Have you or anyone you know every looked at a menu after a big meal and said to the waiter, “Is your banana bread a large slice? I just couldn’t eat a large slice.”  {insert massive eye roll here}

Yea, same with us. Banana CAKE is a totally different thing, very much a dessert. Banana bread by it’s very nature defies classification. Is it a breakfast item? A snack food? A dessert? Maybe some kid of category all its own... Banana Bread is a snack you eat when it is there in front of you. We eat ours for afternoon and after dinner snacks, as well as the occasional breakfast (a thick slice fresh from the toaster with dab of butter... mmmmmm).

Anyway, Banana Bread is one of the easier, if not the easiest, quick breads to learn. It is hard to make a mistake with this very forgiving bread, and, even if you do make a mistake, the end result usually still makes a tasty finished product.

It costs only pennies a slice to make at home compared to $3.50 for a slab of Sahara Desert dry “bread like product” sold at corner coffeeshops and 24 hour marts across the globe. Take some time this week to make one yourself and get the foundation to move on to bigger things like lemon-poppy seed or zuchinni.

What Ya Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
2. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. 
3. Add Vanilla and Eggs one at a time and beat to fully incorporate.
4. Add bananas and slowly increase speed to mix on high for 1-2 minutes until mixture is mostly smooth.  There will be some banana lumps, that’s fine.
5. Add the buttermilk... mix on low... it will splatter, you have been warned!
6. In a separate bowl sift together Flour, Baking Powder, Soda, Nutmeg and Salt
7. With mixer on low, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Mix on low until just incorporated.
8. Repeat until all flour is mixed in and moist.  Do not overbeat.  You want this to be a very loose batter.  The more you run the mixer the tougher the bread will be.
9. Mix your Nuts (or Chocolate Chips) in by hand with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon
10. Split the batter between two greased loaf pans
11. Bake for 45 min to 55 minutes.  Bread will be done when the house smells like banana heaven and a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean (or with a few crumbs on it). 

Attempts should be made to allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slathering with butter and eating. Our record for being able to wait is just over 4 minutes… oh well…

Tip: Few things are harder to eat than dry quickbreads. To ensure you have a moist banana bread; watch your bread carefully the last 10 minutes and remove from the oven immediately when it is just done.

If you missed last week's show, you can still watch it on our Facebook page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook and leave comments and ask questions there… we answer them all! And don't miss out on another LIVE episode! We're LIVE From the Kitchen every Monday and Friday at 6:30pm PT (2:30am GMT) on our page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook

What Ya Do
In a shallow bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk and 1/2 of your spices. Add your sliced chicken to this mixture and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Preheat over to 275 degrees In a separate shallow bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and remaining garlic powder, salt and paprika.

Spoon in 3-4 Tablespoons of the buttermilk marinade into the flour mixture and stir a bit. This was a BIG deal during the live broadcast with folks LOVING this tip. The idea is to make some thick spots to stick to the chicken. This will make crunchy bits when frying...mmmmm… crunchy bits… *slurp* Sorry… where were we? Oh… moving on…

Take single pieces of chicken from the marinade and coat with flour mixture. DO NOT dry or wipe off the marinade.
In a skillet, deep fat fryer, or heavy bottomed stock pot, heat at least 4" of oil to 375°.

Gently drop one small piece of chicken in the oil to test the heat. The oil should boil immediately with a nice "foamy" boil. Watch the video and you'll know right away what we mean. Adjust the temp as needed.

Fry chicken, a few pieces at a time, for 2-3 minutes on each side or until no longer pink.

Remove from oil and allow to drain on a rack placed on top of a baking sheet in your preheated oven. This part is vital to maintaining a crunchy coating. If you lay them on a paper towel laying on a plate, they will just sit there on the plate and get soggy underneath. Putting them on a rack with a pan under it allows the fingers to drain off any oil remaining on the outside and the warmth from the oven keeps them warm and crispy.

Serve with a favorite dipping sauce and crispy potatoes, corndogs, or other foods you only eat on special occasions! Please note here that, although we work for ourselves and weekends aren't really a "thing" for us, we do consider Friday night a bit of a special occasion.

