Category: Food & Wine

Adventures with Mushy Bananas – Part 2

I’m off today for a nine-day trek in the Olympic Mountains, but that doesn’t mean I can shirk my banana duties, right? In addition to this entry, I’ve written and scheduled another one to go live next Saturday while I’m still gone. Even though I won’t be posting anything else, don’t forget to check back for your banana fix.

In my last post about mushy bananas I mentioned the Joy of Cooking. I don’t turn to this cookbook very often, but when I do, the dishes usually turn out very tasty. A couple years ago, Nick and I found a recipe in there for bananas foster. We’d seen chefs at fancy restaurants setting guests on fire while making this table-side on more than one occasion, so we thought we’d give it a try. The thought of open flames in the kitchen was a little daunting, but who needs eyebrows anyway?

Turns out, this is another excellent way to eat bananas that would otherwise be on their way to a slow death in the freezer. It’s silly easy to make. The results are impressively delicious. And company will be seriously impressed with your culinary skillz.

Bananas Foster
Serves 4

4 ripe bananas
2 tbs butter
3 tbs brown sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
½ c dark rum
1 tbs brandy (optional)
vanilla ice cream

Peel the bananas and cut them in half lengthwise. Then cut each piece into four pieces.

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over low heat and add the banana pieces, cut sides down. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn and cook for another 5 minutes, just until fork-tender.

Sprinkle with brown sugar and spices and transfer to a shallow bowl. Add the rum and brandy (if using) to the skillet. Over medium heat use a spatula to loosen caramelized bits while the spirits heat. When they are hot, ignite with a long match, then pour over bananas. Spoon this delicious concoction over vanilla ice cream.

Adventures with Mushy Bananas – Part 1

In part one of the series on how not to waste spotted bananas, I decided to tackle pancakes. Classic and universally appealing, they whip up quickly enough for a weekday breakfast and are special enough for a weekend brunch. Most importantly, they don’t require a trip to the grocery store for any special ingredients.

The goal: incorporate bananas in such a way so as to maximize their flavor without compromising the pancake’s featherweight texture.

Continued...

Adventures with Mushy Bananas

Let me be clear about something: I like bananas, I really like bananas…but only when they’re still slightly green. Once the smooth-skinned fruit has a few brown spots, it’s all over. I won’t touch them.

I can’t decide if it is the texture I’m averse to or if it is the flavor. Either way, they languish, unloved as I reach for a crisp apple or juicy stone fruit.

Of course, I also have a competing urge not to waste food. It’s the same urge that compels me to preserve the 90+ pounds of plums our trees produce in the fall – at any cost. I’m not a child of depression era parents, but it just doesn’t seem right to throw away perfectly good food if you can use it without gagging or getting sick.

The solution may seem simple to all of you. I can even hear my mother slapping her forehead and shouting at her computer screen across town: MAKE BANANA BREAD!

Before we go down that road, a quick survey: Raise your hand if you’ve ever put a spotted banana in the freezer intending to make banana bread someday only to find a year later that you have eighteen black bananas in the freezer and no bread to show for it.

Yeah, me too.

So, in the interest of serving the public, I thought I’d embark on a banana adventure. The mission: find interesting ways to use spotted/mushy bananas that are quick, tasty, and don’t involve making bread or muffins. I have a few ideas, but if you have any suggestions, send ‘em my way or leave a note in the comments.

My dinner can beat up your dinner

While some people were paying other people to bring them mediocre restaurant fare, this is what we cooked up in about 15 minutes at home this evening. (Summer veggies courtesy of the best organic vegetable delivery service.)

Jealous?

You should be: It was de-licio-us!

Beauty & the Bottle

Nick and I were the fortunate recipients of a gorgeous hand-made wine rack this weekend, courtesy of the Keith Brown Workshop. Until Sunday, we had wine on a few small racks, in boxes, tucked away on various shelves, and in our sideboard.

Without sugar coating anything - it was a mess! Now, of course, I can hardly contain my glee when Nick asks if I could pick a bottle to go with dinner. Yipee!

If you clicked on the link above and saw the size of our new wine rack, you might be wondering exactly how two relatively grounded, sane people like Nick and me could possibly own so much wine. I have no defense except that it sort of happened by accident. I mean, we certainly didn’t follow the “four easy steps to starting a wine collection”:

1. Select the ideal storage place;
2. Stock the cellar with an initial investment of the major varietals;
3. Buy wine in a range of prices for a range of occasions; and
4. Adopt a strategy for expanding your collection.

(Tell me: Does ANYONE actually start a wine collection this way? People buy wine to drink, right? Not put on a climate-controlled pedestal.)

Mostly, we bought wine we liked. Sometimes we decided that the bottle we bought for tonight’s dinner wasn’t right and put it aside for another occasion. Other times, we were so wowed by a wine that we bought a whole case. Then we found a few local producers (DeLille, Mark Ryan, JM, etc.) whose wines we always want to have on hand. And let’s not forget wine tasting vacations and monthly wine clubs that you do simply for the joy of being introduced to new wines and people. Before we knew it, we had so much wine we couldn’t find most of it.

Now, thanks to Keith’s master woodworking skillz, we have arguably the finest wine rack around. Woodinville wine-makers: eat your heart out!