banana & cinnamon muffins

I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere down the track that I have certain OCDs - collecting cookbooks is probably the worse of them, then its collecting recipes and last but not least, baking with certain ingredients over and over again. November 2011 has been the month of baking with bananas and here I bring you a recipe for Banana & Cinnamon Muffins from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook - this cookbook has also been used to death this month (I'm actually not quite ready to return it to the bookshelf - maybe baking constantly from one cookbook is also one of my OCDs?)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. In a large bowl, combine 350g plain flour, 160g caster sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp bicarb soda and 2 tsp ground cinnamon with a handheld electric mixer. In a jug, combine 375mL buttermilk, 1 egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat on a slow speed until combined. Add 70g melted unsalted butter and beat until incorporated. Stir in 400g peeled mashed bananas with a spatula.

Spoon the mixture into lined muffin tins.

Sprinkle with a little caster sugar and cinnamon over the tops.

Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.

Leave the muffins to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Recipe says it makes 12 muffins, I managed to get 22. I guess it makes 12 really big muffins?

These muffins are incredibly moist and I'd actually class them in the 'healthy' basket. With it being so warm lately, I kept the muffins in the fridge to stop them from getting mouldy (as the moisture in the banana doesn't deal well with the heat). There's a recipe for Banana Cream Pie in the same very cookbook which is looking rather tasty, maybe I'll make that next!

zumbo dessert train @ the star

I don't think I could ever write a bad review about Zumbo; I just couldn't. I remember asking him some very spastic questions when we attended one of his Masterclasses earlier this year and he was such a lovely guy and answered every question I had (mind you I was the one with one of his macaron recipes tucked in my bag and out I whipped out my sheet with everything highlighted and ready to ask). A little bit nerdy I have to admit but I really needed to ask the questions and after all, he is the King of Macarons in Sydney!

Again, plenty of blog posts have been made by fellow bloggers about his new store at The Star. Mashi and I wandered over there after our dinner at Jamie's Italian with the intention to try out the dessert train and the dessert train we did try. This ended up being a hectic 45 minute wait but I'm not complaining, I waited about 2 hours to go to an art gallery in Florence so by comparison, 45 minutes is really nothing. I actually didn't even notice the time pass cause we ended up chatting with some of the pastry chefs behind the train who were more than willing to tell us about the record set by a couple who ate 8 plates in the one sitting and them giving us recommendations for the plates that we should try. Zumbo - You do hire such lovely staff!

We finally got our seat! To be honest, 10 minutes of our waiting time was due to everyone on the train finishing up and leaving in the one go, leaving the 2 staff managing it have to clear and sort out all the checks. We were the first to sit down after they got through that crowd.

Watermelon Yoghurt - The orange custard on this plate is absolutely divine (a big bowl of orange custard please!)

The two of us eat a lot - it makes us happy!

Plenty of people outside the store ogling in and/or just waiting in line to get a seat on the train.

Carrot Cake - a rather healthy choice and one to quickly gobble up as its topped with a cinnamon ice cream.

Hazelnut Dacquoise - Hands down, my favourite for the night. The couple sitting next to us agreed too as they started asking us about the desserts we had. Plenty of crunch and yum, yum, yum!

There's actually 10 items on the menu but on the Friday night we went, we only spotted 6 moving around on the train. The staff we spoke to when we were waiting did mention that they're still fine-tuning the desserts and getting it right. Apparently the Almond Croissant is worth a try so will be heading back there for that when I can. 

I did actually think that we'd get through a few more plates but three plates ended up being more than enough (plus we had our nice Jamie's Italian meal sitting in our stomaches). My first and foremost suggestion to Zumbo (if you happen to be reading this) is to get more plates on that train - even if it its just a single macaron on a plate because the plate of four that's on the train at the moment is a lot to eat if you are wanting to try a few other desserts (actually Mashi and I did ask the staff if we could doggy bag some macarons but we were politely told no...boo hoo). Would be good to also have a hot beverage or dessert wine to accompany and yes, somehow that queue could be better managed but honestly, what's with the eager beavers pushing in (when clearly there's a queue)!

jamie's italian @ pitt st., sydney

There's been a good couple of reviews for Jamie's Italian across the blogosphere and if you haven't been to Jamie's Italian, suggest you stop reading now and actually make your way over there. Mashi and I headed over there on a Friday night, thinking that dinner service opened at 6pm but arriving at the restaurant, realised that the queue was already forming and the inside of the restaurant was nearly at full capacity. We joined the line and were kindly explained the waiting times - they were 30 minutes for 2 people, an hour for 4 and 1.5 hours or more for groups bigger than 4. Our wait was much shorter than expected; maybe 15 minutes and yay, we were inside!

