For the past four months I've been eating citrus fruits and enjoying them thoroughly. Winter is citrus season and I try really hard to eat food "in season" and as "local" (meaning at least from this side of the country!) as possible. With the exception of that Texas red grapefruit (that really is soooo delicious), I've done a pretty good job with this endeavor. Along with the oranges and grapefruits, I can still find Henderson County apples in the stores and I have bags of berries that I grew, coming out of my freezer. I've carefully rationed those SC peaches (that I canned in the summer) and I think it's possible that I might make them last until it's time to pick peaches again. Let me tell you, this has been an exercise in discipline. Now that spring's here, the thoughts of local strawberries, followed by every other berry and melon is weighing heavily on my mind. I'm so ready for them!
Now, let's talk bananas. One would think bananas have no special season, because they are always available. They seem about as american as apples and oranges, so we might forget that they've had to do some hard traveling before they appear in our stores. Don't get me wrong, I like bananas just fine. But when I start to reach for them, I think twice about how far they've had to come and usually put them back. I'd rather support farmers a little closer to home. Thank you Florida for being on my side of the country! But this bag of organic bananas marked downed to $1.50 crumbled my resolve, because I'm also a sucker for a really good deal. By the time I was at the checkout counter, I had already developed my plan for how I was going to use all those bananas. Top of the list was to make a banana pudding. So now I'm ready to step off my "locavore" soapbox and show you how to make a dreamy dessert.
Banana pudding is a southern speciality. I grew up eating it in my home and had it at my Nana's more times than I could count. Every potluck seems to have at least one pudding among the spread and because it's such a comfort food, it is graciously offered to those who are on the receiving end of compassionate service. Admittedly, it won't take away your problems, but it might just help you to forget them for a few minutes.
There are a couple of different methods for making this delicacy. Some involve jello pudding, a can of sweetened condensed milk and cool whip. I've tried them all. But believe me when I tell you, there is no substitute for the real thing, made with home made vanilla custard. You might question how a dessert that has three main components, namely bananas, cookies and custard, could make a grown woman swoon, but I'm telling you, it's that home made custard! It's amazing! And, it's not hard at all to make.
In a medium pot over low heat, I mixed sugar with cornstarch and slowly added milk. I think whole milk works best, but we only drink skim milk, so since I had some half and half that needed to be used... You know where this is going, don't you?
Directions also call for this to be made in a double boiler, but I don't have one of those either, so I just kept a close eye and stirring hand nearby and it worked fine for me.
I separated four of my lovely eggs (thank you little red hens),
reserving the whites for the meringue.
When the milk began to thicken, I took a small amount and added it to the egg yolks to heat them a bit before adding to the milk. This is called tempering and prevents the yolks from scrambling in the hot milk. Don't skip this step, because scrambled eggs are not what we're going for here. At this point, pour the eggs into the milk, stir and cook a couple more minutes.
Off of the heat, I added a half a stick of butter
and a teaspoon of vanilla, stirring until the butter had melted.
Then of course, you must taste test, just to make sure it turned out the way it's supposed to.
Holy moly is this stuff good! Now quickly, before you are tempted to just pour it in a bowl and go at it with a spoon, begin to layer the ingredients.
Start with a little custard on the bottom,
add bananas next,
and top with Nilla wafers. Yes, use Nilla's, 'cause they are the best! I like to go heavy on the wafers, because that's Mark's favorite part. It doesn't matter how many I put in the pudding, he still pulls the box from the cabinet and adds more to his bowl.
Then just keep on layering until you run out of custard.
Sometimes people stop at this point and call it a done deal. But I think the top looks a little naked and I like meringue on my pudding. I'm sorry to say, there are those individuals who don't like meringue and even go so far as to call it "cow slobber", (can you imagine?), but I'm of the opinion that if you don't like it, it's easy enough to push to the side. This cook likes it!
I whipped up the egg whites with cream of tartar and a little sugar, until I had some nice peaks.
I slathered it all over the top, trying to seal the edges as best I could. In a 350 degree oven I baked it for about ten minutes, until it looked
like this. Now, tell me, isn't that just lovely?
It almost looked too pretty to eat, and even though it's not nearly as photogenic spooned into a bowl, oh my gosh, does it taste good! You might even be tempted to lick the bowl if no one's looking. I prefer my pudding a little on the warm to room temperature side, although if I'm lucky enough to have any left over, I wouldn't object to a few bites from the refrigerator as a late night snack.
Banana Pudding
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. cornstarch
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks
1 t. vanilla
1/2 stick butter
sliced bananas
Nilla wafers
Mix together sugar and cornstarch. Slowly add milk and cook over medium low heat,
stirring constantly, until it thickens. (This takes a little while) Slightly beat the egg
yolks and temper with a small amount of the hot milk. Add egg mixture to milk and
cook for about two minutes. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir. Let
cool slightly before layering. Layer custard, bananas, and wafers in at least two layers.
Top with meringue.
Meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 t. cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar. Slowly add sugar and beat until peaks form.
Spread onto pudding and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until meringue is browned.
That is by far the prettiest banana pudding I have ever seen!
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