Banana Bread

There's definitely something to be said for cultural diversity, and principally (knowledge and understanding and ecological/anthropological quests aside), that has to be the addition of new recipes and flavours to one's gastric memory. While I don't agree with the French elitists' view that English food is inedible, I can understand how they may have come to a conclusion that it's inherently rather boring. Vegetables, for example, are certainly guilty of that- for the most part they're boiled to destruction, steamed or roasted beyond compare. And if not, there's always gravy. LOTS of gravy. I have always been apprehensive about eating veggies at a friend's house because I never know how they're going to be served; some of the textures just make me gag. So it's a relief, then, that we have influences from overseas to help us find new ways of enjoying food, and using ingredients as we've never before seen them...

Banana bread is hardly anything new, especially to those in the States, but it's entering the public eye a lot more here, alongside such stalwarts as fruit cake and carrot cake. I can't remember when the need or desire to bake it first came about while living here, but most likely because we had an abundance of bananas and nobody who could consume them (I can't, as I have acid reflux- a single banana can cripple me for the rest of the day). The supply/demand for these at home is such an odd phenomenon. It'll work wonderfully for ages, having just about the right amount 80 percent of the time, and then we've either got none or thousands. Having none means traipsing to a grocery store, but having too many is somewhat of a reward for me, as I get to enjoy one of our favourite baking recipes.

Banana Bread

2 large bananas, chopped

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups wholewheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup (approx. 30 grams) chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease bottom of pan(s).

2. Mix flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon.

3. Mash banana and add eggs, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla and bananas. 

Mix thoroughly to combine.

4. Add flour mixture and stir until well-blended.

5. Fold in nuts and spoon dough into pan.

6. Bake 8-inch pan for 55-62 minutes; a 9-inch pan for 45-52, or any other size pan until toothpick comes out clean. In our set of matching "cake-sized" pans you see here, this takes approximately 15-20 minutes. If you're doing them in a muffin pan, it's more like 10-15 minutes.

7. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Cool 1 hour before slicing.

One of the best things about this is that you can freeze them to save for later, too. They defrost well in the microwave, or in the oven for a few minutes. Snack, dessert, or side-dish for an entrée? You decide! We often serve it alongside our Apple Maple Bacon Frittata. Or, you know, just eat it.

Great-Grandmother Mary's Cornbread

My great-grandmother was the most Southern woman I've ever known, with the exception of my own mother. She was everything to me that my grandmothers never were, and I'm so glad I had the luck to know her for almost 20 years, even if we didn't always understand each other.

Her name was Mary, and she was born on Christmas day.  She had two daughters, three grandchildren, and four to five great-grandchildren when she passed away over 90 years later on Valentine's day.  Those years were full of love, laughter, hardship, happiness, and perseverance.  Most of all, they were full of her smiling.

When she passed away and her daughters began divvying out her belongings, I asked for two things: her photo albums and her recipe books. They were some of her most cherished belongings, and I could not bear to see them lost or shelved somewhere they wouldn't be used and enjoyed.  Mary would've wanted to be remembered by her food and her escapades, I'm sure. That's just the sort of great-grandmother she was.

Mary and Henry

A family favorite of hers was her sour-cream cornbread, which both my mother and I still make to this day. We've differences of opinion on whether to use Greek yoghurt or sour-cream, but I like to think Mary would've tried either and enjoyed them.  (Her recipe books, after all, were written almost entirely in her own measurements and substitutions.) Mary was always up for something new, after all. Even if it meant wearing knee-high shorts in the early 1930s. The scandal!

Try this recipe with Mom's copycat chilli, while you're at it. They were made for each other, even if they were separated by a generation. 

Great-Grandmother Mary's Cornbread

Serves: 6-8

3/4 cup + 3 tbsp polenta flour or cornmeal

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

½ cup oil

8 oz sour cream (or Greek yoghurt)

16 oz corn, puréed (or 1 can creamed corn)

2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 425 and grease pan. 
2. Mix ingredients until just blended. Pour into pan. 
3. Cook in lower half of oven for 25-30 minute until set and lightly golden.

Cooks' note: If you are using self-rising cornmeal, omit the baking powder and use 1 cup of cornmeal. We haven't been able to find this in the UK, so we had to make our own self-rising cornmeal with polenta and baking powder. 

Indo-Caribbean Couscous

You get a slightly bastardized culinary palate when one spouse is from the south-eastern United States while the other is from south-eastern Britain.  Between us, we are quickly becoming hesitantly adept with blending Indian, Thai, Cajun, African, Middle-Eastern, and even Kosher flavors and methods into our respective English and American roots....  And Thankfully, it even works out as something edible more often than not!

Shortly after I moved to the UK, Solaris introduced me to the Reggae Reggae licensed products, and after a few misses involving near-destruction of our taste buds, we hit on a few mainstays. The following recipe was inspired by Mr Roots' signature British-Caribbean fusion but does not have any Reggae Reggae sauce or by-products, so (we hope) it can be made regardless of where our readers currently reside. Please enjoy!

Indo-Caribbean Couscous

Serving: 5

2 smallish garlic cloves

2 mild strength peppadew peppers, rinsed and finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp tamarind paste

½ tbsp sugar (or less, dependent on taste. 1/2 a tablespoon will not make this too sweet.)

200 grams couscous

300 ml hot water

1. Mix all ingredients but couscous with hot water.
2. Add to pan and return to boil.
3.  Add couscous, stir, and remove from heat when it begins to boil again.
4. Cover and leave at least 5 minutes.
5. Fluff gently with fork to serve.