Wholemeal Banana Loaf

This is such a yummy loaf & great for using up those squishy bananas no one is actually going to eat.
Cream 100g butter with 3/4 c of brown sugar.

Add an egg & 2 or 3 mashed bananas,

then 1/4 orange juice 1/2 c walnuts or sunflower seeds 

& a cup of wholemeal flour.

Sift in 1 cup of plain flour, & 1tsp each of baking powder & baking soda.

Mix until just combined.

Sometimes I add a little cinnamon or a tsp of pure vanilla essence & occasionally a couple of tbsps of plain yoghurt.

Bake at 180 degrees C for about an hour. 

Stand for 5mins before turning out of the tin. 

Now, the hole is from me testing to see if my loaf is ready! 

And the extra bits are because I overfilled the tin..what's new!

This is so moreish & jolly handy but won't
last long : )

Finally, should you decide to add sunflower seeds
instead of walnuts don't throw the whole thing out
thinking that it has gone off when you discover that
they have turned green in the cooked loaf

..they just seem to like to do that!

7/11/12 And just made this loaf again into two small tins.
I used plenty of sunflower seeds, some shredded coconut, dried cranberries & some prunes.
We all think it's the best version yet!

And the gluten free version:
Same as above but using 3/4 cup of coconut flour
3/4 cup of ground almonds
1/4 buckwheat flour
1/4 psyllium husks...a little more if not using an egg.
Make as above.

Catherine

Tabbouleh

This is such a brilliantly useful salad. Easy to make, really economical, keeps well,

fabulous for entertaining & universally loved.

Bulghur wheat is the one to use for this recipe. It is the wholegrain wheat crushed, parboiled, dried (often in the sun..well in Lebanon they probably do) & easy to use.

It comes in various sizes which makes for variation.

a cup & a 1/2 made this much

pour 3cups of boiling water over the wheat & leave to stand for 1/2 an hour
covered with gladwrap (yip that's it!)  chop the herbs in the meantime

Finely chop lots of fresh herbs including mint or apple mint, Italian or curly leafed parsley, coriander, basil, spring onions or chives

chervil (or whatever you have.. really doesn't matter), a whole red pepper & a jalapeno chilli

add good salt, freshly ground black pepper, juice of & zest..if you like.. of a lemon & 3 tbsps of good olive oil,

actually my capsicum could have been cut a bit finer but hey

Traditionally there is a lot more "green" in Tabbouleh but that's entirely up to you.

This salad keeps really well like this for days & is fabulous for picnics, shift work

& taking to a barbecue.

You can now add finely chopped tomatoes..coloured cherry & low acid tomatoes

are great..not so juicy, cucumber or firm avocado if you like.

Once you've added these things best to eat that day.

Olives are great too if you love them. Chopped capers also add a bit of zing.

Quinoa is a really interesting alternative for this salad.

Quinoa (keen wah) comes in 3 different colours, cooks in about the same time as rice

& contains almost complete protein. It has a nutty flavour.

Instant Healthy Fruit Icecream

Thought that I had better pop this in here to go along side the more decadent feijoa icecream recipe.

This a brilliant super simple fruit icecream & can be made with almost anything that takes your fancy.

The original version came from Leche League 25 years ago & is quite simply just made with frozen bananas. The best banana to use is a cheap one (like the $2 for 2kgs.. bags that I get at New World from time to time) & will make the best flavoured icecream when they are at about this stage or slightly riper.

It is easiest to peel & slice the bananas & pop them in to the freezer when ever it suits you..rather than peeling them after freezing. They will be fine for a week or 2 even like this but then the flavour begins to fade.

 When you are ready to make your icecream put the frozen bananas in to the food processor, breaking them up a bit as you go if necessary so that they are not just one big lump!

pulse & stop to mix & pulse again... until the whole thing begins to come together & starts to look thick & smooth like snow freeze. (it does make a bit of a racket at first so not the best for a dinner party but highly entertaining for grandsons!) Quite suddenly it goes all white & very smooth...perfect! Eat immediately. 

You may have to make this in batches if you're making lots of it.

Brilliant for those with dairy intolerance & naturally sweet.

Update: 2014
Bananas (as above) add 1/2 cup-1 cup yoghurt or milk kefir
&/or cream
1tbsp honey & 1 tsp  (real)vanilla essence
Perfection!!!! 

The second version that I make through the summer is made in exactly the same way but with frozen berries. Just the berries is fine but you can also add honey, Greek yoghurt or a little thick coconut cream to the mix if you like.

I have used raspberries from my garden for this version & some black doris plums

 so simple & simply delicious