Lady Bird Lake, Austin Texas, 2010. Image by author.
A few months after Cameron proposed to me in far West Texas, we consolidated our belongings and moved into a cozy house in east Austin. Having now lived in Colorado for a year and a half, it’s hard to conjure up the incredible heat and humidity Austin exudes for several months out of the year, but I can clearly recall Cameron and our friend Hutch in a head-to-head wet T-shirt contest from all the sweat they shed during the move. (By the way, thanks, Hutch, for helping us move despite your knee injury, in July, in central Texas.)
Recently I’ve revisited our digital photo albums from our Texas days. Besides being heartened by all the photos of friends made in Austin, I’m blown away by how lush the flora is in a place where warmth and moisture make their home year-round. It wasn’t the tropics. Even so, bamboo and banana trees could grow to substantial heights if left unchecked.
Banana Tree Blossom, Austin Texas. Image by author.
In fact, one of my favorite plant in our yard in Austin was this huge banana plant that seemed to grow an inch or two each day once the spring rains started. It brought back such strong connections to south China and Malaysia where banana plants grew to tree size, and bananas could be snapped off in bunches.
Summer Bananas, Austin Texas. Image by author.
This morning as I glance out my third floor apartment window to the frost-covered roofs and spindly tree branches feathered against a backdrop of the Rockies, Austin seems quite far from me. While our Austin bananas never sweetened enough for us to make tea breads, we still loved how they drew all kinds of beautiful insects, amphibians, and birds thirsting for the starchy sweet nectar from the plant’s gorgeous blossom.
Below you’ll find a recipe for banana bread that includes a splash of brandy. Don’t worry. There’s not enough liquor in the recipe to make you woozy. I enjoyed a slice with a cup of earl grey tea this morning, but if I were sitting on my porch in Austin, I’d probably munch on a slice and sip an icy mojito.
Image by author.
Kickin’ Banana Bread (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted salted butter
3/4 to 1 cup light brown sugar (depending on the level of sweetness you prefer, I always use the smaller amount)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cup of flour
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix melted butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon, then the spices.
2. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix until just combined. (The more you mix, the tougher the final bread product.)
3. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. (I used slips of parchment paper to make removal easier.)
4. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes. Remove from pan and slice to serve.
Okay, this sounds downright incredible! Can’t wait to try it using a few almost-too-ripe bananas I have at home right now.
Thanks, Anna. And I just learned it’s almost Banana Bread Day, which is all the more reason to mash up bananas.
Sounds tasty! I remember when I first saw a banana flower in the wild in Japan – amazing! By the way, good timing – it’s banana bread day on Feb 23rd!
Ha! I didn’t know, but now I should probably tag this post to give folks a new recipe to try for the day. Also, those banana flowers were spectacular, almost alien in its growth and appearance.
I have just picked some ripened bananas off the bunch we have hung up in the lanai. We cut the whole bunch down from the plant while still green and then let them air ripen. Time to make some banana bread.
We did that with our green bananas in Austin, but they never turned yellow. I’m not sure what went on with that batch. The original recipe calls for bourbon, so if you don’t have brandy, you could use that. I’m also thinking about experimenting with coconut extract and toasted coconut to make this an even more tropical treat.
This does sound nice – everything is better with a little taste of booze. Now I wish I hadnt eaten the last two bananas.
Hope you now have some sad brown bananas that need to be put out of their misery!
Actually, I do – good reminder!
-Do like a slice of banana bread. Have yet to make one.
-Liked your connection between the banana tree and the bread.
Thanks, Johnny. Banana bread is one of those foods that I ate so much growing up that I grew tired of it, but I really like this recipe. My office mates did, too. They ate the rest of the loaf today.
Things must come in threes. I’d never seen a banana blossom until a few weeks ago when they showed up at WFM and I bought one to use as a garnish for Pad Thai. Then in Haiti we saw them all over the place, except that technically I suppose they were plantain blossoms, not bananas; then along comes your photo. Symmetry. Banana bread, ESPECIALLY with booze, always a favorite. Thanks. Ken
Oh! Did you and Jody travel to Haiti recently? I hope you post some recipes from that part of the world. I feel woefully uneducated about Caribbean food.
Booze tends to add a special kick to most dishes.
We’re going to do a post about our trip, but it won’t contain any recipes, just photos and commentary, and a link for people who’d like a look at the country close up. Our food was pretty limited.