The Banana Bread Experiment...

You know how it is when you get a new piece of kitchen equipment... you can't wait to try it out, see how it behaves and learn it's little intimate secrets. It was that way last week when I got myself a couple of new 8 cup mini loaf baking pans from I.A.M. & Co, and they were just beckoning me to do something sweet and familiar, and I chose none other than my banana bread recipe. Now, I have two ways of making this. One is with milk and the other is without, but I promise you that both are winners. The milk free one got to christen one of the pans first, and I can't wait to share how everything came together...

I peeled four ripe bananas and went old school on them with my potato masher. Kept it slightly lumpy since I didn't want them to turn into paste.

Next, I measured out 1/3 cup of soft butter and melted it in the microwave. (You could do it on your stove-top as well if like.)

Then, I beat one egg until just frothy and set it aside.

Poured the melted butter into the mashed banana and mixed it in thorouhgly.

Measured out 3/4 cup of brown sugar, but ended up just using the 1/2 cup instead - remember, the bananas are already sweet. (Gave it a good mix.)

In went the beaten egg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence, a shake of cinnamon and a shake of nutmeg, followed by another good mix to blend everything in. After that, I added a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda, which will make the banana bread rise nicely.

Lastly, 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour went in. I slowly mixed it with my whisk, then used the spatula to scrape and grab whatever flour  was sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl. Now nicely mixed, my batter was waiting to get into that lovely new pan!

My pan was sprayed with cooking spray...

And then I poured the batter in. Looks pretty good in there, doesn't it? Then I popped them in the oven at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes until they looked golden and passed the skewer test successfully.

All done, my banana breads look so beautiful! (And you can even see the little chunks of banana in there.)

They look just like little golden banana pillows, don't they? (Come to think of it, they are about the size of a cell phone too, lol!)

So there you have it. Perfectly baked banana bread using just one egg, lots of flavour and minus the milk. Now if you wanted to bake this in a regular 8 1/2 x 4 inch or 9 x 4 inch loaf pan, you can. The baking time may go to 40 minutes tops, but still watch them closely after 35 minutes. Once they're done, let them cool in the pan for about  5 to 8 minutes, then remove them and put them on a cooling rack so the bottoms don't get damp due to condensation.

Needless to say, they didn't last very long... at least I got to taste one! Hahahahaa!

Anyway, folks, you take care of yourselves until my next kitchen adventure, okay? And, like I always say, don't forget to mind the pot!

Strutters! (A Chicken Foot Souse)

Two shopping trips ago, I picked up a packet of lovely fresh cut chicken feet with the intention to turn them into “strutters”, the local name for one of this country’s famous street foods, the Chicken Foot Souse.

Traditionally made from bits of the pig (trotters, ears, etc,) a souse is a simple kind of… well… a pickle of sorts. It’s got limes, cucumbers, peppers, chives and a whole lot of other goodies in there that make for an almost sweet/hot/sour taste that is truly unique. I know that this kind of thing isn't everyone's cup of tea, but my Grandmother loved making this, especially for the liquid, and it's a taste that's part of my childhood.

Now, I’ve tried and tasted lots of different souses over the years, and much as I love pork, I really prefer the ones made from chicken feet. I know… it sounds weird to snack on feet, but trust me, at this time of year (Carnival Season), it’s a truly popular street food, and the souse vendors love to set up their stalls just opposite to St. James’ most famous bar, Smokey and Bunty.   

You know, I’ve even heard rumours that a good souse can even kill the effects of a hangover… (no wonder they're close to the drinking hubs!) Anyhoo, here's how the process went down...

First, the feet were carefully washed in water with the juice of two limes, then drained.

Next, with a very sharp knife, the toe tips were removed, along with the foot pad - Errol came to assist since I couldn't man the camera and do this part, hahahaa!

Now for the fun part… sorting and choosing the vegetables that go into it. Here are 4 limes, 2 or 3 pimento peppers, garlic – used about 3 cloves, 1 habanero pepper, chives, local celery, chadon beni (culantro), 2 cucumbers, an onion and a piece of ginger (which ended up not being needed after all).

