Look at those two beautiful loves of my life up there under the wreath.
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Yoga, organising, cleaning, picking a friend up from the airport, walking with the dogs, lunch with C+S, and later, baking banana bread. This is the best recipe I've found in 22 years. And one of the simplest. It presents the delicious combination of banana and lime. If you've ever juiced a lemon and poured it over sliced banana to prevent browning you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
The recipe is from one of the members of the familiar Moosewood Collective which compiled Sundays at Moosewood in 1990. It's by far my favorite of their books -the only one I've hung on to- as the recipes are diverse and truly appealing in terms of ingredients. Written by members based on their individual lineages and then grouped into corresponding geographic and cultural regions, it's like going through the inherited recipe boxes of all your friends.
This one is from the Caribbean (and I'm sorry I don't have a copy of the book with me to properly credit the author). You can omit the coconut, ginger or rum (or all three) and substitute spelt or kamut flour for wheat and still get a perfect bread. But don't -I mean, DO NOT- skip the glaze. It's nothing short of f'n fantastic. And if you just combine the glaze ingredients in a little saucepan and let them melt together on the stove top while the baking's happening you've simplified it further by nixing a step.
I spent part of 1991-2 living in Jamaica, working in a health centre in the parish of Clarendon located in the central part of the island. Over those 10 months or so I found friends and colleagues with some amazing names as well: Peaches, Missy, DonDon, Winsome, Miss Pink, Fancy, Blackjack...
I really think the author should've called this Freakout's Banana Bread.
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YELLOWMAN'S BANANA BREADIn St. Lucia and Anguilles, I made friends with some local people after repeated visits to the same beaches. I won't forget their great nicknames: Merit, Rah's Bucket, Campbell Soup, Sugar Ray, the Ram, So-lar, Freakout, Domino, Splif and Gorgeous. This tasty bread is named after Yellowman.
Yields 1 loaf.
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
3 tablespoons milk (or plain yogurt)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut, toasted
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
GLAZE
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon rum
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
TOPPING
1/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut, toasted
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
To make the batter, in a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter. Stir in the eggs, bananas, milk or yogurt, and lime juice. Add the salt, ginger, and grated coconut and mix well. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix them until smooth. Pour the butter into the buttered loaf pan and bake for an hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the bread for about 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Meanwhile, for the glaze, combine the brown sugar, butter, rum, and lime juice in a small saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until it becomes a thin syrup. Pour this glaze over the loaf, spreading it with a spatula or spoon to coat the top and sides. Sprinkle toasted grated coconut evenly over the glazed loaf.
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
3 tablespoons milk (or plain yogurt)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut, toasted
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
GLAZE
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon rum
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
TOPPING
1/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut, toasted
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
To make the batter, in a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter. Stir in the eggs, bananas, milk or yogurt, and lime juice. Add the salt, ginger, and grated coconut and mix well. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix them until smooth. Pour the butter into the buttered loaf pan and bake for an hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the bread for about 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Meanwhile, for the glaze, combine the brown sugar, butter, rum, and lime juice in a small saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until it becomes a thin syrup. Pour this glaze over the loaf, spreading it with a spatula or spoon to coat the top and sides. Sprinkle toasted grated coconut evenly over the glazed loaf.
1 comment:
happy new year - glad you're back. Chera brought us a loaf of this heavenly confection a few weeks ago. i can never go back to regular b-bread again. see you soon i hope. p.s. were those mexican wedding cookies? heaven.
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