We Love Cooking!:
banana

There seems to be quite a lot of debate about banana bread and whether or not the inclusion of nuts is significant. I'm not really sure which side of the fence I stand on over this, so for now I'm going to plonk myself right in the middle, on the fence! It's actually quite comfortable here and I can see both perspectives. On one hand, there are those who love the combination of the crunchy nuts through the soft cake, the flavours of the two mingling together in one mouthful of wonderfulness, completely oblivious as to why you would accept anything less. Then on the other side I see all you lovely people who really can't see why you would tarnish such a pure and delightfully moist, spongy, banana flavoured loaf with the somewhat crude addition of nuts. Well I say stop your cribbin' and either way this recipe is damn good and will accommodate for both your nut or non nut needs!

Auntie Ann's Banana Bread
This recipe comes from my auntie Ann who spent a lot of time in America over the years and has picked up some really great US inspired recipes. This banana bread is deliciously moist and is extremely easy to throw together. I add a little sliced banana on top before it goes into the oven, but if you want you sprinkle some nuts on top or even stir some chopped ones through.

Makes 8 mini loaves or 2 larger loaves
110g butter
190g caster sugar
2 large eggs
240g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 large bananas

Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4.
Cream the sugar and the butter in a bowl with a hand held mixer until light and pale. Add in one egg and a little flour and mix through, repeat with the other egg and the rest of flour and baking soda, until everything is mixed through and smooth.
Peel the bananas and mash them with the back of a fork. Add them to the bowl with the vanilla extract and mix through.
Pour the mix into a well greased loaf tin and place in an oven for approximately 50 minutes. You can cover it with tinfoil after 25 minutes to stop it browning too much on top if you need too.
Insert a metal skewer into the centre of the loaf and if it comes out clean the banana bread is ready. Remove from the loaf tin and place on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy with a big cuppa and filthy smile!

What I think I love most about Gizzi's book is her take on recipes, a perfect example being this Sticky Banoffee Pudding, what an inspired idea of combining banoffee pie and sticky toffee pudding, clearly the woman is a genius! If you are intrigued by the lovely Gizzi then you should definitely take a peak at the video below, where she talks about her style of cooking and her favourite recipes in the book.

Which reminds me I really should make one of those for Good Mood Food! Now that you have a full grasp of what Gizzi is all about I think it's high time we getting cracking with one of her recipes. I chose this recipe basically because not only does it look delicious, but because it combines two of my favourite desserts, simple really! :) Also don't forget to give me your questions for Ms. Erskine in the comments below or on twitter and facebook.

Gizzi Erskine's Sticky Banoffee Pudding
This is my boyfriend Dean’s recipe. While he is a fantastic cook, he is so lazy he never cooks for me, except for this. And my God, does it make up for it! The banana is terrific with the toffeeish dates and keeps the pudding really moist.

Serves 6
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 40 minutes
250g dates, stoned and chopped
250ml hot black tea, made with 1 teabag
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
85g softened unsalted butter, plus extra butter
for greasing
175g caster sugar
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
175g self-raising fl our, sieved
3 bananas, roughly mashed
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
vanilla ice cream, or clotted cream, to serve

For the sauce
100g light muscovado sugar
100g unsalted butter
150ml double cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4 and butter a 22cm baking dish.
Place the dates in a small pan and cover with the hot tea. Bring to the boil and cook for 3–4 minutes, until the dates have softened, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the fl our, banana, mixed spice and the date mixture and pour into the baking dish. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the top is springy and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.
While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Put the muscovado sugar, butter and cream into a pan, place over a low heat and melt until the sugar has dissolved. Then whack the heat up and simmer for 3–4 minutes, or until the sauce is a light toffee colour.
Serve the pudding with the warm sauce and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or clotted cream.
Or remove the bananas from the ingredients and you’ve got a classic sticky toffee pudding!

(Taken from Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic by Gizzi Erskine published by Virgin Books, price £20)

Well hello there! It's been a little quiet around here the last few days, but I have just cleared out all the tumbleweed and I'm back with you! Firstly, a massive, massive thank you to everyone who joined in with the Twinnerparty, we had over 60 participants for the first one, and I will be announcing the dates for the next one very soon, so stay tuned for that. Everyone took fantastic shots of the dishes they cooked so I will post as many of them as I can in the next few days, it was so exciting to see all the dishes as the night unfolded!
I'm pretty sure you have all had one of those week that is just so crazy that you barely have time to think. Well I had one of those rolled into a 10 day cycle, but the one thing I relied on was a really good breakfast, porridge, you are my hero!

