Cooking at Home: Banana (Nut) Muffins

I love to bake, and lately, I've been on a muffin kick. Muffins are really easy to make, take little time, and are healthy and delicious. I've made blueberry, cinnamon sugar, and the ones in this post: Banana (Nut) Muffins. I used only ingredients I had on hand, so I didn't use any nuts this time, but they can be added if you have them.


I always try to make my muffins (semi) healthy, so I incorporated wheat flour into the recipe, usually about half and half.


These muffins are also (GASP!) vegan. Vegan baking can seem like a scary thing, but it's really not so difficult. There are a few key things you use for substitutions, and muffins are a good way to start experimenting with vegan baking since the recipe is very straightforward.

These muffins came out moist, fluffy, and absolutely scrumptious. The boyfriend loved them, and he didn't even know they were vegan.

Banana Muffins (Makes 12)

Recipe adapted from Spark Recipes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup plain flour

2 ripe bananas, mashed

½ cup rice milk (or any other non-dairy milk)

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup oil (sunflower, safflower, canola)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

Pinch of ground nutmeg

1/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 175 ° C. Grease a muffin tin with oil or any butter/margarine of the vegan variety.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In another bowl, mash bananas and mix with milk, sugar, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

Make a well in your dry ingredients bowl, and pour in wet ingredients, mixing well.

Fold in nuts if you choose to add them.

Pour batter into greased muffin tins, about ¾ full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Insert a toothpick into center of one to test. If it comes out clean, it’s done!

Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

When in Prague: Pork and Potatoes

If there's one thing Czechs are known for, besides beer, it's cooking pork and potatoes. This is something they have down to a science, a traditional meal that can be found in almost every home, pub, and restaurant.

So sure, if you want some řízek (what we Americans call Schnitzel), it's easy enough to head down to the local pub and order some. But it's also easy enough to cook at home (I swear).

My mom has been making breaded pork cutlets for me since I was little, so this is actually a Czech-style meal I am not afraid to cook. And while I don't have a family recipe for it, the same way I do for meatballs or stuffed artichokes, it is fairly simple to make, and chances are you already have most of the ingredients you need at home already.

The nice thing about living in a country where this is a staple meal is that it's easy to find the proper cuts of meat you need in any market. I used pork here, but you can use chicken or veal as well.

To make the cutlets, all you need is flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs.

For the roasted potatoes, the ways you can season them are endless. I usually coat them in oil and either a dry dressing or soup packet, or you can mix up your own spices if you're feeling especially creative.
Line a roasting pan with foil, spread the coated potatoes evenly, pour remaning mix on top, and roast in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes, testing with a fork to make sure they're done.


I served mine with tartar sauce (of course), but you can serve with any sauce or dressing you like.

And that's it! A really simply dish that uses few ingredients, but is high in flavor.


Pork cutlets with roasted potatoes

Serves 2-4

3-6 boneless pork cutlets
3/4-1 cup all purpose flour
1-2 eggs
3/4-1 cup breadcrumbs
2-3 large potatoes
1 packet dry soup or dressing mix (or your own spice mix)
3-4 tbsp olive oil
oil for frying

Preheat oven to 190° C and line a shallow roasting pan with foil. Cut potatoes into small wedges, and place into large bowl. Add seasoning packet (soup/dressing mix or your own) and generously coat with 3-4 tbsp of olive oil. Mix until potatoes are well coated with oil and seasoning. Line out flat on roasting pan and place into oven. After 20 minutes, flip potatoes so they do not burn. Remove after 45 minutes, or when potato wedges can be easily pierced with fork.

While potatoes are roasting, coat a frying pan with oil (about 1/4 inch) and place on stove over medium-high heat. Crack eggs and whisk in a shallow bowl. Make an assembly line with the flour, beaten eggs, and breadcumbs each in a separate bowl. Take one cutlet, coat with flour, shaking off excess. Then coat with egg mixture, and finally breadcrumbs. Place cutlet into heated frying pan and cook 3-5 minutes each side. Repeat with remaining cutlets, adding more oil to the pan as needed. Once cooked place them on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Serve with tartar sauce or your favorite condiment or dressing.

I hope you're hungry

So let's start things off by making everyone hungry, if you're not already.

I've done a lot of cooking and baking during my time in Prague, and here are just a few photos of the many meals I've whipped up. Recipes to follow later, for now, just try not to drool on the keyboard.

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos. Most were taken with a (bad) camera phone, but I promise future photos will be much nicer!

Eggs Benedict. The brunch meal of champions. I've made this too many times to count, as my friends will attest to. Although it's traditionally made with Canadian bacon (basically ham), I mix it up and use either English bacon, smoked salmon, or tomatoes for my vegetarian friends. The Hollandaise sauce is not made from scratch, because who has that kind of time on a Sunday morning when all you want to do is drink mimosas and relax? The secret: I import Hollandaise sauce packets from the US. I know, I cheat!!! But it's  still amazing, trust me.

Good, old-fashioned apple pie. Who doesn't love it? This was actually made for our Thanksgiving dinner, from scratch (including the dough)! What can I say, for some things I just don't cut corners. I've made it a few times since, it's a nice departure from the Apple Strudel which is served in many places here.

You will find out quickly there are certain types of foods I can't get enough of, and Tex-Mex is one of them. I'm pretty much in love with anything I can smother in salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. These are my beef nachos, with baked tortilla chips and homemade pico de gallo and guacamole. This usually gets made at LEAST once every two weeks, if not more often.

Mmmm burgers. I cannot take credit for making these, as one of my friends actually did. But oh man, these were probably the best burgers I've ever had. It was juicy, flavorful, and ENORMOUS. We do our "burgin'" quite often, so be prepared for more burger goodness.

Sweet and succulent chocolate cake. I love chocolate, especially dark, and this cake is just that. A dark, moist, cakey center with dark chocolate ganache frosting. It's highly recommended that you do not engage in physical activity for at least 30 minutes after you eat a piece.

So that's just a few samples of my baking and dining-in meals, don't worry, we'll get to the restaurants soon too. In fact I'll be going to two this weekend, one I have never been to, and one that is an old favorite, so check back for those reviews next week!