It could happen to you. Your banana is looking mighty brown, but you have neither milk, nor eggs. You could try running to the store really quick, but by the time you returned, your banana could be black black black!

No need to fret! Try the following recipe:

Mix well:

1 C raisins, chopped nutmeats, etc., whatever sounds good
1/2 C Brown Sugar
2-3 T Shortening or butter
1/4 t Cinnamon
1/4 t Allspice
1/4 t Salt
1 soft, mushy medium to large banana

Then, add all at once and stir:

1/2 C Boiling Water

When it is just only warm, add:

1 C Whole-Wheat Pastry flour
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Baking Powder


Bake in a greased loaf pan @ 325 degrees F. If you decide to double the recipe because you have two bananas with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, use a Bundt or tube pan. Bake until done (i.e. it has pulled away from the edges of the pan and you can't smell anything but delicious moist banana bread...) Enjoy!

Or, better known as Butter Chicken. Warm and rich flavour, along with a butt-ton of milk fat, make this a delicious and silky dish to serve with rice or naan (Indian bread baked in a tandoor.)

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs of chicken. You can use breast or whole chicken. The Indian restaurants around here use day-old tandoori chicken thighs. If using boneless chicken, dice into larger bite-size pieces.
2-4 T Plain Yoghurt

1/2 C Ghee, or clarified butter (I did warn you! You can go with 6T ghee if your yoghurt is whole fat.)
1 small onion, very finely chopped or pureed
dash to 3/4 t cayenne pepper (dish should not be spicy hot, but a little nibble is nice.)
3-5 Garlic cloves, mashed and diced, or 1 T garlic puree
1-2 T Ginger, very finely chopped or pureed
1 T Cumin seeds or scant T cumin powder
1/2 T Coriander seeds, crushed, or powdered
1/4 T Turmeric powder

1 Tomato, seeded and finely diced, or 1 small can tomato sauce
1" Cinnamon stick
6 Cloves, whole
2 Cardamom pods, whole
2 Bay leaves
1 C Whipping Cream, Heavy (yes, heavy, as in ton-o-milk-fat!)


The most important thing to remember about Indian cooking is that slow-and-steady wins the race. You will find cooking Indian food to be an all-day affair, the opposite of Chinese wok cooking where everything is quickly heated at high temperatures. Use a medium-ish temperature to cook, allowing your ingredients to get to know one another and the wonderful spices to permeate your home. Keep your pan covered though most of the cooking process to help make the gravy smooth and well-blended.
1. If the chicken is not cooked, marinade it in the yoghurt for a few hours or overnight. Otherwise, add the yoghurt with the other dairy.
2. While the chicken finishes its marinading, heat the ghee (or butter) and slowly saute the onions, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander and turmeric.
3. Once everything has melded together nicely, add the remainder of the ingredients, except the cream.
4. Allow the dish to stew slowly so that the chicken cooks through and becomes tender.
5. About 10 minutes before serving, add the cream and heat through.
6. Enjoy with rice, naan, or other Indian bread. Finely diced and steamed vegetables make a nice accompanyment and go well with the gravy, too. The gravy is very similar to that of Chicken or Vegetable Korma.

Note: For you non-meat eating types and kosher types, you can substitute for the chicken:
Diced veggies (carrots, beans, peas, sweet corn)
Diced Paneer (Indian cheese)
Kofta (veggie dumplings, made from any number of things, including garbonzos, potatoes, paneer, etc.)

Note 2: Most, if not all, of these items can be found in the Mexican aisle of your grocery, your local bodega, or even a SE Asian grocery, if you are not by an Indian grocery. They will seem absurdly cheap compared to the items found in the regular spice aisle of your grocery, but will be of a better quality and much lower price.

Working on a new hooch recipe to keep me in cheap hooch. This recipe is traditional Finnish stuff they make for May Day.

Sima


1 gallon water
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1/2 lemon
1 tsp regular bread yeast

Juice the lemon and put the juice into a pot with the lemon zest (the yellow part ) Add half the water with the sugar and bring to a boil. Pour into a 4L jug and add the remaining water to help cool it down. When the wort is warm (ca. 100 degrees F), pitch the yeast in, cap it and shake it up good.

Remove the cap and put on an airlock to keep the evil buggies out. Allow the wort to ferment for a couple of days till the bubbling goes down to only a couple per minute.

Prepare 8 16-oz plastic bottles (spring water bottles are good) by putting 1 tsp sugar and 3 raisins in each. Fill each bottle and and cap tightly. The yeasts will convert this last bit of sugar and make your Sima lightly carbonated. Plastic bottles are recommended over glass because if you screw up, the plastic just distends a bit. Glass bottles tend to explode and put out eyes and stuff.

When the raisins are floating, the drink is done. Move to the refrigerator and drink within a couple of weeks. Note that the flavor improves the longer you can stand to keep your hands off it. The final brew with only be a couple percent alcohol, but this is an easy recipe, not too fussy, to get into home brewing. Plus you don't have to be a sterilization nazi about keeping everything clean compared to if you are putting up something for the long haul.

I'm going to try flavoring it with tea next time. Tea is good for the yeasts, adds flavor and depth. Plus you get a nice, lightly alcoholic iced tea as an end product. Happy hooching!