Thelomies from Hamilton says, "I peel and freeze overripe bananas (I buy them cheaper when overripe). I then pop a full frozen nana into a blender with milk, peanut butter and honey - this makes 2 big glasses of delicious thick and icecreamy milkshake - wonderful!"
Cathy writes, "I bulk buy bananas, peel and cut in half or a third then put them in a plastic bag and put in the freezer. They last pretty well and I slice them up in the morning and put them directly in my porridge mix."
Another suggestion is to peel and coat with lemon juice and freeze separately. Once frozen, store in freezer in reusable icecream containers. Great for kids' frozen snacks. If you are feeling creative, spread some chopped nuts on a dish and roll the bananas firmly across the plate before freezing them.
A reader from Masterton says, "When bananas get too ripe, simply put them in the freezer skins and all. They will go black on the outside, but if you unfreeze (lay in a bowl first) and snip off one end, you can squeeze the banana pulp out easily. Pulp is ideal for use in all banana cooking recipes."
Another trick for overripe bananas is to mash them up, put in small containers, squeeze lemon juice on top and freeze. This is great for banana smoothies, cakes, muffins or folded into icecream.
A reader says, "To keep bananas from discolouring for a fruit salad - slice and cover with water for 10 minutes. Drain and add to salad."
For a simple gourmet banana dessert, melt 2 tbsp butter with 2 cups brown sugar and juice of 2 lemons in a saucepan. Slice 2 or 3 bananas into halves (lengthwise) and place in the saucepan. Cook until tender, sprinkle with cinnamon and serve with icecream and whipped cream. Yum!
Try this "no fail" Banana Cake. You'll need 2 ripe bananas (mashed), 2 eggs, 2 cups of self-raising flour, 1 cup of sugar, 50g of butter, the juice of one large mandarin or orange, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 tbsp of cornflour, 2 pinches of salt, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence. Soften the butter in the microwave then add the sugar and cream. Add the eggs and mix well, followed by the flour and cornflour. Microwave the milk for one minute then stir in the baking soda. Add the two mashed bananas, orange or mandarin juice, salt, and vanilla essence. Mix well then combine with the other ingredients. Pour into a cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 170 to 180C for about 40 minutes.
*If you have a favourite recipe or oily rag tip that works well for your family, send it to us at www.oilyrag.co.nz, or by writing to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei, and we will relay it to the readers of this column.
