Julie's Favorite: Banana Bread French Toast!

     This is my wife Julie's favorite breakfast.  I think she would eat it everyday if she could.  The kids and I now make this every Mother's Day for her for breakfast.  Start with your favorite Banana Bread recipe, there are many variations out there, I like to place toasted pecans and banana slices on the top before baking. Obviously, the banana bread should be made in advance, perhaps the night before?
One of my favorite Banana bread recipes (adapted from Tyler Florence):

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.
Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don't get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that's no mistake, it's typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.
Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

 Now we need to get our toppings ready.  First, make a simple compound butter with softened butter, cinnamon, and sugar.  Return this mixture to the fridge to get cold again.

The Meatballs.........

     I love meatballs more than anything, and I think I have them mastered!  The key is not to mix the meat to much with your hands.  I like to use beef and pork for mine, in a 2 part beef 1 part pork ratio.  First I saute some onions and garlic, usually I will double what I need for the sauce and remove half to a bowl to cool before adding my paste and making my red sauce, then use the other half for the meatballs.  In a large bowl, add your ground meat, the cooled onions and garlic, 1egg mixed for every pound of meat, salt and pepper to taste, some chopped parsley and grated parmigiana reggiano cheese.  I also like to soak a few pieces of quality Italian bread in milk, chop it in to cubes and add it to the mix.  Now gently fold the ingredients together only as much as you need to incorporate them.  I will layer mine when mixing by adding half the beef, eggs, parsley, etc. then the pork, then the other half of the ingredients, then rest of the beef so I don't have to mix as much ( over mixing makes them hard and tough).  Now refrigerate for a while to allow mix to get cold again and come together.  Then roll the meatballs in the size you want them and brown in a skillet with olive oil, rotating them to get even brownness on all sides.  A good trick to test the seasoning is to take a small amount of the mix and cook it and taste it to see if it needs salt, more cheese whatever.

Where it all began............Red Sauce!

     When I was thinking about what my first post would be, it became obvious, the first thing I learned to cook, and to this day still my favorite......mom's spaghetti and meatballs!  No good Italian would be without a great simple recipe for this basic home dish.  I have great memories of being in the kitchen with my mom, helping in any way I could.  Usually, I would get to mix the meatball meat, and taste it raw before anyone else (knowing what we know today about eating raw meat and eggs probably wasn't the best thing for me but I loved it and never had a problem, I survived without a child seat as well!).    Start the sauce with a few simple fresh ingredients.  A yellow onion chopped, some fresh chopped garlic, a good quality olive oil ( I prefer Colavita) and some good quality canned whole tomatoes (preferable San Marzano, they are more $ but definitely worth it).  Put the tomatoes in a large bowl and remove any skin or stems.  Crush them with your fingers when you are through so you know you got them all.  I then use an immersion blender to smooth any large chunks into a nice blended sauce.  Saute the chopped onion and garlic until onion begins to become translucent, add a tablespoon of tomato paste, and some salt and saute for a few more minutes.  Then add the crushed tomatoes and stir.  Let it come to boil and reduce to a low simmer.  Now add basil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.  I prefer fresh herbs for my sauce but dry is okay, be careful with dried oregano, it can be overpowering.  Next, add some brown sugar.  For a fairly large batch of sauce, I would use 1 large onion,  10 cloves of garlic, maybe 2 tbs. of brown sugar, salt, pepper, oregano, basil to taste (throw in a bunch of fresh) to 6 large cans of tomatoes.  Let it cook low and slow stirring and tasting for spice for a few hours!

Introduction: Food is an expression of love!

     People always tell me after eating my food that I have to give them the recipe for this dish or that dish.  Well, for the most part, I really have no written recipes and amounts for most of my cooking, other than baking, which I'm not really crazy about.  Even when I am using someone else's recipe, I just read it and see what is in it, then recreate the dish the way I like to cook.  I cook more by sight, smell, and memory.....and the food always seams to come out the same.  I will now try however, to start writing down how much of what I use when I cook the dishes I will be putting on my blog, for my family to have as well as to share with others!!  I guess that is one of the main reasons why I have decided to start this blog!  These recipes are a mix of my own, my family's, as well as adaptations from other recipes I like to cook.  For me cooking is more than just feeding people, it is an expression of love and passion.  That is the way I learned it and remember it, and that is the way I want to pass it down to my children.  I want them to experience the same love of food and eating, it brings families and friends together and creates great memories that last a lifetime.