Roasted Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto and Greek Lemon Potatoes

06 Monday May 2013

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easter dinner, feast, greek lemon potatoes, grilled butterfied leg of lamb with mint pesto, Mario Batali, ravioli, spinach lasgna bolognese al forno

Every year I prepare a roasted Leg of Lamb and Spinach Lasagne Bolognese al Forno for Easter dinner. This year, I focused on Lamb as the main course because the lasagne takes over 5 hours to make and serves a large group, the process is tedious but worth the energy and time it takes to move through each step of the process. The secret is in the details, the spinach needs to be blanched and chilled in a ice bathed, the pasta takes time to make from scratch and roll out each layer, the bolognese needs to simmer and stew in the dry white wine and the bechemel just needs time to discover it’s full richness.

I have memories of making pasta and ravioli’s from scratch every Sunday after church, in between arm wrestling my brother over who ate more and won the ravioli contest. If you ask him now, he might say during those formative years it sucked having an older brother for a sister. Tom-girl yo but now I just love my bro and would never pin him down and slowly spit in his face because I could. Trust me, the summer he grew past me, I was like “need anything, pillow, water, a snip in your sleeves so those biceps can breathe, you good?” It actually wasn’t funny then but best of friends now and grateful we’re in this life together — spiritually growing all the time.

Next year, I’m planning to invite anyone who is hungry for love food over and celebrate a giant Easter Feast. I’m so grateful for all the joyful and bright people in my life and those I meet all the time. My sphere of influence is expanding and filling up with all kinds of inter-dimensional carnies – bring that shit on.

Back to the lamb, I try different recipes every year to continually test new dishes. The mint pesto makes the dish but next time I’ll follow Mario’s lead and grill the lamb butterfly this baby. Here it is slow roasted to finger licking good.

5 – 8 lb Leg of Lamb (deboned, butcher tied)
1/2 Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Garlic Cloves
4 Springs of fresh Rosemary
2 Lemons
Salt and Pepper

MINT PESTO

2 Cups fresh Mint
1 Cup Basil
1/2 Cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/3 Cup Pine Nuts (toasted)
2 Garlic Cloves
1/3 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

For the Mint Pesto: Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Season to taste and set aside while you prepare the lamb.

For the Greek Lemon Potatoes:

I wing it but looks like a pound of baby Yukon gold potatoes, 3 or 4 lemons and a handful of fresh Jerusalem artichokes. Cut the potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes in half, add fresh squeezed lemon juice and one cup of chicken stock to the roasting pan with the veggies. Chop the dill but don’t add til the end when you remove from roasting in the oven.

1 lb Yukon gold potatoes
8 – 10 Jerusalem artichokes
3 – 4 lemons
Dill, hand full chopped
1 Cup chicken stock

For the Roasted Scallions: Spread on a baking sheet, drizzle with Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper.

For the Lamb, generously cover with sea salt, pepper and olive oil before you brown each side. Make sure the potatoes are halfway submerged with lemon juice and chicken stock so the tops can brown and get crispy.

Brown the lamb on all sides in a dutch oven pan or cast iron skillet. Then cover the lamb with the mint pesto and place in the oven to roast for 45 mins on 450 degrees. Lower the heat to 375 degrees and cook for about 30 mins more, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the lamb reads 135 degrees. Transfer to a cutting board and allow to cool and rest for 10 mins before slicing.

For the potatoes, roast for an hour, and remove. Then roast the scallions for about 20 mins or until brown.

Enjoy!

Herb and Mustard Roasted Pork Loin with Asparagus and Mushroom Quinoa

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by elmoeats in Chef's Secret, Original Recipes

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asparagus, birthday, California Olive Ranch, herb and mustard roasted pork loin, mushrooms, pork loin, quinoa, sunday supper at lucques, Suzanne Goin

HERB & MUSTARD ROASTED PORK LOIN WITH ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOM QUINOA

This recipe is from Suzanne Goin’s cookbook Sunday Supper’s At Lucques and her award-winning restaurant in Los Angeles. She developed this cookbook to illustrate each season with a variety of 4 course menus ranging from fish to meat to vegetarian meals. It’s the perfect cookbook to read cover to cover if you want to learn about the techniques, ingredients, seasonal vegetables and how to prepare each course.

