NEWS
10A • DELHI-PRICE HILL PRESS • FEBRUARY 15, 2017
Little helpers create muffin recipe Blueberry banana muffins
I could blame a visit from the church ladies for the reason I left the butter out of a muffin recipe I’m sharing today. But I won’t, because even if they didn’t stop to visit I might have forgotten the butter anyway. That sometimes happens when I’m baking with the little ones. (And truth be told, it happens once in a while even when I’m by myself!). My granddaughters, Emerson, 4 years old and Ellery, 2, wanted to make banana muffins. That was fine with me since the bananas were too Rita ripe to eat so they were perfect for Heikenfeld making muffins. “Can we put some blueberries in RITA’S KITCHEN too?” Emerson asked. My reply was “Sure, why not.” So the banana muffins turned into blueberry banana muffins and even without the butter, they were yummy, not as tender as usual, but A-OK!
Muffins are an excellent item to make with kids, since the batter doesn’t require much mixing, good for their short attention span. For step-by-step photos, check out my abouteating.com site. 1-1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt Handful or so blueberries (opt) 2-3 very ripe bananas, mashed smooth 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1/3 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin pans. Whisk flour, baking powder, soda and salt together. and if adding blueberries, stir them in gently. In a separate bowl, combine bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter together. Pour flour mixture on top and mix just until dry ingredients are incorporated. Mixture will still be a bit lumpy. Don’t over mix since that may create tunnels in the baked muffin, and they will be less tender. Scoop into pans about 2/3 full. Bake 25 minutes or so until top springs back when lightly tapped.
Readers want to know When is a shoulder a butt? In spite of what the name implies, pork butt comes from the front leg of the pig. It got its name from the wooden barrels, called butts, that it was once packed in. Not only that, the term originated in Boston and that’s why you sometimes hear pork butt called Boston butt. The butt is cut from the upper half of the shoulder on top of the leg, the bottom half of the shoulder is called a picnic roast closer to the foot. Fresh pork butt is the same as fresh pork shoulder. That’s what I use in goetta. What is a French vegetable peeler?” I love this gadget. It’s a “y” shaped peeler and it makes it easy to get very thin, wide slices from zucchini, carrots, etc...
Can you help? Spaghetti, acorn squash and stuffed eggplant recipes needed. Patricia Tierney, a Northwest reader, is looking for ways to cook these nutritious veggies. Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated for this adventurous cook.
Reduced calories in rice: clarification I wanted to clarify the information included in my column about reducing the amount of calories in rice by adding coconut oil. Here’s what Dr. Oz has to say about cooking 1 cup rice, which contains about 200 calories, and adding coconut oil:
Tip from Rita’s kitchen THANKS TO RITA HEIKENFELD
Emerson Heikenfeld shows off the banana blueberry muffins she helped create.
Add teaspoon of coconut oil to rice Coconut oil contains healthy fats that can change the composition of the starch in rice to reduce calories. Rice is made up of both digestible and resistant starches, and coconut oil increases the resistant starch levels of rice – meaning that fewer calories will be digested. Simply add the coconut oil to the boiling water and then add in the rice. Cool and reheat the rice The process of heating up already-cooled rice makes its resistant starch increase even more to cut out at least 100 calories from your serving. After you precook your rice, let it cool in your refrigerator for about 12 hours. Then reheat it before you serve it. Rita Nader Heikenfeld is an herbalist, educator, Jungle Jim’s Eastgate culinary professional and author. Find her blog online at Abouteating.com. Email her at rita@communitypress.com with “Rita’s kitchen” in the subject line.
Always add fresh fruit to dry ingredients to prevent them sinking to the bottom during baking.
Lois Maas’ spinach salad dressing For Mitch, a Milford reader. “I lost the recipe for a spinach salad dressing that had horseradish mustard in it. We really liked it. Can you find it again?” Yes, I can! The recipe originated with Lois Maas, a Cherry Grove reader. Well, this isn’t exactly Lois’ recipe. “My sister gave it to me,” she said. If I remember correctly, Lois makes a spinach salad with hard boiled eggs, bacon and Pepperidge Farm stuffing croutons on top. The recipe here is only slightly adapted. Put everything in blender and blend until well mixed: 2/3 cup canola oil Up to 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup wine vinegar or more to taste 3 tablespoons horseradish mustard (Plochman’s is always good) 1 teaspoon salt 1 medium onion
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