HOW TO COOK BANANAS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7923, 30 January 1904, Page 3

HOW TO COOK BANANAS

The uses of the banana are many. In the green, half-ripe state in which they are frequently seen, they may he roasted like potatoes, for which, in the floury condition this produces, they are good substitutes ; again, they may be boiled thus : Peel and halve six or seven green bananas, and put them on with half a pint! of milkj a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and cook them gently and steadily for twenty-five to thirty minutes. Dissolve together till perfectly blended a tablespoonful of butter and a dessertspoonful of sifted flour, then pour into this the liquid in which the fruit .was cooked, stir it well together, leb ifc just boil up ; then pour _t over the bananas, which should have been dished in a very hot dish, and serve. They may also be curried, thus : Soak a teacupful of desiccated cocoanut in half a pint of milk for an hour in a covered basin ; fry a tablespoonful of good curry in loz of butter for a minute; or two; then lay in six or seven peeled and sliced green bananas and brown them slightly ; now add to them a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, and j the same of either Yorkshire relish or Wor- [ cestershire sauce, a dupfc of salt, and of cayenne, and, last of all, the milk in which the cocoanut was steeped, and from which it ehould have been wrung ; let this all simmer gently together for a quarter of an hour, then stir in a beaten egg, and serve in a wall of well-boiled rice. Bananas may also be fried by peeling and . slicing them, seasoning them with salfc and | pepper, and frying them in plenty of oil or hot fat ; drain well, and serve crisp, dusted with coralline pepper and salt. Or, when sliced and seasoned, they may be egged and bread crumbed, or dipped in batter and fried crisp, and served hot, and du6ted with pepper. Bananas may be peeled, the pith respua eq| 7 poAi_q[ ei_ __©.£•. naqiv 'psAora •squared, and the pieces fried in egg audi breadcrumb, or in batter ; if seasoned with salt and coralline pepper, these make very nice accompaniments to roast mutton, whereas, if the pieces are marinaded for an hour or so in sugar, lemon juice, and a little wine, brandy or liqueur, and finished off as before, they make an excellent sweet dish, either plainly dusted with caster pepper, or served wifch currant jelly sauce. As sweets, bananas may be treated in a variety of ways. For" instance, peel, slice and dust the fruit wibh caster sugar, sprinkle well with either orange juice or wine, strew it lightly with freshly-grated cocoanut, cover with stiffly whipped cream, end 1 stand on ice for a little time. Or sautes bananas are prepared by slicing them lengthwise, and frying them in butter. The nicest sauce for bananas is made thus : . — Stir some red currant jelly in water over tbe fire till perfectly dissolved, then, add a squeeze pf orange juice, and some of the peel cut into fine julienne strips, with some blanched and shred almonds or desiccated, or fresh cocoanut. Banana Compote. — Peel and balve the bananas lengthwise, and put them in a pan with enough lemon and liqueur-flavoured sugar syrup to cover them ; bring this all just well to the boil, lift out the fruit, and lay it on a glass dish. Meanwhile, boil- the liquid in which the fruit was cooked almost to the cracky flavour to taste with a little more liqueur or whatever spirit was used to flavour -it,, and pour it over thp fruit in the dish. This is excellent wifchj Empress rice, etc. Banana Salad. — Peel and halve some bananas, then cut them lengthwise and cross: wise, and lay these strips in a piedish or a fireproof china disb; now pour ove'f them, for -each banana, two tablespoonfuls of water, one of caster sugar-, ohe teaspooi}_ ful of butter, melted, the juice of onstrained lemon, and a dust of salt, and bak. it slowly fojr half am hour, basting it constantly, till the fruit is red and the juict is thick. Serve very hot. Or, boil together for five minutes, a gill of. claret, a tablespoonful of brandy, 6oz loaf sugar, and a _iU of water; them add twelve large _

bananas, peeled and sliced, and boil till the syrup thickens. Serve with Naples biscuits. Banana Trifle.— Peel and -split six bananas, cutting each half in two, spread them thickly with strawberry jam." press them lightly together, sandwich fashion, and pub them in a glass dish ; pour over them a gill of brandy, rum., or sherry, or, if preferred, a gill of liqueur syrup, and let them stand an hour ; then pour over them a pint of good custard, and. when this is stiff, place about it, rocki'ly, a gill of stifflywhipped cream; decorate with freshlygrated cocoanut, and blanched and shred almonds, and serve as cold as possible.