Banana Bread

This banana bread recipe that my friend shared with me is from the Joy of Baking website. Click here to view the recipe in the site. Otherwise, here it is.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.

Makes one 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Chwee Kueh

As mentioned yesterday, here's the recipe for Chwee Kueh

Ingredients:

Rice flour 150g
Corn flour 20 g
Water 300 ml
Oil 2 teaspoons
Salt 1/2 teasponn
Water 800 ml

Method:

Mix flours together, add 300 ml room temperature water and stir well until there are no lumps. Pour 800 ml water into a pot, add the oil and salt and heat it until it just begins to boil. Pour in the flour mixture slowly, stirring continuously to prevent lumping. When the mixture thickens to a gluey consistency, turn off the heat and continue stirring to form a thick, smooth batter. Spoon the batter into individual moulds and steam for 15 minutes.

Chai Po (topping)

Ingredients:

Toasted white sesame 1 tablespoon
Oil 200g
Garlic chopped 50g
Chai Po 300g
Dried shrimps 30g, pounded
Sugar 3 teaspoons
Salt 1 teaspoon
Dark soya sauce 1 teaspoon

Method:

Heat the oil in a wok/pan. Fry the chai po, dried shrimps and garlic. When aromatic, add the seasoning followed by the sesame. Stir to mix evenly.

To serve:

Remove chwee kueh from moulds and top them with chai po. Enjoy!

I am not a food blogger so please pardon the quality of this picture. It was taken with my camera phone and I did not spend time styling the food. I should have used a plate with a dark colour to contrast it with the whitish chwee kueh and piled on the topping more neatly, without those bits on the plate!

If you do not wish the topping to be too dark, you could use less dark soya sauce.

Cooking Thursdays

For two consecutive Thursdays coincidentally, I've cooked something additional to the usual daily main meals.

I remember in my younger days, there was a man who sold 'chwee kueh' from a cart outside a grandaunt's house in Bandar Hilir, Melaka. Everytime we visited her and if the 'chwee kueh' seller was there, my mother would buy some for us to eat. I liked the taste of the steamed 'kueh' topped with 'chai po' (preserved vegetables) in a slightly sweet syrup if I remember correctly.

It so happened that some weeks back, I was again feasting my eyes on the lovely pictures posted by food bloggers on foodgawker, and came across one which featured 'chwee kueh'. This 'chwee kueh', however, is the savoury type with 'chai po', dried shrimps and salty seasoning, and not the sweet syrupy version I used to have back then. Unfortunately I didn't take note of the site and am not able to attribute it here.

Last Thursday, I had the chance and some extra time (plus I felt hungry and wanted to taste something different!) so I pulled out that recipe that I had copied, and made 'chwee kueh'. It turned out rather good and satisfied the pre-lunch hunger pangs.

Later, when my in-laws came for their weekly visit, we had them for tea. It went down pretty well with them as it was a good change from the usual cakes, cookies or nyonya kueh. My father-in-law finished most of it; hopefully because it was tasty!

Today, I printed out a recipe which a friend shared with me. It's for banana bread. I had some free time between making and serving dinner. And since I had enough bananas this week (compared to last week when I received the recipe), I decided to try out the recipe.

I have just removed the loaf from the oven and am letting it cool on the rack while we have dinner. I will try to post some pictures and share the recipes in the next post. I wonder if I'll be cooking something else new next Thursday....

Girls' afternoon out

Last weekend, E was away in Penang for work so on Saturday, I took Caitlin to watch Toy Story 3 in 3D. It was the second movie we've watched in 3D this year. The first was How To Train Your Dragon which till today she is still raving about. We both thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Caitlin was screaming, chuckling and exclaiming very loudly at all the funny and exciting scenes i.e. almost throughout the entire movie. Luckily, the cinema was dark (read: mommy will not be recognised and be embarrassed by her loud kid!) ) and everyone was too engrossed in the captivating movie to stare or glare at us for the noise she was making!

It was an enjoyable movie, with a rather touching scene towards the end. A number of friends who had already watched it told me to be prepared with some tissues. Luckily we didn't have to use the tissues! Amidst the humour and fun of the story, there was the underlying message of loyalty, love, sacrifice, family bond, courage, optimism, faith, true friendship and acceptance.

Caitlin's favourite part was when Buzz Lightyear had been accidentally switched to Spanish mode. It was very funny indeed actually.


Check out the official site here for more info, trailers and online games for children (and adults too, why not?). There are quite a number of fun online games plus activities to play and do.

Penang shots - Gurney Drive

A stall at the open air Gurney hawker 'centre'

A modern sculpture that now adorns the roundabout

A closer look at the sculpture

Highrise apartments have mushroomed rapidly in the recent decade

More and more commercial and high-end residential high rise buildings fronting the sea are taking up whatever little land that's still available

The only thing that's not changed - garbage!