Bananas weren’t known in the United States until Captain Lorenzo Baker introduced them in 1870. They were expensive and only available to those living near port cities on the east coast. It took many years for them to become available and affordable to the average household.

RECIPES BELOW ARE FROM MRS. WILSON’S COOK BOOK, 1920

BAKED BANANAS
The simplest way to bake bananas is in the skins. It takes just twenty minutes in a moderate oven.* To eat, strip a piece of skin about an inch wide from the top side and partake of the baked fruit from the remaining skin in teaspoonfuls.

*moderate oven – about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

BAKED BANANAS NO. 2
Peel, scrape, and slice six bananas. Put into a greased baking dish in layers, and sprinkle each layer with brown sugar. Dot a tablespoon of butter over the top and sprinkle with the juice of half a lemon. Bake in a moderate oven half an hour.

BANANAS BAKED WITH TOMATOES
Put a thin layer of stewed or sliced tomatoes in the bottom of a baking pan. Cover with bananas sliced crosswise and bake. [no time or temperature given].

DEVILED BANANAS
Melt one tablespoon butter, add one tablespoon chopped red pepper, two teaspoons chopped pickles, one teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, and one fourth teaspoon salt. Add four bananas cut in four equal parts. Cook five minutes.

FRIED BANANAS
Peel the bananas and then cut into two. Roll in flour, dip in beaten egg, and roll in fine crumbs. Fry until golden brown and serve with broiled steak, chops, or chicken fricassee.

ORANGE AND BANANA SALAD
Stir the juice of two oranges, one-half cup sherry wine, one tablespoon lemon juice, one-half cup sugar, and the unbeaten white of an egg over the fire until the boiling point is reached. Let it simmer slowly ten minutes and strain through a cheese cloth. When thoroughly chilled, pour over three bananas and three oranges, sliced and mixed together in a salad-bowl. Sprinkle with one-half cup desiccated [dried] coconut. Serve thoroughly chilled.

ORANGE AND BANANA COMPOTE
For six bananas, a little underripe, make a syrup of one cup sugar and one-half cup water. Flavor with six whole cloves and one inch stick cinnamon. Boil eight minutes without stirring, then add the bananas and simmer until they begin to clear. Put in the juice of two oranges, one-half lemon, and one-half glass of grape juice. Remove the cloves and cinnamon and serve on rounds of toast or sponge cake with whipped cream.

BANANA CREAM
Peel five bananas and rub through a sieve with five tablespoons of powdered sugar and a tablespoon of lemon-juice. Add half a package of gelatin which has been soaked and dissolved in a little milk. When cool, but not set, fold in a cup of cream whipped solid. Mold, chill, and serve with whipped cream.

BANANA ICE CREAM
Take one and one-half cups of banana pulp, one cup sugar, and the juice of one lemon. Place in a mixing bowl, cover, and set aside. Now place two and one-half cups of milk and four tablespoons cornstarch in a saucepan and stir to dissolve the starch. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes. Add the yolks of two eggs. Beat to thoroughly mix, add the banana mixture, and beat hard to blend. Now beat the stiffly beaten whites of the two eggs into the mixture. Freeze in the usual manner, using three parts ice to one part salt. This amount will make three pints of ice-cream.

BANANA TOAST
Mash and sweeten bananas, heap onto rounds of buttered toast, and heat in the oven. Serve hot with cream or rich milk. Garnish with split cherries, nuts, or bits of jelly.

BANANA STUFFING FOR CHICKEN 
Peel and rub four bananas through a sieve. Place them in a bowl and add one-half grated onion, one green pepper, chopped fine, three tablespoons finely chopped parsley, four slices of bacon chopped fine, one and one-fourth cups bread crumbs, a pinch of thyme, one egg, and one teaspoon of salt. Mix thoroughly, then fill the inside of the chicken and roast in the usual manner.

BANANA WHIP
Peel and scrape four bananas and force them through a sieve. Add four tablespoons grape juice or jelly, four tablespoons powdered sugar, and the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Pile lightly in individual glass dishes, garnish with bits of jelly, and serve at once. All materials should be very cold.

BANANA FLOAT
Put in a saucepan one quart milk, one-half tablespoon cornstarch, one-half cup sugar, and the yolks of four eggs. Set the saucepan in a vessel of boiling water and stir over the fire till nearly boiling. Remove instantly, pour the custard into a dish and add one teaspoon lemon extract. When cold, have one-half dozen bananas cut into slices and stir them into the custard. Beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth, mix with a little powdered sugar, cover the custard with the meringue, set lady fingers* around the edge of dish and serve.

*lady fingers – small thin sweet sponge cakes, shaped similar to a finger 

BANANA FRITTERS
Place in a mixing bowl one cup of banana pulp, one-fourth cup sugar, the yolks of two eggs, and one tablespoon shortening. Beat to mix, then add one and one-half cups flour and one and one-half teaspoons baking powder. Beat to mix again, then cut and fold the whites of two eggs, beaten stiff, into the mixture. Fry in deep fat until golden brown and serve with banana sauce.

BANANA SAUCE
Take one-half cup of crushed banana, one-half cup of sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla, and the juice of one orange. Beat to mix and then serve with the fritters.

Image from Deposit Photos

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Do You Have Any Favorite Banana Recipes? Pleas Leave a Comment Below.

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