With a love of cooking for friends and family, Danny Della Lana was hooked on sous vide from the moment it was introduced to him. Residing in Minneapolis, Danny has used
Anova to elevate his kitchen game to places he never imagined. Whether he's hosting dinner for his family, or for 20 of his closest friends, he uses Anova to ensure the night is memorable, and the food is perfectly prepared. Danny is here today to share his sous vide infatuation, as well as an age-old family recipe for banana bread that he has modernized and made more delicious than ever.
Meet #anovafoodnerd Danny Della Lana
About five years ago, Danny and his husband learned about sous vide through a chef friend, and immediately became obsessed with the idea. The issue? The machine their friend had cost over $1,000. A few years later, Danny was on Facebook and came across
Anova. When he saw the price was below $200, he pulled the trigger faster than ever.
Danny, his husband, and two sons recently moved from San Francisco to Minneapolis, and have quickly become the go-to house to get a delicious meal. Quickly gaining new friends, Danny takes a lot of pride in being able to feed the people he loves.
Cooking sous vide with Danny
Danny says his favorite aspect of cooking is that precision matters, and nothing does precision better than sous vide. Often bringing creme brûlée to his sons classrooms as a treat for all, his two sons, ages 15 and 10 have come to appreciate the food Dad is cranking out on a routine basis. Some of Danny's favorites include sous vide duck breast, which he cooks at 135°F / 57.2°C for a couple hours, and octopus, which can be notoriously tough. Danny cooks the octopus at 150°F / 65.5°C for 8 hours, and the result is as juicy and tender as ever.
Danny grew up in a family where food was of the utmost importance, and attributes his Mom's love of entertaining for his same love later on in life. With a family of 5, Danny says there wasn't a day that went by where he was eating with two or three family friends that his Mother had invited over.
"Food is love"
Often having anywhere from 10-20 people over for dinner, Danny is well-known as the local dinner destination of choice. Having been proficient in the kitchen for a while, friends and family noticed an uptick in the food. After Anova joined Danny's arsenal, Danny has no qualms saying it definitely improved his abilities. "I couldn't get a steak wrong now, even if I tried! Precision changed the game."
Danny is a design media expert. He's currently on sabbatical and has plans to fully christen his new kitchen when it's remodel is complete. His first meal? Sous vide New York strip steak, sous vide maple glazed carrots, and sous vide creme brûlée for dessert. Yep, Sous vide everything. Danny loves sous vide cooking so much, he gets equal satisfaction cooking the meal as he does eating the meal. Whether he has a large group over, or just dinner with his Husband and kids, he knows Anova will help him knock it out the park every time.
A super-simple sous vide banana bread recipe in memory of Mom-In Law
Danny's mother-in law, LaNea has shared a hand-written banana bread recipe down through generation upon generation of their family. Recently after a long illness, she passed away.
"Within a day, we had houseguests gathered to honor her. At the same time, we had demolished our kitchen. LaNea was famous for her banana bread and I wanted to make her recipe to share with the family. Because we didn't have an oven, I was unsure of how to do that. Then it occurred to me- Anova!"
He starts by whisking butter and sugar, adding the bananas and dry ingredients. Next, he combines them and then casts into mason jars before dropping them in a warm-water bath for 2 hours at 170°F / 76.7°C.
Danny quickly got to work, and was incredibly pleased with the result. It was gooey, moist, and everything came together very easily. He credits Anova for the ease of prep, and guaranteeing mouth-watering results every time.
You can find Danny's
sous vide banana bread recipe on the
Anova Recipes Site as well as the
Anova App. Happy cooking, nerds!
