Dark banana spice bread

Banana Bread recipe 3

How many of us faithfully follow a recipe? I realise, having had a few experiences recently of sitting down to a meal which was not quite what I expected, or wanted, that there is a reason to do so. I seem a little too fond of using cooking as a memory game, like the one with the objects on the tray covered with a cloth – one minute to study the contents, and then you have to remember what to do.

I tend to favour a recipe without too many ingredients, because I am lazy, and I mostly don’t go out and buy ingredients especially for a meal. I am a store cupboard cook by habit. I’m not trying to claim that it isn’t a well-stocked store cupboard, in fact it is over-stocked, so I can’t find things when I want them, and I seem to have a tendency to buy some ingredients over and over again: sesame seeds; lentils; prunes; couscous; turmeric, to name a few. Some dishes are inspired by this over-stocking, and banana bread is one of them. The bananas are bought after the previous bunch is eaten, and then, mysteriously, everyone stops eating bananas, and they become speckled and too ripe for the taste of anyone in my house.

Whose recipes to use? That is the culinary question. Delia's does work, but I turn to Dan Lepard - he is an award-winning baker. I bought a book about bread of his for my mother, who was an expert cook. She told me it was too complicated, which astonished me, since she was happy to make herself paupiettes de veau for a weekday lunch on her own. Breadmaking isn’t for everyone. And in this case, it isn't for me or Dan either. Banana bread is a cake.

I've been using Dan's recipe for banana bread for a little while, with some success. It is simple and delicious, although I leave out the glace ginger, which I usually find tastes rather soapy in cakes. Oh, and I add some pretty punchy spices – garam masala with extra ginger and cloves. I’m not sure why he specifies wholemeal bread flour, and one day I shall try it with just wholemeal bread flour, but for now I use half wholemeal and half ordinary white baking flour. And I often use a bit more banana and throw in some walnuts. Other than that, all credit to the redoubtable Mr Lepard. He calls it dark banana ginger cake, and it is wonderfully dark and a little bit sticky. In addition the spices in my version given it a perfume that can draw you down the corridor with its deliciousness.

As Dan says, if you don't have muscovado, use caster sugar, but replace 25g of that with black treacle.

Alternative banana bread recipe of mine here, and chocolate banana bread here, there is a lot of banana neglect in my house.

This recipe makes two loaves of banana bread.

Ingredients

200g dark muscovado sugar

350g ripe bananas (4 average sized)

125ml sunflower oil

4 medium eggs

200g wholemeal bread flour

3 tsp baking powder

2tsp garam masala (use mixed spice if you prefer)

1tsp ground ginger

½ tsp group cloves

Method

Set oven temp 170C (150C fan-assisted)/335F/gas mark 3

• Line two medium bread tins with baking parchment
• Stir the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, breaking up lumps of sugar
• Add peeled banana broken or cut into 2cm bits
• Start beating as you add the eggs and oil, and beat until you have a batter, a bit thicker than cream – there may be some lumps, but as long as they aren’t flour, don’t worry
• Pour into two prepared tins
• Bake for 40-50 minutes, “or until a careful poke with a skewer in the centre doesn't reveal any uncooked mixture lurking beneath the crust”*

*Dan Lepard

Chicken Teriyaki - sticky fried chicken with stickier sauce

I lifted this recipe from Chow, a brilliant website that has all sorts of useful videos and tips. It seems a little obsessed with cocktails, which in my book pander to a fantasy drink cabinet, because reading the list of ingredient makes me bemused. Who has all that stuff to hand? I don’t even keep tonic water. In a moment of enthusiasm three years ago I went out and bought angostura bitters, only to realise that it was just one component part of the cocktail I wanted to make. I never got around to buying what I needed to put the thing together. I fully expect that bottle to last me my whole life, I am sure I will move house several times with it, fondly imagining the times when I will have all the ingredients I need to make the perfect cocktail such as the Boothby, in the house at the same time. Meanwhile, I find myself occasionally unscrewing the lid and taking a little sniff, to remind me what the hell is in that bottle. In saner moments I recognise that this is what might be called a companion ingredient – I keep it for company, rather than for use. No doubt my kidneys are grateful to my maintenance of an aspirational but incomplete cocktail cabinet, and I can still dream. 

