Banana Bread

I usually add bananas to my morning oatmeal or eat it as a snack when I have run out of every single fruit. However these bananas were too overripe for either gastronomic use. This is the point when most people usually throw them into the the trash, but my sense of preservation kicked in and somewhere over my head hovered a neon sign flashing the words “banana bread”.

I wasn’t too sure what ingredients I needed to bake one and I was in no mood to run to the grocery store. So I wanted a recipe that would use only the ingredients I had at hand.Thus began my intensive search for the perfect recipe. My first chef of choice was Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa). I absolutely love her style of cooking and her recipes (even though she’s very generous with the cream and butter). However, I couldn’t find one out there. So I started searching randomly on the web and stumbled upon this recipe.

I tweaked it just a little bit to make just one loaf, but it made some great banana bread.

 

Recipe:

Banana Bread

Adapted from: Oui Chef

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1.5 cups coarsely mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 over ripe bananas)
• 1/4 cup greek style yoghurt or sour cream or applesauce
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 cup walnuts (2 ounces), toasted and chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup raisins

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 1 (9- by 5 inch) metal loaf pan, dust it with flour, knocking out excess.

• Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl.

• Beat together eggs and sugar in bowl of electric mixer with a whisk attachment at medium-high speed until very thick and pale, and the mixture forms a ribbon when the beater is lifted (around 10 minutes). Reduce speed to low and add butter in a slow stream, mixing, then mix in bananas, sour cream and vanilla. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in flour mixture and dried fruits and nuts gently but thoroughly.

• Pour batter into the loaf pans, spread evenly, and bake in the lower third of the oven until golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Insert toothpick in the banana bread after about 50 minutes.

• Cool loaves in pans on a rack 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Turn loaves right side up and cool completely.

Did you know

Banana is one of the only plant where all parts are used.

• The Flower The flower of the banana plant (also known as banana blossom) is either served raw or steamed with dips or cooked in soups and curries.
• The Trunk The tender core of the banana plant’s trunk is also used in Telugu, Bengali and Kerala cooking. The juice extract prepared from the tender core is used to treat kidney stones and high blood pressure.
• The Fruit Bananas are also eaten deep fried, made into a jam, cooked in curries, baked in their skin in a split bamboo, or steamed in rice wrapped in a banana leaf, glutinous rice wrapped in a banana leaf. In Burma, bunches of green bananas surrounding a green coconut in a tray form an important part of traditional offerings to the Buddha.
• The Leaves Banana leaves are often used as ecologically friendly disposable food containers or as “plates”. Steamed with dishes it imparts a subtle sweet flavour. It is often also seen used as a wrapping for grilling food and as such it contains the juices and prevents the food from getting burned whilst at the same time giving off a subtle flavour.

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