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It is true that there are at least 1001 recipes for Banana Bread. It is also true that some of them will claim to be the best ever recipe. Whilst I can’t say that I am remotely qualified to be the judge of the best banana bread, I can say that I am somewhat qualified to eat them. So I decided that with a surplus of bananas (in Australia April-June and August-October are the best times to eat them), I’d make four different kinds of Banana Bread. The first one was of course from Nigella, the second a standby good old banana bread recipe I found in a Woolworths Fresh magazine, the third from the Taste website by Janelle Bloom (yes, I know she microwaves everything but this recipe did not involve the microwave and I was persuaded by the coconut flavour in it) and the last one is a Chocolate Banana bread by Karen Martini from the Sunday Life magazine.

1. Nigella’s Banana bread

I was woken at 7am this morning by a sudden urge to bake. Actually no, it was the birds outside and their loud morning calls that woke me but not knowing what to do with myself, I decided to bake. It was at the urging and from the favorable reviews on Vogue’s food forum that I sought to make Nigella’s banana bread. I was also influenced by the bananas that were ripening aromatically in my kitchen that were the perfect size for this recipe. The addition of brandy or rum soaked sultanas and walnuts makes this a little fancier and showier than your normal Banana Bread. I call this the Marcia Brady of the Banana Breads.

I made this a little rougher textured that I would like in that I didn’t chop the walnuts too finely and unlike most baked goods, I found this really came into its own when it was cold, sliced and buttered. When it was straight out of the oven, it just didn’t appeal to me as much.

• 100g sultanas
• 75ml bourbon or dark rum (or apple or orange juice if you’re wanting it to be non alcoholic)
• 175g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• half teaspoon salt
• 125g unsalted butter, melted
• 150g sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
• 60g chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and floured or with a paper insert

1. Put the sultanas and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.

2. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended.

3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit.

4. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 to 1 and a quarter hours. When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.

Makes 8-10 slices

From How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

2. Woolworth’s Fresh Banana Bread

This is more your plain Jane, nothing fancy like walnuts or brandy soused sultanas. I see it more as the Jan Brady of Banana Bread. Nigella’s would undoubtedly be Marcia Marcia Marcia. That doesn’t mean Jan isn’t good but she just isn’t as flashy but it also means that she is less work. It’s soft and fine grained but less moist.

Prep: 10 minutes Cooking: 50 minutes Makes: 1 loaf (10-12 slices)

• 1 cup (150g) plain flour
• 1/2 cup (75g) self raising flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 125g butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs whisked
• 3-4 ripe bananas, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Grease and line the base and sides of an 11cms x 21cmsx6cm deep loaf pan.

2. Combine flours, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk butter and eggs together. Stir in banana. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth the surface.

3. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve spread with butter.

Recipe: Woolworths Fresh magazine

3. Janelle Bloom’s Banana and Coconut Bread

Yes I do know that she is on Ready Steady Cook purporting the merits of Microwaves at every turn but I am willing to overlook this because of the addition of coconut and coconut milk in this Banana bread. This cake is very delicate, moist and light, the lightest of the four and not overly sweet but just sweet enough. Interestingly, there’s no butter in the recipe with the moisture and fat content provided by the coconut milk (I used coconut cream) which produces a lovely moistness. I call this the Mrs Brady-the surprise fox among the hens.

Ingredients (serves 8 )

• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 cup mashed banana (see note)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 6cm deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan.

2. Combine coconut, sugar and flour in a large bowl. Using a fork, beat banana, coconut milk, egg and vanilla in a jug. Pour over flour mixture. Gently stir to combine. Spoon mixture into pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.

3. Stand for 10 minutes in pan. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve sliced or toasted with butter, jam or cream cheese.

Notes & tips

* Note: Two large or 3 medium-sized ripe bananas will give 1 cup of mashed banana.
* Tip: Banana coconut loaf will keep for 1 week stored in an airtight container.

