We’ve had two whole weekends at home so since I’ve been VERY bad about blogging here, let’s give it a shot. State of the garden? State of the kitchen antics today? Let’s go with Kitchen Antics. 2 recipes from great sites, and 1 largely modified from another site. [This got a little long, so I'll update the garden in another post, this is just 3 recipes of ZOMG Goodness]

1. Onion Bread  2. Jalapeno Basil Onion Jelly 3. Banana Carrot Muffins

The Onion Bread is currently on the second rise. I cannot tell you how much I love the Smitten Kitchen blog, and it is her Light Whole Wheat bread. However, I added 1 tsp of garlic powder, and 3 tablespoons of fresh red onions, toasted lightly under the broiler for a few minutes before working into the loaf. My only concern is that I had it on the back of the stove as a warm area to rise, but I keep forgetting the oven vents at a different place so I may have gotten it too warm in the first rise. We’ll see.

The jelly. The pepper plants have been out of control since it cooled off. I’ve given them away, begged housesitting friends to also pick, picked tons and not been able to eat them all, eaten off the plant, etc. It’s getting cooler and cooler at night so pepper season is winding down. What to do with them? I went searching and found a jelly recipe that uses all the stuff I have too much of in the garden – Banana Peppers (CHECK!), Jalapeno Peppers (CHECK!), Basil (Check!) and Red Onions (Had to buy, no onion crop this fall). I wasn’t too sure about the whole combo and how the heat blends with the sugar  and vinegar, and where does basil fit in, etc.

In the jar, setting up

Look at the tiny basil threads

Holy cow this stuff is GORGEOUS in the jar and tastes amazing. Total props to the blogger that shared this recipe which apparently is an adaptation of an old Ball recipe. Chunks of green peppers, bright red onion pieces and slim threads of chiffonade basil.  A little sweet with a blooming warmth. The peppers went from plant to jar in less than 30 minutes, how is that for fresh? I only made a quart so it wasn’t a canner/seal day, just a nice jar in the fridge to make sure we like it. I thought his eyes were going to get stuck they rolled so far back in his head, so that is a great sign.

Although I linked it, I’m also saving it here on the off chance that the other blog disappeared and I lost an amazing recipe. Plus I made my own adjustments/changes, so they are noted here in a different color.

Basil Banana Pepper Jelly
Recipe adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Yield: 3-half pints

1/2 c thinly sliced, seeded mild banana peppers or any mild, sweet peppers  (More banana peppers, including some cute hybrids from a branch that rubs up against the jalapeno plant – they were orange-ish red)
1/4 c fresh hot peppers, seeds removed and diced (Our garden is full of Jalapeno, I think about 5 were used to get to the 1/4 cup chopped)
1/4 c red onion, finely diced (We’re onion fans, I was a lot closer to 1/2 cup)
3 to 4 large fresh basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons (I skipped the dried basil listed below entirely and went with 7-8 leaves of fresh basil cut into the teeniest chiffonade)
1/4 tsp dried basil (Skipped entirely, added more fresh)
3/4 c white vinegar (I did 1/2 of this with white vinegar and 1/3 with apple cider vinegar)
3 c sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin (I had powdered on hand. I mixed the powder with 3 oz of water and brought to a boil in another pan and then added it in. No problem with setting whatsoever)

Combine peppers, red onion, fresh and dried basil in a large, deep stainless steel saucepan. Stir in vinegar and sugar.

Over high heat, bring mixture to a full, rolling boil. Stirring constantly, boil hard 1 minute. Remove from heat. Immediately stir in one pouch Liquid Pectin, mixing well. (As a note, the steam rolling off of this will clear your sinuses really quickly and could irritate your eyes a little, be careful)

Pour jelly into a hot jar, dividing solids equally among jars and filling each jar to within 1/4 inch of top rim (head space). Wipe jar rims. Center lids on jars & screw on bands. Process in BWB 10 minutes. (I did not process because I am not “putting it up” – it was just one large jar for the fridge and is destined to be short lived)

Cool for about 30 minutes, then, when lids are concave but jelly is still hot, carefully invert & twist jars to distribute solids throughout jelly. (**Do not let them remain upside down for long periods**) Repeat as needed during the cooling/setting time, until solids are evenly suspended in the jelly.

Banana Carrot Walnut Muffins: The base for these came from this recipe,however, I had no almond flour on hand and made some other changes for both flavor and texture reasons) The original also says it makes 18 but I just went with a dozen bigger ones to use just one pan.

Moist, rich, not overly sweet, and a little crunch from walnuts and almonds

2 cups cake flour (I’d like to try these with whole wheat next time)
2 tsp baking soda
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 cup dates (Wanna know what I’ve learned about dates? Keep them in the freezer and cut them without thawing – gets rid of the whole sticky mess thing)
3 ripe bananas
3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla (In red because I added this)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup vegetable oil (On hand. I may try applesauce next time)
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (I actually split this between almonds and walnuts, it is what I had on hand)

1 TBSP butter (Just melted and drizzled over them at the end)

1. I double sifted all the dry ingredients into KitchenAid bowl

2. All wet ingredients went into the food processor, including the carrots FIRST to nearly puree them. I don’t want to SEE a carrot but they add amazing flavor to this. I just ground them up, then began adding all the other wet ingredients. I added the dates second so the blades would cut them up well.

3. Mixed wet into dry, and then folded in the nuts last.

4. Cooked at 325 for 22 minutes but muffin tin was on top of a stone so be careful with your heat.

5. drizzled a total of 1TBSP butter over the tops of all the muffins.

These were crazy delicious, moist, not overly sweet, with a crunch from the nuts. I will add a little flaxmeal next time as well.