# Bittman's How to Cook Everything - Banana Breadly goodness **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062 "2006-04-10T12:38:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/1 "2006-04-10T12:38:52Z")
Wow - I had a few over-ripe bananas in the house (darn it kids, eat your fruits and veggies!) so I decided “heck, why not make banana bread - it is supposed to be easy, right?” So I pulled out my handy-dandy How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman and sure enough there was a quick and easy recipe. With coconut in it, even. So a quick stroll to the store to pick up 1 - 2 needed ingredients and I am off to the races. Wow - just pure amazing banana breadly goodness. My wife just kinda appeared as I was pulling it out of the oven and started drooling (actually not a bad sight, seeing your spouse drool over your baking - I’d recommend it) and a neighbor came by right then, too. They feasted. This stuff is dense and rich and everything you want in great banana bread - can’t recommend it highly enough… ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/2 "2006-04-10T13:19:27Z")
What, no samples? You are a man without a heart. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/3 "2006-04-10T16:01:17Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] What, no samples? You are a man without a heart. [/QUOTE] Sure! C’mon over! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/4 "2006-04-10T16:37:45Z")
Um … so do we have to go out and buy the book? Tease! ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/5 "2006-04-10T16:42:14Z")
Buy the book anyway! No home should be without it. ---
**Author:** ![Barrels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Barrels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrels)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/6 "2006-04-10T16:45:52Z")
I have the book… Lots of great recipes and vast amounts of knowledge. I do recommend it. However, there are some recipes in there that are kind of so-so. His cheesecake recipe isn’t that great. Lots of the recipes are way to “poofy poofy fru-fru” for my liking. I also live in a small WI town so not all ingredients are readily available to me. I swear, if I were to ever get a show on food network, it would be called Recipes for Small Town America, and you would be able to find the ingredients in any small town grocery store 🙂 Not that I don’t like to try new flavors, but it seems to have gotten a little out of hand! Barrels ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/7 "2006-04-10T16:50:34Z")
I just made some Friday using the recipe from this book - [Tassajara Bread Book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157062089X/104-1511130-9131929). Few things in life are better than fresh from the oven banana bread. My mom had the wonderful ability to make it from scratch. I hope to reach that level someday. Sigh. Be sure to try zucchini bread when they start to overrun the garden. Next best thing after banana nut ectasy. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/8 "2006-04-10T16:51:39Z")
I think Bittman does fall down a bit on desserts. But for the beginning cook, that book is worth its weight in gold. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/9 "2006-04-10T18:31:54Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] Um … so do we have to go out and buy the book? Tease! [/QUOTE] Sorry - I am not close to the book here at work and am clueless about baking without a recipe. I had never done BBread before so that was new! But I agree with **DianaG** - from my very limited experience, I do find Bittman useful - it is pretty much my “Joy of Cooking” - the first book I turn to for general reference… **APagan** - I love Tassajara bread; when I lived in San Francisco we’d go to their restaurant Greens in Fort Mason pretty regularly… ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/10 "2006-04-10T18:41:46Z")
[QUOTE=Barrels] I swear, if I were to ever get a show on food network, it would be called Recipes for Small Town America, and you would be able to find the ingredients in any small town grocery store 🙂 [/QUOTE] Heh. I’ve long had plans to start a blog called “Food Wasteland” that incorporates recipes with ingredients that can be bought anywhere and rants about small-town restaurants and grocery stores who think that lil’ smokies are strange and exotic items. Of course, I’m far too lazy to actually do it. But I would like to! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/11 "2006-04-10T18:56:08Z")
The best banana bread I have ever had came from **Devena’s** mother or grandmother recipe. I get more compliments on it and I omit nuts and add chocolate chips. I also switched some sugar’s around for more Brown sugar. It is always a crowd pleaser. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bittmans-how-to-cook-everything-banana-breadly-goodness/352062/12 "2006-04-10T19:21:25Z")
Add chocolate fudge frosting and I’ll gladly follow you to the ends of the earth, O Captain my Captain!