My birthday is coming up and Springtime is my natural state of being. I love to celebrate the rebirth that Spring brings with all kinds of delicious dishes. If you’re planning a dinner party, this Roasted Pork Tenderloin is an excellent choice. You can prepare and marinade the pork ahead of time, refrigerate and roast right when your guests arrive filling the house with a beautiful aroma and serve dinner right from the oven. For the quinoa, I chop all the veggies and quickly saute and mix with the quinoa right before I serve it. This is a wonderful classic dish made better!

Pork Loin, 3lbs or more
1/2 Cup Dijon Mustard
2 Tbs Thyme Leaves, chopped
2 or 3 Tbs Parsley Leaves, chopped
3 Sprigs Rosemary
3 Sprigs Sage
3 Tbs Olive Oil
6 Cloves Garlic, mashed or minced
6 Tbs Butter (optional, I did not use it here but it’s extra delicious if you do)
Sea Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper

Optional Mustard Breadcrumbs

2 Tbs Butter
1 Tbs Dijon Mustard
1 Tsp Thyme, chopped
1 Tsp Parsley, chopped

Whisk the mustard, thyme, parsley and 2 tbs of olive oil. Try to buy and use the highest quality of olive oil you can. I love California Olive Ranch you can find it online if it’s not readily available in your area. Stir the garlic, and brush the mixture all over the pork loin. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.

Remove the pork from the fridge one hour before cooking, after 30 minutes season it well with salt and pepper. Reserve the marinade.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Heat 2 Tbs of olive oil in a large skillet until it’s almost smoking. Place the pork loin in pan, sear it on all sides until well browned. Be sure to remove half of the marinade before you sear, so you can reapply before roasting. The whole process should take about 15 – 20 mins to brown all sides. Transfer the pork loin to the roasting pan brush the reserved marinade all around the meat. Reserve the pan that you browned the meat in to make the sauce.

You can add 3 Tbs of butter to the top of the roast before placing it in the oven, but this is optional. Roast the meat until a thermometer reads 120F – about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let the pork rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.

The Pan Sauce:
While the pork is roasting make the sauce. Heat the pan you used to sear the meat on med heat, add 1/2 cup water (or chicken stock) and stir until it boils, scrapping down the bottom of the pan. Reduce by boiling a few minutes, swirl 3 Tbs of butter and reserve until time to serve.

The Mustard Breadcrumbs: Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, whisk in the mustard, thyme, and parsley. Remove fromm the heat, let it cool slightly and add to the breadcrumbs, tossing to coat. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 10 mins or until golden brown.

Once you are ready to serve, slice the meat and spoon the sauce over each slice and sprinkle with the mustard breadcrumbs.

ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOM QUINOA

I usually just toss this together and you can use any combination of grain or vegetable you prefer. With pork, I love the flavor of mushrooms, red onions and asparagus sauteed.. I used two kinds of quinoa because I had them in my pantry. Prepare the quinoa per the instructions.

Chop the vegetables you decide to use and include a fresh herb.

Saute in a very little drizzle of olive oil. Once it starts to cook down and become translucent – I add a splash of sherry and continue to saute cooking off the vinegar leaving a wonderful light flavor.

Mix the warm quinoa with the freshly sauteed vegetables, add a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper to taste and a little olive oil.

Here’s the pork while it was sitting before I sliced it into piece. Since I was preparing this for my blog, I cut it into big pieces to stop the cooking process. If I was having a dinner party I would cut thinner pieces and prepare the mustard breadcrumbs.

Enjoy!

Green Goddess Juice

11 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by elmoeats in Healthy Eats, Original Recipes

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Chemex, Fit Bit, Green Goddess, Inteligentsia, Juice, Kundalini, Malibu, mediation, Solstice Canyon, Vegetables

There’s no particular reason I’m calling this Green Goddess other than it’s exactly what I’m feeling on this beautiful day! I’m writing this post from Venice Beach huddled in the corner of Intelligentsia where you can find some of the best people watching outside of Brooklyn and my hood – I love the creative vibe. I’m sipping a delicious cup of Chemex prepared coffee from some remote region of the world that I always seem to forget immediately after I order. I’m a devote follower of the Chemex filtering process and brew a cup each morning, well, I’m trying to have one cup a day not the entire kettle but working on that.