Back to food – my pantry ingredients are more regularly replenished – this is pseudo teriyaki but it is not ersatz teriyaki, as it delivers on flavour. The endorsement of the lovely Kitty, daughter who shuns the home-cooked anything, gives it the flavourful thumbs-up. This is a finger-licking dish, as somehow the sauce gets everywhere. The chicken is pan-fried before the sauce is added, it has a gentle heat from the pepper and the sticky sauce is wonderful with plain rice. 

A quick review of teriyaki recipes that might be thought of as more authentic, finds mirin, sake and sugar putting in an appearance, alongside fresh ginger. Some include different kinds of oil and marinading as part of the process. Some like to cook the chicken with skin on, making it nice and crisply, but I use skinless chickens. Simpler and less fat. This recipe substitutes a bit of bashing about for marinading, and uses honey and soy sauce for the teriyaki. I dilute the soy sauce so that it isn't too salty. In total it takes about 15 minutes. I like it with rice, some green salad and sliced cucumber.

Ingredients

½ cup soy sauce with ¼ cup water

¼ cup honey

1 ¼ tsp peeled, grated fresh ginger (from about a thumb length piece), grated very fine

500g (about four large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs) the breasts will need pounding…

Freshly ground black pepper

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

If you like, serve with two spring onions (scallions to some), thinly sliced

Method

• Make the sauce first: Heat through the soy sauce, water and honey, bringing it to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often until the honey has completely dissolved, about 5 minutes (alternatively use the microwave, for one minute, stirring after 30 seconds)
• Remove from heat and add the ginger, stirring to combine and set aside
• If using chicken breasts, place them on a cutting board and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Use a meat mallet, frying pan or rolling pin. Gently pound them to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut each in half so you have pieces roughly the same size. (If using chicken thighs, no need to pound or cut.)
• Season both sides of the chicken with pepper.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat until shimmering and add the chicken in a single layer, and cook without poking for around 3 minutes. Then flip and cook the second side until equally browned, about 3 minutes more.
• Reduce the heat to medium, slowly pour in the reserved sauce, and cook, turning the chicken occasionally to coat in the sauce, cooking through for around another 3 minutes.
• Take the chicken out, shaking any sauce back into the pan, and put it onto a cutting board. I like to cover the chicken with a bowl to keep the juices in.
• Keep cooking the sauce until it has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes more, then turn off the heat.
• Slice the rested chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces and put it on a serving dish. Drizzle over the sauce and sprinkle the sliced spring onions over the lot.

Delicious green stir fry

I love a tangy stir fry, and I’ve been reading a lot of Vietnamese and Thai recipes lately. I've been buying old cook books from charity shops, and they have reminded me of the time, not so far away,er when recipes mentioned garlic in hushed tones. No more sotto voce now, I don’t know many people who don’t want the kick of spices, garlic and ginger.

This dish is bright green and fresh, the cabbage is just cooked, accompanied with green peppers, peas and onion. I pair it with coconut dhal, and prefer bread to rice as an accompaniment. It's easy to make, you do all the slicing in advance, heat up the pan and go. The dhal can be prepared in advance. This is enough for two people, on the greedy side, more with the dhal. 

