Recipe: Emily's banana loaf

Ingredients
7oz self raising flour (sift)
4oz caster sugar
2oz margerine
1-2 eggs
2 bananas
6 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1tsp baking powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 180 degrees - mine is a fan oven.
2. Grease (with a butter wrapper) and line a loaf tin with grease proof paper.
3. Sift the self raising flour
4. Combine butter cubes and caster sugar in a large bowl - I don't like getting my fingers greasy, so I used a whisk for this but carefull not to get it everywhere.
4. Add the other cake ingredients to the butter sugar mix and whisk until smooth
5. Pour mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.
6. Check the cake regularly, cover with tin foil if the top is brown before the baking time. (approx. 15 mins)
7. You can tell that the cake is cooked by poking it with a mental/wooden stick, it should come out clean without any dough stuck to it.
8. Cool the cake in the tin to keep the moisture in.

Recipe: Chinese beef stew with star anise 蘿蔔牛腩

Serves 4-6
Cooking Time 2hrs - 2hrs 30mins

Ingredients
3-4 tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves thinly sliced
1 piece fresh root ginger (thumb size) peeled
1 bunch spring onions sliced 1 red chilli thinly sliced
1.5kg beef (shine, shoulder, ox cheek) cut into large pieces
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
2 star anise
2 tsp sugar (light muscovado preferred)
3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
500ml beef stock
1 carrot chunks
1 mooli chunks

1. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large, shallow casserole. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and chilli for 3 mins until soft and fragrant. Tip onto a plate.

2. Toss the beef in the flour, add 1 tbsp more oil to the pan, then brown the meat in batches, adding the final 1 tbsp oil if you need to. It should take about 5 mins to brown each batch properly. Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.

3. Add the five-spice and star anise to the pan, tip in the gingery mix, then fry for 1 min until the spices are fragrant. Add the sugar, then the beef and stir until combined. Keep the heat high, then splash in the wine or sherry, scraping up any meaty bits.

4. Pour in the soy and stock (It won't cover the meat completely), bring to a simmer, then tightly cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 1.5-2hrs, add the carrot and mooli halfway through and stir the meat.

5. The meat should be very soft, and any sinewy bits should have melted away. Season with more soy. This can now be chilled and frozen for up to 1 month or serve immediately with jasmine rice or rice noddles.