Cream Cheese-Apple-Nut Bread

I was sitting in my chiropractor's office last Friday morning, reading a back issue of Southern Living Magazine. It was ironic since I was due to attend a Southern Living at Home party that very night. Well, I came across the most delicious-looking recipe for a banana bread. I had no ripe bananas at home but I kept thinking that this recipe could be very tasty if I made it with apples. I knew I had an 8 oz package of organic cream cheese getting ready to expire in my fridge, too. I had a few Honey Crisp Apples in my refrigerator and a large bottle of natural apple sauce. My creative juices started flowing (which is a rare event). I high-tailed it to the market to buy some pecans and then went straight home to bake Cream Cheese-Apple-Nut Bread! What I did with this recipe changes it significantly but I want to credit the original chef. According to the magazine article, the original recipe was sent to Southern Living Magazine by Willie Monroe from Homewood, Alabama. Thank you Willie! I used regular cream cheese because that is what I had and I cooked one of the honey crisp apples for about 10 minutes in a saucepan to give the cake a bit of crunch. You can use only the applesauce but I thought the addition of the apple did something really nice for the bread. I did not follow the suggestion of toasting the pecans just to save time.

Cream Cheese-Apple-Nut Bread

Makes 2 loves

1-1/4 cups chopped pecans, divided

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 (8-oz) package 1/3 less-fat cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1-1/2 cups applesauce (or one or two lightly cooked and diced apples plus applesauce)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 3/4 cup pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring after 6 minutes.

2. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

3. Combine whole wheat flour and next 4 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in applesauce and apples, 3/4 cup toasted pecans, and vanilla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans or topping (recipe below).

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides of bread pull away from pan, shielding with aluminum foil during last 15 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Cool bread in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks. Let cool 30 minutes.

Note: You can store these loaves by wrapping them tightly with plastic wrap and again with aluminum foil after they cool completely. They freeze well for up to 1 month. I doubt they will last that long in your freezer!

As I mentioned, the Southern Living article gave several alternative toppings. The first was a toasted coconut topping. Although I really love coconut, neither my husband nor my son is particularly fond of the stuff so I didn't choose it. The second is a Cinnamon topping which sounded perfect. The third choice involved peanut butter so I knew that one was out. I will say that if you want to top both of your apple loaves with this particular topping, then double it. I was only able to top one of the loves with this recipe. It was delicious.

Cinnamon-Cream Cheese-Apple-Nut Bread (topping recipe)

Prepare recipe as directed through Step 3, omitting the pecans sprinkled over batter. Stir together 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup chopped pecans (not toasted), 1-1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 teaspoon melted butter, and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Lightly sprinkle mixture over batter in pans. Bake and cool as directed.

I will tell you that I made one "blooper" while I was making the batter for this bread. I was in a hurry to get done so I could be outside when D's bus arrived from school. I grabbed what I thought was vanilla out of my closet and dumped it into the batter. I immediately realized (by the smell) that I had actually grabbed root beer extract and dumped that into the batter. Yikes! I dug all that root beer flavor out and, fortunately, no one said the cake tasted funny so I am thinking I was successful in getting it all out.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Spanish Potato Pepper Fritatta

This is a recipe that D and I tried a few weeks ago. We had eaten dinner at the wonderful and world famous Moosewood vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, New York when we were up in Syracuse for our friends Nancy and Rick's wedding back in the beginning of August. If you are ever in Itaca, please be sure to have dinner at the Moosewood Restaurant. They don't take reservations so we got there early on a Sunday night and waited for a table. It was worth the wait!

Having eaten dinner at the Moosewood, D wanted to try a recipe from the Moosewood Low Fat Favorites cookbook that I have owned since the mid-1990's. I am certainly NOT a vegetarian but I have tried many of the other recipes from this cookbook. This recipe was one I never tried before. I am not sure why because it contains all the "good stuff" that I love to eat. I was fairly suprised that D was willing to eat it since it contains eggs. He claims not to like eggs but eats them on occasion. Go figure kids??!! Anyway, this recipe turned out great. We all enjoyed the frittata. It motivated me to get another Moosewood cookbook out of the library. I am now perusing the Moosewood Celebrates cookbook, so who knows what other Moosewood recipes will appear in my blog in the near future! Stay tuned. . . .

SPANISH POTATO PEPPER FRITTATA

1 large onion (about 2 cups sliced)
2 bell peppers, 1 red and 1 green
1 cubanelle or other mild fresh chile pepper
1 pound potatoes (about 3 medium), scrubbed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 whole eggs
6 egg whites
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cut off the ends of the onion. Cut it in half lengthwise, peel, and then cut each half into thin strips. Stem and seed the bell peppers and the cubanelle. Cut them into thin strips. Cut the potatoes into 1/8 inch slices.

In a 11 or 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Add the onions and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers, cubanelle, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cover and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Remove the skillet from the heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, water, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper until blended. Stir the potatoes, onions, and peppers into the eggs.

Coat the bottom of the skillet with the remaining teaspoon of oil and return it to the medium heat. When the skillet is hot, pour in the potato-egg mixture and distribute the vegetables evenly. Cover and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the edges are firm and the bottom has browned. Place a large, flat plate or pizza pan over the skillet and flip the skillet over so that the frittata falls onto the plate. Slide the frittata back into the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes more, until the eggs are fully cooked. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

The cookbook suggested this frittata for either breakfast or brunch. We ate it for breakfast. I think it would also make a great dinner. I love potatoes and eggs and had some memorable frittatas when I visited Spain many years ago. This frittata was just as memorable for me!

The Creative Cook