Blueberry and Banana Breakfast Porridge
I eat porridge for breakfast most mornings, normally with a bit of honey and cinnamon, but eating the same thing everyday can become extremely boring. This recipe is my solution to jazzing up regular old porridge, it's really filling and super healthy! In the winter months when fresh berries aren't in season, I keep my freezer stocked up with frozen ones which are great to have at hand.

Makes 1 serving
35g of jumbo oats
200ml of water
1 banana
1 teaspoon of honey
A small handful of blueberries

Place the oats and water in a small pot and place over a medium heat. Allow the oats to swell and cook slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon, until they become nice and creamy.
While the porridge is cooking, using the back of a fork, mash together the blueberries and banana until you get a nice smooth paste.
Pour the cooked porridge into a bowl, top with the blueberry and banana mix and stir through with a little bit of honey.
Serve straight away.

Only a few days left till the world's first twinnerparty! Very exciting stuff, I'm really thrilled people are getting behind the idea and big thank you to everyone who has blogged and retweeted about it! I've had the idea so long ago now that I just felt it was easier to start it small and allow the event to grow naturally rather than organising a massive event telling everyone about it and then it not actually working! The next twinnerparty is already in works for a date in early march so if you can't do this Saturday night, don't worry there will be more! If you haven't planned your twinnerparty just yet, don't worry there is lots of time left to invite some pals over, and hopefully as the recipes are posted they may entice you to get your skates on even more.

Today I'm posting the recipe from Saturdays menu that I am most excited about first! I have a theory on impressive desserts for dinner parties, and it goes like this, if your going to make a dessert, make it a mega dessert, a big balls out sugary treat that could tear the head off, even the pickiest of guests! This Crunchie Sticky Banoffee Pie, folks, I think, does just that! :)

Crunchie Sticky Banoffee Pie

What can make a naughty pie even naughtier? The answer... CRUNCHIE BARS! If you don't live in Ireland or England, Crunchie bars are honeycomb bars covered in chocolate and are extremely delicious! But my favourite part of making this pie has to be the nervous and exciting moment of opening the tin of condensed milk after it's been boiled for 2 hours to see if it's perfectly caramelised, and then squidging the tin so that the content blubs out over the edge! Those words are probably not even in the dictionary but I feel they best describe the tin of gooey caramel perfectly!

Serves 6
297g can condensed milk
230g digestive biscuits, about 16 crushed finely
115g butter, melted
3 bananas
250ml of cream
3 crunchie bars, roughly chopped

In a small high sided pot, cover the tin and boil the unopened can of condensed milk for 2 hours, keep an eye on it making sure the water level is always above the top of the can.
While the can is boiling, prepare the base of the pie.
Mix together the crushed digestive biscuits with the melted butter until they are combined and then spread the mixture evenly over the base of a 18cm cake tin with a removable base.
Cover and chill for 2 hours in the fridge.
When the can has finished boiling remove from the water and allow to cool. When the can is cool to the touch, open and spread the caramelised condensed milk over the biscuit base.
Slice the bananas evenly and arrange over the caramel.
Whip the cream until it is just about stiff and spread on top of the bananas.
Sprinkle the crunchie bar over the top of the cream as artistically as you feel necessary!
Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

All this week I will be out and about promoting the book, and this morning I am on Limerick's Live95FM. They asked me to pick out my favourite breakfast recipe from the book for their breakfast show so I had to go with my all time favourtie breakfast muffins! But these aren't any regular light and empty muffins, these babies packed full of chunky oats, bursting blueberries and bananas to keep you on the move!

Blueberry and Banana Breakfast Muffins

Healthy muffins are perfect for a quick breakfast on the go. These blueberry and banana muffins are packed
with healthy ingredients, which will keep you going for any busy morning. I normally make them the night before I have them and grab one or two just before I leave the house.

Makes 12 muffins
125g/4½oz blueberries
2 bananas, mashed
125g/4½oz plain flour
75g/3oz wholemeal flour
200g/7oz rolled oats
75g/3oz brown sugar
250ml/8½fl oz milk
2 large eggs, separated
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar.
Create a well in the dry ingredients and add the banana, egg yolks, milk and oil.
Mix everything gently until a wet batter forms.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
Fold the egg whites and blueberries into the muffin batter until everything is mixed evenly.
Divide the muffin mix into individual paper cases and place in an oven for 25 minutes at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
The muffins should be fine to eat for 4–5 days and can easily be frozen in zip lock bags.