You people owe me a big debt of gratitude. Huge.
Yesterday, I brought you a miracle product to heal your cracked and dry teats, and today I will rescue those rotting bananas you were about to throw out. Yes, with my guidance you will be cooking and eating your garbage before it hits the can!
That's right, for our first Cooking with GA installment, we are going to take those blackened bananas ( the ones with the tiny fruit flies circling above) and turn them into the best banana bread you've ever tasted! Furthermore, if you are a klutz in the kitchen, or just don't like to cook, this recipe is so simple, even a person like YOU can do it!
To demonstrate how easy it is, LA (Little Avenger) who is 7 will be in charge of the kitchen. If she can do it, you and your 10-thumbs can, too.
Here are the ingredients:
6 over-ripe bananas (black is good)
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
optional: stuff you like (nuts, chips, raisins)
STEP1: preheat oven to 350 degrees.
STEP 2. Peel bananas and mash them in a big bowl
Note LA uses a potato-masher, but use whatever mashing tool
you've got around the kitchen. If you have none, you could probably
pummel them with your fist.
STEP3: Add the rest of your wet ingredients (eggs & butter). Tip: melt butter in the microwave before you add it.
LA cracks eggs like a pro. But they land on the floor sometimes
so we always have extras on hand.
STEP 4: Add your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda)
Nice job, LA.
STEP 5: Mix ingredients. Don't be lazy, mix them by hand. Electronic utensils are for sissies.
LA makes sure the batter is well mixed, stopping only to lick her finger.
STEP 6: AFTER the batter is mixed, you may add your optional ingredients.
We add sliced almonds and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
There they are, now mix them in!
STEP 7: Pour your batter is a GREASED baking dish, round or square or rectangular.
Ready to rock!
STEP 8: Put your uncooked masterpiece in the preheated oven.
The tricky part will be figuring out how long to bake it. In my convection oven, in this round dish, it takes 60 minutes. If you use a bundt-shape or metal pan it may take less time. Use your judgment, but to test if it's ready, stick something long and thin in the center (I use a shish kebob skewer). If it comes out 'clean' then your cake is ready. If it's got batter stuck on it, put the thing back in the oven pronto.
STEP 9: Take it out!
This looks ready to me. LA does not do this part- I do.
It's always good to test it even if it looks done. I stick a wood skewer
in there. It came out clean, as you can see.
FINAL STEP: Let it cool for about 20 minutes or so. Then remove your cake from the pan. Caution: If you leave it in the pan for too long, you won't get it out in one piece. And there is nothing more embarrassing than serving a cake to friends that looks like its been nibbled by rodents or dropped on the floor then nibbled by rodents.
So... the final product:.
Ta-da!
If only your computer had smell-o-vision.... oh, the aroma. If you are selling your home, definitely bake one of these before your Open House (a realtor's trick, you know).
So, I do hope you enjoyed that. And if your black bananas are already in the garbage can under the remnants of last night's dinner, just fish them out. Seriously.
Now, here's a teaser for our next installment of Cooking with GA. We will be using this for our main ingredient:
No, not the cat. The other stuff.
Happy baking.
Yesterday, I brought you a miracle product to heal your cracked and dry teats, and today I will rescue those rotting bananas you were about to throw out. Yes, with my guidance you will be cooking and eating your garbage before it hits the can!
That's right, for our first Cooking with GA installment, we are going to take those blackened bananas ( the ones with the tiny fruit flies circling above) and turn them into the best banana bread you've ever tasted! Furthermore, if you are a klutz in the kitchen, or just don't like to cook, this recipe is so simple, even a person like YOU can do it!
To demonstrate how easy it is, LA (Little Avenger) who is 7 will be in charge of the kitchen. If she can do it, you and your 10-thumbs can, too.
Here are the ingredients:
6 over-ripe bananas (black is good)
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
optional: stuff you like (nuts, chips, raisins)
STEP1: preheat oven to 350 degrees.
STEP 2. Peel bananas and mash them in a big bowl
Note LA uses a potato-masher, but use whatever mashing toolyou've got around the kitchen. If you have none, you could probably
pummel them with your fist.
STEP3: Add the rest of your wet ingredients (eggs & butter). Tip: melt butter in the microwave before you add it.
LA cracks eggs like a pro. But they land on the floor sometimesso we always have extras on hand.
STEP 4: Add your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda)
Nice job, LA.STEP 5: Mix ingredients. Don't be lazy, mix them by hand. Electronic utensils are for sissies.
LA makes sure the batter is well mixed, stopping only to lick her finger.STEP 6: AFTER the batter is mixed, you may add your optional ingredients.
We add sliced almonds and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
There they are, now mix them in!STEP 7: Pour your batter is a GREASED baking dish, round or square or rectangular.
Ready to rock!The tricky part will be figuring out how long to bake it. In my convection oven, in this round dish, it takes 60 minutes. If you use a bundt-shape or metal pan it may take less time. Use your judgment, but to test if it's ready, stick something long and thin in the center (I use a shish kebob skewer). If it comes out 'clean' then your cake is ready. If it's got batter stuck on it, put the thing back in the oven pronto.
STEP 9: Take it out!
This looks ready to me. LA does not do this part- I do.
It's always good to test it even if it looks done. I stick a wood skewerin there. It came out clean, as you can see.
FINAL STEP: Let it cool for about 20 minutes or so. Then remove your cake from the pan. Caution: If you leave it in the pan for too long, you won't get it out in one piece. And there is nothing more embarrassing than serving a cake to friends that looks like its been nibbled by rodents or dropped on the floor then nibbled by rodents.
So... the final product:.
Ta-da!So, I do hope you enjoyed that. And if your black bananas are already in the garbage can under the remnants of last night's dinner, just fish them out. Seriously.
Now, here's a teaser for our next installment of Cooking with GA. We will be using this for our main ingredient:
No, not the cat. The other stuff.
Happy baking.
Looks delicious! Actually a splash of that rum/bourbon in the banana bread is a great addition and I like to add a dash of clove powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom (a bit peppery). My banana bread was forever changed by this recipe from my fav cooking blog although I increased all the spice amounts and added the cardamom:
ReplyDeletehttp://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/speckled-for-the-freckled/
Oooh, cardamon is a great idea. Do you use powdered or the whole cardamon seed (grated)?
ReplyDeleteThe other spices sound yum, too. I am a little nervous about cloves- I used too much of once and it killed the whole thing (Apple Brown Betty, or some-such other thing I made up w/fresh picked apples, lemon/orange zest, allspice, nutmeg, crushed graham cracker, butter and TOO MUCH clove!!)
Teach me your cardamon trick.
You know, I once mistook a cardamon seed in a take-out biryani dish for a cockroach. It was a low-light situation, and the seed was so big. I threw the whole damn thing out!
Ground powdered cardamom. I buy mine in jar but I expect our former mayor probably ground his own cardamom among other things!
ReplyDeleteMBB endorses GA's banana bread. Ingested & enjoyed!
ReplyDelete