Banana Loaf

I've been suffering from yet another cough and cold recently - just how many of these can one person get! So I've not been eating properly and not wanted to do any cooking at all. 

Starting to feel more human now, so got back out into the kitchen where I found a couple of black bananas.  Best use for these I thought will be a lovely comforting banana loaf.  So I set to with a Nigel Slater recipe.  Now Nigel freqently says that a recipe is a 'guide' or words to that effect - so my slight misunderstanding when following his recipe is not a mistake - but a bit of creative adaptation.

The recipe calls for grinding hazelnuts to add with the flour.  I had a collection of mixed whole nuts that I thought would replace the 'hazelnuts' in the recipe list.  It was only as I was following the 'method',  that I realised the error.  Well what the hell I thought - just chuck them in roughly chopped and see what happens.  The result a delicious banana loaf that even hubby likes (not sure this is a good thing!).

There are big chunks of nuts, banana and chocolate in a lovely moist cake with a slightly crisp top.

The original recipe called for choc chips but I substituted roughly chopped dark chocolate and I think it works better giving a slight bitterness in contrast with all the sweetness.

So the recipe for Terri's Banana Loaf is:

6 oz softened salted butter
6 oz sugar (half light brown, half castor)
2 1/2 oz mixed nuts - roughly chopped
3 eggs
6 oz self raising flour
2 very ripe bananas
vanilla extract
6 oz of good dark chocolate - roughly chopped
a little demerara sugar.

1 - Preheat the oven to 170C
2 - Line a loaf tin (I use paper cases from Lakeland)
3 - Beat the butter and sugars together until they are light, fluffy and coffee coloured - best done with a food mixer.
4 - Slowly beat the eggs in to the butter and sugar mix together with a few drops of vanilla essense
5 - Add the flour and gently fold in.
6 - Peel and chop the bananas - smallish chunks
7 - Fold in the nuts, chocolate and banana chunks
8 - Scoop into the prepared tin - the mix is quite stiff so work it down into the tin and slightly flatten off with a spatula
9 - Sprinkle a little demerara sugar on the top.  Bake for 1 hr to 1 hr 10 mins.  If the loaf starts to get too dark then cover with cooking foil.  It's done when it's springy to the touch and a knife comes out nice and clean.

It is delicious on the day - but as with all banana bakes it gets better if allowed to mature for a day.

Parsnip and Rosemary Soup.

I have been going to Weight Watchers for ages - and recently I have not been very successful at losing the weight.  I  know that this is all down to me - I just cannot seem to get my self into the 'tracking zone'.

Then last week our group leader mentioned 'Filling and Healthy'.  Basicall there is a list of foods that are filling and healthy and you do not need to point them.  Now some of these to have a points value, but not if you are following this approach.  Fruits, veg, lean meats some cereals and very low fat dairy.  You also have to have 2 tpsns of oil a day as well.

Basically you can eat what you want from the list, but need to be disciplined enough to eat until you are just full - not stuffed or even slightly over full.  You can just do a day or longer.  You take any 'extras' from your weekly points allowance.

So I thought let's give it a go.  I figured it would give me a chance to work on some new recipes and hopefully lose a few pounds.

The first new recipe for me is Parsnip and Rosemary soup - which is just lovely.  Now, I love roast parsips and up to now that has been it for me on the parsip front.  I have tried the spiced parsnip soups but didn't like them.  But this is delicious.

Take: (serves 4).

2 tablespoons of light olive or sunflower oil.
1 large onion
2 sticks of celery
4 medium sized parsnips
1 smallish potato
Vegetable stock
2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary.
Salt and Pepper.

Put the oil in a saucepan and heat.  Peel and chop the onions and put into the pan with the oil and gently soften them.  Chop the celery and put it in the pan with the onion.  Top and tail the parsnips but don't peel them.  Chop the parsnips and put them in the pan.  Then wash and chop the unpeeled potato.  Sweat the vegetable together over a low heat for 5 mins - don't let the veggies brown.  Then add just enought stock to cover the veg.  Simmer until soft and tender.  Take off the heat and liquidise.  Then add the rosemary and add seasoning to taste.

