Shel_B

Thanks for the suggestion. I started thinking along those same lines, and would have to find an appropriate cultivar and then a place to buy it. But it might be a good idea, and it will certainly be an educational experience (learning about different types of bananas). I read about some little red ones that are supposed to be nice and sweet, and I may have seen them somewhere.

Another interesting aspect of the recipe is the use of brown, rather than regular granulated, sugar. I tried using brown and granulated sugar in this last batch, and the brown sugar added a very nice flavor to the bread. Highly recommended along with the very, very ripe bananas.

I've decided to experiment with ripening techniques, such as ripening the banana on the countertop, in a paper bag, in a bag with an apple, and in a glass bowl with a lid of some sort on it. I wonder if there will be any substantive difference in the time it takes the bananas to reach a certain degree of ripeness, or any differences in taste and flavor. Any thoughts on this experiment? One of the things I want to do with the banana bread is to include chunks of banana, which I did in this last batch I made. The chunks added a nice textural element to the bread, but by the second day they'd oxidized enough to show an unappealing color, and the flavor was less "bananary" than desired. Is there a way to get the banana chunks to last longer and not discolor? I was thinking about using a less-than-fully-ripe banana for this purpose, and mixing the firmer chunks into the batter. Any thoughts on this idea? Is there some other way to preserve the integrity of the chunks?

I bought one of those yesterday along with http://www.traderjoes.com/images/fearless-flyer/uploads/article-1584/tarte450.png and a package of two frozen organic pizza crusts (to make my own pie) I should be OK for a while. Thanks!

Likewise, but always for one or two people. Takes but a minute or two, depending on plates, etc.

In all instances when I use coffee in chocolate baked items (admittedly, not too many thus far) I use coffee granules, generally Medaglia D'Oro, instead of liquid coffee, and there's no discernible coffee flavor, unless I overamp the batter with the espresso powder. Maybe using crystal or powder will help, maybe you're just more sensitive to the flavor. I'd think that using water would be just fine. Numerous times we've made liquid substitutions that worked out well. Coffee is just flavored water, so why not unflavored water? Or, how about adding chocolate milk? You could make your own easily enough (I do it about once a week) using more or less (or no) sweetener as the recipe requires. You could use everything rom fat-free milk to full fat milk. Just some ramblings while waiting for the oven timer to buzz....

And that's the recipe that gave me the idea to make the banana bread I described. I have the CI Ultimate Banana Bread recipe in my files, and after making this batch of bread (which is in the oven as we type) I intend to try the CI recipe. So, while you may not have realized it, you have been very helpful, even if for no other reason I have gotten confirmation that it's a good recipe and that it will most likely give me what I'm looking for. Thanks!

About half the time I make brownies, I use a Ghirardelli mix - the Triple Fudge mix. It is very good, and Toots likes it quite a bit, so that's what I use when making brownies for her. I'll have to play around with the DDL a bit, and see what works best for our taste and preferences. Should be a nice project . Thanks so much for the idea!

Some recipes specify the location of the oven rack - top, middle, lower, etc. - yet others don't. As an example, when I make oven-baked rice, I use the upper middle rack in my oven, and when I use a lower rack, using the same oven settings, the rice doesn't turn out as well - it's wetter and mushier. I've noticed a big difference in in the results when making popovers depending on rack height, and while a number of popover recipes don't specify rack height, many more do, so it would seem that rack height could be important there as well. So, is there some reason why so many recipes don't specify the oven rack location? Is there any rule of thumb to determine the rack height, perhaps for certain types of dishes (meat vs baking a cake, for example)? Does not specifying the height, does it mean to use a default height, and what might that height be? Is the lower rack hotter than an upper rack? I always thought the upper location would be hotter because heat rises, but recently I read that pizza should be baked on the lowest rack, closest to the heat source, and therefore the hottest location in the oven. So, which is it for pizza? For recipes that are being tried for the first time, it seems that having an idea of the rack height may be important to getting good results. Comments?

Oooo! That is a great idea. Toots, being from Argentina, loves dulce de leche. There's a brownie recipe I make in which I add fudge to the mixture. Do you think I could use DDL instead, and bake as usual, or might there be anything different that has to be done?

That's the plan - doing something like that to increase the banana flavor, but by extracting some liquid from the bananas and concentrating its flavor.

Thanks! Never thought about that. Does releasing the gas have any effect on the flavor of the ripened bananas?

That's helpful - thanks!

Thanks ... is Proseco a dry wine, or can it be either dry or sweet? I don't have the bottle here, so I can't look at it.

Not quite liquefied, but which, as you say, has an intensely sweet banana flavor. I want 'em just a bit before they are frangible, and when mashed and added to the batter can retain small pieces that have a very slight bite to them - a bit past al dente but not quite mushy. Hard to describe, but I'll know when I've got it. I suspect you know what I'm talking about. In the bowl is nice, but it's easy enough to open the bag and look in.

Yes No, I want very ripe bananas, not over ripe or rotten bananas, that have a certain amount of sugar in them and from which I can easily extract moisture. There's a fine line between very ripe and over ripe, and I want to get close to that line without crossing it.

One may ask if it was ever an Anne Burrell recipe ... how much did she change it, or change other recipes?

Yes, at least to a degree. Many recipes I see say that they have been "adapted" from so-and-so, and when looking at both recipes I see very little, if any, difference between them. So, who's recipe is the adapted recipe?

There's Chocolate Toffee Matzo Crunch http://theshiksa.com/2014/04/10/chocolate-toffee-matzo-crunch/ and some vegetarian ideas: http://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/vegetarian-ashkenazi-passover-recipes/

Excerpt from an article I read about ripening bananas: One theory, holds that freezing or roasting underripe bananas in their skins will quickly render them sweet and soft enough for baking. While these methods do turn the bananas black—giving them the appearance of their super-sweet, overripe brethren—they actually do little to encourage the necessary conversion of starch to sugar. What I want are bananas that are quite sweet and very ripe. Based on the article I read, the oven method of "ripening" bananas wont give the required results.

I'll be watching them ... thanks for the cautionary words.

I'm experimenting with a new recipe, and want the bananas to be very ripe and high in sugar.

I won't try that this time. I need the bananas to attain a very ripe state, not just soft and mushy, which is the only description of the bananas I could find.

I have some bananas that are close to the point of ripeness for use in banana bread. I'd like to make the bread in two days. I need the bananas to be very ripe - they have plenty of brown spots on them now, and I want them even riper. How can I speed up the ripening process?

Mother's Day is coming up, and we're probably going to have a brunch. Toots, and her daughter, like mimosas, and this year I thought about making some for the brunch. All I know about the drink is that it's a blend of Champagne or other sparkling wine and orange juice. A Google check suggests other ingredients are sometimes used. Being pretty much abstemious, I don't know much about making these drinks. So, what are some great mimosa recipes. FWIW, we have a bottle of what seems to be good quality proseco that we were given for Christmas, and I'd like to use that if possible. Thanks!