banana-bread-baking

b a n a n a - b r e a d - b a k i n g
When it comes to bananas I can get a little bit judgemental...if they're too green they feel horrible to bite into and as they pass over the yellow/brown stage they get a bit......furry!! My idea of a perfect banana is one which is completely yellow except for a tiny green bit on the stalk...and if there are any bruises, I'm out! I think over a banana's lifetime there's around a 40 minute window where I will eat them!

Therefore banana bread is the answer to all my banana ripening troubles! It's a really simple cake to throw together, it uses up all my neglected bananas and I know lots of people who love to eat it!!

So for the recipe (which is in cups):
2/3 cup sugar; 1/2 cup vegetable oil; 2 eggs; 2 bananas; 1 teaspoon of vanilla (I tend to use vanilla bean paste but you can also use vanilla extract); 1 & 2/3 cup self-raising flour; 1 teaspoon of baking soda; 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Start by mashing your bananas and stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl mix the sugar, vegetable oil and eggs together then add in the mashed bananas/vanilla combination. Finally add in all your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and cinnamon) and give it a final stir.
I have a tendency to add coconut to it at this point for a little bit more texture... just after the flour and cinnamon (about half a cup) and put 1/4 cup of milk in to keep enough moisture in too.

Pour the mix into a greased loaf tin (or 2 depending on quantities of cake) and bake for around 25 minutes at 190 degrees (you can check it's cooked by pushing a skewer through the cake and seeing if it comes out clean).
Once cooked move to a cooling rack to cool a bit before cutting/eating/devouring.

chinese-sticky-pork

c h i n e s e - s t i c k y - p o r k

Last night I had taken some pork steaks out of the freezer in an attempt to use up the vast quantities of frozen meat which reside there. As my day at work wore on I couldn't really think what to do with the pork steak...partly because I didn't really know what I was looking for and partly because I couldn't think what I had in my cupboards, I really struggled to find a good recipe for pork on the internet (I'm absolutely sure they exist though). 
So I decided to have a go at putting some of my favourite flavours in the same bowl and seeing what I could produce!!
The results were surprisingly delicious (and really, really simple)... I give you Chinese-style sticky pork with paprika and coconut rice.

So for the recipe:

2 pork steaks; 2 tablespoons honey; 1 'glug' (technical term!) soy sauce; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 1 teaspoon chilli flakes; 2 chopped spring onions; 2 teaspoons paprika.
1 red onion; large handful baby corn; 2 chopped spring onions; 1 tablespoon honey;  half a tin chopped tomatoes; 1 handful coriander;
Brown rice; sesame oil; 2 tablespoons dessicated coconut; 1 tablespoon paprika
Mix all of the ingredients together to form a sticky paste, add a little more soy sauce or sesame oil to form a marinade and cover the pork steaks in it and leave for a while (overnight would be great but I only had half an hour!) Meanwhile cook your rice, drain and leave to the side.
Once your steaks have marinaded heat up your frying/gridle pan, brown the onion and, whilst the pan is very hot, place your steaks in the pan. Cook for around 5 minutes on one side, pour the rest of the marinade in and turn the steaks over to cook through. Place your steaks on a chopping board, cut into slices and return to the pan with the baby corn, spring onions, honey, coriander and chopped tomatoes. Cook until most of the liquid has been cooked off and the honey is turning everything sticky and delicious.
In the same pan (once the content has been moved into a bowl) heat some more sesame oil. Add the rice, paprika and coconut and continue to stir this until everything has been mixed together, the coconut is starting to smell delicious and the rice is cooked through (if you're finding the rice is starting to dry a little you can add some coconut milk or a bit more oil to keep it moving).

Serve with some extra coriander and a few more chopped spring onions.

Paprika and coconut rice