Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta

Whip yo' feta, gurl. // Instagram @kguymon

Last night could have very well been my last hurrah in the kitchen for quite some time. I'm having a baby in a couple of weeks, so I decided to go all out and treat my family to a meal that required hours of prep versus only twenty minutes (like I've been doing most of the summer).

I heard through the grapevine o' friends that Barefoot Contessa's whipped feta crostini was the bees' knees, and now that my tomato plants are producing some little red cherries, I thought it was the perfect addition to our menu of peach-glazed porkchops, German potato salad, and peach-goat cheese-spiced pecan salad.

Creamy, crunchy, tangy... I'm definitely digging on this crostini.




Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta [adapted from Barefoot Contessa]

-5 oz. crumbled feta
-3 oz. cream cheese
-2/3 cup of olive oil, divided
-juice of one lemon
-kosher salt
-fresh cracked pepper
-2 shallots, diced
-2 teaspoons of minced garlic
-2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
-2 10.5 oz. containers of cherry tomatoes, quartered (or about 30 from your garden)
-20 slices of baguette, cut into 1/2 slices and toasted
-2 tablespoons of pine nuts

1. For the whipped feta, place the feta and cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add 1/3 cup of the olive oil, the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and process until smooth.

2. For the tomatoes, up to an hour before serving, combine the shallots, garlic, and vinegar in a medium bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add the tomatoes, stir gently, and set aside for 10 minutes.

3. To assemble the crostini, spread each slice of bread with a generous amount of whipped feta. With a slotted spoon, place the tomatoes on top. Put the crostini on plates, sprinkle with the pine nuts, and serve.

Zucchini Bread

Photo by Katie Guymon

My lovely father visited this weekend with gifts from his home garden: tomatoes, summer squash, and, yup, zucchini. Last night, around 9:45, after grading was complete, I got a wild hair to put those zukes to use. I mashed together the best parts of multiple recipes from the web, and came up with one that suits my lack of an overly sweet tooth. If I took an ad out for potential taste testers, it would include the following four words: Must Love Brown Sugar.

Once the bread was in the oven, I sat down to watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High (dude, the '80s were kind of gross...but I heart them so), and drank some wine. The end.

Zucchini Bread
-3 cups of all purpose flour
-1 cup of sugar
-1 cup of brown sugar
-1 teaspoon of kosher salt
-1 teaspoon of baking soda
-1 teaspoon of baking powder
-1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
-1 teaspoon of nutmeg
-1 cup of vegetable oil
-4 eggs, beaten
-2 cups of grated zucchini, drained (approximately two medium zucchini)
-splash of water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the zucchini, eggs, oil, and water.

3. In a large bowl, place the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg and whisk until combined.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well until just combined.

5. Spray loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Add the batter to 2 standard loaf pans and cook for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Alternatively, bake in four small loaf pans for 45 minutes.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Photo by Katie Guymon

Because I am a seriously wonderful wife with absolutely zero flaws, I kicked off our family's Father's Day celebration a little early with these Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins, otherwise known as the recipe that makes my thirty-three-year old husband revert back to his five-year old self. We're only missing the platinum blonde bowl cut.

Yup, this is my mother-in-law's recipe because, according to Matt, just no other one will do. (How is my husband a mama's boy? Let me count the ways...) And, after using this recipe multiple times for bread and muffins, I completely agree. The verdict is in: 'TIS GOOD.

Now, these muffins lean a little to the dessert side, in my humble opinion, because of the addition of the sweet, sweet chocolate. But, you could always leave out the chocolate altogether for pure banana-y goodness. Alternatively, you could replace the chocolate chips with nuts or oatmeal. Hey, the world's your oyster.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins [serving size: 12 muffins]
-1 stick of butter, softened
-1 cup of sugar
-2 eggs
-2 cups of flour
-1 teaspoon of baking soda
-3 tablespoons of buttermilk
-3 bananas, mashed
-3 ounces of chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.

3. Add eggs and bananas then beat well.

4. Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk, then add it to the banana mixture and beat well.

5. Add flour and beat until just combined.

6. Stir in the chocolate chips.

7. Using a scoop, spoon the batter into the muffin cups to fill the liners. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean and the tops are nicely browned.

Note: if you'd like to make Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread instead, simply bake the batter in a buttered loaf pan for about an hour. 

Apple Bread

Photo by Katie Guymon

Apple Bread [adapted from allrecipes.com]
-3 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup white sugar
-1 cup brown sugar
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 cup applesauce
-2 eggs, beaten
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-2 cups apples, cored, peeled, and chopped

1. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. 

2. In separate mixing bowl, place applesauce, sugar, eggs, vanilla and apples. Stir into flour mixture. 

3. Divide mixture between two greased 8"x 4" bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until bread test done. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from pan. 

Note: My batter was too thick, so I added about 3/4 cups of milk so all of the dry ingredients would combine with the wet. I also made one loaf in a 10" loaf pan, so I baked the bread for almost an hour.