Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Banana Macadamia Nut Bread

The original recipe is for use in a bread machine.  I don't have one so I made it by hand. If you use a bread machine, add the ingredients in the order given in the original recipe.

The following is how the original recipe reads, below is how I made it. I did
not make the Chocolate Banana Spread.

Banana Macadamia Nut Bread

1/2 cup water
1/3 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
1 Tablespoon butter - softened
1 egg white
2 cups bread flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 3/4 teaspoons regular active dry yeast or 1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Follow your machines instructions. Serve with chocolate banana spread.

Chocolate Banana Spread

1/3 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips -- melted

Mix together.

Yield: 1 lb loaf
Source: Unknown

By Hand Method:

1/2 cup warm water (120 F)
2 Tablespoons sugar
1- 3/4 teaspoons SAF instant yeast

1 Tablespoon butter - softened
1 egg white
1/3 cup mashed ripe Brazilian Apple banana

2 cups bread flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped and toasted macadamia nuts

Mix the sugar and yeast in the warm water in the measuring cup
Mix the butter, egg white and mashed banana in a small bowl
Mix the flour, salt and mac nuts in a larger bowl

Mix the butter, egg, banana mixture into the flour mixture and add the yeasty
water. Mix well

Spray the bread mold with Baker's Joy and add granulated sugar to coat all sides
and bottom. Pour in bread mixture and fill in all sides. Let it rest for about
10-15 minutes. It almost doubled.

Bake in 350 F preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes.
Let it cool for about 5 minutes and turn over onto a cooling rack.
Slice and serve.

My observations:
The crumb was very nice and the granulated sugar coating on the mold gave it a
slight nice little crunch on the outside. Not much, just enough.
The banana taste did not come through as much as I would have liked, even though
our little bananas are very sweet. I think it needed more.
The macnuts gave it a nice texture.

I will make this again but next time I will add more bananas.

Mamey - the football looking fruit

The mamey is a very popular fruit in Cuba and among displaced Cubans.  Very hard to find outside of South Florida for us Cubans who live scattered all over the states.

Known as mamey sapote in Puerto Rico, and just plain mamey among Cubans, the football looking fruit is very temperamental to grow.

 

The fruit can be roundish or football shaped, depending on variety.  The flesh is orange-red, tastes a bit like a combination of pumpkin, sweet potato and a dash of cinnamon.  The texture can be smooth and creamy, although sometimes you can find some that are a bit stringy.  The peel is rough and brown and the seed inside is large and shiny black.

 
In some places you can buy the flesh or pulp already frozen in plastic bags.  It can be used for making smoothies, milkshakes and all kinds of desserts, including ice cream, cheesecakes and mousses.

Recently I found mamey at one of our local health food stores and had to buy one as it had been several years since I've eaten one.  They had several and were grown locally... I must find out who has a tree!

A friend had just given us a jar of his deliciously tangy homemade goat cheese yogurt, so I decided to make a combination milkshake smoothie.   To the blender half filled with the yogurt I added the diced pulp of the mamey and a bit of honey...not much, just enough that you could not taste the honey as a separate ingredient.

The resulting milkshake was creamy, thick and delicious.