Going bananas

May 25, 2023 by
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If you are a certain age, you probably remember the scene from Raiders of the Lost Art (1981) when Harrison Ford’s character says “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” I was reminded of that scene when I watched a recent episode of Chopped, where one of the contestants discovers that a particular fruit was in the mystery ingredient hamper. “Why did it have to be bananas?” she mutters to herself. Bananas seem to be a ‘love it or hate it’ fruit, and it is fair to say that banana flavor is assertive, dominating almost any recipe in which it appears. But if you love bananas, you should head over to The Kitchn, which is highlighting its 19 best banana dessert recipes.

Brennan’s bananas Foster from Saveur Magazine

As an aside, I read somewhere that marketing types conducted surveys and found that specific numbers in a post’s title resulted in more clicks. If that isn’t true, most recipes sites must believe it is, because you cannot scroll for more than ten seconds on Twitter before finding the “23 best ways” to use an ingredient or something akin to that. But I digress.

I count myself in the “goes bananas over bananas” camp. One of my favorite treats as a child was a chocolate-dipped frozen banana, I ate copious amounts of peanut butter and banana sandwiches in college, and I will never pass up banana pudding on a restaurant menu when I’m traveling in the US South. One of my favorite gifs is the Lucille Bluth “how much can a banana cost?” clip from Arrested Development. I buy bananas weekly, and if I do not eat them all by the end of the week, I pop them into the freezer to make smoothies, banana cake, or banana bread (learn about the Americas Test Kitchen’s scientific way to cram more banana flavor into banana bread).

If I had to choose my favorite banana recipe it would be a toss up between Banana-caramel coconut cream pie with dark rum and Cordon rose banana cake. Bananas Foster (like the one pictured above) is great, too. Are you aboard the banana lovers’ express or do you run the other direction when someone starts peeling the fruit? What’s your favorite banana recipe?

Category: Antipasto

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10 Comments

  • hillsboroks  on  May 25, 2023

    Years ago I discovered the Bananas Foster Cheesecake recipe in Jean Anderson’s “A Love Affair with Southern Cooking” book. It is sublime and I have wowed many crowds with this cheesecake.

  • riley  on  May 26, 2023

    Guy Fieri used to have a restaurant where I live and I loved the Bananas Foster. The only disappointment was they didn’t flame it tableside.

  • LeilaD  on  May 26, 2023

    Bananas foster brownies. Yum. But then, I will try any brownie.

    Generally, bananas overpower me. My mom used to get them down me when I was a kid by slicing them into milk and then putting sugar over them to make ‘banana cereal’. The unhealthy crap I ate as a kid…

  • lean1  on  May 26, 2023

    Banana Muffins

  • Cookbooksgalore  on  May 26, 2023

    Of course there’s a book for addicts – The Banana Lovers Cookbook by Carol Lindquist. We particularly like the recipes for Grouper Key West (although we typically use tilapia) and the West Indies Hot Banana & Peanut Soup, which takes as long as you need to boil a kettle.

  • sayeater  on  May 26, 2023

    I like real bananas but hate banana “flavored” things. Bananas foster is a definite yes. This article already has me wondering why we don’t make it at home.

  • anya_sf  on  May 26, 2023

    Love bananas! Peanut butter-banana-honey sandwiches were a favorite growing up (well, still are). Love bananas foster, banana cream pie, banana bread, banana cake, etc. Have never tried bananas foster brownies, but now I definitely need to! Also need to try that banana-caramel coconut cream pie with dark rum.

  • Rinshin  on  May 26, 2023

    Our favorite homemade ice cream is banana ice cream.

  • Rinshin  on  May 26, 2023

    Also had Bananas Foster at Brennan’s in New Orleans and it was divine.

  • dorits  on  May 29, 2023

    Banoffee Pie (I use the New York Times recipe) and Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding with Salted Caramel are both fantastic.

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