I chose to make this desert because bananas were on sale at the grocery store for 10 cents a pound. Sure I could have made a banana cream pie (because it tastes a lot like it), but I am not a creamy banana in a tart-shell kind of women. I am more the fry something quick and save some counter-space, type of woman. I paired the fried bananas with a coconut crème anglaise simply because I couldn’t imagine serving a guest just bananas on a stick. It made sense to pair it with something to dip the fried bananas into. When you close your eyes it tastes like warm and gooey banana pie a-la-mode. I guess loving the taste of bananas (especially warm bananas), is essential for enjoying this recipe.
Fried Bananas
¾ cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Panko
1/4 tsp of lime zest (for garnish)
6 bananas
Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt together. Beat eggs and sugar together. Add milk alternately with sifted dry ingredients to egg mixture. Beat after each addition. This mixture should be a thick batter (like cake batter). Heat the oil on medium to high flame. In a medium frying pan, the oil should come to about ½ way up.. Peel bananas and cut width-wise in half, cutting off the tips. With a spatula, coat the each banana evenly, as if you are icing a cake. Then sprinkle the Panko onto the ‘iced’ bananas, a consistent even coat. Drop each banana into the hot oil, and cook until golden brown. Remove from the oil, and let sit. Sprinkle with lime zest.
2 large eggs (yolks only)
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 cups canned coconut milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Bring the heavy cream, coconut milk and vanilla bean to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Put eggs, sugar, and salt in a bowl, and whisk until pale and thick and set to the side. Remove the vanilla bean, scraping only the seeds into the hot milk mixture. Gradually pour 1/2 of hot-milk mixture into egg mixture. Return mixture to pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and hold a line drawn by your finger, about 5 minutes. Pass mixture through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Place bowl in ice-water bath; stir it occasionally until chilled. Makes about 2 cups.
Labels: Sweet
