Brunch Edition

best banana bread

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

2 to 3 overly ripe bananas

¼ cups buttermilk, sour cream, or plain yogurt  (Any of the three will work)

2 eggs

½ cups oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Use a whisk to mash the bananas in a mixing bowl until they form a semi-liquid without any large chunks.  Whisk for a minute, then add in the buttermilk/sour cream/yogurt, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
3. Beat in the sugar.  Add in the salt and baking soda.  Stir in the flour.
4. Pour mixture into a greased 9-by-5-inch or 8-by-4-inch (just a regular-sized loaf pan.  Bake for about an 60 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
5. (Optional, but highly recommended) Spread with a little soft butter before eating.

Note: This banana bread freezes particularly well.  Just double-wrap it in aluminium foil and stick in in the freezer.  Also, if you are making a lot of banana bread, make each batch individually and do not try to "double" the recipe. sweet potato, goat cheese, and & egg bake

Ingredients
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ sweet yellow onion, chopped
4 ounces goat cheese
4 eggs

Instructions

1. Peel sweet potatoes (I use my Y-peeler) and then dice them into ½-inch cubes.  Remember:  the smaller you dice them, the less time that you will have to wait for them to roast.
2. In a large bowl, combine the chopped onion with the sweet potatoes, olive oil, and salt.  Spread the mixture onto a large, rimmed baking dish.  For mine, I used a 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan.
3. Roast the sweet potatoes mixture at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft in the middle.  You should be able to easily stick a fork in them.  Remove them from the oven briefly, but leave the oven on.
4. If you're using a large dish (as did I with my jelly roll pan), it will be easier to crack to do this next step if you use a heat-resistant spatula to push the sweet potatoes closer together (don't pile them up, though).
5. Use a spoon or your fingers to crumble the goat cheese evenly over the sweet potatoes.
6. Crack each egg over the sweet potatoes & cheese.
7. Return the tray to the oven and bake about 15 minutes more or until the whites are set.  If you want your yolks to be more solid, bake for another 5 minutes or so.
8. Remove and use a shallow spoon or large spatula to serve hot.  Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper before serving.