Banana Blondies

These are from the book "Short and Sweet, the best of home baking" by Dan Lepard.

They are too delicious, even better than chocolate brownies.

These ones were made with Aero white chocolate, which is white covered with milk chocolate, so are a little darker.

325 g caster sugar
75g brazil nuts, roughly chopped
100g unsalted butter
200g white chocolate
1 egg
2 bananas, peeled (about 200-250g)
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder

Firstly make the nut brittle.  Put 75g of the caster sugar into a pan with 2 tbsp cold water. Bring to the boil and let it bubble away until the sugar turns to a golden caramel and sets to a hard ball when dropped from a teaspoon into a glass of cold water. Stir in the nuts and spread onto an oiled tray to cool and set. Once cold, roughly chop. (As a cheat, you could use a bought bar of nut brittle, but making it yourself is so simple)

Line the base and sides of an 8"/20cm square tin with foil or parchment and preheat the oven to 190ºC/Gas 5.  Heat the butter and white chocolate in a pan over a low heat until melted then spoon into a bowl.  Add the remaining sugar (250g) and beat with the egg, bananas and vanilla until smooth.  Add the flour and baking powder and fold through the nut toffee. Spoon into the tin and bake for 35 mins until wobbly-set and golden on top.  Leave to go cold before slicing.

Butterscotch Banana Cake

This is my version of Dan Lepards Butterscotch Banana Cake.  It's from his book Short and Sweet. The recipe is below, it came from The Guardian.

• Dan Lepard
• The Guardian, Saturday 24 November 2007

My mate Jason Warwick, a talented baker in Sydney, taught me his way to boost the flavour and colour of banana cake, by simmering all that soft banana flesh in a frying pan bubbling with rich caramel, perfect for this sweet loaf. The cake takes on a sunburnt bronze hue and has a strong banana toffee flavour. Don't limit this to a loaf tin: it works as well as a slab, especially if a few handfuls of chopped blond walnuts are tossed in and stirred through at the end. Don't be stingy with the baking powder; bananas are very alkaline when they are ripe and this is often the cause of a heavy, dense cake.

250g caster sugar

250g banana flesh, chopped into 2cm pieces

1 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

175ml sunflower oil

2 large eggs

150g plain flour

75g spelt, rye or wholemeal flour

2 level tsp mixed spice

2 level tsp baking powder

½ level tsp bicarbonate of soda

50ml plain yoghurt

Butter a 20cm square tin and line the base with non-stick baking paper. Tip 150g of the caster sugar into a frying pan with 25ml water, bring to the boil, then cook over a high heat until the sugar turns to a dark reddish caramel. Add the banana pieces, butter and vanilla, and simmer until the bananas break up in the caramel and the mixture is thick.

Spoon on to a plate and leave to cool. Beat the remaining 100g sugar with the oil and eggs until thick and slightly aerated, then beat in the bananas and the yoghurt. Sift the flours, spice, baking powder and soda together two or three times (throwing the bran back in), then fold this through the banana mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the tin, heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted) and bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Tried and tested

'Went down really well. Even better the day after baking'

Thai Cook Class and a Thai Red Chicken Curry

So we saw this Thai cooking class advertised and decided it would be a different way to spend a Friday evening.  It was held at Blackfriars in Newcastle and there were 6 of us altogether.

We started off making some Thai Red Curry Paste.

Thai Red Curry Paste

6-8 large dried chillies, soaked in warm water for 30 mins
6 fresh kaffir lime leaves, chopped (dry ones are fine)
2 stalks fresh lemon grass, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
small knob of galangal, chopped
1 coriander root
2 shallots, peeled
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 generous tsp shrimp paste

Add coriander seeds into  the mortar and pestle and pound until the coriander seeds have turned to powder.  Add the dried chillies and pound until the pieces are quite small.  Add the rest of the ingredients, bit by bit, pounding in between adding the shrimp paste last.  Pound until the mixture is a paste.

You can do this in a machine, but it won't be quite the same.

Store in the fridge.

