Banana bread

I am new to the banana bread making business. Imagine the horror when I realized I lost the very first recipe I tried and liked... Puzzled by the gazillion versions available online, ran over to epicurious.

Banana bread - adapted from Epicurous:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 (9- by 5- by 3-inch) metal loaf pans, then dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl.

Beat together eggs and sugar in bowl of electric mixer at medium-high speed until very thick and pale and mixture forms a ribbon when beater is lifted, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add oil in a slow stream, mixing, then mix in bananas, crème fraîche, and vanilla. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in flour mixture gently but thoroughly.

Divide batter between loaf pans, spreading evenly, and bake in middle of oven until golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Cool loaves in pans on a rack 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Turn loaves right side up and cool completely.

The bread tends to turn brown very easely; don't forget to cover it with aluminium foil if it happens before the end of the baking time. I made one loaf, which I sliced and froze, as well as muffins. The outer layer was deliciously crunchy and the inside very, very moist. Next time, I will replace half of the oil by applesauce.

my brother, back from school: 'Oh. You made apple cake?'

me: 'Banana bread. That's why the whole house smells like bananas.'

predatoriously eyeing the muffins: 'May I..?'

'No? You don't like them. These are for me. Go away.'

'...'

'Grr... alright.'

'Let's have tea with these.'

impressed: 'Good idea.'

He doesn't like banana things. He still ate two of these in a row lol. Rose hip tea was an excellent match.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Hello, it's been awhile. I needed some time off to take care of a few things - my sister's 22nd birthday, bills, unwanted paperwork, bills, bills and more bills. Oh, I also wanted to calm down a little because my food blogging had triggered a food obsession. 'Normal', you would say. The problem is I got so obsessed I eventually gained a couple of kilos. Heh.

It's been getting colder enough these past couple of week for me to pick up my copy of The Soup Bible. Once you try it's cream of mushroom, you'll never want Campbell's nasty canned stuff. I promise.

Serves 4:

• 275 g/10oz. button mushrooms
• 15 ml / 1 T vegetable oil
• 40 g / 1 1/2 oz / 3 T butter
• 1 small oinion, finely chopped
• 15 ml / 1 T plain flour
• 450 ml / 3/4 pint / scant 2 cups vegetable stock
• 450 g / 3/4 pint / scant 2 cups milk
• a pinch of dried basil
• 30-45 ml / 2-3 T single cream (optional)
• salt and freshly ground black peper
• fresh basil leaves, to garnish

1. Separate the mushroom caps rom the stalks. Finely slice the caps and finely chop the stalks.

2. Heat the oil and half the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and add the onion, mushroom stalks and about three-quarters of the sliced mushroom caps. Fry for about 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, then cover and sweat over a gentle heat for 6-7 minutes, stirring from time to time.

3. Stir in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Gradually add the stock and milk, to make a smooth, thin sauce. Add the dried basil, and season to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer, partly covered, for 15 minutes.

4. Cool the soup slightly and then pour into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Melt the rest of the butter in a frying pan and fry the remaining mushroom caps gently for 3-4 minutes until they are just tender.

5. Pour the soup into a clean saucepan and stir in the fried mushrooms. Heat until very Hot and adjust the seasoning. Add the cream, if using. Serve sprinkled with fresh basil leaves.

Tonight, I'll be serving these with mini mushroom and salami pizzas, made with a ciabatta base.