Banana Bread Rolls

I have been baking again this week as you might guess!

Besides, I've been tackling my list of saved recipes this week! The result so far is: I have actually tried three new recipes in three days. None was a disaster, one was fantastic, one quite good and one...not bad, but not on the list for making again.
I am happy about how this went this week. Usually I save so many recipes and at some point I decide that I have to do a clear-out, because I can't find anything anymore =P
So in case you are curious - the one that was fantastic (honestly! I think I haven't tried anything that nice in quite some time!) was this version of Shepherd's Pie from Edible Perspective.

But back to what I've been baking! Banana Bread Rolls!
And no, they're not muffins, even though I always make them in a muffin pan - the dough is quite sticky and soft, that's why.
They don't require any artistic talent in case you didn't want to make the Schneckennudeln because of that ;-) These rolls are not like a typical cake or muffin recipe. They're made with yeast and resemble a typical yeast roll that is a bit heavier and has a subtle taste of banana and cocoa that is not overwhelming, though.

Banana Bread Rolls

Time required: about 30 min + waiting + 30 min + waiting + 10 min + 30 min for rising + 25 for baking

	for 9 rolls	for 12 rolls
	335 g (34 g nuts	445 g (44 g nuts)	Cashewmilk
	6-8 g	8-10 g	fresh yeast
OR	3 g	4 g	dried yeast
and in that case	1 tsp	1 tsp	honey
	335 g	445 g	whole wheat flour
	335 g	445 g	whole wheat flour
	2 tsp	2 ½ tsp	cinnamon
	1 tbsp +1 tsp	2 tbsp	cocoa powder
	1 tsp	1 1/3 tsp	salt
	300 g	400 g	banana, mashed
equals	2 large	3 normal sized	bananas
	2 2/3 tbsp	3 ½ tbsp	honey
	54 g	72 g	butter, melted

•  Grind cashew nuts and blend with water  to make cashewmilk. Pour a part into a jug and, in the same blender, blend the remaining milk with yeast and (if using dried yeast, honey).  In a bowl, mix flour, yeast-milk and remaining milk. If using a electric machine, use the paddle attachment. Using a spatula, try to fold in the sides to give the dough a bit of tension. Let rest covered for at least 3 hours at room temperature.

• In a second bowl mix second part of the flour, cinnamon, cocoa and salt. Add mashed banana, honey, melted butter and the flour mixture to the dough. Knead into a dough. This will not become smooth, but will remain very sticky. If using a machine, use the dough hook attachment. If the dough seems quite hard add some water. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least 8 hours at room temperature.

• Cut out squares of baking paper (do not use - under no circumstances - greaseproof paper - this will only give you lots of grief! ... I've done that) and, smoothing them over a small glass turned upside-down, turn them into moulds. You can also use non-stick muffin tin liners (but only if they're non stick). If you only have paper versions, rather just grease the muffin tin very well.
• Knead the dough again. With wet hands pull the dough into pieces and place them in the moulds. This doesn't have to look nice. Just rip the dough in pieces and make sure it's all in the moulds. Put the muffin pan in a warm place where there is no draught and let the rolls rise for about 25 minutes.
• If your oven needs preheating, preheat to 210°C.

• When the rolls have risen, place them in the oven and bake for 22-24 minutes.

• Remove them from the tin directly after baking and place on a cooling rack. If you used any paper for lining remove this. If you'd like to freeze any rolls, freeze them in sealed plastic bags directly after baking when hot (this way they retain the moisture). For thawing let them thaw in a plastic bag at room temperature for 4-5 hours. If you have the possibility you can reheat them for example on a toaster rack.

As always: If anyone tries this I'd love to hear from you!
Also I'm happy about any wishes and comments :-)

Rich & Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

Hi there on Sunday night! Do you have some time to spare for cooking something nice tomorrow? Or do you have a butternut squash you don't know what to do with?
Stay with me then until the recipe is revealed ;-)

In fact I did not have a plan today for what to make for dinner....
But since my housemate went to the market today and brought home lots of things - which is great, Thanks! :-) - I just decided to go for what looked like it needed to be eaten first.
In that case it was a butternut squash.

Have you tried it before? Butternut is a quite sweet-ish sort of squash. It has much more flavour than the usual Halloween pumpkin, which doesn't taste like anything to me if I'm honest. It was even my favourite squash before my housemate brought home some green squash for the first time. Unfortunately I don't know the name of that one right now, but it really is delicious!

In this sauce though, butternut squash works just fine!
You could use Hokkaido, which is probably the most popular pumpkin in Germany. The sauce will taste quite different, though, since Hokkaido does not taste anywhere as sweet when cooked. Sweet potato, in my opinion, is kind of too sweet. Carrot alone I haven't tried yet, but carrot mixed with squash is quite good as well!

