Banana Pudding

[pogophiles]

Hope you're referring to Zeb, 'cause I like all of those (if the chitlins are fried) and pimiento cheese, too...

[Zeb A]

You probably don't like collards, chittlin's, pot likker, or red-eye gravy, either.

collards, yes. red-eye gravy, yes. chittlins, nasty. pot likker, please speak English

[Xanthippe]

Can a Yankee add her two cents?

[Varmint]

You probably don't like collards, chittlin's, pot likker, or red-eye gravy, either.

collards, yes. red-eye gravy, yes. chittlins, nasty. pot likker, please speak English

Pot likker -- the "juice" that's left in the bottom of the pot after cooking greens, generally with fat back or some other form of pork. Serve with cornbread or biscuits.

[Varmint]

Can a Yankee add her two cents?

Of course. Remember, X, that I'm a Yankee by birth. I've only lived in the South for half my life.

[Zeb A]

You probably don't like collards, chittlin's, pot likker, or red-eye gravy, either.

collards, yes. red-eye gravy, yes. chittlins, nasty. pot likker, please speak English

Pot likker -- the "juice" that's left in the bottom of the pot after cooking greens, generally with fat back or some other form of pork. Serve with cornbread or biscuits.

OK, that stuff is also good, but I have never heard the term "pot likker" used to describe it.

Are you trying to discretely import some of your Pennsylvania backwoods terminology into the South?

[Varmint]

Do a google search on pot likker. You'll see it's distinctly Southern.

[fifi]

Ummmm... My great-aunt Minnie's version. homemade vanilla pudding, heavy on the eggs and vanilla. The bananas ripe but still firm. Let it set until the Nabisco Vanilla Wafers achieve the proper texture (sort of soft) and the banana flavor infuses. Then she makes her incomparable meringue (the same one she uses on her lemon pies) and bungs it into the oven for a toast. Me and my dad are in heaven. He was a Vanilla Wafer freak. Haven't had a really good one in years.

[elyse]

This is all reminding me of my favorite ice cream. Edy's banana cream pie. Banana ice cream with marshmallow cream to keep it smooth, and nilla wafers through. Man was it yummy. Discontinued now.

[Andrew Fenton]

Damn that sounds good. Are we talking a ribbon of marshmallow cream, or pockets of it?

Maybe it's worth trying to duplicate at home...

[elyse]

Neither. It just had marshmallow to keep it creamy and smooth. It was totally delicious.

[Xanthippe]

Can a Yankee add her two cents?

Of course. Remember, X, that I'm a Yankee by birth. I've only lived in the South for half my life.

That's right, Mr. V, you do indeed hail from YankeeLand. I tend to forget, 'cuz y'all come across so, so Southern! Case in point: you had to tell Mr. Zeb what pot likker is!!

[Xanthippe]

Damn that sounds good.  Are we talking a ribbon of marshmallow cream, or pockets of it? 

Maybe it's worth trying to duplicate at home...

Somebody's gotta try to make the Banana Cream Pie ice cream. Please!! I would, but I'm already trying to create another flavor with my cohort, elyse.

[NYC Mike]

What a cool section of EG this is...

I grew up on banana cream pie = nilla wafers crumbs crust, jello brand vanilla pudding and ripe bananas.

Banana pudding should be rich and eggy, topped with meringue not less than 4 inches high! Any low-fat version of banana pudding should be banned. Use cornstarch as a thickener if you must, but the egg yolks are what should give the pudding its lusciousness. And yes, I like the Nilla Wafers® -- no other vanilla wafer will do!

Someone share a recipe?

-Mike

[annecros]

What a cool section of EG this is...

I grew up on banana cream pie = nilla wafers crumbs crust, jello brand vanilla pudding and ripe bananas.

Banana pudding should be rich and eggy, topped with meringue not less than 4 inches high! Any low-fat version of banana pudding should be banned. Use cornstarch as a thickener if you must, but the egg yolks are what should give the pudding its lusciousness. And yes, I like the Nilla Wafers® -- no other vanilla wafer will do!

Someone share a recipe?

-Mike

←

Somehow, I just knew when I saw the topic, that you would be the topic bouncer NYCMike!

Banana pudding? No problem. There are quite a few who would testify to the fact that Mama used cook and serve jello vanilla, but mine didn't. It does require the Nabisco 'Nilla Wafers, and you beat up all the egg whites you didn't use for the pudding for the meringue, and sometimes one or two extra.