Next came Chicken Satay and Peanut Dip

Chicken Satay

Serves 4

Bamboo skewers
½ cup coconut milk
2 tbsp curry powder
500g chicken breast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 finely chopped lemon grass stalks
½ cup condensed milk
1 tsp turmeric

Soak the skewers at least half an hour so that the ends don't burn on the grill. Slice the chicken into strips, each about ¼ " thick. Mix the remaining ingredients and marinate the chicken for about 30 mins.

Thread the chicken onto the soaked skewers and place under the grill or cook in the oven, 4 minutes each side or until the chicken is cooked.

You can use pork instead of chicken.

Peanut dip (Nam Jim Satay)

Serves 4

¾ cup coconut milk
1 tbsp Thai curry paste 
2 tbsp fish sauce
2-3 tbsp peanut butter
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbps tamarind paste

Add the coconut milk to a cold pan and start to heat over medium heat.  As it is heating, stir in the curry paste, mixing well. Once thoroughly mixed, add the peanut butter and the remaining ingredients.  Stir and taste, you should be able to taste fish sauce, sugar and tamarind paste.  If it becomes too thick, add a few drops of water to thin the paste.

The Chicken Satay was served with Yam Woon Sen, a salad of glass noodles with shrimps and pork.

Yam Woon Sen

1 bundle glass noodles (approx 50g)
1 tsp oil
500g shrimps
500g minced pork
1 lime
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp fish sauce
½ tsp sugar
1 fresh chilli, finely chopped
1/3rd cucumber, sliced
5-6 cherry tomatoes, halved
chopped fresh coriander

Put the noodles into a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling hot water over the noodles and leave to soak for 6 minutes.  Move the noodles around to make sure they are all submerged.  Drain the noodles and once the water stops dripping, put the noodles into a large bowl and cut them with scissors randomly to make the strands easier to eat.  The noodles should be soft not mushy.

Put a pan on medium heat and heat 1 tsp oil.  Add the pork and stir until fully cooked, then add the shrimps and stir for a further 2 minutes then take the pan off the heat.  Spoon the mixture into the bowl with the noodles and the fresh ingredients. To season the mixture, put the fish sauce and sugar into a small bowl, mix well and add to the mixture.  Lastly squeeze the lime juice into the mixture, toss and serve.

Finally we cooked and ate Chicken Pad Thai

Chicken Pad Thai

Serves 2

1 egg
chicken, raw (or other meat of choice)
1 tsp dried shrimps
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp salted radish
1 cube fried tofu, diced
1 handful dry, medium rice noodles
2 tsp fish sauce
1 cup fresh beansprouts
1-2 spring onions, cut into 1" pieces (2.5cm)
2 tbsp chopped roasted peanuts
1 tsp dried roasted red Chilli flakes
½ cup pad thai sauce
veg oil for frying
wedges of lime

Soak the rice noodles in warm water for about 15 minutes, leave until ready to use.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over medium heat, add garlic, shallots, salted radish and tofu and fry for a few seconds.  Now add the chicken and stir until cooked. Add spring onions and noodles, pad thai sauce and fish sauce.  Stir fry for about 4-5 minutes.  Push the mixture to one side of the pan and add the egg, wait until the egg is cooked then add the beansprouts. Stir fry for another 2 minutes and serve with roasted peanuts on top, lime and chilli flakes on the side.

Use any meat you like instead of chicken.

Pad Thai Sauce

You can buy this ready made in jars or make your own.  Here's a recipe for making your own.

1-1½ tsp tamarind paste to taste
¼ cup chicken stock
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ to 1 tsp chilli sauce or use cayenne pepper to taste
pinch ground white pepper
3-4 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar

Place all ingredients in a cup and stir to dissolve both tamarind paste and sugar (note you will need lots of sugar to balance out the sourness of the tamarind). When taste-testing, keep in mind the following tips: In order to achieve the best results, your pad Thai sauce should taste sweet first, followed by spicy-salty and sour last. Add more sugar if it tastes too sour to you, or add more chili for more intense spiciness. Also note that the sauce will taste almost too strong at this point, but once distributed throughout the noodles, the flavor will be perfect.