Base for blitzing:

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 slice ginger

1 shallot (1/2 small onion)

handful of fresh coriander, washed, with roots on

1 large pinch of salt

a couple of spoonfuls of water

Stir Fry ingredients

1/4 savoy cabbage, finely sliced

1/2 green pepper, sliced

2 large shallots/1 onion, sliced lengthwise

2 handfuls frozen peas

1/2 tsp vegetable bouillon+water or thai fish sauce

1 tsp brown sugar or honey

1/2 lime

• blitz or pound together 1st six ingredients
• prepare all other ingredients
• heat up wok, adding a slug of  oil (corn, groundnut or veg oil)
• add half the blitzed ingredients and stir, turning down the heat if it starts to brown
• add half the sliced veg, stir and add a slug of water (or fish sauce) cook for a minute, stirring all the time
• add the rest of the veg and blitzed mixture, bouillon and the frozen peas, keep stirring, adding water if necessary, cook for 30 seconds, until the cabbage starts to wilt
• add sugar or honey, stir and turn off the heat
• squeeze over the lime

Eat

This combination was a favourite of my Aunt’s, especially when her cancer meant her appetite was reduced. The strong flavours seemed to cut through, so she enjoyed eating again. The stir fry is light and flavoursome with a citrus tang, and the curried dhal is easy to eat, as well as being a good contrast in terms of texture and flavour. The other pleasure is how the food looks on the plate, a patchwork of greens contrasting with a golden yellow. 

alternative roasties

It's hard to resist a roast potato, and most of us don't really try. These potatoes have a golden tinge, and are flavoured with garlic with ginger kick. They are very easy too, and, cut up a bit smaller than usual, once in the oven they're done in 30 minutes.

I prepare two potatoes per person, each about as big as my fist, say twice the size of an egg (not an ostrich egg). 

This is for four people of average appetite, to go with other food, such as roast chicken or a stew.

Recipe

Ingredients

8 potatoes

½ tsp turmeric

3 cloves of garlic

1 slice ginger (1cm wide)

a few slugs of vegetable oil x2

large pinch of salt

Method

set oven to very hot, Gas Mark 9/240C/475F

o       peel the potatoes and cut each one into four pieces, approx 3cm sqaure

o       put into boiling water with the turmeric and simmer for 5 minutes

o       put roasting tin in oven

o       while the potatoes are cooking, peel the garlic and ginger and pound in a mortar with a pinch of salt, or use a blender to make a paste

o       drain the potatoes, put them back in the hot pan, and stir the garlic/ginger paste into them until they are well coated

o       take out the roasting tin and throw in a slug of oil, swill it around and then toss the paste-coated potatoes around the pan in the oil

o       put the pan with the potatoes into the hot oven for 10 minutes

o       take the potatoes out of the oven and turn it down to gas mark 6/200C/400F

o       shake the potatoes around with a little mor oil if needed and put back in the oven for 20m

serve and eat

sticky caramelised chicken wings

Chicken wings can be delicious, and I've found a Vietnamese recipe that makes sure they are. You can prep them ahead, and cook them quickly in a wok. This is finger food of the most succulent, full of oriental flavour, with a lovely stickiness, to lick off your fingers, and sometimes your teeth.

12 chicken wings
2 tbsp oil
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp honey
2 spring onions, chopped

• Prepare the wings by cutting off the tip, then cut them in half
• Crush the garlic and chop it up with the ginger, set aside
• mix the sauces and honey in a bowl and set aside
• chop the spring onions and set aside
• heat the oil in a wok, add the chicken with the chopped garlic and ginger
• cook, stirring all the time for about 5 minutes
• add the sauce and honey mix, stir well and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the chicken is lightly brown and tender
• scatter spring onions over them and serve

If you want to do these on the bbq, follow the recipe until the sauces are added, cook for 5 mins, allow to cool and then thread onto skewers
cook on bbq for 2 mins a side, sprinkling spring onion over before serving

delicious

Succulent Lamb braised and browned

Some people don’t like dark meat, and in particular lamb. This puzzles me, and I find myself reverting to the fascist in the kitchen approach, with thoughts of telling people to sit down and eat and just be grateful. Whilst this isn’t often an effective or popular approach, still, sometimes the lack of appreciation for good food and the skills used in preparing it brings out the dictator in me.

It’s worth trying out this recipe, without worrying about rejection from the no-dark-meat lobby, since it’s on record for changing people’s minds. The meat is braised and then browned in the oven, and the meat is so tender it falls off the bone. The spicy paste is infused into the meat, giving a luscious red colour, from the paprika. The last spell in the oven creates a wonderful crust.

