Banana Nut Bread - 2

Banana nut bread is really easy to make. It is a nifty appetizer too when you think about it. Who can seriously resist warm, moist slices of freshly baked BNB?  It is also a great way to reuse those bananas gone black that all of a sudden no wants to eat.  Definitely better than reserving it for H's compost can, however tempting and responsible that may be.

It's been a while since I'd made this bread and so forgot that I actually had a recipe in my blog. Off I go to the great wizard of google to ask for a recipe. The effort paid off and I landed on an even better one at the countrycook's! Both kids love baking just as much as I do. Kannan is the local (in-house) pound cake baker and molu of course is a natural at these things. She makes the greatest of crepes when she is in the mood. She loved the idea of BNB and signed on from the beginning. I just had to call out the recipe and she did everything else almost all the times we've made this recently. I didn't add the streusel on top suggested in the original recipe as that makes it a bit too sweet for us. It sure is a neat way to fancy up the bread a bit.

In The Mix

overripe bananas - 3
eggs - 2
butter - 1/3 cup melted (= 5 1/4 tbsp)
vanilla extract - 1 tsp
sugar - 1/2 cup
all purpose flour - 1 3/4 cup
baking powder - 2 3/4 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon - 1 1/2 tsp
walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped or hand crushed

How To Do

Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a loaf pan (9x5) with non-stick spray.
Mash the bananas and combine with eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix well and add flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add in the walnuts and stir together.

Pour batter into the pan and bake for about 55-60 minutes. Bread should spring back when done. Insert a fork to see if it comes out clean. Cool a bit, cut a slice or two and go bananas!

Broiled Chicken Drumsticks

As I said, it is oven, oven all the way here. Drumsticks play an important role in this scenario. Magic words of clean, fast and easy came true in this excellent recipe adapted from simplyrecipes. Thank you simplyrecipes for making this a staple for us.

I did have a yummy recipe for chicken legs but the oil step was making it a messy proposition to clean up after. So it is that this nifty recipe came to save our lives. Really, to help me not to do the cleaning.

In The Mix

chicken legs/drumsticks - 12

For the Marinade
green onion stalks - 10 , white & green parts, diced
serrano chilies - 3, seeded, quartered
garlic cloves - 3, peeled, crushed
lemon thyme - 1 tbsp, chopped
cilantro - 1 tbsp, chopped
white wine vinegar - 2 tbsp
garam Masala powder - 1 1/2 tsp
freshly ground pepper - 1 tsp
kosher salt - 1 1/2 tsp

kosher salt - to sprinkle
pepper powder - to sprinkle
olive oil - to coat the broiler pan

How To Do

Turn the oven broiler to high/450F.  Make sure to place a rack at the center of the oven before it heats up. Wash and drain the drumsticks and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.

Mix all of the marinade ingredients and  grind to a paste. Immersion blender does this job well.

Marinate the chicken legs with the paste for 30 minutes at room temp. If you set it to marinate overnight in the fridge, make sure to take out and keep at room temp for 30 minutes prior to baking.

Boiler pan is best as it can take the heat of the broiler. Other pans may warp. Coat the bottom pan with some oil with a sprayer or paper towels. Cover the top slit pan with aluminum foil for easy clean later. Coat the foil also with oil. Make sure to open some slits of the top sheet for juice to run into the bottom pan.

Arrange the drumsticks on the pan and sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Add pepper as needed. Broil for 10 minutes, turn the pan and turn over chicken pieces and bake for another 10 minutes or till the juices run clear when poked with a knife.

Enjoy with hot sticky basmati rice & yogurt or with fresh baked bread.