Yesterday, I made this juice from left over veggies from the Lamb Tagine mixed with what I had in my refrigerator before I hit the farmers market today. I pressed this juice then drove to Malibu to hike Solstice Canyon and later went to a Kundalini class at Golden Bridge.

Chop the vegetables and press into the juicer. It’s super easy, fast and easy to clean up. I try to press enough juice for two days at a time or make a quick cup with left overs.

Heres’ the hike at Solstice Canyon in Malibu – it’s a beautiful hour and a half hike straight to the top of the mountains over looking the ocean. Once you start to descend on the back side of the range you cross over a little stream and step foot onto the property of a house that was destroyed in the 50′s from canyon fires.

I clocked over 10k steps on my FitBit. If you don’t have one, go online right now and do it! It’s so fun to track your fitness and goals on your iPhone, iPad and computer.

After the hike in Malibu I took a Kundalini and Meditation class at Golden Bridge in Hollywood.

South Moroccan Lamb Whole Wheat Couscous Tagine, Esalen in Big Sur

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by elmoeats in Uncategorized

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Cookbook, eggplant, elmoeats, Esalen, Esalen Institute, Farm, freedom, Garden, health, hot springs, Lamb, Lamb Tagine, love, meditation, Morocco, whole wheat couscous

SOUTH MOROCCAN LAMB COUSCOUS TAGINE, Inspired by my trip to the ESALEN in BIG SUR

This is the national dish of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia located in the northwestern corner of Africa. I discovered this recipe in the Esalen cookbook on my recent trip. Once I got home, I prepared this dish because I wanted to share something special with my girlfriends in celebration of my amazing adventure. I collect cookbooks and was thrilled to add this one to my collection. Every recipe in this book is from someone who stayed or worked at Esalen, which makes it incredible special because it’s how most families preserve their family heritage and this corner of the world definitely feels like home to me.

Esalen is one of the most magical and spiritual places I’ve traveled to in a very long time and it’s funny because I’ve been to Big Sur a bunch of times over the years but never thought to stay here until two weeks ago when I decided it was time to explore. My girlfriend Jen, whose been traveling all over the world for the last 5 years and is currently in Peru, told me about Esalen and I’ve been waiting for the right time in my life to go.

They offer all kinds of workshops, classes and activities – I joined an ecstatic dance class at sunset overlooking the ocean the first day I arrived and found myself lost in the freedom of the moment. I went alone and it was the best decision giving me the opportunity to explore, write, think, meet new people and rejuvenate. You can harvest the fruits, vegetable and herbs early each morning with the cooks if you’d like – they prepare three meals a day and have a homemade bread station that is always open stocked with organic nut butters, tahini, jams etc… Every meal is served in the main lodge and it’s pure, fresh, organic, and filled with health and love. It was hard for me to leave.

Here’s a little side salad I made to accompany the tagine. It’s a mache and power green salad with sunflower seeds, goat cheese and a simple lemon and olive oil dressing.

ESALEN in Big Sur

This is the view from the farm facing the lodge, cliffs and ocean. It’s breathtaking and a reminder that I need to spend more time closer to the ocean. I frolicked in the garden, nibbling on fresh black kale right from the plant and wondered the property soaking in all it’s beauty and sustenance.

The coastline of Big Sur is one of the most incredible scenic drives on Route 1 in California. And as luck would have it or maybe by design, there is no cell service once you hit Big Sur, you just turn up the music, stay present in the moment and take in all that inspires – and give thanks.

The natural sulfur hot springs are clothing optional and I highly recommend everyone goes at least once in their lifetime and opt for no clothes – trust me it’s healing and beautiful on every level.

This is the meditation room that is located over the bridge beyond the first garden. This is where I took one of the most powerful spiritual chakra mediation classes of my life. I attribute the amazing experience to the teacher, she guided us on a series of simple visuals from clearing our chakra’s to a higher connection. I’m so grateful for the experience. It awakened my Kundalini energy and helped me realize that I need to start a daily mediation practice.

