medjool date and pistachio spice bread

Rose — Wed, 19 May 2010 06:45:24 +0000

During my last trip to a Russian grocery store a couple weeks ago, I picked up a jar of rose petal preserves. I had no real use for the rose petal preserves, but I suddenly decided that I needed to make a quick bread to eat with the preserve. I wasn’t entirely sure what kind of quick bread I was going to make until I opened up the pantry and gathered together all my favorite ingredients and spices. Medjool dates are treasures in dried fruit form and pistachios are my nut of choice for desserts. I initially didn’t think the bread would be “blog worthy”, since this was my first attempt at making a quick bread in many years. I changed my mind after the first bite. The bread is moist, fluffy, and bursting with flavor. My only regret is that I didn’t make two loaves.

Tip: Orange blossom water can be found at Middle Eastern grocery stores and specialty shops. If unavailable in your area, substitute with vanilla extract, rose water, or orange zest.

Medjool Date and Pistachio Spice Bread
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1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 cup yogurt (I used whole)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons orange blossom water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups medjool dates, pitted and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup pistachios, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, mix together the beaten egg, butter, sugar, honey, orange blossom water, and yogurt. In another large bowl, mix together salt, flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and nutmeg. In small batches, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold in the pistachios and medjool dates. Spoon in the batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean (check to see if the bread is done after about 45 minutes, my oven is old and often unreliable. Baking time for this loaf was about 62 minutes). Cool before serving.

Yields 8-12 slices

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southern-style cornbread

Rose — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:51:53 +0000

I was born in the South, but I’m not a Southerner. My parents were carnies (they had all their teeth at the time, in case you were wondering) and I just so happened to be thought of, conceived, and born in the South. However, most of my life was spent in Michigan. When I think of traditional food of the American Midwest things like casseroles, Jell-O salad, meatloaf, and coney dogs come to mind. Those are all foods I have spent my life avoiding. Luckily, there are large populations of Greeks and Arabs in Michigan, who brought their food with them. If you serve me green bean casserole or a Cool Whip fruit salad, just don’t expect me to do anything but frown.

When it comes to traditional and comforting American food, I look to the South for inspiration. This recipe comes from Elise over at Simply Recipes, who I believe is a native of California, so I can’t vouch for the authenticity of this bread. If any of my Southern readers out there have any other cornbread recipes they’d like to share, then by all means! I poked around on the web a bit before deciding on a recipe, but the addition of the shredded cheese in this recipe was too hard to pass up. Cory and I both enjoyed this with last week’s turkey chili.

Southern-style cornbread
(adapted from Simply Recipes)
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1 c cornmeal
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 c milk or buttermilk
3 T bacon fat
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 c frozen corn, defrosted

- Preheat oven to 350F.

- Mix together cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the milk, bacon fat, and beatened eggs into the mix. Fold in the cheese, onion, and corn.

- Pour the mix into a greased cast-iron skillet and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden.

Serves 6-8

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avocado & bravado : a food blog » quick bread

medjool date and pistachio spice bread

southern-style cornbread