StoveTop Banana Bread Pudding

Before winter came(I live in the Southern Hemisphere), I was all over jelly and pudding for dessert.  Now that the temperature's dropped, those cold treats leave me shivering.  So, I fell in love with bread puddings. Quick, yummy and very satisfying on a cold night, these have become a favourite at my household!

INGREDIENTS:

I banana, cut into thin slices
3-4 slices of bread, or 2 hamburger rolls
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup of milk
2 tablespoons sugar(white or brown will do)

EQUIPMENT:

1 small pot
Whisk
Wooden spoon
Knife and cutting board

HOW TO MAKE IT:

1. Beat the egg with the whisk, then add milk, sugar, banana and vanilla essence.  Whisk until combined.
2. Cut the crust off the bread and cut into cubes.  If  you're using rolls, then just cut into cubes.
3.  Put the pot on the stove and add the egg mixture.  Stir in the bread, making sure that the bread is soaking up the custard.
4.  Stir continuously until the mixture starts to get thick.  At this point, you can add some more milk if it's too thick.
5.  Leave it on the heat for a few minutes until it just starts to bubble, then take it off the heat.
6. Dish into bowls, grab a spoon and enjoy!

PAN FRIED POTATOES

I really love potatoes.  You can fry them, roast them, bake them, mash them-they taste good every single time.   My whole family's potato crazy, so this recipe really comes in handy when I want to cook potatoes but don't want to closely monitor the pan.  Easy, tasty pan fried potatoes that you're sure to love and cook again!


WHAT YOU NEED:

A good frying pan.  Don't use a non-stick pan.  A deep frying pan is also a good choice if you're making a lot of these.
Oil- you'll need 1/4 cup, minimum.
6 large potatoes
Onion and chopped garlic(this is optional-I add them coz they gives the potatoes more flavour)
Black or white pepper
Cold salted water.


HOW TO MAKE:

1. Peel the potatoes and wash them thoroughly.
2.  Chop them into small pieces-this reduces the cooking time.  Make sure they're all roughly the same size.
3. Leave the potatoes in the cold salted water for a few minutes.
4. Drain the potatoes thoroughly, and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
5.  Heat up the oil in the pan.  Make sure it's nice and hot before you add the potatoes.
6.  This is the time you chop the onion and garlic.  Chop them finely and add to the drained potatoes.  Mix them well.
7.  Season the potatoes with the pepper and some salt.
8.  Put the potatoes in the pan.
9.  This is the part where you wait.  Check the pan every 5 minutes to make sure nothing's burning.  If you'd like, you can toss around the potatoes so that the ones on the bottom don't turn black.
10.  After they've fried for about 10 minutes, cover the pan with a lid.  This will make the cooking process go faster.
11.  When the potatoes are almost done, take the lid off.  This will help them get nice and crunchy.
12.  When they're done, place the potatoes in a colander or sieve to drain off any excess oil
13. And Voila! Your potatoes are done:)

SIDENOTES:

-to avoid splashback(you know, when that burning hot oil flies at you), slide the potatoes into the pan, rather than putting them in straight.  If you're not sure how to do this, it's easy: get the bowl close to the pan edge, then using your hand, slowly push the potatoes in.
-you can eat these on their own, or you can add a little gravy.
-other additions include mixed herbs, curry powder(for some extra bite) and paprika.
-please excuse the quality of the pictures-working on getting a new camera:).  Plus, by the time I could finally find my camera, I'd already done the dishes and they were in a lunchbox.

Easy Peasy Vanilla Pudding

SUPER EASY VANILLA PUDDING RECIPE

Maybe it's just me, but I really don't like instant pudding-the kind that comes from a box.  The texture is weird, it's way too much to finish on my own, and I end up throwing away a whole bowl full of pudding.  In short, a waste.  So one day, I decided to make my own pudding-one whose portions I could control, as well as texture and taste.  The result is a quick, easy and tasty dessert that everyone in my family loves.

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons cornflour

2 tablespoons sugar( adjust to your personal preference)

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon butter or margarine

METHOD:

1.  Put the milk in a saucepan and heat until bubbles start to appear on the surface.

2.  Mix together the sugar and cornflour, then add a little milk to the mixture to make a paste.  This will prevent lumps forming in the pudding.

3. Take the milk off heat and add the sugar cornflour mixture, stirring fast to prevent lumps from forming.

4.  Put the milk back onto the heat and stir briskly, preferably with a whisk but a wooden spoon will do.

5.  When the mixture has thickened, switch off the stove and take the saucepan off the heat.  Stir in the vanilla and butter. 

6.  Pour the pudding into individual dishes(I used little teacups because our dessert are way too big).

7.  Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.  

For garnishing, you can put some shaved chocolate of fresh fruit.

Little Tips:

If the pudding isn't as thick as you would like it to be, add some more cornflour a teaspoon at a time.  Blend the cornflour with a little milk first, then add it to the pudding.

For this recipe, brown sugar works just as well as white sugar.

For a chocolate pudding, mix in 1 tablespoon cocoa powder with the sugar and cornflour.