Don’t worry if you have not heard of it.  My first encounter was [...]]]> I’ve been posting a lot at Facebook about my younger son’s love of Banoffee Pie.  I made one for Thanksgiving, and there is never even a crumb left over.  It is one of the most luscious, decadent pies I’ve ever tasted.

Don’t worry if you have not heard of it.  My first encounter was only a few years ago, at a gathering at Christopher Robin’s mother’s house in Hawkhurst, a village south of London.  Gina had cooked a true English Sunday dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and swedes (rutabagas).  Banoffee pie was dessert.  Or rather, pudding. Even though it’s pie.

Whatever you call it, I took one bite and swooned.  A crumbly, buttery crust. Caramel layered with bananas. Then unsweetened whipped cream dusted ever so slightly with cocoa powder.  Sweet, rich, fantastic. I’ve started making it for holidays, and my younger son went so crazy for it that it’s the only dessert I ever make for him.

The trouble is that it uses ingredients that are not always that easy to find in the US.  Like canned caramelized sweetened condensed milk.  And digestive biscuits.  Gina regularly sends me tins of the caramel, along with teabags and pastilles, but since I have a lot of US readers, perhaps you’ll want a source here.  Alarminly, some recipes  call for boiling tins of sweetened condensed milk in hot water until they caramelize, but I do not recommend that.  The possibilities of exploding tins are horrific to contemplate.  Paula Dean has a method for caramelizing milk in the oven you may want to try.

But really, you should be able to find Carnation dulce de leche at the grocery store with the condensed milks.  It is available here in Colorado as a Mexican ingredient, so you might try that aisle, too.

Another problem is the digestive biscuits.  I can buy them from the local English store (or your local world market), but they’re very expensive and often stale, so I’ve been trying substitutes.  Dean’s recipe uses graham crackers, which I’ve tried, but that’s not quite the right flavor.  This Thanksgiving, I tried mixing ordinary, mildly sweet sugar cookies with graham crackers ½ & ½ and we all gave it two thumbs up.

The third challenge is the UK to US measuring issue.  They use ounces and grams, and the ounces are not the same.  Very confusing, especially if you are (like me) not inclined to deal with fractions.  I have finally found a cheat sheet that works well, but I’ve done the work for you here so you don’t have to bother.

*One funny side note.  According to Wikipedia, banoffee pie is enormously popular on the backpacker route in India.

Anyway, here is the recipe.  Do let me know if you try it.  Gina will be so pleased.

Banoffee Pie 

Base
1 stick of butter, melted
2 cups crushed digestive biscuits
         or 1 cup each sugar cookies and plain graham crackers, crushed

Filling
1-2 cans Carnation Caramel or Dulce de Leche (I prefer less—it is very sweet)
4 small bananas

Topping
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 banana, sliced
Cocoa powder or shaved bitter chocolate for dusting

1. Mix together the butter and crumbs, the press evenly into a 9-inch pie pan.

2. Cover the crumbs with caramel, then slice the bananas on top.

3. Whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks, and spread over the top of the bananas.

4. Arrange sliced bananas on top of cream.  Dust lightly with cocoa powder or shaved chocolate.

5. Chill for at least an hour.  Don’t expect leftovers.

I have an old stove—a dull cream model with ancient electric rings and a black front.  It’s serviceable, but little more than that.  I hate it when the sun comes streaming through my kitchen window and [...]]]> This morning’s post to The Lipstick Chronicles.  What household jobs or areas are repugnant to you?

I have an old stove—a dull cream model with ancient electric rings and a black front.  It’s serviceable, but little more than that.  I hate it when the sun comes streaming through my kitchen window and illuminates the splatters of grease across the control panel and the aged dust stuck to the inner hood.  I’m sure I must have wiped it all down when I cleaned the kitchen last night, but it looks like something out of a hoarder’s episode.   Dust from the wings of cat-murdered miller-moths mixed with flutters of dog fur mixed with kosher salt mixed with that creeping cooking sludge I can never quite identify.

READ MORE >>>>>>>

I just finished another of your books and I really enjoy them……In your stories the women drink a variety of teas…..I’d like to find a good breakfast tea to replace coffee in the morning, is there one that you would recommend? So many choices on the [...]]]> A reader wrote to me recently with these comments:

My #1 favorite breakfast tea is PG Tips, but you have to get the kind that is imported from England (the “English” tea sold in the US is made with different parts of the tea leaves and is not as flavorful). Unless you’re just insanely in love with tea, that’s a bit expensive.  Because Christopher Robin is British and must begin his day with a classic cup (two sugars and milk), we have his mother send boxes of it.  I also buy it at the English store (most towns have one).  Again, pretty expensive, but fun to try maybe.

