Cocoa banana cake drizzled with coffee icing

What to do in such a lazy Sunday afternoon?

Well...  baking a banana cake seemed like pretty good idea. I got my inspiration from a   BBC Goodfood website recipe, but I adapted it to my taste and expectations. The original recipe called for chocolate chips, sugar and a chocolate sour cream frosting. I wanted to keep it light so this is what I came up with : 

Ingredients for a normal plum cake tray:

120 g white flour

55g whole grain flour

100 g brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 eggs, two of them separated * yolks and whites

2 large very ripe bananas * when they have the black dots on them, they are perfect for banana cake

100 ml sunflower oil

50 ml milk

vanilla extract

rum extract

for the icing:

4 tablespoons of powdered brown sugar ( you can make it yourself with the help of an immersion blender )

1  tablespoon of instant coffee

2 tablespoons of milk 

How to prepare it :

1. Heat the oven to 160 C. Line a loaf tin with parchment paper.

2. Mix the flours, cocoa, sugar and baking powder. 

3. In another bowl mix the pureed bananas with one egg, two egg yolks, oil, vanilla and rum extract and milk. 

4. Beat the two remaining egg whites until they form soft peaks. 

5. Slowly fold in the dry ingredients into the banana egg mix. Even slower, fold in the beaten egg whites, taking care of not to overwork the batter. You want to trap inside the batter as much air bubbles as you can. 

6. Everything goes is in the tray and the tray in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes or just until a wooden skewer comes out dry from the middle of the cake.

7. While the cake is cooling down on a rack, prepare the icing. Mix all the ingredients, adding more powdered sugar if necessary until you form a paste. Drizzle it over the cake and wait for another 10 minutes for the icing to get stiff. 

Enjoy! 

Pistachio coated chicken with cucumber yogurt garnish

La cererea spectatorilor si fanilor :), am revenit cu o reteta foarte simpla, de regim cu rezultat gustos, cum v-am obisnuit pana acum.

Ingrediente pentru 2 persoane:

4-500 grame de piept de pui, curatat, taiat fasii
1 albus de ou batut spuma
100 de grame de fistic curatat si pisat
1 lingurita de boia dulce de ardei
un pinch de seminte de chilly
3 linguri de parmezan ras
1 lingura de ulei de masline.
sare, piper
2 castraveti
1 iaurt gras
oregano

Preparare:
Se incinge cuptorul la 180 de grade C.
Pieptul de pui se spala, se usuca bine bine cu un servet de hartie si se da cu sare, piper.
Fisticul pisat se amesteca cu boia, chilly, parmezan si ulei de masline.
Se da pe rand fiecare bucata de piept de pui prin albusul batut spuma si dupa in amestecul de fistic * ca la snitele. Pe o tava tapetata cu hartie de copt se aseaza frumos fiecare bucata de pui fisticuita.

Se da la cuptor pret de 30/40 de minute, sub supraveghere atenta pentru ca trebuie sa intorci bucatile de pui, cam pe la jumatea timpului de coacere. Dupa ce le-ai intors, se mareste putin focul sau si mai bine, se da cuptorul pe optiunea grill. Tot secretul e sa nu se usuce prea tare carnea si sa obtinem o crusta crocanta si delicioasa.

Castravetii se curata de coaja cu un peeler de legume. Cu aceleasi peeler, se taie fasiute subtiri pana dam de seminte. Partea cu seminte nu o folosim, mai ales ca atunci cand nu sunt in sezon, centrul castravetilor e destul de amar. Se sareaza si se lasa 10 minute, pana mai lasa niste apa. Se scurg castravetii de apa, eventual se pot asezona cu niste otet si ulei de masline, iar deasupra punem o lingura de iaurt grecesc si se presara oregano.

Arome mediteraneene pentru gusturi fine. :D