The recipe I started from I found a few years ago here on Oh She Glows.
Since then me and my Mum have changed it a couple of times and the following is the current version ;-)

Due to the nutritional yeast the sauce tastes a bit cheesy and not at like "healthy vegetables" ;-)
It is rich and creamy and is a perfect comfort food for wintery or rainy days.
There are a lot of similar recipes out there on the internet. They often describe the sauce as a "Mac'n Cheese Sauce". Since I've never tried that I cannot tell you if it does indeed taste like that. So if you try this and you know traditional English/American Mac'n Cheese then I'd love to hear what you think about that comparison!

for 3 people
450 g	butternut squash, in cubes
	olive oil
	salz
	pepper
1tbsp	butter
26 g	cashew nuts
200 g	water
1-2 tbsp	flour
2-3 tbsp	nutritional yeast
½ tsp	mustard (vinegary & tangy, not sweet)
1	garlic clove, grated
	salt
	pepper
	nutmeg (best is freshly grated)
300 g	pasta
250 g	spinach, fresh (cut) or thawed

• Cut up the squash. I find it easiest to cut it into rounds (or half-rounds if you're on the part where you scoop out the seeds) and then to cut the peel off the rounds instead of trying to peel the whole thing.
• Place in a baking tray and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle on olive oil. Put into the oven and roast at 220°C for 40 to 60 minutes, so that it is slightly browned.
• In the meantime make the sauce:
• Grind cashews in a blender until they are as fine as they get. Add water and blend again.
• Melt butter over low heat in a medium-sized pot. Have a for or whisk at hand. Pour cashew milk into the pot and add flour. Whisk until smooth. Turn heat up slightly. You want the mixture to simmer over low heat. Add in nutritional yeast, mustard, grated garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whisk. Make sure that the sauce bubbles slightly and, whisking frequently, let bubble uncovered for about 7-10 minutes. Let stand until squash is roasted.
• Heat pasta water and cut or thaw spinach.
• When the squash is roasted, put it into the pot with the sauce. With a stick blender blend up the sauce. Alternatively you could do this is a blender or food processor. If you have neither I think it should work if you mash up the squash with a potato masher as fine as you can and then whisk the sauce. I haven't tried that though, but I'm quite confident it will work.
• Taste and season as desired.

• Cook pasta. Reserve some cooking water in a cup. Drain pasta. Place drained pasta along with the spinach into the pot with the sauce. Thin out with pasta water as desired. Let pasta simmer on very low heat in the sauce for about 3-5 minutes. This will let them absorb the sauce better and will let spinach wilt (if it is fresh).
• Enjoy!

The sauce (at the stage where you've just blended it, before you add spinach) also freezes well!

Pan-Baked Spiced Millet-Balls

As Sunday is coming, I thought this might be nice for you to read on Sunday or maybe even to make!

Well, no ... in fact I didn't plan this. I just made it the second time this week. The first try was not quite what I wanted, but I think I've now found a good way to make these. And tomorrow it just happens to be Sunday and I was looking for a nice introduction to this post.

The recipe Millet Cakes with Carrot and Spinach by Love & Lemons, which I read earlier this week, was my inspiration for these. I have changed a few bits and pieces to my taste, though.
The key to these is to get them nice and crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside. But I have to say that the mixture itself tastes pretty good too. I just couldn't resist while forming the balls...

Maybe, you'd like to do these as a starter or have them as a side, but you could also do a lot of them and just eat them on their own. Or make a lot and save some for lunch the next day...
Which was my plan, but in fact my housemate and I ate all of them ;-)

I can imagine that either a tahini-based sauce - like hummus - or something based on sour cream would go well with these. They are not hard to make and something quite different.

Time: I forgot to precisely watch the time, but I think in total it took me about 45-50 minutes to make these.

for 16 tabletennis-sized balls
(1 as a main or 2 as a side)
100 g	millet
1 cup	water
1/4 tsp	salt
1/2	onion
1	garlic clove
1 tbsp	olive oil
1	carrot
90 g	spinach (fresh or thawed)
1 heaped tbsp	flaxseed
1 tbsp	cashews
about 1/4 cup	water
	salt
	pepper
1-2 tsp	curry (depending on the curry)
	mint leaves (fresh & chopped or dried and crumbled)
	butter

• Put millet in a pot, along with 1 cup of water and ¼ tsp of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer with the lid half on for about 10 minutes. Turn the heat off as soon as the water has been absorbed and let stand covered until you have prepared everything else.
• Chop the onion and separately chop the garlic. Grate the carrot and chop the spinach into large pieces.
• Heat the olive oil over low heat in a pan. Add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes. In the meantime place flaxseeds and cashews in a blender and blend finely. Add the ¼ cup of water and blend again. Then add carrot and spinach to the pan and continue frying for another 5 minutes until the vegetables have wilted.
• Add some salt, pepper, the garlic, the mint and the curry and fry for another 3 minutes.
• Put flaxseed-cashew milk in a bowl. Add millet and the spinach-mixture. With a spoon mix everything very well.
• Take out a large plate. For the millet mixture into little balls (I'd say about the size of table tennis balls). Place all balls on a plate. Over low heat. heat a little bit of butter in a frying pan (you can use the same one as before) and place the balls in the butter. Over medium heat fry the balls from one side. Don't turn them, since you want them to get brown. Be patient. When they turn brown, turn them over, using two spoons. Also add a bit more butter in little pieces at different places into the pan. Fry the balls until the other side is also brown. The balls might stick a bit to the pan, but if you use a spoon you should be able to "lift" them off the pan so they stay relatively whole. If they don't do that completely, don't worry, the crusts will still taste good!
• Turn off the heat, place balls on a plate and serve them in whatever way you like.

You could replace spinach and carrots by other vegetables and adjust spices to your taste!

I hope that you enjoy these or thinking about them! :-)