Month: January 2016

Basic Banana Bread

This is my favorite basic banana bread.  Last time I made it I was out of vanilla, so I subbed almond extract and cardamom and ended up baking one of my favorite loaves ever.

A single batch of this nearly overfills my standard loaf pan, especially if you include the nuts. Last time I had a lot of bananas, so scaled up the recipe by a third, then split into two loaves. Worked great. (Room for more batter if ever want/need to scale up to 1.5X sometime.)

  • 2 C. very ripe bananas, mashed; about 4 or 5 medium bananas (455 g.)
  • 1/2 C. vegetable oil (99 g.)
  • 1 C. sugar  (200 g)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 T. milk
  • 3/4 t. almond extract or 1 t. vanilla
  • 3/4 t. cardamom or 1 t. cinnamon
  • 2 cups white whole wheat flour (250 g.)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
  2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas, add the oil, sugar, eggs, milk, and extract, stir to combine.
  3. Mix in the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. (and nuts, if using.) Make sure ingredients are thoroughly combined.
  4. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  5. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.
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Kale Pancetta Bean Soup

Into the Instant Pot:

  • 1 pound Rancho Gordo Yellow Eye Beans
  • 2 qts water
  • 1 carrot, halved or in thirds
  • 1 onion, peeled and halved
  • 1-2 stalks of celery + leaves, very roughly chopped
  • 2 t. kosher salt

Manual pressure, high, for 30 minutes, natural release (did 32 min. first time, probably needed a little less time)

Skim off the aromatics, pour beans and cooking liquid into a pot or bowl to hold. Rinse out Pot liner, return to Pot.

Remaining ingredients:

  • 4 oz. package of diced pancetta
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 3-4 large carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
  • large bunch of kale, cut into thin ribbons, stems removed
  • 1 C. chicken stock
  • salt + pepper
  • apple cider vinegar

Turn on Saute function, add pancetta. Render out the fat. Add onion and garlic to the pot, saute until soft. Deglaze with chicken stock. Add the carrots, kale, and beans + cooking liquid.

Manual pressure, high, 5 minutes. 10 minute natural release.

Using saute function, reduce the soup to desired thickness. Add salt (probably at least 1 t. additional kosher) and 1-2 t. of apple cider vinegar.

Note:

Next time, maybe saute the pancetta first, saute onions/garlic, add dried beans for the cooking time, and then finish with the carrots/kale for 5 min, the reduce.  Save some steps now that the beans’ cook time is a known factor. (Maybe broth wouldn’t be as flavorful without the first round of aromatics?)

 

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