Super Moist Banana Bread

I love bananas! So when I have extra over ripe bananas lying around, I get cooking. Quick tip! When a bananas peel is almost black, don't be fooled! That's when the banana is at its best. Inside you'll find a delicious white flesh that is super sweet and perfect for cakes and bread.

My intention was to make a banana bread but it came out looking more like a cake. This is my first time making banana bread and I must say it tasted delicious. It had the right amount of banana and spice but I regret not adding any walnuts. 

The crumble on top worked so well with the banana bread as it gave it that extra sweetness. 

Make sure not to over cook the bread otherwise it'll become super dry and crumbly. If I had cooked it for any longer it would've lost its moistness and been very dry to eat.

Banana Bread

Serves 5-10

2 cups White Wings flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp mixed spice

1/2 cup soft butter

3/4 cup CSR brown sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

4-5 ripe bananas, mashed

2 tsp vanilla essence

Topping

1/4 cup White Wings flour

1/4 cup CSR brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mixed spice

2 tbsp cold butter

Preheat the oven to 170C fan forced.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and mixed spice in a bowl and mix well.

In another bowl cream the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Stir in the egg, vanilla essence and bananas. 

Fold in the flour mixture into the banana mixture. Pour into a loaf or cake pan. 

For the topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, mixed spice and rub in the butter. Sprinkle the topping mixture and bake for 20-30 mins or until baked through.

Sticky Chocolate Buns

Uhhh! I'm salivating just at the thought of eating one of this delicious buns. They're soft and fluffy and filled with chocolatey goodness. You have to try them for yourself because words don't do it any justice!

I have also made these using sultanas and its been equally delicious. There are so many flavours you can experiment with, so mix and match until you get the one that tingles your taste buds.

Sticky Chocolate Buns

Makes about 12 buns

For the dough:

1x7g dried sachet yeast

275 ml warm milk

1 egg

450g White Wings plain flour

25g CSR caster sugar

1 tsp salt

50g unsalted butter, melted

1 cup Nestle milk/dark chocolate buttons 

For the filling:

50g butter

2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup CSR brown sugar

For the sugar syrup:

1/4 cup CSR sugar dissolved in 2tbsp boiling water

For the coffee icing:

2 cups CSR icing sugar

20 ml espresso coffee

Dissolve the yeast in the milk. Whisk in the egg. Fold in the flour, sugar, salt. Add the butter and mix well. Leave for 10 mins. Add the chocolate buttons.

Lightly oil an area and lightly knead the dough. Return to the bowl and leave it for another 10 mins. Knead it twice more at 10 min intervals, then cover it and let it rise double its size, about an hour.

Flour an area and roll out the dough into a large rectangle.

Melt the butter and stir in the cinnamon and brown sugar. Spread the filling evenly around the dough until all areas are covered.

Roll up the dough tightly and cut into thick pieces, about 3cm thick. Place tightly into a rectangular pan, cover and let it rise for about 30 mins.

Bake at 220C for about 15 mins or until golden.

Mix the icing sugar and espresso until its at a thick consistency.

Freshly out of the oven, glaze the buns with the sugar syrup and serve with the coffee icing or by itself. Either way its super delicious!

Turkish Lamb Pizza with Zucchini

Delicious, crunchy, super thin crust topped with spiced minced lamb and balanced out with creamy greek yoghurt! Enough said.

Turkish Lamb Pizza with Zucchini

Serves 4

2 cups White Wings plain flour

3/4 cups of hot water

100 ml olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

500g lamb mince

1/2 tsp allspice

2 tsp cumin

1/3 cup tomato paste

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic

4 zucchini, sliced 

Jalna Greek yoghurt and roasted pine nuts

Combine 1 tbsp salt with the flour. Add the hot water and 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Knead the dough until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Sautee the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the mince meat. If the mince is pre cooked, just combine with onion, if not cook for a further 3 mins or until browned.

Add the allspice, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tbsp tomato paste and combine. Allow to cool.

Combine remainder of tomato paste, red wine vinegar, garlic and sliced zucchini in a bowl and marinade.

Preheat oven to 230C. Place baking trays in the oven to heat for 10 mins.

 Roll out dough into 12x30 cm squares. Place on hot trays and top with 1/4 spiced mince meat and 1/4 sliced marinated zucchinis. Bake for about 10 mins.

Once the pizzas are cooked top with roasted pine nuts and greek yoghurt.

Enjoy!

Cilbir (Poached egg in yoghurt)

A lot of people turn their nose up whenever they hear what goes into this dish. Eggs with yoghurt? Yeah I thought it sounded a bit odd at first too. Thoughts can be deceiving! So don't dismiss the idea before you've tried it.

I first heard about this dish from my granny, who used to make these back home. She said it was a scrumptious dish and it was a well known breakfast in Turkey. It sounded delicious but I was kind of scared to try it because you never know. But because I love eggs, especially for breakfast, I thought what the heck, might as well give it a go and so I did. In a really weird way the flavours really complemented each other. The yoghurt added a delicious creaminess to the eggs with the delicious butter and garlic sauce that tied the whole dish together. It was absolutely delish! I knew I would be making this for a very looong time!

