Food & Wine USA - (02)February 2021

42 FEBRUARY 2021

HANDBOOK

Dessert for Breakfast Lena Sareini’s

elevated spin on classic banana bread

BANANA BREAD IS LOVELY and humble , a hug in loaf form.

But in the hands of 2020 F&W Best New Chef Lena Sareini,

this quick bread, born of thrift and good intentions, becomes

elegant and nuanced. Sareini, who left Detroit’s Selden Stan-

dard to flex her creativity via collaborations and pop-ups

with local chefs, looks at banana bread through the lens

of a pastry chef. “The goal at the end of the meal is to have

your guests’ plates be empty. If you serve a too-sweet des-

sert, that can be challenging.” To hit the proper note, Sareini

insists on waiting until your bananas are extremely ripe—very

speckled and mushy. “Be patient,” she says. “That’s the only

way the banana flavor is going to show through.” Sareini

then complements the sweetness of the bananas with the

nutty richness of brown butter. But her next steps are what

lead to licked-clean dessert plates: Sareini toasts slices of the

chocolate-studded bread until golden brown then tops them

with slightly bitter chicory root ice cream and a drizzle of

banana caramel. “The banana is the star,” Sareini says. “So

I choose components that will enhance it.” —JOSH MILLER

RECIPE FROM

LENA SAREINI

2020 FOOD & WINE

BEST NEW CHEF

MOST WANTED

Brown-Butter Banana Bread

ACTIVE 30 MIN; TOTAL 6 HR; SERVES 16

Brown butter adds a deep, caramel-like

note of nutty richness to this decadent

make-ahead banana bread.

Unsalted butter, softened, for

greasing

3 cups mashed ripe bananas

11 / 2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup unsalted butter (8 oz.), melted

and browned

4 large eggs

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

41 /^2 cups all-purpose flour (about 19^1 /^8

oz.), plus more for dusting

23 / 4 tsp. baking soda

21 / 4 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 tsp. kosher salt

Cooking spray

Coffee ice cream, for serving

Banana-Caramel Sauce (recipe

follows), for serving

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease 2 (9- x
   5-inch) loaf pans with softened butter,
   dust with flour, and line bottom of each
   pan with a strip of parchment paper.
   Whisk together bananas, brown sugar,
   granulated sugar, brown butter, and eggs;
   stir in chocolate chips. Whisk together
   flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in a
   separate bowl, and fold into banana mix-
   ture until just combined.


2. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in
   preheated oven until set, 1 hour and 30
   minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes, tenting
   with aluminum foil after 1 hour. Let loaves
   cool in pans 10 minutes; transfer to refrig-
   erator to let cool completely, about 4
   hours. Once cool, remove loaves from
   pans, and cut into 1-inch-thick slices.


3. Preheat oven to broil with rack 6 inches
   from heat source. Place slices in a single
   layer on a sheet pan coated with cooking
   spray, and broil until a golden crust devel-
   ops, about 4 minutes. Transfer slices to
   plates; top with coffee ice cream and
   banana-caramel sauce. —LENA SAREINI

Banana-Caramel Sauce

Stir together^1 / 2 cup granulated sugar,^1 / 4

cup water, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup,

and 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a 6-inch

saucepan; bring to a boil over medium.

Boil, stirring occasionally, until caramel in

color, about 7 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup plus

2 tablespoons warm heavy cream; return

to a simmer. Add 2 cups diced ripe

banana; cook, whisking constantly, about

3 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat;

process with an immersion blender until

sauce is smooth, about 1 minute.

photography by VICTOR PROTASIO

FOOD STYLING: CHELSEA ZIMMER; PROP STYLING: PRISSY LEE