Bananarama

photo, Diane Carnevale

Saturday was a ridiculously cold and raw June morning and I wanted to warm up the house without having to turn on the heat. Insane, I know. The entire week was cool and rainy, and I even made a chicken, mushroom, barley soup—something I don't usually make in June! I saw some neglected bananas (well past their prime) and I thought aha!... banana bread. Instead of making one big loaf or a batch of muffins, I used my tall, skinny timbale molds for them, which made a petit serving size. Dan first made this pecan banana bread recipe for us on a cold wintery morning last year after spotting it in Saveur Magazine. It's unusual in that it calls for pecans instead of the usual walnuts, but trust me, the pecans really work, and it's super moist because of the canola oil. The only extra thing I do is swap out some of the flour for unprocessed bran. That's me, the Fiber Queen.