Banana Bread & Walnut Chicken

Last night my husband made me invite people over for dinner at the last minute. He wanted me to make pork tenderloin with tabasco onions. I wasn't thrilled about it but sent him off to the store. The husband of the couple who we invited over is a fabulous cook. I was nervous to cook for him.

While DH was at the store, I realized that we had bad bananas. Instead of throwing them out I made a loaf of banana bread for dessert. Nothing fancy, toasted pecans on top since the kids don't like them mixed in the bread. I baked it as usual. After letting it cool a bit, I tried to get it out of the pan and it wouldn't budge. In trying to get the bread out, I stuck my thumb through the crust and discovered it wasn't cooked all the way through. I tossed it back into the oven for a while and let it finish. I couldn't figure out what went wrong. But it tasted good, very good, better than usual. It didn't last long at all. I was able to snap a picture just before we finished the loaf.



Banana Bread
from the Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 2 cups flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add milk, vanilla and bananas. Mix well. Mix together flour & baking soda. Add to batter and mix just until dry ingredients are incorporated.

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

And now that I'm writing the recipe out, I know what I did wrong. I used a cup of butter. Wow, not so good for you, but the extra butter made for a tasty loaf of banana bread.

DH came home from the store with chicken instead of pork. I was happy because I'm nervous about cooking pork tenderloin. What if it turned out dry? Yuck. I made Walnut Chicken instead. DH actually requested it and I complied. It is an easy recipe and my kids eat it. I forgot it is spicy so the other kids didn't eat it. Oh well. I offered PB sandwiches instead. They all said no. Their father (the one I was so nervous to cook for) said not to worry about it. He thought the chicken tasted great, not too spicy, his kids are just too picky.



Walnut Chicken
from my sister

• 2 lbs chicken
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• pinch salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup walnuts, ground to a powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Mix egg & milk in a bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Dip chicken in egg mixture then in walnut mixture and place in pan. When all chicken is breaded, drizzle with melted butter.

Cook for 30-40 minutes at 350.