Those are the best black teas.

For some other great things to try, here are a few:

Constant Comment, by Bigelow, the classic orange flavored tea.  Also try their Lemon Lift and Mint teas.

One of the best teas in the world to me is Good Earth caffeine-free blend.  It’s strong and sweet without sugar, and has no caffeine, so I can drink it all morning while I’m writing.  It smells wonderful, too!

STEP ONE: cut up some bananas and freeze them. Three regular bananas will [...]]]> My son Ian has a quirky approach to the world. When he twittered that he’d created the best dessert in the world (or words to that effect), I tweeted that I wanted the recipe. This is what I got. Enjoy!

STEP ONE: cut up some bananas and freeze them. Three regular bananas will make enough for two people. Freezing takes about two hours. Take the peel off, because otherwise it will be too hard to remove later.

STEP TWO: put the frozen bananas in your blender or food processor. Blend them up. At first, it won’t look like anything, but just keep doing it. Soon, it will suddenly turn into the creamy cold texture you want. Now stop. Don’t over blend it.

THAT IS ALL: you can eat right away! It will have the texture of soft serve ice cream. OR: you can put it back in the freezer and let it freeze more, if it’s gotten too melty or you don’t like soft serve. Then it will be more like regular ice cream. Both ways are good! It’s sweet and cold and good.

OPTIONAL: add a scoop of peanut butter during blending to make it even better. You could probably also experiment with almond butter. I find this makes for a good texture, but a second ingredient is entirely OPTIONAL because this is one ingredient ice cream.

THIS RECIPE DOES NOT HAVE OR NEED: Any added sugar; milk; any animal products at all; ice; any ingredients that can’t be purchased at any grocery store in the land for less than a dollar. You can serve this to tubby children or to lean vegan gluten free athletes: they will all love it. The children may become less tubby, however, so be warned.

YOU WILL LIKE IAN’S ONE INGREDIENT ICE CREAM IF: you like sweet cold treats.

NUMBER OF DAYS IN A ROW YOU COULD EAT THIS WITHOUT GETTING FAT: as many as you want. It’s just bananas!

BEST HIP SLANG SYNONYM FOR “CRAZY” TO DESCRIBE HOW GOOD THIS IS: “bananas,” as in, “It’s bananas how good IAN’S one ingredient ice cream is.”

WILL IAN’S ONE INGREDIENT ICE CREAM CONTRIBUTE TO METABOLIC SYNDROME OR DIABETES? No, it is just a couple of bananas and some optional peanut butter.

IS IAN’S ONE INGREDIENT ICE CREAM EXPENSIVE TO MAKE? No, it’s just bananas.

HOW DOES THIS WORK? I don’t know. I thought it might be the fat content in bananas, but I looked it up and bananas have less than one half gram of fat each in them, so that doesn’t seem right. Ask Alton Brown if you really care! I do not understand the science of my invention; I am simply its sole and exclusive inventor (Ian’s One Ingredient Ice Cream is patent pending).

DOES THIS JUST TASTE LIKE BANANA PUREE? No, it doesn’t, and I don’t know why not. It really does seem like this should taste like baby food but it does not. It tastes like ice cream. It’s very sweet. I made three bananas’ worth and almost couldn’t finish it because it felt like eating candy. Then I remembered that Ian’s One Ingredient Ice Cream has no added sugar, so I ate it all up. The next morning, I weighed in at my lowest weight in years. True story.

ANY OTHER TIPS? The bananas you use should be ripe. In fact, a little bit overripe is fine and possibly even better. But definitely not green; I don’t think that will blend properly. If you use under-ripe bananas and do not like the results, that is not the fault of Ian or his recipe for One Ingredient Ice Cream.

WOULD THIS BE GOOD TO SERVE IN HOSPITALS? Yes. Bananas do not upset the stomach, and are easy to digest; plus, hospital patients are sad and need sweet desserts to cheer them up. If you are a hospital administrator interested in licensing Ian’s One Ingredient Ice Cream for deployment en masse, please contact Ian Samuel (ian@iansamuel.com) for a term sheet.

THANK YOU, IAN, FOR INVENTING THIS: No problem.

This morning I was scouring the internet for some new ideas for dishes to experiment with. There are a couple of events coming up and I’ll bring a dish, so it would be fun to try some new things.  Saveur always offers something fantastic, and I spent easily an hour wandering through their [...]]]>

This morning I was scouring the internet for some new ideas for dishes to experiment with. There are a couple of events coming up and I’ll bring a dish, so it would be fun to try some new things.  Saveur always offers something fantastic, and I spent easily an hour wandering through their catalogue of recipes.  I want to try the Herbed Tomato Tart, but perhaps not until I can buy tomatoes for less than $4 a pound.  Instead, pears are readily available and easy, so maybe this Pear and Walnut Tart for one event, and this Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage for the vegetarian dish.  I haven’t tried gnocchi before, though I love to eat it. I wonder if it’s hard.

