Banana Bread

Over-ripe bananas. They smell, they are squishy & they look terrible. Mark always eats bananas for breakfast (I personally can't stand them), but invariably we end up with left over ones that get too ripe. Because I'm not overly fond of banana bread either, Mark always makes it. This recipe came from my grandmother and was found in one of those small town, everyone shares a recipe, cookbook. We have gone way beyond the basic recipe, adding cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and what ever fruit (blueberries, cherries, etc) and nuts we happen to have on hand.

Inspiration: Left-over, over-ripe bananas
Time: 10 minutes to throw together, 1 hour to bake
Difficulty: easy
Special equipment: bread loaf pan
Servings: 1 loaf


2 cups flour -- sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup walnuts -- chopped
1/4 cup salad oil
1 cup bananas -- mashed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 whole egg -- lightly beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Sift together the dry ingredients, add the nuts, combine the remaining ingredients and mix all together. Stir only until the flour is moistened.
Use 5 x 9 loaf pan. Sprinkle cinnamon & sugar mixture over the top of loaf.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Pacific Pie Co.

We all have nights when we don't want to cook. That used to mean that I would end up going out to eat, or bringing home take out. While it's convenient, and saves time and energy, it's not good for me, it's expensive and it doesn't taste as good as home made comfort food.

Fortunately, I met Chris and Sarah, who just moved to Portland and started a Aussie Meat Pie company called Pacific Pie Co. They hand make individual meat (or meatless) pies with all natural and organic ingredients that I can just throw in the oven and have a piping hot, home cooked meal in 20 short minutes later.

You have two options for these pies. One, you can visit Chris or Sarah at one of the many farmers markets they sell at and pick up a cooked and ready to eat. Or, pick up frozen pies and take them home. I usually visit their website, pacificpieco.com, to see what pies they are featuring that week, and pre-order them for pick up.

Balsalmic Potato Salad

It's been a tough couple of months for Everyday Chef. I've been working almost nonstop at work on a project that has had me writing specifications and copy, laying out pages and then editing said specs and copy and pages for the most minute of minute details for nearly 4 months. This has drained of almost any energy to think or cook creatively. You may be wondering what I've been eating over this time, and I think you'll find most of your answers in the previous 68 posts. Now that I'm almost done with the project, and after one healthy serving of guilt from the one and only Ashish, the idea of sitting down with my computer to write an entry doesn't make me nearly as nauseous as it did a month ago.

One of the few things that I did come up with over the past couple of months was a new grilled potato salad that is even easier than the one I posted on June 26th, 2008. HOLY COW. That was a year ago. Happy belated birthday Everyday Chef!

Inspiration: Brand new grill
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: Grill + Veggie pan
Serving Size: 4-6 side dishes

3 large Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 sweet onion cubed
1/4 C olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1. In a large pot of water, par boil potatoes for 8-10 minutes (if using small potatoes, you can reduce the time by 2-3 minutes. You don't want to cook them entirely). If skins are falling off, your potatoes are over cooked. If they are mushy, then make mashed potatoes instead. If the potatoes are still firm, you can cube and grilled...but it may be messy.

2. Cube them into bite sized pieces. Toss with onion, oil and salt and pepper. Using a grilling basket, cook potatoes and onions on a grill over medium-high heat until potatoes are cooked through. Remove into a serving bowl

3. While potatoes are cooking, reduce balsamic vinegar to 1/4 of a cup in a small sauce pan over medium low heat on your stove. The reduction should be syrupy. Toss the grilled potatoes with the veggies and serve.