I like to use a leg of lamb, chopped in two. Shoulder is also good. The main thing is to use meat on the bone, for more flavour, and to have it in pieces that you can manage easily in the pan.
I like to prepare the meat the day before, or at least for an hour before cooking starts.

Ingredients

4 lb leg of lamb, cut into two or shoulder of lamb cut into four parts
2 cloves garlic
pinch powdered saffron
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1½ tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cups grated onion (two small onions)
salt to taste
5 sprigs green coriander tied in bunch with thread

Mash the peeled garlic cloves with the spices and butter, to make a paste.
Trim surface fat off the joint.
Rub the butter mixture over the meat and set aside for at least an hour, or overnight in the fridge.
Put the grated onion together with two cups of water into a heavy-based pan large enough to fit the meat, and add the meat.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to simmer and cover. Cook for 1 hour, basting and turning the meat occasionally.
Add the coriander and cook for another hour or until meat is tender and falling away from the bone – add water if needed.
Lift the meat out, put in oven dish and cover.
Let cooking liquid cool and skim the fat off – this can be used to cook and flavour fried potatoes, if you like.
Reduce the fat free cooking liquid to a thick gravy.
Set the oven to heat to hot, 450F/230C/gas mark 8.
Bake the lamb for 30 mins, basting with thickened gravy, to give a brown crust.

Serve with couscous and salad, or steamed potatoes and salad.

easy chicken curry

On the way to a friend's house I decided I should whip up a lovely meal for the host. Slightly controlling behaviour, but needs must when visiting someone whose cooking always disappoints and at times may be a health hazard. I armed myself with two chicken legs, some steak mince, a lime, garlic, fresh ginger and a bunch of coriander. I was thinking night one: meatballs. Night two: chicken curry. The basics (onions, tomatoes, olive oil, yoghurt, curry powder, tomato puree) were in the pantry. All the prep could be done at once. 

The chicken is best marinaded overnight and cooks slowly. 

The chicken is tender and the flavours gentle. Very easy to eat. You could make the flavours more delicate by throwing in a couple of cardamom pods, and you could use one of the tandoori mixes to give it that violent red colour. Sometimes it's nice to keep things simple and go with ready mixed curry powder and have done. The garlic, ginger, coriander and lime mix is the key. Or you could use lemon.


This is enough for two people if eaten alone, would stretch if eaten with other dishes.

Recipe

ingredients

2 chicken legs

1" ginger

4 cloves garlic

1/2 bunch of coriander

1/2 pot of yoghurt

1 lime

3 tbsp tomato puree

pepper and salt

method

• take the skin off the chicken
• peel the garlic and ginger and chop finely
• finely chop the coriander, including the stems
• wash the lime, squeeze the juice
• put the chicken in a heatproof bowl with the chopped garlic, coriander, lime juice and both halves of the squeezed lime and yoghurt
• cover bowl with clingfilm and put into the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight

heat the oven to 325/160/3

·        take the chicken out of the fridge and stir in the tomato paste

·        the sauce may separate, to avoid this add 1tsp of cornflour

·        cook for two hours, stirring occasionally

Eat. With rice or naan, and a small salad. 

I like to eat this with dry cooked ginger potatoes and/or dhal.

dry fried spicy potatoes

This recipe lets potatoes take centre stage. If you're going veggie it is a lovely main dish with a salad, and of course it can be a great side dish as well. The fried spices give a sweet and nutty warmth, and can give a quick pep to a simple meal.

My source recipe, by Madhur Jaffrey, suggests cooking the potatoes in their skins, leaving them to cool and then peeling them. Being inherently lazy, I like to peel them, cut them into cubes and cook them like that. If you follow MJ's instructions you get a lovely waxy skin, providing you use the right kind of potato. This version allows for all varieties.

Other than the potatoes the main ingredients are ginger and garlic.