At one time, that would have stopped me. I would have gone on to try something a little less daunting. These days, I’ve cooked enough bad dishes that if I don’t successfully carry one off, it’s not some overwhelming disaster, but an opportunity to learn something new.  Anyone have tips for cooking gnocchi?

Also: I love this photograph, which is taken by Todd Sullivan, for Saveur Magazine. (It’s time for a new camera and the next step in lessons.  I have a lot of photos of gardens and foods coming up, and it would be fun to get a bit better at it.)  In this photo, the food looks easy and interesting and nourishing, but it’s the light that catches me, the quiet spirit of what feels like it would be a hearty simple meal.  Just off screen, I imagine, is a decanter of some pleasant table wine and a crusty loaf of bread.  A window overlooking a wild kitchen garden, dormant at the moment, but fecund in summer. What do you see?

These are actual texts from my sister a few days ago:

Feb 5, 2011 7:13 pm Making sunshine fruit and honey bread

Feb 6, 2011 12:36 pm OMG OMG OMG. That bread is soooooo good I could prolly eat the whole thing!!!

Feb. [...]]]>

(A recipe from How to Bake a Perfect Life. )

These are actual texts from my sister a few days ago:

Feb 5, 2011 7:13 pm
Making sunshine fruit and honey bread

Feb 6, 2011 12:36 pm
OMG OMG OMG. That bread is soooooo good I could prolly eat the whole thing!!!

Feb. 7, 2011 12:26 pm
I can’t stop eating this bread ! I feel like the guy in the window in Chocolat. LOL

———

I can’t promise you will like it as much as she does, but it’s one of my favorites, too.  It would be an excellent offering at a book club.

RAMONA’S BOOK OF BREADS
Sunshine Fruit and Honey Bread

Sometimes a recipe is born from a moment, and this is the recipe that I came up with after my first night with Jonah. Filled with light and juice and tenderness, it is one of my favorite things. Try it with a cup of sweet chai.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup raw sugar
½ cup dark honey
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp orange extract
2 tsp grated orange zest
2 eggs
1 cup raspberries, whole
1/3 cup slivered, toasted almonds

Juice of one orange, mixed with enough powdered sugar to make a thin glaze

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 x5 inch loaf pan

Whisk together dry ingredients. Cream butter, honey, and extracts and zest. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in the dry ingredients just until moist, then gently, gently fold in the raspberries and toasted almonds.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 20 minutes, then tip bread out to a wire rack and cool thoroughly, then drizzle the top lightly with glaze.

Welsh Rabbit, which I thought for years [...]]]> The Brits get a bad name over food, but I’m here to say there is a lot that’s lovely about British cooking. Saveur Magazine has a feature
today on their website about British Pub Food.  I receive their emails and clicked right through to find this lovely menu:

Welsh Rabbit, which I thought for years was Rarebit, no idea why, and is only cheese and toast.  How simple and lovely is that?

Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, served bloody rare, which I loathe.  Not a fan of roast beef, though I love the gravy, and that gravy is a wonder with Yorkshire puddings.

Beef and Guinness pie . I once made this recipe, or one quite similar and forgot that I had it in the oven (before the crust was on it). It cooked at 300 for a couple of hours and the flavors were as deep and rich as some precious old wine.  Highly recommended.

Banoffee Pie, which I have talked about here before.  It’s an English classic, made with digestive biscuits, bananas, caramel and whipped cream.  CR’s mother served it at a holiday meal and I licked the spoon and practically my plate, so she sent me home with tins of caramel, which are not sold here.  It is unbelievably sweet, but the cream and the bananas and the digestives give it texture and depth, so it’s not as horrifying as you might imagine. (Go on, try it, you know you want to!)

What’s funny is that my traditionalist younger son, also a very picky eater, fell madly in love with Banoffee pie the first time I made it for a Christmas meal and he begs for it at every opportunity since.  Though CR’s mother sends those tins of caramel, I don’t always have a can when I need it.  This recipe has a work around that makes the caramel with condensed milk and brown sugar. (And I recently discovered you can buy cans of dulce de leche in the Mexican food aisle at the grocery store, so I am saved, anyway.)

But my favorite thing about British food: cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese.  Check out these 9 artisan cheeses. But don’t forget Stilton or Wensleydale with cranberries or mangos or some other something.  They’re all great.

What foreign foods do you love? Have you even fallen in love with something in a far away land?