Our Texas friends provide exactly the recipe I love:

http://www.texascooking.com/features/apr99bestbanana.htm

The kids will love it!

[NYC Mike]

Somehow, I just knew when I saw the topic, that you would be the topic bouncer NYCMike!

LOL!! I just spent my entire day off reading through all 8 pages of this section. What amazing information, some of the early posts are really outstanding!

I have a bazillion questions but I thought baby steps....lets start with banana pudding.

[highchef]

I don't know why, but I keep wondering as I read this thread, how I could incorporate a wee bit o rum in there??

I only hesitate because I'd be afraid it would screw up the pudding cohesion. Any thoughts?

I know, I know, you could put rum flavor but that's not really my point. Think of a great bread pudding, like from Antoines', with a buttery, bourboney, sweet sauce. Now imagine a bananna pudding with that rum flavor. I don't think I'd do a sauce, it'd screw up the meringue-wouldn't it?

[judiu]

I don't know why, but I keep wondering as I read this thread, how I could incorporate a wee bit o rum in there??

I only hesitate because I'd be afraid it would screw up the pudding cohesion. Any thoughts?

I know, I know, you could put rum flavor but that's not really my point. Think of a great bread pudding, like from Antoines', with a buttery, bourboney, sweet sauce. Now imagine a bananna pudding with that rum flavor. I don't think I'd do a sauce, it'd screw up the meringue-wouldn't it?

←

If it were me, I'd dribble a bit of rum over the wafers in each layer before the pudding ever got to them. Not enough to mush them up, just enough to soften them SLIGHTLY. Put the wafers in the serving container, waft the rum over, maybe even using a spritz bottle, bananas, pudding, wafers, more rum, etc. HTH!

[Mayhaw Man]

As a slightly different take on Banana Pudding, you might want to try Valerie Hill's (pastry chef at Johnny's Half Shell in DC) Warm Banana Pudding Pie. I have eaten a ton of it (probably literally) and love the stuff. It's stupendously good and not very hard to make. In fact, you can make the pie ahead of time and then do the meringue just before you are ready to serve. She makes these in little phyllo dough shells, but a pie would be as good, though not look quite as cool on the dessert plate.

Look in the little box to the left for theWarm Banana Pudding Pie recipe.

[annecros]

I don't know why, but I keep wondering as I read this thread, how I could incorporate a wee bit o rum in there??

I only hesitate because I'd be afraid it would screw up the pudding cohesion. Any thoughts?

I know, I know, you could put rum flavor but that's not really my point. Think of a great bread pudding, like from Antoines', with a buttery, bourboney, sweet sauce. Now imagine a bananna pudding with that rum flavor. I don't think I'd do a sauce, it'd screw up the meringue-wouldn't it?

←

I see you have other responses, but I would steep the bananas in a bit in the rum.

Banana pudding is intended for overripe bananas, so I wouldn't worry TOO much about the browning on the bananas.

You know, some cream of coconut subbed in just might make the whole thing go over the top with bananas and rum, with some grated coconut on top, and maybe some chocolate microplaned on the hot meringue while it is cooling...

Edit to add: Thanks highchef. I think I will be blowing my family away here pretty soon. I have pictures of this dessert in my head now. I like the wafers crisp. Telltale sign of a fresh pudding.

Edited January 4, 2007 by annecros (log)

[highchef]

I don't know why, but I keep wondering as I read this thread, how I could incorporate a wee bit o rum in there??

I only hesitate because I'd be afraid it would screw up the pudding cohesion. Any thoughts?

I know, I know, you could put rum flavor but that's not really my point. Think of a great bread pudding, like from Antoines', with a buttery, bourboney, sweet sauce. Now imagine a bananna pudding with that rum flavor. I don't think I'd do a sauce, it'd screw up the meringue-wouldn't it?

←

I see you have other responses, but I would steep the bananas in a bit in the rum.

Banana pudding is intended for overripe bananas, so I wouldn't worry TOO much about the browning on the bananas.

You know, some cream of coconut subbed in just might make the whole thing go over the top with bananas and rum, with some grated coconut on top, and maybe some chocolate microplaned on the hot meringue while it is cooling...

Edit to add: Thanks highchef. I think I will be blowing my family away here pretty soon. I have pictures of this dessert in my head now. I like the wafers crisp. Telltale sign of a fresh pudding.

←

coconut milk for the milk in the pudding?

can you reconstitute dried bananna chips with rum?

