Month: July 2020

You can use only dates, only figs or maybe experiment with apricots or other moist dried fruits. Your bananas should be really ripe, with spotty skins and maybe a few black bits.

Ingredients

• 125g butter
• 150g caster sugar
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (4 if small)
• 190g self raising flour
• 60ml milk
• 150g dates, chopped into chunks
• 150g semi-dried figs, chopped into chunks
• walnut pieces for decoration
• a little demerara sugar to sprinkle over

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 150 C (fan).
• Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
• Melt the butter, sugar and vanilla in a saucepan over a medium heat.
• Remove from the heat. Add the bananas and mix well.
• Add the egg, mix well.
• Stir in the flour and milk.
• Mix in the dates and figs.
• Pour the mixture into the loaf tin.
• Decorate with walnut pieces and sprinkle over a couple of spoons of demerara sugar to give a golden crunchy topping.
• Into the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and there is a golden brown crust. Cooking time can vary according to the quantity and moisture content of the banana and fruit, sometimes up to 45 or 50 minutes.

A modified recipe from Waitrose Food magazine.

Serves 4, or 2 normal people with hearty appetites.
Preparation – 15 minutes
Cooking – 30 minutes
Note – where the recipe says “finely sliced”, it means sliced, not chopped.

Ingredients:

• 2 shallots, finely sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 Thai red chillies, finely sliced – more if you’re up for it.
• 1 and a half peppers, finely sliced. Yellow and orange work best for appearance
• 400g chicken breast, cut into cubes of about 1.5cm
• 200g spring greens, sliced into ribbons
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced on an angle into 2cm pieces
• 3 tbsp ketjap manis, maybe a little extra
• half tbsp nam pla fish sauce, or perhaps a little more
• 2 x 250g pouches of cooked basmati rice
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 50g salted cashews, roughly chopped or broken
• coriander leaves for garnish
• oil for frying

Method:

• Heat a tbsp of oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the chicken until thoroughly cooked and just a hint of golden brown. This should take 6-8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat about a tbsp of oil in a very large wok or frying pan over a medium-high heat.
• Add the shallots, garlic and chillies. Fry for 3 minutes, stirring to stop any burning.
• Add the pepper with 1-2 tbsp water and fry for a further 3 minutes until soft.
• Add the spring onion, and fry for a minute.
• Add the spring greens, ketjap manis, fish sauce, 2-3 tbsp water and the rice to the shallot mixture. Stir everything together and ensure it is all heated through.
• Season the beaten eggs. Push the rice/vegetable mixture to one side of the pan and pour the eggs into the space.
• Cook until the egg is almost set, stirring gently all the while (watch the rice/vegetable mix to ensure it doesn’t burn). Then break up the egg and mix it together with the rice/vegetable mixture.
• Stir in the fried chicken.
• Serve in bowls, sprinkled with the cashews and coriander.

Serve with crisp white wine, or a full red wine. Or crisp cold beer.