Source Super Food Ideas - September 2005 , Page 21
Recipe by Janelle Bloom

4. Karen Martini’s Chocolate and Banana Bread

I left the most fiddly one until last. It’s not particularly fiddly when you compare it to a normal cake but it does require creaming and thus the aid of the heavy equipment whereas the other banana breads just needed a bit of luxuriated stirring. I am in two minds about Karen Martini’s recipes, the ones that I have tried have not been great, but the picture of this one was too tempting to not make. As it turns out, mine did not resemble the one in her picture in the slightest (notwithstanding the fact that I forgot to add the banana on top). Hers was a deep, dark chocolate colour on the outside with a glossy coating on top. Mine was more a very light brown and not glossy. Also when cutting it when warm, it wasn’t very dense, I would have liked a note to slice it when it’s cold. So I guess it’s the last Karen Martini recipe for me at least for a while. I like the little notes that Nigella gives and the fact that things turn out as they look in the pictures. As its the most trouble, and a little bit dense, it just has to be Cindy Brady.

• 250g plain flour
• 20g cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 120g butter softened
• 130g raw sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2-4 very large ripe bananas (about 500g, mashed plus 1 extra)
• 60g shredded coconut
• 80g dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to fan-forced 175c (195c conventional)

2. Soft combined flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well in between. Add mashed banana and stir until combined. Fold in flour mixture, then add coconut and chocolate chips and stir until well combined.

3. Grease a loaf pan (22×12cms) and line the base with baking paper. Spoon mixture into pan. Slice extra banana and place on top of loaf (arrrgh I forgot the banana on top!). Bake for 65-70 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Recipe from Sunday Life by Karen Martini

I can say that out of the 4, I most liked Janelle Bloom’s Coconut and Banana bread the best followed closely by Nigella’s Banana Bread. I wasn’t so taken by Karen Martini’s Chocolate banana bread as I prefer dessicated to shredded coconut as it’s more delicate. As for the plain Jane Jan Brady Woolworth’s loaf, that was my least favourite in comparison with the others.

However my husband was an entirely different matter altogether. He liked the Woolworths Fresh magazine one the most, followed by Nigella’s, then Karen Martini’s Chocolate Banana bread and then Janelle Bloom’s Coconut banana bread which he said stuck to the roof of his mouth too much for comfort!

Having said that I don’t think that I would chuck any of them out of my bed at night and I found them all, uniformly best served cold with a spread of butter.

I have officially fallen in love with my pink Kitchenaid, especially its dough hook. I have even bought a cover to protect it-not that my kitchen is a target for stray missiles, but to keep the greasy stickiness that inevitably envelops everything at bay. Previously, I had shunned most dough and bread baking, mainly because I didn’t have the strength or will to knead for the 10 minutes required. Now I pop all of the ingredients in the big bowl, attach the hook and I can come back 6-7 minutes later and it will be kneaded. I say I can come back but I never do, as I prefer to watch the dough hook mix it all in in some sort of perverse food porn observation ritual.

These are so ridiculously moreish that I found myself eating 5 of these babies for lunch and forgoing my usual relatively healthy lunch. And this is from a girl that rarely has seconds. So I warn you, make these with caution and at someone else’s behest. Invite a large group of friends or lumberjacks in for morning tea. Anything to put some distance between yourself and 20 of these tempting, deliciously scented, buttery buns.

Norwegian Cinnamon buns

For the dough:

• 600 g flour (I added some extra flour as the dough was too sticky)
• 100 g sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 21 g (3 sachets-yes, really) easy blend yeast or 45 g fresh yeast
• 100 g butter
• 400 ml milk
• 2 eggs

For the filling:

• 150 g soft, unsalted butter
• 150 g sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze

• Roasting tin approximately 33cm x 24cm or large brownie tin, lined with baking parchment bottom and sides

Preheat the oven to 230°C/ gas mark 8 (I wouldn’t do this until the end of Step 3)

The ginormously risen yeast beast

1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Melt the butter and whisk it into milk and eggs, then stir it into the flour mixture. Mix to combine and then knead the dough either by hand or using the dough hook of a food mixer until its smooth and springy-add extra flour until the dough becomes a good rolling consistency. Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise for about 25 minutes.

Vast tundra of dough with buttery cinnamoney sugar filling

2. Take one-third of the dough and roll it or stretch it to fit your tin; this will form the bottom of each bun when it has cooked. Roll out the rest of the dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming to get a rectangle of roughly 50×25cm. Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and then spread the rectangle with the buttery cinnamon texture (you can made this mixture up during the 25 minutes of proving the dough in Step 1). Try to get even coverage on the whole of the dough.

