I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.


Gluten and lactose are not my friends.


Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.


I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

February 4, 2011

Banana Coconut Bread


Today my husband bought me a present.
A bounty of bruised bananas! Just the type of goodies I love to receive.

I'm so glad that he's learning. It's taken me many, many years to get him to this point of obedience- ooops, I mean thoughtfulness. To demonstrate, let me tell you about a present he gave me just a few years ago.........


I love baths. They are my time out. I take a book, a glass of wine, my yellow rubber ducky and have some Me time. The children/husband/phone try hard to leave me alone, and my only problem is the cat who likes to sit on the edge of the tub and fish through the super sensitive, non allergenic, soap and perfume free bubbles.
It was our 15th wedding anniversary and I given BigJ a wonderful gift- I can't recall what it was, but it must have been wonderful. He ever so proudly gave me a big present and waited to see my reaction.

It was soap. Lots of soap. Each bar in it's own colour co ordinated organza bag, each different smelling, he had even lovingly carved the name of each scent on the back of each bar. How wonderful, what an act of love and devotion. NOT. The poor boy said 'But I know how much you love your baths' That's true, but...
I am allergic to soap. I itch and scratch and get cracked peeling skin. I get asthma from perfumes and scents and cough and puff. He does know this. After 14 years he SHOULD know this. I was not impressed. I appreciated that he tried and all, but all $75 worth of soap had to go. They were so highly perfumed I couldn't even have the girls near me if they used them. He was sorry. (I made sure of it) He has definitely improved since then.


This is why I get so happy about some bananas rejected from the fresh-fruit box his office gets each week. It proves he loves me and understands me. The fact that the pay off for him is a heap of his favourite banana bread is beside the point. At last we are in sync.

If you are blessed with an over aboundance of bananas and don't have the chance to use them up quickly, just stick them in the freezer. No need to peel them or anything, just chuck them in whole. The skin will go black but that doesn't matter or make them taste any different. When you want them for baking, let them defrost for a bit or stick them in the microwave whole for about 45 seconds then squeeze the fruity insides out of the skin. You won't want to eat these for a snack, but they work perfectly for baking and smoothie making. In fact, don't defrost them for smoothies, they will make it deliciously cold and as creamy as a scoop of icecream. Yumm.






Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Coconut Bread

170* for about an hour
125g fat- nuttlex or such, or use veggie oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 banannas
1 1/2 cups gfree SR flour
3/4 cup of shredded or dessicated coconut
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup of nuts - I used macadamia kibble

Cream the fat and sugar together.

Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix briefly

Now I throw in the bananas. As they are nice and squishy, I just chuck them in whole. The mixer will beat them to a pulp for me and save some messiness.

Add in the flour, coconut and coconut milk. Mix for a minute or so.

Stir in the nuts.

Place in a lined loaf tin and top with a halved banana and a sprinkling of raw sugar for a bit of gratuitous bling.

If you are very sneaky, you could even get a grated zucchini in the mix too. 1 down, 899 to go!


So Readers, what is the worst gift you have ever received?

20 comments:

  1. That's hilarious.., I'm so glad he's got with the program & learned the way to your heart Chef :) Nothing like a banana fix & from what we are seeing in Nth Qld...., it might be awhile before we can all afford them again huh. Mmm, now I've got an unnatural craving for banana bread. Oh well...., if I must :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lvoe your banana bread. looks moist!

    ReplyDelete
  3. oooh I am totally making this! I love the halved bananas on top too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, that bread looks fantastic. I love its deep golden color. I have a sweet treat linky on my blog every week called "Sweets for a Saturday" and I'd like to invite you to stop by this weekend and link your yummy bread up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I want to lick my computer screen! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks divine! I sometimes purposely purchase too many bananas just so I can have super ripe leftovers for baking. Nothing like a good loaf of nanner bread!

    PS...Yes, I have heard about the Bakon Vodka, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I NEED it. Unfortunately, it is not yet available in my area and I have yet to make a special order for it. Ohh but I do dream of the day!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Haha, i can totally relate to this, my husband rarely seems to be thoughtful!
    I got to the point of telling him specifically what i wanted but even then he still bought the wrong thing, But he is improving....for our wedding anniversary he bought me a blow torch for my brulees :) I think thats the key, all they need to think is FOOD!
    Your banana bread looks amazing, i love the idea of coconut milk.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Michelle J is that your goat talking or could you really do it?
    My husbands little acts of love is when he will buy me a chocolate when he buys one for the babies. I am gracious in receiving them even if they are covered in multicoloured sprinkles.

    ReplyDelete
  9. haha I so get this! And food gifts are just about the best gifts ever-they certainly can be the most thoughtful when one is obsessed with food like we are! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love how the bananas have made a swirl on the top of your cake! It takes a long time to train a husband, longer than it takes to train a dragon, I suspect. One of my earliest birthday presents from Pete was a leatherette steering wheel cover... :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Delicious-looking cake – and I love your blog. By the way, we also have Aus in common – I'm married to an Aussie who I met in Sydney. Lovely to be in touch. Gracex

    ReplyDelete
  12. I LOVE banana bread.

    I like the idea of adding the coconut.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Matthew

    ReplyDelete
  13. OMG, the soap story is downright tragicomical! :O :D

    I think the most awkward gift I've ever gotten was a book on prayers for children my grandmom gave me for Christmas two years ago. Eh, I'm not going to have children yet. And I knew before you want to have grandchildren. Nice to tell me so subtly, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hmm...that soap story sounds like something my husband would do!
    I love the bananas on the top.

    ReplyDelete
  15. haha, what a truly fabulous gift! & a great creation you made. yum, it looks so moist.
    Heidi xo

    ReplyDelete
  16. I was getting ready to make this and realised I couldn't find the temp and baking time. Help?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oops!Sorry Readers, the temperature and cooking time is up now!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi again Readers, I thought you would all relate to a not-so-welcome gift story! It does indeed take a long time to train a husband properly Celia, I'm sure yours is well broken in by now!
    I hope you all enjoy this banana bread, it will be much tastier than licking the screen Michelle. It's lovely and moist, but if you cut it thickly you can toast it in the toaster as well. Yumm...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love those bananas at the top =)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm going to try the banana bread. Hubby loves the stuff. I never thought of putting sliced bananas on top before baking. How cool!

    Worst gift? The ex ask me what I wanted for Christmas, which was a dishwasher. What did he get? A matching love seat and chair. My revenge? I didn't wash dishes until he got the dishwasher.

    ReplyDelete