Your pad Thai sauce is now ready to be used, or store it in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks. Note: this recipes makes 2/3 cup Pad Thai Sauce (enough for 1 batch of Pad Thai, enough for 9 ounces of noodles to serve 2-4 people)

Great British Bake Off

Well, it's over for another year :(  I've really enjoyed watching again.  I'd never heard of some of the bakes, Google to the rescue there!

Well done to Nancy for winning, but bother Richard and Luis were worthy finalists.

Chicken Liver Bolognese from Save wth Jamie

Is liver the stuff of nightmares for you? This is well worth a try and surprisingly non-livery.  It's from Save with Jamie.

Ingredients (serves 6):

• 250g chicken livers
• 1 red onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 100g button mushrooms
• 2 springs of fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
• olive oil
• 1x400g tin of lentils
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 480g dried spaghetti
• parmesan cheese (to serve)
• optional: a few springs of fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. soak the livers in a bowl of water for a few minutes
2. peal onion, carrot and garlic, than pulse in a food processor with the mushrooms, rosemary leaves, fennel seeds, chilli and parsley stalks (if using), until finely chopped
3. finely slice bacon and put it into a large pan on a medium heat with a good lug of oil
4. add the pulsed mixture from the processor to the pan and cook for around 15 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of water to help it along, if needed
5. Drain the chicken livers, then pulse in the food processor until finely chopped
6. use a spatula to scrape them are veg into the pan, then fry and break up for a couple of minutes
7. drain and add the lentils, followed my order to the tomato puree and vinegar
8. crumble in the stock cube and add 700ml of boiling water *
9. reduce to a low heat and simmer gently for 40 minutes
10. with 15 minutes to go, finely chop the parsley leaves (if using)
11. Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water According To packet instructions, then drain, reserving a cupful of cooking water
12. Season the sauce to perfection, then tip in the pasta and toss together, loosening with a splash of cooking water, if needed.
13. sprinkle chopped parsley over the, finely grate over a little Parmesan, toss and serve

Lentil, burghul and spinach soup

Have you ever started making something and wondered why?  Ended up with something quite different and better for the sake of not wasting the ingredients?

This is what happened here.

I had half a pack of spinach I wanted to use up. A quick search of my books on "Eat your books" found me this recipe in a book called Lebanese Cooking, an Australian Women's Weekly.  I envisaged a nice spiced soup, warming and tasty.......

2 litres water
1 cup (200g) brown lentils
1 cup (160g) burghul
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
350g spinach, shredded finely
2 tbsp chopped parsley (I didn't have any so omitted it)

Bring a pan of water to the boil in a large pan, cook lentils, uncovered until just tender.  Add burghul, cover, simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasonally.

Meanwhile, heat oil and cook the onion and garlic, stirring until browned lightly.  Add spinach, cover and remove from heat.

Just before serving, add spinach and onion mixture, stir over llow heat until heated through.  Serve sprinkled with parsley and if desired, topped with yogurt.

Now, sorry, but that lot was just a bit tasteless.  I'd already added carrot to the veg mixture, and seasoned with salt and pepper.  So I added some spice mixture, a chilli mixture with herbs. Whizzed it with a stick blender to blend only part of it. A squeeze of lemon juice to lift it slightly and served it with a dollop of sweet chilli sauce stirred through.  Now it is much tastier than it looks!

Greekish Chicken with Orzo and Spinach

This is another of my "make it up as you go along" dishes, which turned out pretty tasty.

For 2

Orzo about 120g
Baby spinach
Courgette cut into wedges
Red pepper cut into slices
Fresh thyme
Oregano
Garlic clove
1 tsp oil
2 chicken breasts
1 lemon

Half cook the orzo in boiling water for a couple of minutes.  Drain and put into the bottom of a casserole dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice, stock or water (about 1-2 tbsp).

Top with baby spinach, a couple of big handfuls as it wilts down as it cooks. Top with the courgette and peppers.

In a mortar and pestle, grind the garlic, thyme and oregano with the oil.  Rub this over the chicken breasts.  (You could leave this on for a couple of hours for more flavour).  Place on top of the veg and top with a lid.

Cook for approx 20-25 mins until the chicken is cooked through.  Check it doesn't dry up during cooking, adding more liquid if required.

Top with a few cubes of feta if you fancy it.  Add some olives too if you like them.