Chocolate Banana Bread

I love banana bread so was excited to see a recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread in Tyler's Ultimate cookbook. And I thought it would be a perfect entry for this month's Waiter, There's Something in My . . . Bread hosted by Andrew at Spitoon Extra. I just had to sit around for a week waiting for the bananas to ripen enough to use for the recipe.

Chocolate Banana Bread Ingredients: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan 2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted 2 large eggs 3 very ripe bananas 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. Mix together th flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt ina large bowl. IN another bowl, cream the butter until lightened, then beat in the chocolate, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined; do not overbeat.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake until a toothpick stuck into the center of the bread comes out almost clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 15 minutes before unmolding.

Fat Noodles with Crab, Buttered Artichokes, and Mint

I found a recipe that is not "the ultimate" in Tyler's Ultimate. The Fat Noodles with Crab, Buttered Artichokes, and Mint. The name is promising but I found it to be a little be bland. It was good, but not great and not ultimate. I usually like really strong flavors with my pasta. I could see this being a nice pasta to be served as part of a buffet because I can see alot of people liking it and it also tastes okay at room temperature. But when I spend the money to cook with crab I really want to taste it and I didn't get that with this recipe.

The one problem I had was I could not find pappardelle at my grocery store. So I went with fettuccine which were the widest noodles that I could find.

Fat Noodles with Crab, Buttered Artichokes, and Mint (serves 4) Ingredients: Kosher salt 1 pound pappardelle 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter) 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 can (about 16 ounces) artichokes, drained, rinsed and halved Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 pint (8 ounces) lump crabmeat Freshly ground black pepper Handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus extra for serving

Instructions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pappardelle, stir to separate, and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Drain and dump the pasta into a serving bowl. (You'll need to use 1 cup of the pasta cooking water for the sauce.)

While the pasta is cooking, combine the butter and olive oil in a medium skillet and put it over medium heat. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, add it to the skillet, and reduce the whole thing for 5 minutes to thicken. Then add the artichoke halves, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, crabmeat, and salt and pepper and toss to warm everything through. Add that to the bowl with the cooked drained pasta. Add the mint and Parmigiano and season with salt and lots of black pepper. Toss and serve with extra Parmigiano.

Duck Steaks with Roasted Peaches and Cold Sesame Noodles

Okay, I'll fess up. I've never really watched Tyler's Ultimate on Food Network. I've had it on in the background, but I never really watched him. All I know about Tyler Florence is that he is super-cute. And I HATE the How to Boil Water show that he does but that might be because of his dingy co-host. But I realized that I have never given him a chance when I watched his Chefography a few weeks ago. So I decided to order his latest book Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time.

Now, I find it a bit presumptuous to call something "THE ULTIMATE". It's okay to be a specialist is something. For example, I'd be okay if he had "Tyler's Ultimate Fried Chicken" or something like that. But a whole book for of ULTIMATE recipes? I was very hesitant. But flipping through the recipes I quickly realized that he has quite a few really, really good meals. The first one I decided to try was his Duck Steaks with Roasted Peaches and Cold Sesame Noodles. This is partly because I have made really good sesame noodles before (soba noodles with a spicy peanut sauce) and I knew I could compare his to the one I already knew I liked. The second is because I am trying to cook with things I have not worked with before and duck was on that list. And how can anyone not want to try roasted peaches?

It took me a little over an hour to prepare this entire meal and I don't think that is bad at all considering how elegant it is. I couldn't find any peaches at the grocery store so I bought a jar of natural peach slices which I think have been boiled or something. I just laid them on the baking sheet and roasted them anyways. Peaches roasted in olive oil with salt sprinkled on . . . yum! The peanut sauce for the soba noodles is really amazing. I love the complex flavors. It is nice and creamy with a bit of heat from the peppers but it is still smooth and has a great consistency to go over the noodles. And as for the duck, I got really lucky. It ended up just perfect!

Duck Steaks with Roasted Peaches (serves 4) Ingredients: 2 ripe peaches, halved and pitted Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Extra-virgin olive oil 2 duck breasts (about 1 1/4 pound total) Toasted sesame oil Cold Sesame Noodles (recipe follows) Watercress, for garnish Lime wedges, for garnish

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle the peaches all over with salt and pepper. Put them cut sides up on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Throw them in the oven and roast until the peaches are very tender when you stick a knife in them, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the duck breasts on a cutting board skin side up and score all over in a tiny crosshatch pattern so that as much of the fat as possible will render and the skin will crisp. Season all over with salt and pepper and drizzle with sesame oil. Film the bottom of a large saute pan with olive oil and put the pan over medium heat. Add the breasts, skin side down, and cook slowly for about 10 minutes, until the fat is rendered and the skin is browned and crispy. Occasionally dump the fat out into a bowl. Turn the breasts and cook on the other side for 1 or 2 more minutes for medium-rare. Take the breasts out of the pan and put them on a platter to rest.

Cold Sesame Noodles (serves 4) Ingredients: Kosher salt 1/2 pound dried buckwheat (soba) noodles 9 tablespoons toasted sesame oil 1-inch piece of fresh ginger 2 garlic cloves 1 fresh red Thai chile or 1 jalapeno chile, minced, seeds and all 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1/4 cup rice vinegar 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce 6 tablespoons hot water 1 tablespoon chile sauce or 1 teaspoon sambal 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted 2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced on the diagonal

Instructions:
Cook the soba noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook until barely tender and still firm, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water to cool. Drain the noodles really well, transfer to a wide serving bowl, and toss immediately with 3 tablespoons of the sesame oil.

Peel the ginger and garlic cloves and smack with the back of a knife. In a saucepan, heat 4 tablespoons of the sesame oil over medium-low heat. Add the ginger, garlic, and chile. Cook, stirring for a minute until the vegetables are soft and fragrant. Dump that into a blender along with the brown sugar, peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, hot water, chile sauce, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame oil; puree and refrigerate until cold.

Toss the noodles with the peanut sauce. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and scallions.