There's plenty on the menu to tantalise the tastebuds and does take a bit of time to look through. We ordered a single serve of the Meat Antipasto to start whilst we decided on the rest of the menu. How cute are the cans of tomato holding up the antipasto platter!

We were both eager to try as many things on the menu but unfortunately only got around a small selection. A serving of arancini balls which comes with a tangy chilli salsa and a dusting of parmesan cheese was certainly a good choice (only thing is that there's only three of them in that can, you'd think there'd be at least four).

An entree serve of Mushroom Ravioli; packed with flavour and full of mushroomy goodness.

Veal Saltimbocca and a serve  of Posh Chips (chips dusted with truffle and parmesan cheese; a match made in heaven).

Our waiter that night was very pleasant (and cute too!) so made the meal very enjoyable. It did get quite noisy as the meal progressed (music definitely got a bit louder) so finishing the meal, it just made sense to vacate our table and move on. Mind you, there was still a queue standing outside when we finished.

Yes I'll be coming back but probably not too soon; might just wait for the crowds to die down. Our lovely waiter did let us in on the fact that the very Jamie Oliver is due for a visit to the restaurant next February - might save my visit for then!

banana loaf

As strange as it sounds, one of the highlights of my Europe trip was finding bananas selling for 1 pound a bunch - how very cheap! Actually on our first day there, they were handing out free bananas and um, I may have been a little delirious from the flight, and well I did chase down the man in the banana suit and got a picture with him too! (I'll get around to explaining myself one day but so far I've managed to get a good collection of photos with people dressed up in assorted food related suits).

Fortunately it looks like banana prices are finally dropping back down in Sydney. Noticed how Chatime had a sign up advertising 'Do you remember how banana taste?' (there was something grammatically wrong about the sign which bothered me when I saw it and its somehow stuck - seriously someone should do something about that sign!) But yes, bananas are back down to about $3/kg so mum and I picked up a nice big bunch to eat (and well, usually the case is that they start to brown very quickly so I end up using them for some baking).

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. In a large bowl, combine 270g brown sugar and 2 eggs with a hand mixer. Beat in 200g peeled mashed bananas. Add 280g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1 tsp ground ginger to the mix. Mix thoroughly until incorporated. Pour in 140g melted unsalted butter and beat until all ingredients are well mixed.

Pour the mixture into a prepared loaf tin and smooth over the top with the spatula. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 8-10 slices.

Best way to eat banana bread (in my opinion), is to toast each slice in the toaster and serve with a generous glob of butter. Be mindful to slice the banana bread so that it actually fits into the toaster and whatever you do, don't stick a knife or fork into the toaster if it refuses to come out. Better way to do it is unplug the toaster, tip the toaster on its side and using your finger to prod it out (careful not to touch the hot metal components of the toaster). Occasionally I have had to completely turn the toaster upside down and a whole barrage of crumbs have come down with it (so yes, it does pay to clean/empty your toaster of crumbs regularly).

Anyway, this recipe is from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook; a collection of some very reliable recipes that consistently come out beautiful from the oven - love it!

rengaya @ miller st., north sydney

October to December is always a busy time of year in my household. We kick off with my brother's birthday, then it's by dad's and before you know it, it's my birthday and then it's Christmas and the new year. Any plans to stay in shape quite frankly go out the window and lots of yummy food and cake are to be had. This year we celebrated my brother's birthday at a Rengaya in North Sydney - a classy find and most certainly a restaurant that I'd recommend.

Our starter of Wagyu Beef Tataki Salad.

Premium Sashimi Selection. I always wish that Sashimi Platters were bigger - they are never quite big enough!

Wagyu Ox Tongue and Assorted Vegetables pictured below, cooked at the table.

Waiting for the food to cook - I have plenty other photos of all the raw meat dishes we ordered (Wagyu being the speciality here) but figured pictures of raw meat didn't look quite appetising to post (don't ask me why I even take the photos in the first place!)

Something a little bit different I found on the menu; Stone Pot Cha-suke - Grilled rice ball, bonito flake, dried seaweed, pickled plum, salmon flake, wasabi and japanese stock in a hot stone pot.

And last but not least is their colourful and wondrous selection of desserts. We ordered two to share amongst the four of us. Pictured are the WA (Japanese Plate) - Green Tea creme brulee, warabimochi with black syrup, shiratama zenzai served with tea. Shiratama Cream Anmitsu - Kanten with shiratama and sweet red beans topped with vanilla and green tea ice cream served with black syrup and seasonal fruits.

An extremely flavoursome meal, great atmosphere (with plenty of space in between tables for your own privacy) and plenty more menu items to draw me back for another feed. We managed to find street parking just right outside the front door but otherwise there's a carpark just on the side which they buzz you in when you call to say you've arrived. Pricewise, it's a little steep but one to keep in mind for that special occasion.