Brooke’s mom, Bev, knows her baked goods. She grew up in the Midwest with lots of siblings and did her fair share of baking from scratch. I hope I’m not betraying any secrets by sharing her classic recipe for banana bread. I suggested adding cinnamon and vanilla extract, but they threatened to kick me out of the family.
Those of you with less to lose should feel free to adjust to your tastes.
-1 c. sugar
-1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
-3 bananas, crushed
-2 eggs
-2 c. flour
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1/4 c. chopped toasted walnuts
-pinch of salt
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs, then remaining ingredients.
4. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hr. Cool in pan for 10 min., then turn out onto a wire rack.
****Variation****: I just made a loaf substituting 1/4 c. brown sugar for white, and adding 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. vanilla. Great! And I don’t think Brooke has caught on that I adulterated dear mom’s recipe yet.
Photo credit: moist-banana-bread-recipes.com
That evokes fond memories. All of us kids got to help baking the daily cake.
But now I need post-mortem help. How do you really turn lean, organic ground meat into a burger that tastes right? I tried: Mix meat, egg, onion in pieces, a pinch of salt, all of which turned into a gooey mess which I grilled in some boxer’s electric grill until the light went off. The result is edible but weird (picture available upon request). What went wrong? Please help. I need to finish round two tomorrow night.
A few suggestions:
1) grab electric grill
2) open window
3) toss (check for pedestrians first, Mr. Anwalt)
Just kidding. Ok, so really:
1) use no more than 1 egg per 1-2 lbs. of meat, or omit all together;
2) forget the electric grill—you’re better off using a real (HOT) grill or very hot cast iron pan so your burgers get nice and seared. or, broil them in the oven;
3) eggs might be to blame for texture problems. next time, try a higher fat meat and skip the egg;
4) don’t over mix the meat—this makes it too dense and compact, because the heat from your hands melts the fat and compresses the meat;
5) don’t forget to add a splash of Worcestershire sauce and a tsp. of ketchup to your hamburger mix for flavor. keep onions finely minced;
6) as a general rule, if you like your burgers medium or less, be careful with the liquids you’re adding. only so much moisture will cook out before your burgers reach temperature;
7) and finally…toast your buns. if the burgers are a little dry, use mayo.
If round two doesn’t contain egg yet, try this set of burgers without adding it. If you have already added eggs to the mix, try stirring in about 1/4-1/3 c. of breadcrumbs. They will help firm up your burgers without affecting taste much. You might also refrigerate the patties for 30 min. beforehand to help they stay firm.
Happy grilling! Let us know how it goes.
Thanks so much, Culinspiration! I looked for breadcrumbs but found only Doritos crumbs, and retreated.
Doritos! You might be on the precipice of genius nacho burgers! Go for it!