Bananas over home-baked bread :)))

Ever since my Enid-Blyton-reading days, my one recurring fantasy has been to wake up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked bread! Oh well! since my husband does not bake much and definitely does not wake up before me, that remains a fantasy. :) But, I have had a fancy for baking since an early age and now, with the US kitchens coming furnished with ovens, I indulge in the sport regularly.

One of the house-favorite dishes that comes out of that oven is the quintessential "Banana Bread". It is a classic breakfast-cum-dessert that brings out the best in the fruit and the flour :D...Bananas are my and the hubby's favorite fruit and is found in abundance in our house. Which, also means they very often ripen far sooner than can be consumed. (So what's new! everything is bought in excess in our house and then I look around for ways of not wasting them. I do the same with apples too. Check out my fruit-saving method for that :) )

So, anyway, I use a very simple old-fashioned recipe. It takes just 15 minutes from counter to oven and then you can take a quick power-nap. In less than an hour, you will awakened by the lovely, sweet aroma of baking bananas. As the bread goldens, I make myself a cup of masala tea. As the kettle whistles, its time to take out the bread and let it rest for a bit and cool down. By the time tea is ready, I am ready for a wonderful treat of warm, fresh out of MY oven banana bread :)).. Yummmm!!!

I really like this bread, actually it's more a cake than bread - its easy to make, has a long shelf life (i.e. if you keep yourself from gorging on it! ya right! like that's going to happen) and is always a hit! You can make a quick breakfast of it (I always pack some for my husband when he is travelling) or a tea accompaniment (like I do) or even a simple dessert with vanilla icecream or the new Ben & Jerry banana-strawberry-fudge. And, I'll let you in on a secret - It's great for picnics! Everyone thinks you put in a lot of effort into it... all for just 15 mins! haha...

I firmly believe, the joy of baking is in simple recipes with big taste :)

Homemade Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas, mashed - I use the non-organic ones, they are sweeter
1-1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tp vanilla essence
1 tp baking soda

Turn the oven to 350°F for pre-heating. While the oven readies, mix the butter with the mashed bananas. Mix in the sugar and then fold in the egg and vanilla. Add the baking soda and then gently mix the flour into the mixture. You don't need a mixer for this but make sure that there are no lumps in the mixture.

Pour the mixture into a buttered loaf pan and set in oven for about 50 minutes or till the bread passes the toothpick test. Let cool for sometime, slice and serve warm with chocolate syrup and ice cream! :))

Enjoy!

Why are Top Chef judges sooo shortsighted sometimes??!!

OK! I'll say this upfront - I am an ardent fan of Top Chef on Bravo TV. I have not missed a single episode of all its 4 seasons with all its talent, drama, cursing and of course Tom Colicchio's insightful comments and Padma's heart breaking "So-and-so, Please pack your knives and leave".

But there are times, I feel the judges (and not all of them sometimes!) seem to be way too caught up in the immediate contest and lose sight of the larger picture - that of choosing the best among the contestants. In the initial rounds, this seems fairly straight forward as for the most part the bottom half get weeded out probably because most of the elimination rounds are individual contests.

But in the later rounds when the talent really stands out, I feel like the judges are not being fair to not just the talent but the title itself. To me, the title Top Chef, should of course definitely belong to the best talent of course but along with that should be consistency in portraying that talent and also, someone with the right attitude too. I mean, they are literally choosing an executive chef for a restaurant and if the person is not someone the rest of the kitchen would like to work with, or someone who does not take responsibility for their actions, how is the restaurant going to turn out top quality food worthy of the title??!

And, almost every season of the show has these examples. Its not funny and sometimes, I lose faith in the judgements. In Season 2, it was the choice of Elan over Sam in the final - 4 round based on the logic that Sam had not used heat to make his dishes and this was a cooking competition. Interestingly, in this case, only Tom was insistent on choosing Elan over Sam! In season 3, it was the ultimate choice of Hung over Dale that was questionable, given Hung's history of being a lousy team player and Tom's own comment of him being only "technically" the best chef with little show of passion.

And, take the latest series. There is Lisa, who has been on the chopping board for the last 6 consecutive rounds. She has very little talent as is not unnoticeable but that's not her real fault. She has for 4 of these rounds successfully managed to throw contestants with far more talent under the bus. I mean, what sort of an attitude is that. And yet, she is still in the Final 3!!!!

In the latest episode, Antonio was asked to leave. Contrary to Lisa, she has won as many rounds as Lisa has barely scraped and has displayed such a passion and love for her cooking. The judges reason was that she did not do well in that particular round but how does that tally up against the prolonged abysmal performance of Lisa and prolonged success of Antonio. The only reasoning I see is that the judges wanted to make their decision easier by avoiding the challenge between three of the best chefs in the contest. Now, they need only choose between Richard and Stephanie....Much simpler that!

To me, being the Top Chef is equivalent to being say the World No 1 in any sport. You don't become that without a show of consistency of top talent and not erratic sparks of brilliance. In Lisa's case there isn't even that spark! Maybe, the top chef organisers should follow a cumulative points system as in sports. That may just resolve some of these issues. In the end, the best will definitely reign supreme and they may even avoid some of the interim unfair heart breaks while keeping talent the foremost concern...

In any case, I cannot wait for this Wednesday and crowning of the new Top Chef. I am rooting for Richard. Stephanie is good too, definitely, but I feel Richard's dishes are more inspired and different! :)