Going Bananas

Today's post is to share with you the recipes of a number of my favourite dishes made with bananas. Bananas are seen as the ultimate tropical food. They are highly nutritious and are recommended as part of our daily diet. They are full of fibre, low in calories and contain potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folic acid and a number of amino acids which are bodies cannot make. Infact, research reported in the New England Journal of Medicine stated that eating a banana as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of strokes by as much as 40%.

There is a little problem associated with our lovely banana. The world's favourite fruit is facing extinction according to scientists. Scientists tell us that because we have tampered with the banana too much, it has now been rendered sterile and seedless. Selective plant breeding has made sure that the 300 or so varieties of bananas we have are pretty much the same (genetically). This means that if one banana falls ill, they will pretty much all fall ill. So what are we to do?

This is a good time for you to make all the banana bread, banana pies, rice bread and banana pudding you can muster. For we do not know how long we are going to have this lovely fruit around for. In honour of this major bake session, I have a listed a few of my recipes here.

Firstly, Rice Bread which is baked in Sierra Leone and Liberia. it is wonderful and I encourage you to try it.
You will need
6 large overripe bananas
1½ cup rice flour
¾ - 1 cup sugar (depending on the ripeness of the bananas)
1 whole nutmeg (finely grated)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoon vegetable oil

What to do
1. Mash or blend the bananas into a smooth paste.
2. Mix in the flour slowly to avoid bumps.
3. Mix in the sugar slowly. Add enough sugar to your taste.
4. Add in the grated nutmeg, cinnamon and oil.
5. Make sure everything is mixed in properly and pour the mixture into a non-stick loaf tin. If you are using a loaf tin that sticks, rub in a drop of vegetable oil.
6. Bake for 45-60mins at 190°C/Gas Mark 5. You can put a skewer in to check for doneness.
7. Leave on a wire rack to cool.

Next is a recipe for Banana Pie which is taken from the book Desserter - Festligt och Gott, put together by the supermarket ICA in Sweden.
You will need
5 medium overripe bananas
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 x 24 cm baked pie shell*

What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.
2. Peel the bananas and mash with a fork. Add the sweetened condensed milk, eggs, nutmeg, allspice and the cinnamon. Mix well.
3. Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Turn the heat of the oven down. Bake the pie for around 30 minutes. Let the pie cool.
4. To serve, cut a slice and place in onto a plate. Dust with a mixture of ground cinnamon and icing sugar, serve with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

*I haven't included a recipe for the pie shell but if you do need one, please email me or leave a comment.

Finally, the easiest of the three recipes, by my reckoning is the Baked Bananas. It is another good recipe for using up those overripe bananas.
You will need
4 bananas
6 tablespoon orange juice
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoon roasted flaked almonds or desiccated coconut

What to do
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.
2. Poor the melted butter into a roasting dish. Peel the bananas and place in the dish. Pour the orange juice over the bananas and sprinkle the sugar. Bake for 15 minutes.
3.Sprinkle the almonds or desiccated coconut on top. Serve with some whipped cream or ice cream.