I made tagliatelle alla Bolognese with my family yesterday.

It was my first time ever and the result was astoundingly amazing. Textbook. The Punkin supervised. Notice the look on her face.

"I hope Boo washed her hands...."

Like I said: This is not for the faint of heart and it requires you make a leap of faith, but the result is oh so worth it!

You will need a 12 cup bundt/angel food cake tin.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

In a large bowl combine the following dry ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1 /2 teaspoons salt

Other ingredients:

6-7 really ripe bananas
4 extra large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon banana extract (optional)
1 1/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup plain yogurt
2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

In another, rather large mixing bowl place:

6-7 really ripe bananas.

Puree them with a potato masher (you don't want to liquify them)

Using a hand or standing mixer blend in 4 extra large eggs, then 1 cup of plain yogurt (I've used fat free, low fat and full fat with pretty much the same results. Mix until well blended. Now add the sugar and mix until blended. Then the cocoa powder. Now add extracts.

Now gradually add the dry mixture making sure to blend well between additions.
If you're adding nuts, do so at the very end.

Grease the cake tin. It has to be a tube tin for the best heat distribution and even baking. Pour the batter in and place it in the preheated oven.

Set your timer for 45 minutes.

IMPORTANT

After 45 minutes, lower the temperature to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes.

When you check it for doneness the skewer will not come out completely clean. That's okay. Expect a little sticky batter stuck to it. It is a very moist cake.

Take it out of the oven. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Then turn it over upside down onto a cake rack and let it cool completely. Turn it back right-side-up onto a plate, cover with plastic and refrigerate to set.

Best to wait 24 hours before slicing, if you can resist!

This year I decided on something a little different....

(cue angelic choir)

Chocolate Banana Cake

All bananas and cocoa. It's amazing.

The thing I hate most about Banana Bread is it's really oily and tastes mostly of flour. After many, many, many experiments I have devised the ultimate banana bread/cake. Moist, flavourful and most importantly no oil nor butter. That's right, none.

My recipe is not for the faint of heart. It requires one make a leap of faith.

Perhaps I'll share it with you sometime. Not now, however, I have the first episode of Coupling season four to view. My darling was good enough download it for my viewing pleasure.

We had dinner guests yesterday. After researching the different recipes out there, I settled on Nigella's Ham in Coca Cola, over the numerous recipes available due to it's maximum pleasure in its simplicity of flavours.



I too made it out of amused interest and was really impressed. I left mine in the bubbling coke longer until it fell off the bone. I then sprinkled it with some brown sugar and dry mustard and blasted it in the oven. It turned out perfect. It had the right balance of smoke, spice, salt and sweet.

I'm a convert too. I can't imagine eating it any other way. I too strongly recommend you try this.

I took a pound of 'marinating' steak (read: cheap cut) and submerged it in a minty, creamy bath for about 36 hours. I then scraped the marinade off of the now much softer meat, and gently rubbed in some coriander, cumin, coarse black pepper and sea salt. I preheated a skillet, added a light drizzle of good olive oil and cooked it quickly to medium rare.

It was fabulous! Even my finicky toddler loved it.

Minty Marinade recipe:

2 cups plain yogurt
20-30 fresh mint leaves coarsely chopped to release the oils
the zest and juice of a lime

Blend all the ingredients and cover the meat well. Place it in the fridge for a day or two.

Before cooking it up (pan or bbq) gently rub in some ground coriander seed, cumin, sea salt and coarse black pepper.

I served it with plain rice and mesclun salad dressed lightly with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Cross-posted on The Witch's Kitchen!