions, cotija or queso fresco, or just serve naked. Once made, the beans will last several days in the refrigerator. Use them as a dip, to spread on tortillas for tacos or burritos, or as a side with steak and salsa.

Refried Black Beans Recipe

• Prep time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Cook time: 3 hours
• Yield: Serves 6

This recipe gives instructions for making refried beans from scratch, starting with dry beans which must first be cooked. You can also start with a couple cans of whole black beans, in which case, skip the first two steps, rinse and drain the beans and add to the pan with a little water in step 3.

Ingredients

Ingredients for cooking the dry beans:

• 1 lb dry black beans
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 large white onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems)

Additional ingredients for frying the beans after they've been cooked:

• 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 large white onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Green onion
• Cilantro
• Crumbled cotija or queso fresco cheese
• Tortilla chips or corn tortillas

Read More: Refried Black Beans