Use a non-stick or heavy based frying pan.

RECIPE

Ingredients
1 lb potatoes
1" ginger
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika or cayenne
several pinches of salt
5tbsp oil

Method

Peel the potatoes and cut into 2cm cubes, boil in water for 5 minutes and drain.
Blend ginger, garlic, lemon juice, turmeric, cumin and paprika together with salt to make a paste.
Heat the oil on a medium flame, adding the spice paste and let it sizzle for a moment.
Add the cubed cooked potatoes and turn the heat up a little.
Stir the potatoes around, letting them get well browned on all sides.

Serve.

not christmas dinner - vietnamese style spicy rice noodles

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm cooking the Christmas meal today. So last night the last thing I wanted was anything heavy. I'd had a luxurious day, fretting about last minute presents and going to the theatre. 


Actually I went to two theatres, at the Barbican I saw Flyboy is alone again this Christmas, a delightfully dark series of tales, performed with a rich musical accompaniment. I was with my own delightful troupe, beautiful daughters of mine, three beautiful daughters of others and handsome husband. Daughter three got over her worries of abandonment, provided the artiste with sweets and won a glow-in-the-dark badge, competitive and Christmas spirit intact and endorsed at the age of 15. The show enchanted all of us - if your'e interested there's info about Flyboy's creator here.


At the Cambridge Theatre I snuck around the back and got some illicit wares from a man wearing much more alluring make up than me. Definitely the better woman. Emerging from Covent Garden tube into Christmas mayhem had made my head spin, but once I had carrier bag accompaniment it all made sense, especially carrying something wonderful from Denise and Dudley.


Back to food. I find chopping calms me down. I was just catering for two, as all the daughters had dispersed. A glass of wine at hand and I set to. 


I love the lightness of Vietnamese cooking. I think I may have become addicted to lime juice. The most complicated thing about this recipe is the chopping, and the result is filling and still light. I used prawn and chicken, but you can use any combination of meat, just don't use too much. I substituted white cabbage for bean sprouts, both because it was what I had at hand and I like cabbage. I didn't have any spring onions, so I did without... but they would have been good, so I've left them in the recipe.


Chicken and Prawn Spicy Rice Noodles


Ingredients
Two nests wide rice noodles
1 chicken breast
10 large prawns
1/3 small white cabbage
1 medium carrot
handful of raw peanuts
3 spring onions
3 spoonfuls chopped coriander 
1 lime
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsps fish sauce
2 tsps sugar


corn or peanut oil


Method

• Soak the noodles in boiling water while you chop the meat and veg.

• Prepare the ingredients as follows, setting each one aside, ready for last minute assembly:
• Finely slice the chicken breast.
• Devein prawns if necessary - I use frozen raw prawns that have been deveined, so I just make sure they are thawed, otherwise they add too much liquid to the dish.
• Finely slice cabbage.
• Peel the carrot and grate on the coarsest bit of the grater.
• Get the coriander ready - chopped as fine as you fancy.
• Peel and chop the garlic, peel and grate the ginger.
• Squeeze the lime and mix the lime juice with the fish sauce and sugar. 
• Chop up the peanuts a bit.

• Drain the noodles, which should be soft, but not pappy. 

• Heat a wok or large frying pan, when it's hot add a few swirls of oil.
• Quickly cook the chicken and prawns, for about a minute. They should colour up.
• Add garlic, ginger and lime juice mixture to the pan and cook for another minute.
• Add all the other ingredients and cook for two minutes, stirring to mix up, but not breaking up the noodles.

Sprinkle with spring onion and serve. Delicious


Tips
If you don't have fish sauce you can use soy sauce, or an anchovy fillet mixed up with the lime juice and a spoonful of water.
You can make a veggie version, using tofu or just substituting the meat with more sliced veg, and adding more peanuts.
If you don't have penauts to hand, use a spoonful of peanut butter, but make sure it breaks up in the cooking, coming across lumps is just unpleasant.