What to do with leftover bananas?

I’ve become an expert at that. Because I love to buy bananas. I love how they look, especially when they are light yellow with green tips so I know they are firm inside and perfectly sweet. I never buy any that are dark yellow or that have brown freckles.

I used to love to eat bananas too. Plain or with sour cream or yogurt. And especially, in Banana Cream Pie, which I can only fantasize about now.

Because I became allergic to bananas.

How is it possible to be allergic to bananas?

I don’t know but I am.

So now I can only buy them, and gaze upon them longingly and hope that my husband Ed will eat them, which he does, but never as many as I buy. There are always leftovers.

I now have more recipes for Banana Bread than anyone and I am working on some for Banana Muffins.

If you have leftover bananas, try this recipe. It makes a good snack, or dessert (maybe add ice cream or fudge sauce). 

Banana-Coconut Bread

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup butter 

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup orange or ginger marmalade or apricot jam

3 large very ripe bananas

3 large eggs, beaten

1 cup packaged coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan (about 8 cups). Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until well blended. Add the marmalade and bananas and blend them in thoroughly. Beat in the eggs. Add the flour mixture and blend it in thoroughly. Fold in the coconut. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Makes one bread serving 12-16

I heard someone on the radio mention this morning that today is National Chocolate Chip Day. I looked it up later and some sites say chocolate chip day is May 15. But some say today.

It doesn’t matter, does it? I thought every day was chocolate chip day. Americans seem to have a special love for these tiny chunks of chopped up chocolate, Maybe because of the amazing popularity of chocolate chip cookies, which are a true American creation — by Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, in 1930.

There are more recipes for Chocolate Chip Cookies than there are cacti in the desert. Here’s my version, (called Grand Finale Cookies) which you can find in my book, Hip Kosher, if you have a copy. 

I also throw quite a load of chocolate chips into this recipe for Banana Bread.

And lots of other recipes too.

I always thought of chocolate chips as a baking ingredient and so I store them with all the other baking stuff like flour and vanilla extract. I prefer Ghirardelli to the more popular brand; the chocolate is much better quality and tastes deeper and richer.

But my father used to add chocolate chips to hot cereal when I was a kid, as an inducement to eat breakfast. And My husband Ed thinks they are candy. There have been more than a few occasions on which he ate a bagful. Okay, maybe only half a bagful.

Chocolate chips are amazingly useful of course, beyond cookies and banana bread, or as a breakfast enhancement or TV candy. One good thing is that because they are already small, they melt easily, so you can use them for cooked dessert sauces and frostings without worrying that the chocolate will burn. 

One of the easiest chocolate chips recipes is this one, for “dipping sauce” or coating that you can use as a dip for strawberries, macaroons, cookies, candied orange peel and so on. So, so simple:

Chocolate Coating

1 cup chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Melt the chips and vegetable shortening together in the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Stir until well blended and remove from the heat. Makes about 3/4 cup

Why do I buy bananas? I’m allergic to them as I said yesterday. It’s almost as if watching someone else eat them gives me pleasure vicariously.

My husband says he likes bananas but whenever I buy a bunch, firm and bright yellow and green at the tip, just before the starch turns to sweet and the sugar level goes up, they sit on the plate waiting for anyone.

Anyone? Anyone?

So I wind up making Banana Bread. Very often the Banana Bread goes to patients and caregivers at our local hospital for a biweekly Tea that our local Hadassah gives. Or my grandchildren eat it.

Smart kids.

If you’ve never had a Banana Bread baking in your kitchen you are missing one of the best home aromas of all time. It’s right up there with coffee, tomato sauce and yeast bread.

And of course, it tastes pretty good too. Here’s a recipe for you to try:

Banana Bread

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable shortening

4-5 medium bananas, very ripe

4 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Place the sugar and shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well blended. Add the bananas and beat them in. Add the eggs and beat them in. Add the flour mixture and beat the ingredients until well blended. Stir in the vanilla extract. Bake for about an hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Makes 12-16 servings

It’s going to snow here again which means the supermarkets will be like the Mall on black Friday. Yep, I’m going shopping too, although I usually try to avoid the place when I know people will be stocking up on groceries to last until next New Years because, you know, the snow is coming and we’re never going to get out of the house. But I haven’t been to the store since before year end and I am clean out of stuff.

Except for bananas. I always buy too many and then wind up making banana bread which I usually freeze and then give away every other Tuesday when our local Hadassah hosts a Tea Party — NOT a political one I can assure you — for cancer patients and their caregivers at our local hospital.

So after I use up the browning bananas for the bread I will have to put new bananas on the list along with milk, fruit, sweet potatoes and everything else I’ll need until next New Years.

Here’s a good recipe for a large Banana Bread that will make at least 12 servings. You can freeze it (or freeze half). Sometimes I add chocolate chips, sometimes raisins.

Banana Bread

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup vegetable shortening

1-3/4 cups sugar

4 large very ripe bananas, mashed

4 large eggs

1 cup chocolate chips or raisins, optional

1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the vegetable shortening and sugar at medium speed until well blended. Beat in the bananas. Beat in the eggs. Add the flour mixture and beat the ingredients until smooth and well blended. Fold in the chocolate chips, raisins and/or nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Makes one bread serving 12-18

South Africa plays Uruguay in the World Cup today. The food of both countries features bananas and coconut. No matter who you root for, this Banana Coconut Bread is a winner all year long. Try it!

Banana Coconut Bread

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup vegetable shortening

2 cups sugar

4 large very ripe bananas, mashed

4 large eggs

1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch (8 cups) bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda together in a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a bowl and hand beater) beat the shortening and sugar together at medium speed until well blended. Add the bananas and beat them in thoroughly. Add the eggs and beat them in thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and beat it in thoroughly. Stir in the coconut. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester (ot the tip of a sharp knife) inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Makes one bread serving 16-18

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