Great Recipes of Big Mill Bed & Breakfast: Banana-Pecan-Oat Bread and Homemade Blueberry Jam

Update: While it’s nearly impossible for me to try every recipe submitted to Inn Cuisine, I have made this innkeeper’s version of Banana-Pecan-Oat Bread and in my opinion, the recipe included in this post yields impeccably delicious results. Seriously, if you fancy homemade breads, especially those varieties that pair nicely with breakfast or brunch, I encourage you to make this bread—you will love it. I doubled the recipe to produce 2 loaves, added just a touch of brown sugar, and can honestly say this bread was a knock out—and surprisingly easy to make!

In fact, this recipe is so good, I’m entering it in Not Quite Nigella’s Banana Bread Bake-Off, on Chloe Tuttle’s behalf, and Inn Cuisine’s too…(click on the image below for more contest information)

There are 3 things I love most about the cuisine at bed & breakfast inns:

1. Some of it tastes like, and reminds me of, good old-fashioned, down-home cookin’.
2. Some of it tastes like, and reminds me of, the gourmet fare I long to serve, but rarely do—what with kids, work, a marriage, daily time constraints and all.
3. And some of it tastes like, and reminds me of, all of the above.

To me, there is nothing better than good old-fashioned, down-home cooking that tastes like gourmet fare. It’s the very definition of good eats, to coin a phrase from Alton Brown and the Food Network. But simply put, when you taste good food, you know it.

And since good things come in 3’s, the best things about good food are:

1. Good food doesn’t have to be prepared using the most exotic ingredients on Earth (although it certainly can be.)
2. Good food doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to shop for (although some ingredients are pricier than others.)
3. And good food doesn’t have to take all day to fuss over (although it typically tastes like it does.)

But the very best thing about good food, is that much of it can be made using produce from your own garden, and if not from your garden, then at least from nearby farms.

Case in point—the following recipes for homemade banana-pecan-oat bread and blueberry jam submitted by innkeeper Chloe Tuttle of the Big Mill Bed & Breakfast–Williamston, North Carolina.

Made using pecans gathered from 86-year-old pecan trees on her inn’s property (and planted by her parents in 1922,) Chloe’s recipe for banana-pecan-oat bread is simple yet fabulous, and something you might expect to find in a metropolitan bistro or gourmet bakery. Paired with her version of Irma Rombauer’s (The Joy of Cooking) blueberry jam, you’ve got a fresh and healthy treat that’s not only perfect for breakfast, but for afternoon tea time or an evening snack as well.

“I like to use any recipe that has pecans in it,” Tuttle tells Inn Cuisine. “My folks moved here to the farm at Big Mill in 1922. That same year, they planted the glorious, stately pecan trees that still stand and shade Big Mill Bed & Breakfast. Some years we get a bumper crop of pecans, and this was one of those years. When we serve this bread with our homemade blueberry jam, guests just rave. Not only does it taste great, it’s good for you too!”

And what does Tuttle have to say about her stunning blueberry jam?

“When I was growing up here on the farm in North Carolina, one of the best things to do was

(story, photos and recipes continued after the jump)

to pick berries: either blueberries that we called huckleberries, or blackberries. Mother would make jams, pies, cobblers and ice cream with these wonderful wild berries. The blueberries that grew wild around here were small, low-bush berries and they grew in the edge of the woods. Now I raise my own blueberries, just outside the inn and they are delicious.”

Tuttle adds, “We serve this jam with our pecan-banana-oat bread and guests love it. This year I plan to make enough jam to have some extra, so that guests can take the North Carolina huckleberry goodness home with them.”

Sounds delightful to me! But also like me, if you are unable to get away for a stay at Tuttle’s, North Carolina, Big Mill Bed & Breakfast in the near future, this friendly innkeeper was kind enough to share her recipes with Inn Cuisine so you can experience these delightful foods at home.

Banana-Pecan-Oat Bread

(recipe courtesy Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, as adapted from Southern Living)

• 1 cup Grape Nuts
• 1 cup uncooked, Old-Fashioned Oats
• ½ cup Self-Rising Flour
• ½ cup Sugar
• ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• ½ cup Buttermilk
• ¼ cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 large Eggs
• ½ to ⅔ cup VERY ripe Bananas, mashed (the bananas may have black spots on the skins, or even black skins)
• ¼ cup Craisins (sweetened dried cranberries)
• ¼ cup Golden Raisins
• ½ cup Pecans, chopped (walnuts are good too)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees for baking.

Assembly

Combine Grape Nuts, oats, flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl; make a well in the center of mixture.

Whisk together buttermilk, oil, eggs and mashed bananas; add to dry mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in dried cranberries, raisins and nuts. Pour batter into a greased 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 28 to 32 minutes or until a wooden skewer or pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bread to cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove bread from the pan and cool on wire rack.

This bread is delicious served warm with butter or at room temperature.

Yield: 1 loaf or 15 thin slices.

Blueberry Jam

(recipe courtesy Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

*Innkeeper’s note – The following recipe makes enough for canning 10 half pints and is so gorgeous, I almost hate to eat it!

• 4 pints fresh Blueberries
• zest and juice of 2 Lemons
• 7 cups Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Butter, to reduce foaming (optional)
• 2 pouches Liquid Fruit Pectin (6 ounces total)

*Do not double this recipe…I don’t know why, but it will fail. If Irma Rombauer says, “Don’t double,” then I won’t even try.

*Fresh-picked blueberries, with some of the berries not totally ripe, will make the best jam. If you are able to pick your own berries and make this jam immediately, it will be worth it. My blueberries are growing right outside my kitchen window, so they are very fresh.

Assembly

Put half of the berries in an enamel or stainless cooking pot and crush the berries, making juice. Stir in the remaining berries, add the lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the sugar and butter and bring all to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.

Pay careful attention to the pot–it will boil over in a heartbeat, and you don’t know what a mess is until you boil over blueberry jam!

While the berries are seriously boiling, quickly add the fruit pectin and stir for exactly one minute. Remove from heat and put in sterilized jars, following canning directions.

Yield: 10 half pints plus a wee jar for tasting.

Up next… More recipes from Big Mill Bed & Breakfast: Cranberry Almond Biscotti

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