Going Bananas

Bananas as Part of the Main Course

by Joyce Rosencrans
The Cincinnati Post

Bananas continue to be the favorite fruit by far in the United States. We each consume about 28 pounds annually. They're dandy take-along fruit, snug in their own yellow wrappers that zip off easily.

You've sliced them over cold cereal, cut them lengthwise for banana splits and mashed them for muffin batter and banana bread. But how many times have you enjoyed bananas for dinner as part of the main entree?

At a food editors' conference in Chicago years ago, I was astounded to find myself enjoying a savory banana sauce for baked fish fillets, Dover sole as I recall. The sauce was not sweet at all, but included pureed banana.

Another savory way with bananas that might strain the imagination less is a recipe for Banana-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Curry Sauce in the Go Bananas cookbook by Real Simple magazine food editor, Susan Quick (Broadway Books, August, 2000, softcover).

Her 150 recipes for "America's Most Versatile Fruit," the book's subtitle, includes the Caribbean-inspired curry dish that reminds Ms. Quick of classic Chicken Kiev. "But instead of butter and herbs inside the boneless chicken roll, as for Kiev, there are soft, sweet bananas."

After pounding the chicken-breast halves flat, she sprinkles them with salt and milled pepper. She places two banana quarters (slice a banana in half and slice again lengthwise) in each chicken breast, then tucks and rolls, chilling them at least an hour. Meanwhile, she makes a curry sauce with butter-sauteed mango and Granny Smith apple, plus a shallot and garlic swimming in a lightly thickened chicken broth (2-1/2 cups) with 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk.

She dredges the chicken bundles in flour, then beaten egg, then bread crumbs and browns the rolls on all sides in hot oil. She finishes by baking them at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, purees the fruitful curry sauce and tops the whole dish with chopped cilantro.

Many cooks can take off on their own with that much information about baked chicken and sauce, but another of Ms. Quick's chicken/banana concoctions definitely requires exact recipe instructions--the Brazilian Braised Chicken Legs topped with lengthwise banana slices and a shower of grated Parmesan cheese.

She wrote, "When I first discovered this recipe in an old Brazilian cookbook, I thought it an odd combination of flavors. But oh, what a wonderful discovery it turned out to be. The chicken and tomato juices are sweetened by the sauteed bananas. It's become part of my permanent repertoire of chicken dishes."

The banana cookbook's recipe for Red Snapper with Pecan-Banana Butter is as close as I've ever come to duplicating the taste-memory of that Chicago sole. If not red snapper, indeed a rare fish, you can use any firm, white-fleshed fish, such as farmed catfish or haddock.

The author's introductory note about the Green Banana and Potato Salad says it's based on a traditional Puerto Rican dish, guineos y papas, which is usually served with yellow rice and found on the buffet table at large social gatherings.

One of her friends describes the potato salad as "shockingly good." It has become Ms. Quick's favorite picnic potato salad with its vinaigrette dressing and simple additions of Spanish olives and capers. Be sure to use Yukon Gold potatoes or new red-skins for best texture. Cut the recipe in half in order to consume it within the day, or else the bananas darken.

There may be more than 500 varieties of bananas, but the ugliest is the starchy "vegetable" banana called plantains. The cooking banana is popular in the southern hemisphere from India to Cuba. It can be prepared in various stages of ripeness, but some in our stores never ripen and soften; they simply dry out.

So my favorite way of quickly preparing a plantain is to slice it in half crosswise. Then slit the peel lengthwise and strip it off. Cut thick round slices and fry them until crispy and golden brown in a small amount of hot peanut oil or canola oil.

They can be enjoyed as snacks this way, or use as a canape base (top with a shrimp and dollop of chive sour cream). Fried plantain chips are delicious scoopers for any style salsa, too.

(Joyce Rosencrans is food editor of The Cincinnati Post.)

Recipes from Go Bananas by Susan Quick:

Red Snapper with Pecan-Banana Butter
Brazilian Braised Chicken and Bananas
Green Banana and Potato Salad

Red Snapper with Pecan-Banana Butter

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. hot paprika
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbs. peanut or canola oil
four 6-oz. red snapper fillets, catfish or haddock
4 Tbs. butter
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
pinch salt
1 large firm-ripe banana, diced
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 Tbs. minced fresh cilantro or parsley

Preparation:

Stir together the flour, paprika, thyme and salt on a large plate. Pour milk into a shallow bowl. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking.

Dip the fish in milk, then flour mixture. Cook in hot oil, in batches if necessary, until browned on the bottom. Turn fillets and brown other side, about four minutes per side for one-inch fillets. Remove to a platter and keep warm.

Drain cooking oil and wipe the skillet with paper towels. Heat butter over medium heat and add pecans, nutmeg and salt. Cook, stirring, until pecans are lightly browned, about three minutes. Add bananas and cook, stirring, about one minute or just until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and cilantro. Place fillets on warm plates, spoon some sauce over each and serve immediately.

Yield: four servings
Total preparation time: 45 minutes

Brazilian Braised Chicken and Bananas