Banana Bread with Pecans
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf
User Rating: 5 Stars

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don't get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that's no mistake, it's typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Toast the slices of banana bread, dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve.

Episode#: FO1D17
Copyright © 2003 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

Upsidedown Hazelnut Banana Cake
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand


Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
User Rating: 4 Stars


One of my first baking experiences with out my mom was banana bread. I was in art school away from home for the first time and of course, a vegetarian. I worked at a vegetarian restaurant and did some baking for it while I waitressed making $2.00 an hour plus $2.00 worth of food off the menu. I?d order a salad for $1.25 and my boyfriend Brian would come up to my work and eat the other .75 in a carob sundae?and that?s all we could afford to eat all day! I also would pick dandelions out of the cemetery near our apartment while walking home from college to our apartment (we couldn?t afford a car) and would cook them with onion soup boullion for our dinner. I weighed 112 then?In my hand-written recipe books, it?s the first recipe I ever wrote, so me and banana bread go way back. This one is dressed up with an ooooy gooooy nutty caramel top of brown sugar and butter which help slowly baste the banana slices as they bake in the oven. Pineapple upside down-cake move over!

1/3 pound hazelnuts
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup banana puree, from 1 or 2 bananas
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Hazelnut schmear, recipe follows
Whole bananas

Equipment: 9-inch cake pan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the cake pan.

Toast the nuts and let them cool completely.

In a food processor, grind the nuts with the sugar until very fine.

Using a hand-held mixer, cream the butter; then add the sugar mixture. Add the eggs and mix. Add the sour cream and vanilla and stir. Mix in the banana puree. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt to make a smooth batter.

To bake, cover the bottom of the cake pan with some of the warmed hazelnut schmear (microwave 40 seconds or so). Fan some banana slices over it and spoon in the batter.
Bake until just set, about 35 to 40 minutes. Keep warm in a low oven and turn it out at the last minute.

Hazelnut Schmear:
3/4 cup butter
1/2 pound dark brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

Melt the butter. Remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar and the nuts. Store in the refrigerator.

Yield: about 2 cups

Episode#: SD1E30
Copyright © 2003 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

YUMMY!!!!!!

TOOOOOFUUUUUUUUU! damn bananas!

did you know these aren't even really bananas? they are Plantains, which are a kind of banana, but that is the technical name for it. so from now on, call them plantains, not bananas!!

see below

well, whatever you do FootFungas, Don't eat them raw!!

It cannot be eaten raw and requires cooking to break down the starchy pulp. Unlike the dessert banana, don't base your choice on its aspect, it comes in an irregular green color with lighter spots. It can be eaten at different stages of ripeness but for different purposes. Avoid product that has completely black skin and is soft or has spots of mold.

Plantain:

banana:

actually, I really don't know. they look like some freak mutation of both...

nevermind. I think i've decided they're just stunted little midget bananas. This is all really just a conspiracy to boost my post count.

The product code is a standardized method for categorizing produce.

http://www.geocities.com/ferrobanana/plu.htm



I used to be a shift manager in a grocery store in college so I remembered this and looked up the code.

they are MINI bananas, yes. i ate them raw and have not died yet.

Oh HK's gonna be mad that you didn't do a "Review of Fruits"! You better hide.

ha, good thing I took back my claim before you guys could show me up...