A quick cake : the banana bread

With my friend A. we decided to meet for dinner at the last minute. We have to plan a party in a few months and the best moment to discus for us is around a meal.

A. got the idea to bake a cake which is very popular in Australia and he already had old bananas in the kitchen.

His kitchen is nice but missing the weighting scale. With this important piece missing we arranged to make our own weighting. Needless to say this was very approximation. The cake was delicious however so there you go, easy AND no particular cooking skills needed.

Ingredients:

200 g of white flour

1 tsp of baking soda (we used a sachet)

1/3 tsp of salt (a big pinch)

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 ripped bananas
1/2 pack of butter (125 g) unsalted, melted
150 g of sugar
2 eggs
A pinch of Vanilla

Pre-heat the oven at 180C /gas 6.

First in a bowl reduce to a pulp the bananas, add the butter, eggs and vanilla.
Time to add the dry ingredients: the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

We blended everything together and it was looking good to us. We poured the dough in a backing dish.

Place in the oven for 60 minutes.

Check after 45 min just in case. It is ready when the knife comes clean after being inserted in the middle of the cake.

We added a scoop of ice cream.

With such a desert you can only take good decisions when planning your next party.

M

ps : The original recipe Classic-banana-bread

Creamy Avocado Pasta

I don’t know about you, but as much as I love cooking, there are some evenings when I really don’t feel like lifting a spoon. 

However, there is never an evening when I don’t feel like having something full of flavours and heart-contenting for diner. 

Dilemma dilemma…

That’s why I have started to compile a few very simple recipes. 

I want to share this one with you today. It’s from the blog Oh She Glows. 

Both M and I were astonished by how good it is. As a matter of fact I am on my way to cook some right now!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 lemon, juiced + lemon zest to garnish
• 1-3 garlic cloves, to taste (I love garlic and we use 2 to keep the balance with the smoothness of the avocado)
• A healthy pinch of salt
• About 10 fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 servings of your choice of pasta (We prefer it with spaghetti)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Bring water to a boil in a pot. Add in your pasta, reduce heat to medium, and cook as per instructions.

2. In the meantime, prepare the sauce by placing all the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Mix until the preparation is smooth and creamy. 

3. Grate the lemon zest and keep on the side.

4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and serve. Pour on the creamy avocado sauce and toss until fully combined. Garnish with lemon zest and black pepper. Serve immediately.

You cannot microwave this dish once the avocado cream has been added to the pasta. However if you keep the surplus in the fridge, you can use it for several days.

We're about to tuck in!!

R