NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
February 24, 2000
Its exact origins are open to debate, but there's no debating that the Carnival is associated with--a lot--of good food. The Carnival is the Judeo-Christian period of celebration that begins on Jan. 6 (with the feast of the Epiphany) and continues up to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. This means the celebrating ceases on Shrove Tuesday, which because of all eating involved is also called Fat Tuesday, or "Mardi Gras," as speakers of French would say.
This year Fat Tuesday falls on March 7 because it is always scheduled 47 days before Easter (April 23 this year), which is always the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox. One Internet site I visited (http://www.mardicard.com/mardigras/history.htm) goes into considerable detail describing the Carnival in New Orleans, which most people, including me, automatically associate with the Mardi Gras celebration.
Likewise, my mouth usually starts watering for Cajun or Louisiana cuisine when I think about celebrating Mardi Gras. In years past, I've savored crispy deep-fried oysters with shredded lettuce, hot sauce and mayonnaise on sourdough rolls--po' boys. I've licked my lips over chicken and shrimp, blackened with a combination of chili pepper and other tantalizing herbs and spices. I've devoured bowls full of hearty gumbo, containing generous portions of sausage and peppers and made thick with okra and filé (pronounced "fee lay") powder, which is ground sassafras leaves. And I've popped countless hush puppies, those dense crusty gems laden with corn meal.
But this year, I might let my "sweet tooth" make the call as to which Mardi Gras foods I consume, and the recipe that follows is definitely in the running.
Bananas Foster Custard
From SOARthe Searchable Online Archive of Recipes, University of California, Berkeley ( http://soar.Berkeley.EDU/recipes/ ). This is a variation of the spectacular Bananas Foster served at famous restaurants in New Orleans.
Yield: 6 servingsIngredients:
1½ cups sliced bananas
2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 eggs
1½ cups skim (fat-free) milk
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons rum extract
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamonProcedure:
Toss banana slices with lemon juice, drain off excess and set aside six banana slices for garnish. Divide remaining slices evenly among six lightly buttered 6-ounce custard cups and set cups in shallow baking pan. Beat eggs, milk, granulated sugar and rum extract until well blended and pour evenly into custard cups. Place pan in preheated 350 F oven and pour very hot water into the pan to within a half-inch of cup tops. Bake about 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove cups immediately from hot water and cool on wire rack 5 to 10 minutes. To serve, gently loosen custards with thin spatula and invert onto serving plates. Garnish with reserved banana slices. Meanwhile, melt butter in small saucepan over low heat and then blend in brown sugar, water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and boil for three minutes. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the hot syrup over each custard. Serve immediately.
What's Your Take on This, Julie?
Here's a recipe with appeal (pun intended): Bananas Foster Custard, one of New Orleans' signature desserts combined with the currently trendy custard. It might become your signature dessert as well. A serving contains about 270 calories and 8.5 grams of fat, plus about 10 percent of the daily recommendations for calcium and vitamins A and C.
Americans eat about 28 pounds of bananas per person each year, on average, so if you're bananas about bananas, you're not alone. As far as fresh fruit consumption is concerned, bananas rank second only to melons.
Despite popular perception, bananas don't grow on trees. Instead, these tropical fruits grow in clusters on giant herbs stretching as tall as 25 feet. Each fruit is called a "finger," and a group of 14 to 20 bananas is called a "hand." Bananas are picked green and transported in carefully controlled conditions to maintain quality. If allowed to ripen before harvest, they develop a bland flavor and cotton-like texture.
As a banana turns from green to yellow, its starch converts to sugar. The browner a banana turns, the sweeter it becomes (and the more apt to end up in banana bread). There are about three medium bananas in a pound. When mashed, a pound of bananas makes about a cup. It is true that bananas turn dark when refrigerated; however, the pulp will maintain its pre-refrigerated level of ripeness for a couple of days. If you bought too many, consider freezing them in recipe-size batches.
In some markets you can stretch your palate with more exotic bananas: such as the plump red Macabu (or Jamaican reds), the Orinoco with its strawberry-like flavor, the tiny Mysore with its vanilla-pineapple flavor or the Plantain, which is only edible when cooked.
Besides being inexpensive, readily available and popular, bananas are nutritious. A medium banana contains about 100 calories, less than 1 gram of fat, 1.8 grams of fiber and, like all plant foods, they're cholesterol free. Bananas provide vitamins B-6, A and C, along with abundant potassium and other minerals.
If you're on certain high-blood pressure medications, chances are your doctor advised eating more bananas because some diuretic drugs can cause the body to lose potassium. A medium banana contains about 450 milligrams (mg) of potassium, which helps maintain fluid balance and stimulates nerve impulses and muscle contractions. A study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that eating an extra serving of a potassium-rich food could lower the chances of dying due to stroke by up to 40 percent.
There is no recommended daily allowance for potassium, but some experts have suggested 2,000 mg/day. Others have suggested up to 3,500 mg/day to protect against high blood pressure. Orange juice and many other whole fruits and vegetables such as potatoes, spinach, apricots and cantaloupe also are considered good sources of potassium. And all will help you on your way to 5 a Day--that's at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit.
###
Sources: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136
Julie Garden-Robinson (701) 231-7187
Click here for a pdf version of this graphic. (34KB b&w recipe graphic)