SOUTH MOROCCAN LAMB WITH WHOLE WHEAT COUSCOUS TAGINE

1 small eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 med onion, diced
2 med carrots, diced
1 small celery root or 3 celery stalks, diced
1 cup of diced butternut squash or 1 small yam
1 med zucchini or 6 mini zucchini, cut into small rounds
1 Quart Vegetable Stock
1 Tbs Sea Salt
1 Rutabaga, diced
1 Cinnamon stick
4 Whole Cloves
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Turmeric
2 Pounds Lamb, Cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Jar Tomato Sauce
1/2 Tsp Saffron threads
2 Cups cooked chickpeas
1 Handful Cilantro and Parsley, Chopped
Olive Oil
Sea Salt/Cracked Pepper

First, season the lamb with salt and pepper and in a heavy dutch oven brown the meat in a teaspoon of olive oil, then set aside.

Once you remove the lamb, saute the carrots, onions and celery for about 5 minutes or until translucent.

Continue to saute and add the cubed eggplant, butternut squash and zucchini.

Add one jar of fresh tomato sauce, I used a jar from the summer when I canned the heirloom tomatoes.

Add the browned lamb and parsley, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Add the spices and chickpeas. Then turn back down to simmer for the next hour and a half.

Here’s the tagine after it cooked for an hour and a half.

Prepare the whole wheat couscous and add a handful of parsley and a little lemon and olive oil for a mild flavor.

Serve the lamb tagine over the couscous and enjoy!

Roasted Whole Chicken with Greek Orzo Salad

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by elmoeats in Chef's Secret, Original Recipes

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ancient grains, California Olive Ranch, cherry tomatoes, clean, enjoy, farmers markets, free range chicken, greek orzo salad, Healthy, kalamata olives, organic baby greens, power greens, sweet onions, whole roasted chicken

ROASTED WHOLE CHICKEN WITH GREEK ORZO SALAD

This is one of my favorite meals to make when I’m having friends over and want to prepare something easy, clean, healthy and delicious. I often visit the farmers market on the hunt to harvest the freshest veggies each week so my side salads change depending on what is available. Use what you love, try something new, create a full range of hot or cold salads that compliment the roasted chicken. Test different grains – try bulgur, wheat berries, farro any ancient and whole grain mixed with fresh raw veggies and a cheese. Or you can leave the cheese out, add in roasted nuts or dried fruit.

I find even if you add a little blue cheese or goat cheese to the dressing, you will save the calories and add a wonderful flavor to the dressing. The idea is to invent and create what you love to eat, this way you’ll enjoy the process of preparing the dish and love the results.

1 Whole Free Range Chicken 5lbs (Must be Free of Hormones, Antibiotics, Pesticides and Certified Organic- meaning 100% raised from egg to plate)
2 Lemons
1 Bunch Thyme
1 Sweet Onion
Crazy Chicken Rub (Spice Station LA – it’s worth ordering online it’s excellent) or Herbes De Provence
Cherry Tomatoes – Two Handfuls of Sweet Yellow and Red
2 Persian Cucumbers
1 Small Red Onion
1 Bunch of Parsley
1 Bunch of Dill
Greek kalamata Olives, Pitted and Chopped
Feta cheese
Organic Power Baby Greens, Spinach, Kale, Chard
Honey Vinegar
California Olive Ranch Oil

First, wash and dry your organic free range chicken – it’s so important to buy the highest quality chicken and meats you have access too. It’s crucial to eat clean foods, especially poultry and meats to prevent disease, premature aging and increase your energy levels and live longer.

Rub the whole chicken with the crazy chicken rub from Silverlake Spice Station or use your favorite seasoning. Try to avoid any spices pre-mixed at the stores they tend to contain to much sodium. Make your own blend of dried spices and add fine sea salt to the mix.

Then fill the cavity with the lemon, onion and thyme. Then drizzle olive oil over the top of the seasoned chicken. Or you can use the olive oil pump and moderate how much oil you add.

Roast the chicken in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour and a half or less depending on your oven.

For the Greek orzo salad, start to chop all the veggies and mix in a bowl.

Add the chopped parsley, dill and pitted kalamata olives.

Stir and add in the crumbled feta cheese.

Prepare the Orzo, boil and stain once al dente.

Add to the bowl, combine and add a squeeze of half a lemon, vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and cracked pepper.

Once the chicken is finished roasting – remove from the oven and allow to sit for 15 minutes to allow the juices to distribute.

Mix the green separately, adding lemon, olive oil and vinegar – add to the main dish. Finish the plate with the carved white mean or the dark meat with a scoop of the Greek orzo salad and you have a perfectly delicious supper!