I seasoned the chicken feet with lime juice, the 2 chopped garlic cloves, a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of chopped chadon beni and a couple dashes of Angostura bitters.

Added about 6 cups of water and mixed everything well, then I let it marinate for about 15 minutes.

I put everything in my saucepan on medium high heat, then I split a pimento pepper in half and dropped it in for some extra flavour. I brought it to a rolling boil (occasionally skimming off the impurities from the top), then scaled it back to a gentle simmer and let it go for about 20 minutes, then checked it for taste and seasoning. I added in a little more salt and an optional teaspoon of sugar, then let it cook for another 10 minutes until the meat changed colour and softened.

While that was happening I got busy chopping and slicing up the rest of the veggies, including the cucumbers - which my boy was busily chopping!

So, after the feet were boiled, I removed them from the pot and placed them in a bowl. (Threw the water out: it did its job.)

In went the sliced onions, chopped celery, chive and chadon beni, plus the sliced pimento peppers.

The habanero pepper was carefully cut, minus seeds, then added to the meat. How much you want to use all depends on your tolerance for it, but I've known some people actually put the whole pepper in there. :-)

My boy poured in 2 to 3 cups of tap water one by one until the water almost covered it up. Then it was seasoned again with some juice from the last lime, a little more salt and then in went the sliced cucumbers.

Gave it a good toss up with the tongs…

Then we let it sit for about 20 minutes so all those flavours could meld together.

Voila! Chicken Foot Souse!

I know that the presentation isn't all that here in my little bowl, but when you purchase your serving from the vendors on the street, the feet are placed upright in a medium sized Styrofoam cup, then the liquid is poured on and a few cucumber slices rest in the centre of it. (Trust me, it really looks good that way.)

Anyway, time for me to relax and think up some more dishes to show you, so until next we meet, take care of yourselves, and don’t forget to mind the pot. ;-)

Holiday Ham and Eggs

It's official. The last of the Christmas ham is gone forever...

Last year, as we always do, the Christmas ham was bought and baked on Christmas Eve. The difference was that it was probably the smallest ham we ever brought into the house. Why? I'm the only one in the house that still eats pork, and for that reason alone, it took a little longer to finish. That’s okay. It’s the “other white meat”, right? 

And much as I still love the smell of a baked ham studded with cloves (or just on its own) on Christmas day, I also love having it with my scrambled eggs, which is a tradition that my late grandmother started long before I was born. She also loved making stewed pork and sometimes she even cured her own ham and beef. I'm glad  that she left me her stewed pork recipe (which I hope to share on this forum someday), but for now, I’m even happier to be able to share this simple treatment of Holiday Ham and Eggs. 

Started with the ham by cutting off the remaining meat and I chopped up about a ¼ cupful.

Then I got ½ a shallot (ran out of onions), 1 blade of chive and half a chadon beni (culantro) leaf.  I also cut a sliver of red hot pepper (cuz I like it hot).

After cracking and lightly beating 2 eggs I heated a little table margarine in the frying pan, then added all the shallot, half the chive and the piece of hot pepper. In went the ham, then I poured on the beaten eggs.

Started stirring it, then I sprinkled on the chopped chadon beni and the remainder of the chive, plus a little black pepper.

All done. I’m not the type that likes runny eggs at all, so if it looks brown in places, that’s definitely on purpose.

Put it in my favourite dish to cool a bit and worked on heating up some hops bread… yup… gotta eat a breakfast like this with hops!

Voila! Holiday Ham and Eggs on a toasted hops bread with some tomato... perfect!  (Don't forget those extra pieces of ham - just for nibbling!)

Bite in… you know you want to!

 

As you can see, I had to put a little bit on a teeny piece of bread and take a quick taste… Those eggs were so delicious to me, just the right texture, firm yet giving, and the combination of the herby, salty and peppery goodness was just the perfect breakfast taste.

Here’s to great beginnings, my friends. Until next time, like I always say…

Don’t forget to mind the pot!