I think we're reinventing the dish here, but it sure sounds good!

I like the wafers crisp too, so unless I was going to make it a trifle bananna pudding I need another way to incorporate the rum, I do think soaking the banannas (either fresh, or chips) would be the way for that little change. Thanks!

[annecros]

I don't know why, but I keep wondering as I read this thread, how I could incorporate a wee bit o rum in there??

I only hesitate because I'd be afraid it would screw up the pudding cohesion. Any thoughts?

I know, I know, you could put rum flavor but that's not really my point. Think of a great bread pudding, like from Antoines', with a buttery, bourboney, sweet sauce. Now imagine a bananna pudding with that rum flavor. I don't think I'd do a sauce, it'd screw up the meringue-wouldn't it?

←

I see you have other responses, but I would steep the bananas in a bit in the rum.

Banana pudding is intended for overripe bananas, so I wouldn't worry TOO much about the browning on the bananas.

You know, some cream of coconut subbed in just might make the whole thing go over the top with bananas and rum, with some grated coconut on top, and maybe some chocolate microplaned on the hot meringue while it is cooling...

Edit to add: Thanks highchef. I think I will be blowing my family away here pretty soon. I have pictures of this dessert in my head now. I like the wafers crisp. Telltale sign of a fresh pudding.

←

coconut milk for the milk in the pudding?

can you reconstitute dried bananna chips with rum?

I think we're reinventing the dish here, but it sure sounds good!

I like the wafers crisp too, so unless I was going to make it a trifle bananna pudding I need another way to incorporate the rum, I do think soaking the banannas (either fresh, or chips) would be the way for that little change. Thanks!

←

Oh wow, reconstituting the banana chips is a great idea, but you would not get the texture or flavor - I don't think. Would have to go side by side to know for sure, and eat some drunk banana bits!

Absolutely coconut milk for SOME of the milk in the pudding. It goes on all the time down here at several places I am familiar with. Heavy cream may have to sub for the milk portion though, to keep some of the fat up. This may work for those that like the flavor of coconut but not the texture. Would be a neat little thing to slip in to that flavor profile as well, I think.

It does sound lovely. Think I will play around this weekend - this could be something nice. We won't know until we try.

Edited January 5, 2007 by annecros (log)

[Domestic Goddess]

Mike - my hubby's a Ky boy and simply loves banana pudding. He made me get the recipe from his mom and I have been making it since. I make everything from scratch, especially the vanilla wafers. Here are the recipe and a pic of my banana pudding...

Mom’s Banana Pudding

Pudding Ingredients:

½ cup flour

2 egg yolks, well-beaten (save the egg whites for later – meringue)

2 ½ cups milk

1 tbsp. Vanilla powder

1tbsp. Butter

a pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

Meringue topping ingredients:

2 egg whites

¼ tsp. cream of tartar

6 tbsp. Sugar

*Vanilla wafer cookies

1. Cook milk, sugar, salt and flour together in a wok or pan. Stir over medium heat until the mixture comes together like gravy. Keep stirring all the time to prevent lumps forming.

2. When the mixture looks like loose gravy add the beaten egg yolks and STIR CONSTANTLY until thickened to pudding consistency.

3. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and the butter and stir some more. Set aside.

4. Bake the vanilla cookies and when done set aside.

5. For the meringue topping, take a mixer and a clean bowl. In the bowl put the egg whites and beat it with the mixer until soft peaks form on the mixture. The egg whites should look white now and slowly add sugar (sprinkling it around the bowl while mixing.) Add the cream of tartar too now. Keep adding sugar while bating the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside when the egg whites look like white icing.

6. Now it is time to layer the dish. First put a layer of vanilla cookies on the bottom of the pan or dish. Then layer pudding, then a layer of sliced bananas and then vanilla cookies again. Keep repeating the process until the dish is full. Top with meringue and brown the meringue in oven (set in 375 F degrees) for about 5-10 minutes. Watch carefully because it doesn’t take long to.

*Vanilla Wafer cookies recipe

INGREDIENTS

· 1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened

· 1 cup sugar

· 1 egg

· 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

· 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

· 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

[NYC Mike]

Thanks for the recipes, I think we will try all three....in the name of research of course!

-mike

[NYC Mike]

No idea why my merenge refused to brown anything other than the tiny peaks but this was a very very good banana pudding. Our children we very happy with us!

The is not every day eating!

-Mike