Bananan Bread in Loaf Pan Recipe

I starting reading the Ratio Book and start  to weigh all my ingredients to create a balanced cake. So do this recipe you need a scale to weigh the flour and sugar. It will not really work in a measuring cup. I wanted to use up my 3 lonely bananas the other day. What better way then doing a banana bread. It took under 10  mins to combine and mix all the ingredients. You can’t complain! It’s easy, yummy and fit for a hero!
Mighty Banana Bread with sprinkled sugar

Ingredients:

• 16 oz all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder4 oz (1 stick) butter, melted8 oz cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 very ripe medium bananas mashed up by hand
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. First you need to heat the oven to 350°F. Then grease a 9- x 5‐inch loaf pan, use cooking flour spray to get better result.
2. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar around the pan( optional. I like it as it adds a little sweetness to the loaf)
3. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl. Let cook while you mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder.
4. Add eggs, vanilla extract, sugar and bananas to butter and mix and combine.
5. Make a well in the flour bowl and gently mix in the banana mixture. Do not over mix. Having lumps is fine.
6. Sprinkle a teaspoon of brown sugar over the batter.
7. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until nicely browned. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
8. Check on the bread after about 40 mins. If it is getting too brown, cover with foil and rotate the pan till the cake is done.

You can serve the cake along with a glass of hot coffee or chocolate milk. Enjoy !

Smoked Fish (Kahawai) Recipe

This one was a bit out of the ordinary for me because I can’t actually eat fish. But it was very fitting with the New Zealand festive tradition of fishing by day, staying in a cute bach by the sea by night. The fish I smoked was one that I caught myself. It was actually the first fish I’ve ever caught – and not for lack of trying all these years.

Because I’m so wildly allergic I couldn’t even touch the thing and had to rely on my Dad to clean it, scale it and cut it up for the smoker. I found the whole smoking process to be pretty crazy and we learned a few important lessons in the process. Namely do not light the smoker in a garage and when the smoker is lit and the meths is burning – do not try lift it to move it.

In terms of the taste I can’t comment directly but the gist was that we had over-smoked the top of the fish but it was perfect in the middle. The trick is to get the ratio of meths to wood chips right and we had slightly too much of both which made for a bit too much smokey flavour. Lessons learned though and the important part is the fish was eaten.

Smoked Kahawai

Ingredients:

• 2 Kahawai (or other fish)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup meths
• 1 cup wood chips

Our holiday spot was on the upper West Coast of the South Island. A beautiful place called Te Hapu. We set off to catch some kahawai and while our first spot proved unfruitful our second spot proved bountiful… for some. My brother cast his rod and boom first cast he got one. Me, I got one on my second cast. Dad, well he had a bit of trouble.

He cast and he cast and after a while he caught a fish! A baby cod that he had to throw back. So he kept casting and eventually caught something else! A seagull – not even an aquatic animal. So no fish for Dad but luckily he came in useful because he knows all about cleaning and scaling them. That shizz is gross.

When we got them back to the bach we cut them in half and Dad massaged some brown sugar and salt into the flesh. To prep the smoker we filled the metal dish half full with meths and put about a cup of manuka wood chips in the bottom of the smoker itself. After lighting the meths and placing the smoker on top, the fish was laid on top of the grill and closed it up to burn itself out.

This is where your meths to woodchips to size-of-fish ratio has to be perfect and it might take a few attempts to get right. I think it’s best to err on the side of caution though and use a little less chips and meths because you can always finish the fish on the BBQ if it doesn’t cook the whole way through. I also know there are other ways to smoke a fish without actually using a smoker so you can just do it on the stove if need be.

Lite Turkey Meatloaf With Sweet Tomato Topping

I guess you could say that although I like meatloaf, it isn’t something I eat on a regular basis. It’s hearty and homey, but definitely on the heavy side.

I decided that if I was going to make it, I was going to do it my way. A little lighter than the average “loaf” and with veggies that were easy to find in my kitchen!

As I was searching for a recipe I came across this Spicy Turkey Meat Loaf from cooking light and it sounded delicious! I followed most of the instructions and made a few modifications of my own.

I couldn’t believe the result! It was my own little meat lovers dream! And the best part was light, healthy and delicious. I cannot wait for you to try it!

Serving size: 2 slices. Under 200 calories per serving.

my meat lovers masterpiece!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 tablespoon butter. (I was going for light and low in calories so I used this light butter from Land O’Lakes. It’s fabulous and has half the calories of regular butter).

2 cups chopped onion. (I used a yellow onion for a little sweetness)

1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms

3 garlic cloves, chopped

3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon Sriracha. I didn't do this step only because I wasn’t sure how spicy it would turn out. If you love spicy dishes, definitely include it. Mine was quite amazing without it and could be eaten the next day for lunch without the kick from the spice.

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey breast. (I bought this extra lean package of Jennie-O 99% fat free turkey that comes in 1.25 pound portions. It was extremely light and low in calories and tasted DELICIOUS!)

1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

1/2 cup ketchup. (I LOVE ketchup and it has a LOT of sugar in it, so I used this reduced sugar ketchup from Heintz. It also only has 5 calories per serving so it’s especially great if you’re watching your weight!)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon dry mustard

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, mushrooms, and garlic to pan; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes.

Combine mushroom mixture, panko, and next 8 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl; stir well to combine. Shape turkey mixture into a 9 x 5–inch rectangle on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray.

Combine ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and nutmeg in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Spread ketchup mixture evenly over top of meat loaf; bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°.

My oven took a bit longer than 40 minutes so if yours does too, don’t worry!

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy !

Choco Flan Dessert Recipes - Most Famous Dessert From Mexico

Known as the impossible cake, Choco flan is one of the most famous Desserts to come from Mexico. Yes, you heard it right “impossible cake”. Hmm, I ctually made this cake before I knew it was a impossible cake. The name kind of intimidates you, but don’t fret. It’s actually pretty simple. You just need to get the measurements right and your good!

Delicious Chocoflan

Chocoflan Dessert Recipes

Ingredients:

For the flan:

6 eggs

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

small cinnamon stick or 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup of milk

2 cups of sugar and/or cajeta

For the chocolate cake:

Any store bought cake box mixed according per box directions.

First blend all ingredients for chocolate cake according per box instructions.

Set aside.

In blender add:

6 eggs

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup of milk

If you have cajeta available cover the bottom of your greased pan with a thin layer.

If not, melt 2 cups of sugar on medium heat, making sure it does not burn. Quickly add the melted sugar unto a greased baking pan (I used butter).

Pour in chocolate cake batter first!

Here comes the impossible part.

On top of the chocolate mix add the blended ingredients for the flan.

But how is that? Isn’t the flan mix suppose to be on the bottom so when you flip it over it ends up on the top? That’s impossible you might say.

Cover the Choco flan with aluminum. Place in another pan (roasting pan). Fill the roasting pan with about 1 inch of water.

Place in pre-heated oven for 1 hour and a half until the surface of the cake is firm to touch.

While baking the flan mix separates from the chocolate cake mix and moves to the bottom of the pan.

When cake is done, remove from the water bath and cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Invert a large, rimmed serving platter over the pan,  hold tightly together, and flip over.

You can add additional Cajeta and chopped pecans to the top as garnish. I chose to go nut free.