Baked Bananas

I grew up watching my two grandmothers cook. Neither was big on measuring anything. Most of their recipes were from their memories. That worked great for them but wasn’t real helpful when I tried to cook.

So I started reading cookbooks. And I learned a few basics. Like always pack your brown sugar into the measuring cup. And lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup, then use a flat edge to level it off.

 

This recipe comes from another yellowed clipping. Better get used to it. I found a large brown paperbag full of old recipes just waiting to be shared.

Baked Bananas

1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup butter
1 cup water
Dash salt
1 lemon, zest and juice
6 bananas, just underripe, not speckled or green

In small saucepan, bring sugar, butter, water, salt and lemon juice to boil. Cook briefly until syrupy. Add lemon zest.

Peel bananas and cut half, lengthwise. Place cut side down in lightly buttered glass baking dish. Do not overlap. Pour on syrup.

Bake at 300 degrees 10 minutes. Baste and cook another 10 minutes. Baste and cook another 10 minutes. Serve with syrup.

Makes 12 servings, approximately 132 calories per serving.

Pumpkin-Orange Spice Cake

This is from another old newspaper clipping. I’d substitute pecans -- which all falling off the trees right now -- for the walnuts.

Pumpkin-Orange Spice Cake

¾ cup butter
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Zest of 1 orange
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
1 cup raisins, optional
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup chocolate chips, coarsely chopped

Combine butter, flour and sugar in bowl and, with hands, rub to crumbs. Add baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and orange zest. Gently mix.

Mix pumpkin, egg and buttermilk together. Add to dry ingredients with raisins and walnuts. Gently stir with fork to incorporate liquid. Do not over mix.

Pour into greased 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan and gently spread. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

Makes 24 large servings, about 108 calories per serving.

Double Blueberry Buckle

This recipe comes from another old newspaper clipping. Wish I’d had it when the blueberries were fresh. It doesn’t matter though. I’ve got plenty in the freezer. How about you?

Double Blueberry Buckle

Cake

¼ cup butter or margarine
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1 cup blueberries

Blueberry Topping

¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup blueberries

To make cake, cream butter and ¾ cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and rind. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk. Gently fold in 1 cup blueberries. Spread dough into greased and floured 9-inch square pan. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

To make topping, in small saucepan, combine all topping ingredients, reserving ½ cup blueberries; cook, stirring, until thickened. Spread hot topping over warm cake. Use reserved blueberries for top decorations.

Makes 8 servings.

Scalloped Potatoes

I pulled this recipe out of a huge paper bag filled with old recipes. It’s from the October 1990 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. Can you believe that? Of course, it’s been buried all these years so how could I use it? I’m so thankful that now I can find it when I need it.

Scalloped Potatoes

3 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 small onion, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups milk
¼ lb sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
5 medium-sized potatoes (about 2 lbs), peeled and thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon paprika

About 1 ½ hours before serving:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a saucepan over medium heat, in hot margarine or butter, cook onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and salt until blended; cook 1 minute. Gradually stir in milk and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens slightly. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in ¼ cup shredded cheese.

In shallow 2-quart casserole, arrange half of the potato slices; pour half of the sauce on top; sprinkle with half of remaining cheese; repeat. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake, covered, 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.

Makes 6 servings, about 255 calories each.

Smoky Three-Bean Chili

      A chill in the air signals that it's time to get a big pot of chili going on the stove. The only problem is time. This solution from Pillsbury changes all that. Can't wait to give this chili a taste test. And don't forget to head over to the Pillsbury website for even more chili recipes.

 

Smoky Three-Been Chili

4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cans (15 oz each) beans (great northern, kidney, black and/or pinto), drained, rinsed
1 can (18 oz) Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ fire roasted tomato cooking sauce
2 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)

In 4-quart saucepan, cook bacon, beef and onion over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef is brown and onion is soft; drain.

Stir in chili powder and cumin. Stir in beans, cooking sauce and broth. Heat to simmering, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; cook about 15 minutes or until thickened.

Fried Bananas

This is just such a unique recipe. And it sounds tropically delicious. There’s just something about bananas and coconut. Of course, the deep fried probably means Texas or somewhere in the Deep South. It’s another one of those old newspaper clippings so who knows?

Fried Bananas

1 cup rice flour or cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup freshly grated coconut (or unsweetened, dried, shredded coconut)
1 to 1 ¼ cups unsweetened coconut milk
6 to 8 bananas
3 cups oil for deep-frying (approximately)

Combine rice flour, sugar, baking powder and coconut in bowl. Whisk in one cup coconut milk. Batter should be thick but pourable. If too thick, whisk in more coconut milk. Let batter stand 20 minutes.

Peel bananas and cut into thick, diagonal slices. Dip bananas into batter.

Heat at least 2 inches oil in wok or electric skillet to 375 degrees. Fry bananas 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown, working in several batches so as not to crowd pan. Drain on paper towels.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Amazing Fudge-Tunnel Cake

This recipe is an old clipping from Redbook magazine. I have no idea which issue or how long ago I acquired it. It has a little note at the top that says a fudgy center appears after the chocolate-almond batter is baked. The note calls it a trick, which makes me think it came from an October issue.

Amazing Fudge-Tunnel Cake

Cake

1 ¾ cups butter or margarine, softened

1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped blanched almonds, toasted
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Glaze

¼ cup heavy cream
3 1-oz. squares semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Candied violets, optional
Fresh mint leaves, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan.

In large bowl with electric mixer at high speed, beat 1 ¾ cups butter, granulated sugar, eggs, almond extract and confectioners’ sugar about 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

In medium-size bowl combine flour, almonds and cocoa powder; stir into butter mixture until just blended.

Spoon batter into prepared pan; smooth top with rubber spatula. Bake 1 hour until firm to the touch and sides of cake shrink slightly from sides of pan. Cook cake in pan on wire rack 1 hour; invert onto serving platter to cool completely.

Glaze

In small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stir cream, chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter until chocolate and butter are melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat; cool completely.

Serve

Spoon cooled glaze over top of cake. Decorate cake with candied violets and mint leaves, if desired.

Makes 16 servings.