There are lots of different ways you can make Cilbir but I chose to make it my way. Originally you're meant to add garlic to the yoghurt and make a chilli butter sauce, but you can adjust it to the way you would like it to taste. Either way its uh-mazing!

Cilbir (Poached eggs in yoghurt)

Serves 2

4 cups water

1/3 cup vinegar

2 free range or organic eggs

1/2 cup Jalna greek yoghurt

1 1/2 tbsp good quality butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp of fresh mint or 1/2 tbsp dried mint

Pour the water and vinegar into a pot. Place on to a stove top and let it simmer. Do not let it boil.

Crack your eggs into a small bowl so it is easier to pour into the water. Once the water is simmering, grab a whisk and stir the water until you get a whirlpool. Once you can see the bottom of the pot quickly pour the egg into the open space and leave it. The egg will attach itself to the bottom of the pot and form a perfect poached egg. Let it cook for 3-4 mins. Repeat with the other egg.

While the egg is cooking, mix the yoghurt with 1 tbsp of water until you get a smooth creamy texture. Add the mint and mix together.

Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the garlic and cook until the butter has slightly browned.

Place the eggs in a plate and smother it with the delicious yoghurt and pour the sauce all over it. Serve immediately with a crusty piece of bread.

Notes:

You can change this recipe around and use ingredients that you prefer but it's essential that you have the poached egg and the yoghurt.

TIPS:

• Mix the garlic with the yoghurt and turn the butter into a mint burnt butter sauce.
• Add fresh chilli or powdered chilli to the sauce to give the dish a bit of a punch

Hope you enjoy!

Bruschetta

Bruschetta is so easy to make and is a perfect snack when you're feeling peckish. You can add a variety of different toppings to create a delicious mouthful of goodness.

I put together three toppings to suit the Italian theme I was going for. I opted for Wild Mushroom and Thyme, Garlic Capsicum and Tomato and Basil.

The wild mushroom and thyme was warm and soft with a delicious buttery and thyme flavour that was perfect for the cold weathers.

The Garlic Capsicum had a slight smokey flavour with a hint of garlic. It was delicious! It was crunchy and soft at the same time and had a punch at the end.

The tomato and basil was much needed to freshen up the palette. The combination of tomato and basil worked so well. It was my favourite out of the three. I could not stop eating them!

I can't decide if the bruschetta's were good or evil. They were so easy and fun to eat that you could not stop at one, you just kept going. I can not express in words on how yummy they were. You're just going to have to try them yourselves.

Bruschetta

Feeds about 10 people

4 Mini Ciabatta rolls, thickly sliced

4 tbsp Olive Oil

4 cloves of garlic

Preheat your grill or oven to 200 C (about 450 F).

Slice the ciabatta rolls into thick slices and place them in the oven to slightly brown. You don't want them to get to dark because then it's harder to bite into and resembles more of a crostini then a bruschetta.

Once the ciabatta is cooked, pull them out of the oven and while they are still hot brush each one with olive oil. Rub each one with the garlic.

Serve with desired toppings.

Wild Mushroom & Thyme

1 packet of assorted mushrooms (or any mushrooms you desire)

4 sprigs of thyme

30g of good quality salted butter

Melt butter in a pan and add the mushrooms.

Add the thyme. Cook the mushrooms until they are soft but still have a bite to them.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately while they are still hot.

Garlic Capsicum

1 large red capsicum

1 large green capsicum

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp of good quality olive oil

Preheat oven to 200 C. Place the capsicum on the top rack of the oven.

Once they have cooked, place the capsicums in a plastic bag to make skin removal easier. Once cooled, peel the skin and slice into thin slices.

Place the capsicum, olive oil and garlic in a bowl and mix.

Add salt to taste and serve.

Notes:

You can also smoke the capsicum on an oven top to give a delicious smokey flavour to the bruschetta.

Tomato and Basil (Picture shown above)

4 large ripe tomatoes

A small handful of basil leaves

2 tbsp good quality olive oil

Dice the tomato at a reasonable size. I like to chop them small so they fit on the small bruschetta.

Slice the basil leaves finely. Combine tomatoes, basil and olive oil in a bowl.

Add salt to taste. Ready to serve.

Notes:

You can add balsamic vinegar to the tomato and basil topping as it will enhance the flavour of the tomatoes. However if the tomatoes are ripe and taste delicious there is no need for it.

Hope you enjoy!

Italian Pop-Up Restaurant

The other day my mum and I hosted a 'private' pop-up restaurant at our place. We had been planning for it for a week or so and were so indecisive about the theme that we should choose that it wasn't until the last couple of days that we decided that we were going to cook up an Italian menu. We decided to create a simple but delicious meal. 

THE MENU

Starters

Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta

Roasted Capsicum Bruschetta

Mini Caprese stacks

Pollo alla Diavola (Devil's chicken)

Stuffed peppers

Main

Pumpkin and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce

Dessert

Tiramisu

Awesome company! Delicious food! Need I say more?

I will post recipes for everything I made very soon!