A little uneven, I’m sure you’ll do better than my rather poor effort

3. Roll it up from the longest side until you have a giant sausage. Cut the roll into 2 cm slices which should make about 20 rounds. Sit the rounds in lines on top of the dough in the tin, swirly cut-side up. Don’t worry if they don’t fit snugly together as they will swell and become puffy when they prove. Brush them with egg and let them rise again for about 15 minutes to let them get duly puffy.

Snug as a bug in a rug

4. Put in the hot oven and cook for 20-25 minutes (a couple of mine were a bit black at the top by 20 mins so watch out for them), by which time the buns will have risen and will be golden brown in colour. Don’t worry it they catch in places. Remove them from the tin and leave to cool slightly on a rack-it’s easy just to pick up the whole sheet of parchment and transfer them like that-before letting people tear them off, to eat warm.

From How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

I need very little excuse to try new jams and the Faye and Jack’s Passionfruit butter was crying out for another taste. The problem with eating it with a spoon straight out of the jar, aside from hygiene, is that before you realise it, you’ve emptied the whole jar. The recipe is from a Vogue forum poster tabs whose Mother, presumably Norwegian, made these for her.

If you’re undecided by the cardamom spice, in that its usually used in curries, please don’t be. It really adds to the flavour of these and will not remind you a jot of a curry. The best part for me about these is the little lumps of sour cream that explode in your mouth when you bite into them. If you do use light sour cream instead of the sumptuous full fat version, be aware that those delicious little lumps of sour cream disappear completely.

My husband adores these and since I have a hate hate relationship with my waffle plate which has relegated it to the “never use unless its end of the world” pile, I make these as small pancakes to an equally satisfying round of compliments.

Norwegian Waffles or Pancakes

• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom or ground ginger (I prefer Cardamom)
• 1 cup sifted plain flour
• 5 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 stick butter (2 oz - 63 g.) melted and cooled (I leave this out)
• jam or fruit butter to serve with the waffles

1. In a bowl stir together the cardamom and the flour.

2. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat the eggs with the sugar for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and pale.

3. Using a spatula stir half the flour mixture into the egg mixture, stir in half the sour cream, and stir in the remaining flour and sour cream. Do not obliterate the sour cream, try to leave lumps of sour cream, they’ll burst lusciously in your mouth as you eat it.

4. Stir in the butter and let batter stand for 10 minutes.

5. Either cook in waffle maker or cook in frypan in small pancake sizes.

My sister in law has a fabulous organic garden and whilst she doesn’t live quite close by enough to pop in regularly and avail ourselves of the fabulous produce and herbs, when we do see her she inevitably and generously offers us the best of her garden including her first huge sunflower. I however was more interested in something else that grew in her garden, the green tomatoes. I have never seen them in the stores ever and have been intrigued, not just because of the film Fried Green Tomatoes (I have yet to watch it!) but also because I had heard that they were delicious.

I found a recipe online from the original book Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg. I used panko breadcrumbs as they were the only ones I had and tried making them using bacon fat and also using grapeseed oil as I didn’t have a lot of bacon fat, the bacon fat ones were obviously tastier if not cardiacally sound. The milk gravy is definitely something that enhances it and is essentially a roux sauce. The dish in unusual, but a definite winner and if you’re growing tomatoes and finding that your regular tomatoes just aren’t good enough to eat raw or in a salad, this is a great way to serve them.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Milk Gravy

Serves: 4

• 3 tbs Bacon grease
• 4 Tomatoes: green, firm, sliced into 1 cm pieces (discard ends)
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 2 cups breadcrumbs
• Flour
• Milk
• Salt
• Pepper

1. Heat your bacon grease in a heavy frying pan. Dip tomatoes in eggs, then in bread crumbs. Slowly fry them in the bacon grease until golden brown on both sides. Put your tomatoes on a plate.

2. For each tablespoon of grease left in the pan, stir in one tablespoon of flour and blend well; then stir in one cup warm milk and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper till you like it.

3. Pour over the tomatoes and serve hot.

The best there is.

