Upside Down Banana Bread

Our friend, Claire, just joined the Peace Corps and is about to move to The Gambia for the next few years! Before her new adventure, Tony & Katie hosted a surprise going-away brunch.

I decided to try out a recipe I saw on BuzzFeed for upside down banana bread – which is more of a dessert really.  You make your standard banana bread mix, but before pouring it into the pan, you line it with a layer of bananas covered in caramel sauce.  When you flip it over at the end, it becomes a gooey treat. 

The bananas on mine slid around a bit when they were flipped and I had to clean up some of the excess caramel sauce that leaked off the plate, but overall I’d say it was a success.  Next time I’d dry adding walnuts or pecans to the recipe as well (maybe just toast some to sprinkle over the top). 

We didn’t serve ours with ice cream, but Buzzfeed suggested that you do and I’m sure it’d be amazing. 

I don’t think this will be my replacement banana bread recipe since it was a bit too sweet and dense for me, but it’s perfect for a potluck when others can help eat it!

Best of luck to Claire on her exciting journey to come!

Upside Down Banana Bread (adapted from BuzzFeed)

Ingredients:

• 4-5 ripe bananas (I had a few ripe ones in the freezer that I thawed out along with some fresher ones)
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup oil
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2-3 fresh bananas, sliced
• Vanilla ice cream (optional)
• Toasted walnuts/pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl (or in a stand mixer), mash the ripe bananas.

3. Add the eggs, oil, sugar, and cinnamon, mixing until evenly incorporated.

4. Add the flour and mix until the batter has no large pockets of flour. Set aside.

5. In a pot over low heat, melt the butter, then mix in the brown sugar until dissolved.

6. Bring up the heat to medium, cooking until the mixture starts bubbling.

7. Remove the caramel from heat and pour into a greased 9x9 baking pan.

8. Lay the banana slices evenly on top of the caramel.

9. Spread the banana bread batter on top.

10. Bake 40-50 minutes.

11. Cool until the bottom is barely warm and use a knife to loosen the edges from the pan.

12. Place a plate upside-down on top of the pan, then invert the pan, flipping the banana bread onto the plate.

13. Slice, then top with toasted nuts and/or vanilla ice cream. 

Panera Bread’s Autumn Squash Soup

I used to go to Panera pretty frequently in high school and college.  For awhile, it seems like their menu stayed the same and I got a bit bored of my normal Frontega Chicken Panini. 

We wanted something quick and inexpensive for dinner tonight, and we had recently seen an ad for Panera’s Autumn Squash Soup.  So we headed there to give it a try.  We both got the “You-Pick-Two” and paired the soups with flatbreads.  Lance had the Mediterranean Chicken (with hummus, feta, cucumber, napa cabbage, and tzatziki sauce).  I went with the fall theme and tried the Turkey Cranberry (with garlic herb cheese spread, cranberry mostarda, and spinach). 

The flatbreads weren’t anything too special.  I was actually surprised that for a restaurant that prides themselves on their freshly baked bread, the flatbread tasted store-bought a bit soggy.  But it’s nice to see that they’ve changed up the menu and added some variety. 

We were pleasantly surprised by the soup – it is a vegetarian blend of butternut squash and pumpkin with vegetable broth, honey, apple juice, cinnamon, curry, and sweet cream topped with roasted salted pumpkin seeds.  We topped ours with a bit of pepper.  While it wasn’t on the same level as my favorite fall soup (Grillsmith’s Caribbean Pumpkin Crab Bisque), I would order it again.

Panera Bread has 1800+ locations.  The one we visited is located at 112 West Shore Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33609 and is open 6am – 9:30pm Monday – Saturday and 7am – 9:30pm Sunday.    

Watermelon Gazpacho & Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread

I spent the afternoon with my mom today – for lunch we had watermelon gazpacho and two different types of banana bread. 

My mom has made variations on this gazpacho several times before – it is a refreshing meal for a hot day like today, and takes almost no time to throw together.  The watermelon makes it lighter than a normal gazpacho and adds a bit of sweetness. 

My mom made 2 loaves of banana bread – one following the basic recipe from the blog Lil' Luna, and the other with the addition of chocolate chips and coconut as shown below.  They were extra moist inside with a crispy crust on the outside.  The basic recipe was great, but I really loved the chocolate coconut version. 

Happy that there are leftovers because I’m looking forward to eating more for lunch tomorrow!

Watermelon Gazpacho (adapted from A Spicy Perspective and Enjoy Food 365)

Ingredients:

·        4 cups chopped seedless watermelon

·        ½ yellow onion, diced

·        2 large cucumbers, diced

·        2 cups cherry tomatoes

·        2 avocados, cut into pieces

·        3 mini Bell peppers, chopped (preferably yellow, red, and orange)

·        12 – 15 fresh mint leaves

·        1 lime

·        1 garlic clove, chopped

·        2 T red wine vinegar

·        3 T olive oil

·        1 T Sriracha (or ½ small jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced)

·        Salt

·        Pepper

Directions:

1. Set aside a handful of the chopped watermelon, onion, cucumber, avocado, peppers and mint leaves for garnish.

2. Place the remaining watermelon, onion, cucumber, tomatoes, avocados, peppers, mint, and garlic in the blender.  Squeeze juice of 1 lime and pulse the blender until everything is roughly combined. 

3. Add in the red wine vinegar, olive oil, Sriracha, salt, and pepper.  Pulse again until combined. Do not over-blend; you still want chunks in the soup.

4. Pour into bowls and garnish.  

Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread (adapted from Lil’ Luna)

Ingredients:

·        1 cup granulated sugar

·        1 cup brown sugar

·        ½ cup vegetable oil

·        3 eggs

·        3 tsp. vanilla

·        1-12 oz container sour cream

·        4 overripe bananas

·        2 cups chocolate chips

·        1 cup shredded coconut

·        2½ cups flour

·        1 tsp. baking soda

·        1 tsp. baking powder

·        1 envelope dry whipped topping (we used Dream Whip brand)

·        2 additional tsp granulated sugar

·        Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two loaf pans. 

2. Beat the sugars, oil, and eggs.  Add vanilla, sour cream, and bananas and mix well. 

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and powdered whipped topping.  Add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips and coconut. 

4. Pour into prepared pans, sprinkle the top with remaining granulated sugar, and bake for 40-50 minutes. 

5.  Let cool on wire rack and serve.