Enjoy!

Tofu Tacos Rule Them All!

10 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by elmoeats in Original Recipes

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avocado greek yogurt, California Olive Ranch, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, fage yogurt, Farmers Market, firm tofu, garlic, heathly family meal, katz vinegars, lime, low fat cheese, mango salsa, papaya, peppers, red onions, salsa, shallots, taco seasoning, taco shells, tofu, tofu tacos, tomatoes

TOFU TACOS

My brother made me tofu tacos years ago and I’ve been making them ever since. I like to change the recipe all the time using different veggies in season for the tofu saute and in the salsa. I’m definitely a carnivore but I love to eat tofu and vegetarian meals – this is one of my favorite ways to prepare tofu and everyone seems to LOVE it!

It’s truly surprising how many meat lovers to try these tacos and they always want more. Last year, I made these tacos for a group of friends at our Coachella House and excited to share the recipe! I’ll be making these again this year for the music festival!

1 Box Firm Tofu
1 Red Onion, chopped
1 Small Shallot, minced
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Limes
1 Lemon
Taco Shells, Organic Stoneground Yellow Corn
Taco Seasoning, packaged or mixed at local spice store
1 Red or Yellow or Orange Pepper, chopped
Fage Greek 2% Yogurt
10 Med Cherry Tomatoes (or the variety you prefer), chopped
1 Cilantro bunch, minced
1 Avocado, Ripe
1 Mango (or sliced mango/papaya), chopped
1 Jalapeno, minced
1 Blend of Lite Cheese (or not) Cheddar, Mozz, Jack, – about 1 cup, depends on what you
California Olive Ranch, Extra Virgin for Everyday Meals – Highest Quality
Katz Vioginer Honey Vinegar (or Red Wine or anything you have in your pantry – try something fruity in this dish)
Sea Salt/Cracked Pepper

I make the salsa first and let sit in the refrigerator to enhance the flavor. Here’s a picture of the ingredients for the homemade salsa. I added a few things after I took the first pic!

SALSA

Chop the following ingredients and combine in a bowl: Cherry tomatoes (10 – 15 or 2 Med tomatoes), half or 1/4 Jalapeno (add more and heat that shit up), 2 cloves of Garlic (mince), 1 small Shallot (mince), 1/2 Red Onion, Juice from half a Lime (or more to your taste), Papaya or Mango (or both) chop three slices, Cilantro half of a bunch chopped.

Mix all together in a bowl and season with sea salt, cracked black pepper. Add a tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and splash of Vinegar (red wine or other fruity variety) and let the flavors combine and marinade.

If you are having guests over for dinner, prepare everything in advance so all you have to do is saute the tofu and serve the tacos hot.

Next we’ll chop the rest of the veggies, tofu and make the arugula salad and avocado/Greek yogurt dressing.

TOFU TACO FILLING

For the tofu, thinly slice about 1/4 inch and lay flat on a paper towel or clean towel. Gently cover with another paper towel and press out the water.

Remove from the paper towels and stack and cut into thin squares like below. You need to cut the tofu into small squares so it’ll fit nicely into the taco shells.

AVOCADO GREEK YOGURT DRESSING

For the Avocado and Greek Yogurt dressing – mix one half of a ripe avocado with 4 tablespoons of Greek Yogurt. Mix together, add juice from half a lime and season to taste with salt and pepper. You can double the recipe if you’re making two packages of tofu for a bigger dinner.

So now, you have the homemade salsa and avocado greek yogurt prepared, next prep the veggies for the tofu saute and the arugula salad for the topping.

Place your taco shells, organic stoneground corn shells, on a baking sheet and set aside until you’re ready to heat up. You don’t have to cook them long, or they will start to close and crack in half with you try to fill, be sure to keep an eye as they toast lightly.

ARUGULA SALAD TOPPING

Add your arugula to a bowl, sprinkle with olive oil, honey vinegar, season with a thin wedge of lemon, salt and cracked pepper. Set aside with the salsa and avocado Greek yogurt dressing to let your guests build their own taco.

TOFU TACO FILLING

For the Tofu Taco filling, in a med saute pan start with a little olive oil and over a med heat start to saute the chopped red onion and red pepper until translucent.

Add the small cubes of tofu and continue to saute over a med high heat.

