New year! New banana bread...

Almond meal?

What the heck is that? It is ground almonds. Simple as that… almond flour is ground blanched almonds, and almond meal is just ground almonds. Not just chopped nuts… but ground into a consistency somewhere between cornmeal and wheat flour.

Why? As I have mentioned I am trying to remove grain from my diet as much as possible and almond
meal allows me to hold on to a few favorite foods.

Breaded pork chops –
      I bread my marinated boneless pork loin chops in almond meal and then either fry or bake

Pie crust –
      Instead of using a traditional pie crust or a graham cracker crust, mix 2 cups almond meal
with 3 tbls melted butter and 2 tbls sugar. Press the mixture into a sturdy pie pan and prebake for 10 minutes. I added a pumpkin pie batter to the crust and baked into a delicious grain free pumpkin pie.

Banana bread – this was delicious. I made a quick bread with almond meal in place of flour and the
results were so amazing. The family loved it and it was devoured fairly quickly.

Cautions?

Well almond meal is very calorie dense, it carries a load of fat, protein, and fiber that is greater than
regular wheat flour…but it is very low carbohydrate.

¼ cup almond meal
160 calories
14 grams of fat (1 gram saturated)
6 grams of carbohydrates (only 3 are sugar)
3 gram of fiber
5 grams of protein.

¼ cup all-purpose white flour
114 calories
.25 grams fat
24 grams of carbohydrates (0 sugars)
.6 grams of fiber
3 grams of protein


Although almond flour has a higher total fat content, the fat is made up of fatty acids that were shown to reduce cholesterol levels in a 2002 study conducted by Canadian researchers.
(source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/90491-nutrition-information-almond-flour/)

So which one is better? That is up to you, but for me having a lighter carbohydrate load is excellent for my diabetes.

Here is a quick and easy banana bread that I made this weekend. My only warning is to watch the bread closely; mine was very done on the edges (almost burnt) after about 50 minutes.

Almond Flour Banana Bread from The Wannabe Chef
(http://www.thewannabechef.net/2012/06/04/almond-flour-banana-bread/)

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 55 minutes

Ingredients (Makes 1 loaf):

1 1/2 cups almond meal or almond flour
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil (I used butter)
3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
3 medium bananas, mashed(about 3/4 cup banana puree)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (was out of nutmeg, substituted cinnamon)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts(optional) ( I added some delicious local walnuts)
1/2 cup chocolate chips(optional) (maybe next time)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, eggs, oil, sugar, mashed bananas, vanilla,
cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt until there are no clumps.

Fold the walnuts, chocolate chips, or any other mix-ins you might want into the batter.

Lightly grease a 5 x 10 or similar sized loaf pan and pour in the batter.

Bake for 55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (watch carefully)

Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.

The bread was delicious and I cannot wait to try again.

Try your hand at something different in 2013… and let me know what do think of this recipe on
www.facebook.com/cookingwithtrace or on my website at www.cookingwithtrace.com

Happy new year!

Broiled grapefruit… yeah Broiled.. with an “r”

I have read several blogs lately about the idea of broiled grapefruit, and it is an intriguing idea. I saw one recipe ranging from simple (cut in half, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and butter) to decadent (brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, oats, etc…) and while each recipe has its own merits I wanted something different.

I have never been a traditional grapefruit eater, I do use a grapefruit spoon or knife. I typically peel and eat them like an orange. If it is particularly tart I might sprinkle some sugar on the sections. However lately I have been peeling the fruit with a knife and cutting into sections. This way I can make it portable and fairly easy to eat. Here is a quick video on how to peel a grapefruit http://youtu.be/1tbf9fGAC10.

So I peeled my fruit and a sliced it into patties (?)

I mixed a pinch of salt with a  ½ teaspoon of sugar and about  ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and the sprinkled on top of the grapefruit. Placed under the broiler for 5-7 minutes. 

I really liked the flavor, it was interesting to have a warm citrus and the little bit of spice was tasty. I think I will double the amount of topping and broil for just a minute or two longer. 

Enjoy! Now go broil something! 

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