All Entries in the "Quick Bread" Category
Dairy Making 101
I was able to attend another workshop organized by Arzeena who is the outreach coordinator of the Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Project at Garrat Wellness Centre. This time it’s a Dairy Making workshop.
The workshop was conducted by Thomas Hicks, the gentleman behind the red cooler. He briefly introduced himself and told us that he has been growing his own food in his own backyard and community farm. He became more interested in growing seeds as he can share the abundance of seeds. He also has experience working in a chicken farm where he took care of 400 chickens which he thought has distinctive personalities.
He also enjoys preserving food when they are in abundance so that he can enjoys them all year round. He likes to use local produce for preservation. He introduced us to this book by Sally Fallon.
It’s this book, Wild Fermentation where he successfully made sauerkraut. This book was available for sale at $25 during the workshop.
While doing all the introduction, he passed around 3 jars with full cream milk and asked us to give it a good shake and pass it down when our hands are tired.
In the jar, there were also a few pebbles. So, it’s quite noisy as the bottles were being vigorous shake.
After some 15 minutes of so of shaking, we ended with butter and butter milk. This can be a good project for school kids.
The butter is very soft and creamy. Dont forget to remove the pebbles in the butter.
We made some gorgeous scones using the butter and butter milk we just made. We enjoyed the scones with the butter too.
Click on Read More for the recipe of the scone.
Oat Bran Carrot Muffin
Caring Place Community Kitchen kicked start the first meeting for the fall season of 2008. Minoo made a healthy muffin in the Caring Place Community Kitchen.
Minoo prepared a list of pictured references of common kitchen utensils, unit of measurements for kitchen use, some common ingredients and a how to list for the Caring Place Community Kitchen participants. In this particular kitchen, there are more new comers from mainland China and Taiwan who are not familiar with the terminology used in cooking. This pictured references will help them to identify the ingredients better and familiarize with kitchen terminology. Minoo puts a lot of effort in improving the community kitchens and she’s a good leader.
Minoo also briefly covered the objective of the community kitchens which are:
- introduce healthy and economical recipes
- promote sharing in terms of work load, cost of food and culture
- promote team work
Minoo told us that the community kitchens are funded by the Coastal Health Canada and United Way through the Family Services of Canada.
The Oat Bran Carrot Muffin is great as an after school snack and also great for lunch box. It’s a great way to get fussy kids to eat their vegetables.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups oat bran
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 cups milk (skim or soured)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- a teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed (optional)
- 1 handful of raisin (optional)
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Apple Banana Muffin
Stella made this Apple Banana Muffin for last year’s Caring Place Potluck. She demonstrated this recipe in the Caring Place Community Kitchen upon Minoo’s request.
The Apple Banana Muffin is moist and the walnuts give it the crunch. This muffin is good for after school snack or breakfast. It can also be made into a loaf.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil or melted margarine
- 1 cup sugar (less if bananas are very ripe)
- 2 to 3 bananas
- 1 large apple
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Raisin Banana Bread
Minoo made a Raisin Banana Bread while Zoe was preparing her ingredients for the Vietnamese Shrimp Roll. The Banana Bread recipe is upon the request of Tony. Tony joined the community kitchen with no knowledge of how to cook at all. But for his daughter’s sake, he came to the community kitchen and has learned a lot. Tony always goes back and tries every recipe he learned.
This Raisin Banana Bread is a healthy breakfast or snack item. I love the mini loaf pan Minoo used as it yields some cute mini loaves. This mini loaves are good as a gift.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups mashed ripe bananas
- 1 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 stick melted butter
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon mace (optional)
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange rind (optional)
- 2 heaping tablespoons baking powder
- a pinch of salt
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Savoury Muffin
Andrea made some savoury muffins in the South Arm Community Kitchen. The savoury muffin is something different from the usual sweet ones like banana muffin, chocolate chip muffin, blueberry muffin and more which you can find in the quick bread category in chowtimes.com.
These savoury muffins are great for school lunch or picnic. It is a complete meal with all the basic food group like grain products, vegetables, milk and meat. What I like about this muffin is its portability. It can be easily fit into a lunch box and can be easily transported in a cupcake caddy.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted, cooled slightly
- 4-5 green onions, diced
- 3/4 cup red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 3/4 cup cooked ham, cubed (about 200g)
- 3/4 cup grated cheese (Cheddar or Harvarti), about 100g
The buttermilk can be substituted with the following:
- For each 1 cup buttermilk called for in a recipe, use 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream or
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup or
- 1 cup milk plus 1 3/4 tablespoons cream of tartar or
- 1/4 cup buttermilk powder and 1 cup water
Usually, when a recipe use baking soda as a leavening agent, it needs an acidic environment for the chemical reaction to take place.
A little side note here, the South Arm Community Centre will be starting a cooking club for seniors in January 2008. It will be held in the South Arm Community Kitchen every 2nd and 4th Tuesday from 10am to 12:30pm. The cost for this program is $3 per session, to cover the cost of the ingredients. This cooking club is intended for seniors to come and meet regularly and cook healthy and nutritious meals. For those interested, you may contact Stella of South Arm Community Kitchen @ 604 718 8070.
Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffin
Back to basic baking, I made some Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffin for breakfast. Muffin is little cake that can be prepared quickly.
This muffin recipe has cinnamon in it and I love baking with cinnamon because the kitchen will be filled with the aroma of cinnamon as when the muffin is baking.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
- 1/4 cup margarine, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips
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Click on the link below for the instructions.
Banana Loaf Cake
In the Caring Place community kitchen, Jean made a Banana Loaf Cake and Matrimonial Squares.
Jean also shared with us the benefits of eating bananas. The benefits include healthy bowels, healthy cardiovascular, protection from strokes and ulcers, improve blood pressure and boost of energy.
Bananas are rich source of vitamins B, C and A. Bananas are also low in calories and fat, plus they have a high water content and potassium levels. A diet high in potassium foods and low in sodium-loaded processed foods can help reduce water weight.
The Banana Loaf Cake was moist and very rich in banana flavour.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg
- 3 large very ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup nut pieces if desired
Click on the link below for the instructions.