Sipsey Peavey, Whistle Stop Café
Whistle Stop, Alabama
From the book “Fried Green Tomatoes” by Fannie Flagg

This has got to be one of my favourite cereals, not only for its gloriously nutty and crunchy taste but also for its nutritional benefits. Without meaning to bore you with the boring health details, the fact is that it is incredibly low in fat (the only fat being what is in the nuts and seeds), its also full of those fabulous seeds sunflower and sesame as well as being made up primarily of rolled oats which are also very good for your health. The most important part though, the taste, is more delicious than anything muesli you’ll ever buy (I always find the untoasted ones dry and the toasted ones are sprayed in oil). You can customise it to have the nuts and fruit of your desire (I sometimes add pepitas) or even make a chocolate and peanut version. It can also be made into breakfast muffins so there’s really no excuse not to try it.

NQN’s cranberry, macadamia and yogurt coated berry version

Nigella suggests using dried cherries but I would also recommend adding dried sweetened cranberries or craisins or even, for a real indulgence, some yogurt coated sultanas and macadamia nuts along with the dried cranberries. My husband loves this granola topped with thick yogurt and a drizzle of honey instead of milk. I couldn’t resist making this Christmas-ey looking granola for our big Christmas get together. Is there even such a thing as Christmas granola?

I find that buying the big 500g or 1kg bags of sesame or sunflower seeds makes it much easier to make this often. I also omit the oil completely, I don’t think it suffers from leaving it out at all and instead of using apple sauce, I use apple juice, just because we always have apple juice and it makes it crunchier whereas the apple sauce leaves it a little softer.

NQN’s cranberry, macadamia and yogurt coated berry version

Andy’s Fairfield Granola

This is an extraordinary bonus from my last book, in the sense that while I was on tour in the States to promote Forever Summer, I did a signing in a borders in Fairfield Connecticut and just behind the bookshop was a deli called The Pantry. Well I can never buy enough, don’t even know what that would mean: I always leave any food shop with about five shopping bags, even when I know I’m going on a transatlantic flight the next day. So I shlepped home with tags of good things to eat, including (and probably illegally, I’m afraid) several tons of their granola. I got so anxious about the prospect of finishing even that copious supply that I phone for the recipe-it happens to be only the best granola you’ll ever taste in your life-and Andy Rolleri supplied it, for which I am enormously grateful. Every time I’ve given this to people, they’ve asked for the recipe and have gone on to make it at home. That can only be a good sign.

You may think that making your own breakfast cereal is a strange way to go about life and certainly I’d never have thought I’d be the kind of person who does this, but the only big deal here is the shopping-the actual making is incredibly easy-and even there, don’t be daunted by the length of the ingredients list. It means one big sortie to a health food shop and then you’ve got the goods to make this again and again. I love having a big jar of it in the kitchen, to eat with milk for breakfast, over yogurt and frizzled with honey late at night, or as it is, by the grasped handful, any time I pass the jar.

Makes 2.5 litres

Ingredients

• 450g rolled oats
• 120g sunflower seeds
• 120g white sesame seeds
• 175ml apple sauce (I use apple juice)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 120g brown rice syrup or rice malt syrup or failing that golden syrup (I use golden syrup)
• 4 tablespoons runny honey
• 100g light brown sugar
• 250g whole natural almonds
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2 tbsp. sunflower oil (I don’t bother adding this)
• 300grams raisins

1. Mix everything (except the raisins) together very well in a large mixing bowl. I use a couple of curved rigid spatulas; normally I’d be happy to use my hands but here it just leaves you covered with everything.
2. Spread this mixture on two baking tins (the sort that come with ovens and are about the width of a rack) and bake in a gas mark 3/170c oven turning over halfway through the baking and redistributing the granola evenly during the baking process. The object is to get it evenly golden without toasting too much in any one place. This should take anything from about 40 minutes. I use a gas oven, which doesn’t brown as fast as en electric one, so often leave it in up to an hour.4
3. Once its baked, allow to cool and mix together with the raisins. Store airtight

Note: I make a chocolate and peanut version of this, using 300g raw peanuts in place of the almonds, and adding 25g best quality cocoa powder along with the oats, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, giving everything a good raking over with my hands so that the cocoa is evenly dispersed before I add the remaining ingredients. And I sometimes leave the raisins out of Andy’s granola, but I absolutely never include them in this version. You could however tinker with the idea of some dried cherries.

From Feast by Nigella Lawson