Add the taco seasoning and cilantro and continue to cook for another 3 – 5 mins on a low heat. For the taco seasoning I buy a mixed blend from my local spice store but look for a blend that is low in sodium or make your own. Trader Joe’s has a taco seasoning that is spicy, low sodium and delicious in this recipe.

Turn the heat off, then sprinkle the top with the blend of cheese, cover while you toast the shells.

Build the taco the way you like it!

Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Greek Yogurt

02 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by elmoeats in Original Recipes

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Banana, banana chocolate bundt cake, bundt cake, coffee cake, fage, grandmother, greek yogurt, guittard milk chocolate, King Arthur Flour, super bowl

BANANA CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKE

I baked a cake to bring to a Super Bowl party tomorrow and decided on a Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake. I love this cake, mostly, because it’s a combination of two cakes my grandmother used to make on a pretty regular basis sour cream coffee cake with chocolate chips and banana bundt cake. She was the Tax Collector of our town, Committee Woman for the borough, crossing guard at the neighborhood Catholic school and in her spare time spent many evenings winning first place on the bowling team. Her energy was contagious and so was the bounce in her step but don’t get me wrong she ran the house by her rules and would grind her teeth and snarl the minute you acted up! My brother and I used to love getting her started but what we loved most was how much she gave back to our community, teaching us how to connect with people and express our love and embrace our vulnerabilities.

She would bake or cook for all her activities and meetings. She was a force to be reckoned with and I definitely didn’t fall far from her side of the tree. She was woman grounded in reason and firmly rooted in practicality, something I wouldn’t embrace until later in my own life, unfortunately she passed away just when I was getting interesting but she’s with me. I think about her most days and try to bake as much as I can – it brings me closer to her. It’s the smell of soul food cooking in the house that I can’t live without it’s the main reason I cook as much as I do – feels like home.

3 Cups All Purpose King Arthur Flour
2 Teaspoons – Aluminum Free Baking Soda
1/2 Salt
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, at Room Temperature – Hormone Free
2 Cups Sugar and 1/2 Cup
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Bag of Guittard Milk or Dark Chocolate Chips (I used Milk Chocolate)
2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Large Free Range Eggs, Room Temperature
3 -4 Large Bananas, Mashed (1 3/4 Cup)
1 Cup Fage Greek Yogurt 2% or Sour Cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bundt pan and sprinkle with flour to set the butter.

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.

In a standing Mixer, hopefully it’s a fun color, with the fitted paddle attachment (or you can use a hand mixer) beat the butter until pale and creamy.

Then add the sugar and beat until fluffy on medium speed.

Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, beating for about one minute after each egg goes in. If you are using a standing mixer, be sure to scrap down the sides.

Mash the bananas with a fork – I typically use really ripe bananas but these will do just fine. Add those to the batter.

Mix on a low speed to integrate, then half the dry ingredients then add in the greek 2% yogurt until just incorporated. Add the second half of dry ingredients.

Remove the bowl from the standing mixer and add one bag of milk chocolate chips, stir with a spoon just to incorporate.

Mix together the 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and set aside.

Pour half of the batter into the buttered bundt pan. Then sprinkle a thin layer of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top.

Pour the remaining batter over the cinnamon mixture, since the batter is thick I drop spoon fulls of batter then spread evenly to keep the cinnamon sugar in the center of the cake.

Place the bundt cake on the middle rack and bake on 350 degrees for 60 mins to 75 mins depending on your oven. I also like to under cook this cake by 5 or 10 mins. My oven cooks it perfectly at 60 mins but check the cake with a knife inserted into the deep center of the cake. Let cool for 10 mins after removing from the oven then turn upside down and gently life the bundt pan off the cake. I lightly tap the pan before removing to ensure the cake is free.

Cover with plastic wrap (and a towel, old school) and allow to sit over night – its much better the next day!!

Enjoy!

elmoeats

~ my food story, one ingredient at a time

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto and Greek Lemon Potatoes

Herb and Mustard Roasted Pork Loin with Asparagus and Mushroom Quinoa

Green Goddess Juice

South Moroccan Lamb Whole Wheat Couscous Tagine, Esalen in Big Sur

Roasted Whole Chicken with Greek Orzo Salad

Tofu Tacos Rule Them All!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Greek Yogurt

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