Serve warm with a dollop of fat free greek yogurt.  Yum, Yum!  and very filling.

If you want bread or crackers with this soup you will need to take the points from your weekly allowance

Confiture de Lait

Here goes with my first post of this brand new blog.

How many of you have heard of or tried Confiture de Lait?  Roughly translates as milk jam or milk conserve.

I have seen this in supermarkets in France, but never tried it.  Recently I came across a recipe in a French cookbook that used this as a part of a Creme Caramel.  So I thought as the French seem to have a real talent for sweet and tasty lushciousness why not give it a go?

So what is Confiture de Lait?  Well it's not jam (confiture is french for jam) in the sense that we understand it - though it does contain a lot of sugar.  It's a rich and creamy reduction of milk and sugar.  High in fats and sugar and goodness knows how many calories!  But you don't eat a lot at one sitting - so that makes it ok!

As I started to assemble my recipe and ingredients I thought that it might be a little like condensed milk - yum yum!  But not quite - not quite so sweet and gooey, and more 'milky'.  But it is truely delicious - especially  on porridge.  The French eat it on slices of brioche  - I've tried it on crusty white bread and that works really well, as does just eating it straight from the jar.  I've read that you can use it as a topping on cheese cakes as well.  I think it tastes a bit like really rich and creamy rice pud - only smooth.

Well, what is the recipe?

I work in old money - so it's pounds and ounces - if you work in metric then you will need to convert the measurements.

You need:

1. Full fat milk
2. Sugar
3. Vanilla pod or paste or essense (optional).

• I used 2 pints of gold top (full fat would work just as well) which equals 40 fluid ounces of milk.
• You use half the weight of milk in sugar - so I used 20 oz of sugar - 1 lb 4oz.  And a teaspoon of vanilla paste which is the equivalent of 1 pod.
• Put the milk, sugar and vanilla pod in a heavy based pan.  Bring to the boil and boil for 2 mins.  Then reduce the heat to the lowest point necessary to just lightly simmer the mixture.  You need to simmer for 1 - 2 hours (or perhaps a bit more), stirring from time to time.
• You will seek the connoction start to gradually darken to a golden, milky colour.  As the mix starts to thicken stir every 5 mins or so and keep going until the mix is thick enough to coat the back of your wooden spoon.  It mix will thicken as it cools.
• If the finished item is not thick enough when it cools you can always put it back on the heat and reduce it a bit more.
• Pour it into a warm and sterilised jar.

I sterilise my jars by washing them in warm soapy water, rinsing well under the hot tap and them pop them into the oven set at 150 C for about 20 mins.  Be careful when taking them out as they will be hot.  It's a good idead to put them on a baking sheet with a folded kitchen towel between the jars and the tray.  Leave them on the cloth and tray while filling them with the hot confiture.

The mixture is quite thick and not as hot as jams so I just used a ladel to put it in the jar.  You can use a jam funnel - but sterilise it first along with the jars.

Here us the finished article. Rubbish photo - hehe!



As you can see I save jars (waste not want not).  This one started out with chestnuts in it that I got from the supermarket in France at some point.  Mostly I make preserves just for myself and family so I don't really bother about getting the labels off if they don't just fall off in the washing up.  What do they stick them on with?

I haven't bothered with a paper seal disc as I don't expect this to last long before it gets gobbled up.  However, as everything was nice and hot when the mix went into the jar and I got the lid on quickly, the lid has 'popped in' as a vacum was formed.

I can't advise on keeping, but would certainly recommend it's kept in the fridge once opened.  It might be an idea to use smaller jars or make smaller portions.  This jar holds about 2 lbs of jam when full to the brim.

I would be happy to hear about your experiences of this lush concoction and any recommendations.

Well there you go!  Happy Eating!!