97'Scort
09-13-2009, 07:24 PM
Due to some demand from my cassarole thread, here's my (world?) famous banana bread. I took nonlinear's suggestion on the name, which I think is apt for two reasons: a) I'm a bachelor, and b) I've yet to find a girl who appreciates a guy who knows how to cook.
On to the show!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup margarine (not Becel or anything from a tub. Buy the bricks for baking.)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (usually two "large" bananas is about a cup.)
- 1 3/4 cups flour (I used an unbleached all purpose flour)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
What you'll need:
- large bowl and small/medium bowl
- butter knife
- fork
- regular soup or cereal style bowls
- a couple of stirring spoons
- set of measuring cups and spoons
- Pyrex loaf pan
- cooking spray or canola oil
Instructions:
1. First, you want to "cream" your butter and sugar together. This can be a royal pain in the ass, so I'll give you a hint: put the slab of margarine in a bowl, and microwave it about 30 seconds (if you've had it in the fridge) so it's not 100% melted, but pretty soft. Dump it over the sugar in the large bowl, and mix together:
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1008.JPG
2. Crack in both the eggs, and stir well. Don't leave any visible egg (you will kind of see it still floating on top if it's still there). My usual stop point is when I hear a significant drop in the grating noise caused by the sugar grains, but you may not hear that if you don't have metal bowls.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1009.JPG
3. Next, mash the bananas in a small bowl. I like to use a fork and just go to town. For the bananas, you can go a bit more than 1 cup if you like, but try to keep it close. Too much banana will cause problems later.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1010.JPG
Then, stir the bananas in:
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1011.JPG
4. In your smaller mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix together VERY WELL with a spoon. For those of you new to baking, this might seem like a useless step, but trust me, it isn't. If you just toss everything in with the liquid side, you will get clumps of baking soda/powder forming, which will come out as white blobs in your baking. Always mix your dry stuff before adding to the wet!
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1012.JPG
5. Add to the liquid bowl. I find it easier to add about half the dry, mix it in, then do the rest. It will sit on top, so you have to kind of "fold" it into the mix. Do it slowly, or you'll wind up blasting flour everywhere :) Keep mixing until you can't see flour at the bottom of the bowl when you stir.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1013.JPG
6. Next, add the chocolate chips. I prefer a semi-sweet rather than milk chocolate or pure chocolate, since there is already a lot of sugar in this. It can wind up tasting pretty sweet otherwise. It's up to you though! You can also substitute dried fruit like rasins or Craisins.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1014.JPG
7. Next bust out your Pyrex loaf pan. I prefer pyrex, it's easier to clean than metal. If you have one of those snazzy silicone ones, that'll work too. Put a dab of canola oil in the bottom, and rub it all over with a paper towel. You can use other oil if you like, but don't use one with any flavour.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1015.JPG
8. Dump in your mix, and smooth out.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1016.JPG
9. Baking time! Set the oven to 350F and bake for one hour. However, I've NEVER seen this actually take an hour and come out looking good. My oven takes 10 minutes more, and I suggest you do the same. If you don't bake it long enough, the top is still liquidy and will collapse during cooling.
While you're waiting, I suggest feeling good about yourself for a bit before seeing how many dishes you have to wash. Today was a nice day, so a frosty bottle of gin and a little Monty Python was used to pass the hour:
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1017.JPG
10. Time's up, and here's the result! Let it cool until the pan is only warm to the touch (use a wire rack! They're cheap, go buy one)
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1018.JPG
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1019.JPG
Use a butter knife around the edges to loosen it from the pan, and leave to cool, or grab a slice and enjoy :D
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1020.JPG
On to the show!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup margarine (not Becel or anything from a tub. Buy the bricks for baking.)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (usually two "large" bananas is about a cup.)
- 1 3/4 cups flour (I used an unbleached all purpose flour)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
What you'll need:
- large bowl and small/medium bowl
- butter knife
- fork
- regular soup or cereal style bowls
- a couple of stirring spoons
- set of measuring cups and spoons
- Pyrex loaf pan
- cooking spray or canola oil
Instructions:
1. First, you want to "cream" your butter and sugar together. This can be a royal pain in the ass, so I'll give you a hint: put the slab of margarine in a bowl, and microwave it about 30 seconds (if you've had it in the fridge) so it's not 100% melted, but pretty soft. Dump it over the sugar in the large bowl, and mix together:
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1008.JPG
2. Crack in both the eggs, and stir well. Don't leave any visible egg (you will kind of see it still floating on top if it's still there). My usual stop point is when I hear a significant drop in the grating noise caused by the sugar grains, but you may not hear that if you don't have metal bowls.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1009.JPG
3. Next, mash the bananas in a small bowl. I like to use a fork and just go to town. For the bananas, you can go a bit more than 1 cup if you like, but try to keep it close. Too much banana will cause problems later.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1010.JPG
Then, stir the bananas in:
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1011.JPG
4. In your smaller mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix together VERY WELL with a spoon. For those of you new to baking, this might seem like a useless step, but trust me, it isn't. If you just toss everything in with the liquid side, you will get clumps of baking soda/powder forming, which will come out as white blobs in your baking. Always mix your dry stuff before adding to the wet!
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1012.JPG
5. Add to the liquid bowl. I find it easier to add about half the dry, mix it in, then do the rest. It will sit on top, so you have to kind of "fold" it into the mix. Do it slowly, or you'll wind up blasting flour everywhere :) Keep mixing until you can't see flour at the bottom of the bowl when you stir.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1013.JPG
6. Next, add the chocolate chips. I prefer a semi-sweet rather than milk chocolate or pure chocolate, since there is already a lot of sugar in this. It can wind up tasting pretty sweet otherwise. It's up to you though! You can also substitute dried fruit like rasins or Craisins.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1014.JPG
7. Next bust out your Pyrex loaf pan. I prefer pyrex, it's easier to clean than metal. If you have one of those snazzy silicone ones, that'll work too. Put a dab of canola oil in the bottom, and rub it all over with a paper towel. You can use other oil if you like, but don't use one with any flavour.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1015.JPG
8. Dump in your mix, and smooth out.
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1016.JPG
9. Baking time! Set the oven to 350F and bake for one hour. However, I've NEVER seen this actually take an hour and come out looking good. My oven takes 10 minutes more, and I suggest you do the same. If you don't bake it long enough, the top is still liquidy and will collapse during cooling.
While you're waiting, I suggest feeling good about yourself for a bit before seeing how many dishes you have to wash. Today was a nice day, so a frosty bottle of gin and a little Monty Python was used to pass the hour:
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1017.JPG
10. Time's up, and here's the result! Let it cool until the pan is only warm to the touch (use a wire rack! They're cheap, go buy one)
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1018.JPG
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1019.JPG
Use a butter knife around the edges to loosen it from the pan, and leave to cool, or grab a slice and enjoy :D
http://www.kg-dj.com/images/cooking/IMGP1020.JPG