Yield: 6 servings. (Or two with snacks for later that night… just sayin'…)

There you go! Give these a try and let us know how it worked out for you. You can leave a comment here and in the comments section of the video on our Facebook page. And be sure to tune in every Monday and Friday at 6:30pm PT (2:30am GMT) on our page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook

If you tuned in with us for last week's Fun Food Friday edition of LIVE From the Kitchen with the Shibaguyz, you saw flying dough, our super-special tip about bread proofing boxes, and, of course, Jason's infamous apron. From that episode, we're giving you all our recipe for pizza dough! This could not be easier to make and you'll be SO happy you did. Just do yourself a favor and try it once… then try to go back to store bought, delivery, and frozen pizza. ACK! 

You can do this… and, if you need a couple of tips, you can go to our Facebook page and watch a recording of the live show there. Just go here to see it: Shibaguyz on Facebook

And don't miss out on another LIVE episode! We're LIVE From the Kitchen every Monday and Friday at 6:30pm PT (2:30am GMT). We're live at that time but you can see all of them on our page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook

Recently, we started doing a twice-weekly live show on our Facebook page called LIVE From the Kitchen. Starting at about 6:30pm PT (2:30am GMT) on Mondays and Fridays, we cook dinner and chat with you all about what we’re making, share cooking tips, and answer your questions about everything from cooking to how to care for cast iron. We even let the Shibakidz in not the fun (when they care to make themselves available) so y’all get a dose of furry faced (theirs… not ours) lovin’ from Apollo, Atlas, and Dallas. And, yes, Jason will wear THAT apron. If you’ve seen the show, you know the one we mean…

If you didn’t catch the show last Friday, you missed Jason’s Mac & Cheese. Seriously y’all… it’s the real deal. Yes, we’ll be posting recipes right here on our website and we’ll start things off with the legend that is Jason’s Mac & Cheese recipe!

We hope you’ll join us for the weeknight edition of LIVE From the Kitchen on Monday or for Fun Food Friday on… ummm… Friday. Oh… have a question about one of our recipes or a show? Leave a comment here or on our Facebook page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook

WHAT YA NEED:
SAUCE
3-4 strips of bacon cut into ½ pieces (plus 1-2 extra strips if you’re a nibbler… like us)
tablespoons unsalted butter
3 (ish) tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk or Half and Half
7 ounces Beechers Flagship cheese, grated (about 1 3/4 cups) or other tasty cheddar
4 ounces Aged Gouda cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
4 ounces other creamy cheese cheese, grated (1/2 cup) (Think Fontina, comte, double cream...)
½ teaspoon coarse salt
¼ to ½ teaspoon paprika powder
½ teaspoon mustard powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

PASTA
1 lb penne, rotini, elbow or fancy pants pasta.
1 ounce (1/4 cup) Beechers Flagship or cheddar cheese, grated
1 ounce (1/4 cup) other cheese, grated

WHAT YA DO:

1. Fry bacon till slightly crispy in the pan you will make your sauce in. Remove bacon, keep bacon drippings (that good stuff in the bottom of the pan) in a separate container.
2. Set bacon aside (NOTE: Make a couple extra strips of bacon because… well… it’s bacon! You’re going to want to nibble.)
3. Start your sauce: melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the flour all at once. Continue whisking and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Slowly add milk (or half and half if using), whisking constantly. Cook until sauce thickens, about 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, salt, paprika, mustard powder and garlic powder. Stir until cheese is melted and all ingredients are incorporated, about 3 minutes.
5. Taste and add salt/pepper as you like. (Always taste what you’re cooking!!)
6. At the same time you are making your sauce, put the pasta on to boil and cook until al dente: NOTE: Al dente describes pasta that is cooked so as to be firm when eaten. In other words: don’t cook your pasta to death! Usually 2 minutes less than package directions is about right. If in doubt, err on side of less time boiling. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven so you want it a little under done.
7. Drain Pasta well.
8. Combine pasta, bacon, and sauce in your pasta pot; mix carefully but thoroughly. Scrape the pasta into the prepared baking dish if baking. (You should probably go ahead and taste it again here because… MAC AND CHEESE!! But also to check for final seasoning.) Sprinkle top with remaining cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 min or Broil for 5. When we did the live show, we put it under a broiler to brown up the top because we didn’t have time to let it bake. We’ve also done this when it’s been a long day and we’re hungry and tired of waiting and there’s no more bacon to nibble on!!

Let stand 5 minutes before serving... if you can wait that long.