Scribbles & Munch

      With the Thanksgiving Holiday less than a week away, everbody's focused on The Dinner.  Granted, everybody's focused on it for different reasons, although they typically fall into one of four categories: a) looking forward to Aunt Mildred's traditional stuffing, b) figuring out how to make Aunt Mildred's traditional stuffing, c) trying to avoid Aunt Mildred's traditional stuffing, and d) flying your freak flag by coming up with a dinner centered around all non-traditional foods, like coconut-breaded clam loaf or tomato tofu tarts.*

Whatever this is, don't serve it as your grand main course.  Unless you really, really hate your guests.

      No matter which category claims you, however, you probably find yourself neglecting the other meals.**  This is why many people drive through all manner of weather to get to their host's house for a specacular evening feast, only to find they're eating half-stale cereal or Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast.  But of course, we're not going to let that happen to you!
      There are a number of ways to get around the "what do we eat for breakfast" dilemma.  If you're doing a sit-down breakfast with everyone, there are coffee cakes, breakfast rolls, and even french toast that you can assemble the night before and pop in the oven in the morning.  Or, if your guests rise at different times, you can do all the prep the day before and just put out food for people to help themselves.  A quiche works very well in this scenario.  But perhaps you're too busy the day before to make a quiche--after all, you have to run to the grocery store for the third time because you forgot something, and the guest beds need to be made, and the bathrooms need to be cleaned, and you haven't watered the plants all month!
      This is where tea breads come in.  Banana bread, marmelade bread, nut loaves; all of these can be made days - even weeks - in advance, wrapped in plastic and a layer of foil, and frozen.  Take them out the night before, and by morning they're tender and room temperature, ready for people to slice off however much they want.  And if you don't end up using them for your guests, you can use them for yourself in the aftermath of the holiday, when you're too wiped to cook anything and too frazzled to go out.***
      Which brings us to this week's recipe post, specifically selected for Thanksgiving: Orange Scented Pecan Tea Bread.

So tender, moist, and flavorful, it's everyone anyone wants in a breakfast!

      This has a tender crumb similar to a cake, the mild sweetness of a good tea bread, and a pretty appearance and makes it look fancier than it is.  The recipe is styled after French Yogurt Cake, which is basically just a lemon tea bread made with yogurt.  Why yogurt?  Moisture, dahling, moisture!  No tea bread turns out dry when it's made with yogurt!  Go ahead and bake it now, then stash it in your freezer until the right moment.  Your future self will thank you.

Z.D.'s Orange Scented Pecan Tea Bread
makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup whole, raw pecans
1 Cup white sugar (vanilla sugar, if you have it), + 2 tsp more, divided
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 & 1/2 Cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 fresh naval orange, washed (trust me)
3/4 Cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
2 large eggs
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
 - Pre-heat your oven to 350º F.  Grease and flour a 4 x 8 inch pan (I like to use ghee for greasing, but unsalted butter works fine).

I used a glass loaf pan because I wanted to throw it in the dishwasher when I was done, rather than hand-wash like I do with my teflon pans.   This means I increased the oven heat by 5º and the oven time by 5 minutes.

 - Finely chop the pecans, and set aside.  In a small bowl, stir together 2 tsp sugar with the 1 tsp cinnamon, and set aside also.

If you chop the nuts too chunky, the middle of the cake won't be as pretty.

 - In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg.
 - Put the remaining sugar into a large bowl.  Using a microplane grater, zest the orange directly into the sugar.  When you've taken off all the zest, use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar, until thoroughly combined into a mixture resembling loose brown sugar.

Zest directly into the sugar, so you caputre all the citrus oils.  And if you don't have a microplane, get one--they're prefect for getting the zest off, and leaving the bitter, white pith.  Then you can wrap the orange in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge.  It'll be good for eating for 2-3 days!

 - Stir together the yogurt and eggs, then add in the oil and extract.  Pour into the sugar, and beat until combined.

Your finished wet blend will have the thickness and color of good eggnog.

 - Add the flour mixture to the yogurt mixture, and stir until thoroughly combined.

Since this is a quick bread, you don't have to worry about over-beating the batter.  Make sure you don't have lumps of flour in there!

 - Pour half of your batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle in about 2/3rds of your pecans, evenly distributing to create a smooth layer.  Then sprinkle in half of your cinnamon sugar mixture.

When the loaf bakes, the dough will rise unevenly at first, adding a nice wave to your ribbon of nuts and spice!

 - Pour the remaining batter over the pecans, and gently smooth the top if necessary.  Evenly sprinkle on the remaining nuts and cinnamon sugar.

Don't worry, this will rise as it bakes to fill the pan.

 - Bake 54 - 58 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the load comes out clean.  Cool in the pan about 5 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto a rack and cool completely.

See?  I told you it would rise to fill the pan.  And I know I say this all the time, but...the AROMA as this thing bakes is SO GREAT!

      Gently sweet and very pretty, this is a breakfast addition everybody will like.  For people who just want a cup of coffee and a snack for breakfast, this works.  For people who want a full breakfast with protein and fruit and pastry, this works.  And for people who are exhausted after all the guests leave and just want something to nibble as they finish off the wine, this works.  Happy Thanksgiving!


*No, I do not have recipes for either one of those dishes.  Nor should you.

**Yes, there will be other meals, both before and after The Dinner.

***They also make a nice alternative to traditional breads for leftover turkey sandwiches.  Or you can bring a loaf as a hostess gift.  They're so versatile--the list goes on and on and on!!!