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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The best reasons to get up in the morning.. Kids & Muffins

It's dreary and wet in Kuwait (not a scene commonly seen :D) and it is the perfect weather for baking.. It's as close as we get to a winter over here anyways..

Kids are on break from school so I promised them we'd make something. I've been slacking in the making of breakfast goodies dept so I thought it'd be good to whip up some Banana Muffins, and just for good measure, add in white chocolate chips.

So we donned our personalized aprons and were off!

First things first though, and when it comes to cooking that is mise en place.

Mise en place is the first thing they grind into your head in Culinary school. Its a french term for “Everything in it's place” and it makes a lot of sense. Basically, it's all about prep. It makes cooking a smoother process if you already have everything cut and measured out, ready to grab as you go down your recipe.

And it doesn't stop at just ingredients. Mise en place should extend to the equipment you intend to use as well. Even to include serving pieces. I really enjoy how Anthony Bourdain refers to mise en place as his “religion”. Exaaaactly, lol.

I used the recipe from my Gourmet book and just nipped it here and there. They make use of shredded coconut and macadamia nuts, where I simply replaced the mix-in with white chocolate chips. And to give it my own boost, I also added in ground flax seed (let's get more Omegas in these kids!) and some powdered buttermilk, which I tend to add to a lot of baked goods whether they call for buttermilk or not. I think it's a great tenderizer.

White Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

2 1/4c. AP Flour
¾ t. Baking Powder
½ t. Baking Soda
1 t. Salt
2 T. Ground Flax Seed
1 T. Powdered Buttermilk
1 ½ sticks Butter
1 c. Packed Light Brown Sugar
½ c. White Sugar
3 lg Eggs
1 ½ t. Vanilla Extract
1 T. Lemon Zest
3 lg Banans, mashed
3 T. Sourcream
1 c. White Chocolate Chips
Turbinado Sugar for sprinkling

* Line muffin tin with cupcake liners or grease and flour (can also use 2 loaf pans if you prefer)
* Preheat oven to 350 F.
* Sift together flour, baking powder and soda, salt buttermilk and flaxseed.
* Beat together sugars and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high til light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs 1 @ x. Beat well.
* Add in vanilla, zest, bananas, sourcream and beat until just combined. Reduce speed to low and add in flour untl just combined.
* Stir in white chocolate chips.
* Spoon batter in muffin tins and sprinkle some turbinado sugar over the tops
* Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown


Our Mise En Place (looks like a lot but don't be scurrd!)
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Zesting lemon on the microplane – never added to banana muffins before but the addition gets a thumbs up from me!
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Flouring our big muffin tin
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Adding our creaming and dry ingredients
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Eyeballing salt (oOoOoOo)
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Mixing
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Ding! And they're done!
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Source(s):
The Gourmet Cookbook, Edited by Ruth Reichl, pg. 599
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_place
http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/mis_en_place.htm

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