Bananas: What to do with 100 pounds?

[antiquie]

Last edited Tue Jan 8, 2013, 07:51 PM - Edit history (3)

Two of our trees produced this year, easily 150 pounds of beautiful, organic bananas.
Almost all are ripe. Any suggestions and recipes for using and storing this much bounty?
Thank you.

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edit: add photo/fix link/add photo

[flamin lib]

1. Could be worse . . .

[antiquie]

7. Funny, especially the ending.

Thanks.

[azurnoir]

2. dehydration? banana chips are good

lot's of banana bread or..........

I've been watching moonshiners and they make this stuff called banana rum but I don't know if you want to go that roite albeit I think its legal as long as you don't sell it

[antiquie]

3. Ooh banana rum!

Sounded so good I had to run in the other room and tell me mate.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

4. Get a Monkey?

Where do you live that you have a banana tree? Only place I've ever seen em is Costa Rica. They are beautiful!

[antiquie]

8. Southern California

grows beautiful banana trees. Most are decorative, ours are the real deal.

[patricia92243]

5. I freeze mine - peel and all. When I defrost them,.they are soggy - just right to make banana bread

[antiquie]

9. Good for some of them

but I don't have enough room for this many, even peeled and squished.

[gkhouston]

53. Ugh. I hate unpeeling a frozen banana. I peel them first, trim away bruises,

and cut them into 2-3 inch sections. They were supposed to be for smoothies. The first time I did this, my daughter ate them all for snacks before we could make any smoothies.

[patricia92243]

55. Good idea - I'll do that in the future - just hadn't given it any thought. Thanks!! :)

[gkhouston]

56. Put some parchment paper or waxed paper on a rack or cookie sheet.

Freeze them that way first, and transfer to a freezer bag once they're solidly frozen. That way, they shouldn't stick together.

[surrealAmerican]

6. I was under the impression that bananas didn't grow on trees.

Two plants can really produce 100 lbs? Wow.

[antiquie]

10. One plant can easily grow 100 pounds.

After all our friends have refused more, I think we will still have more than 100.

[freshwest]

11. How about throwing a block party or selling them somewhere?

[antiquie]

13. We could put more on our neighbors doorsteps,

ring their bells and run!

[freshwest]

17. Well, I'd sure take some! Great for smoothies instead of dairy:

And banana pudding - nearly forgot those:



I used to have a small grove of bananas in my back yard. They were about twenty feet high or more. Loved to see them blow in the breeze.

[antiquie]

18. Yum, smoothie looks good.

Did your banana trees produce?

[freshwest]

27. Not much at all. But then I had to cut them down to the ground every winter, though.

[antiquie]

29. We have two types.

I don't know the names of either type. One is supposed to be decorative, but they produce a row or two most years, the other type is from a tree "Mr. Singh" gave to my husband a number of years ago.

[LeftofObama]

12. Maybe donate some to a food bank or

someplace that feeds the hungry? 100 lbs?! That's quite a bounty!

[antiquie]

14. Sharing is good.

I wish these weren't so ripe so fast.

[freshwest]

28. I'm sure they'll take them -- if you call, they may even come and get them!

[pengillian101]

35. I bet they would!

Great idea to donate to a local food shelf.

[antiquie]

37. I will give a try

with the bananas off the second tree, while they are still on the green side.

[japple]

40. A food bank might not take them, but a soup kitchen--rescue mission

or homeless shelter, might be happy to have them. Their budgets usually don't allow for fresh fruit.

[antiquie]

41. Friends, family

and suggested goodies will use more than I first thought.

[RILib]

36. my local food bank

won't take produce. I suppose they're worried about spoilage, I dunno.

[Tanuki]

15. I had wonderful banana jam in Jamaica

I have never actually made any, but here are some recipes from google:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=ie7&q=banana+jam&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7TSNF_enUS461

[antiquie]

16. Excellent idea!

Thank you.

[boston bean]

19. soon you'll be wishing for this...

[antiquie]

22. Ha-ha

While looking for the version remembered from my childhood, I was (again) sidetracked reading wiki. The phrase and song have an interesting history. Thanks.

[boston bean]

20. Day-O

[boston bean]

21. Tra-La-La-La-La-La-La

[antiquie]

25. Still giggling

[TheManInTheMac]

50. You should change your name to boston banana!

[boston bean]

23. Found what I was looking for to help you..

[TheManInTheMac]

49. "Because I loathe bananas!"

[boston bean]

24. some other suggestions:

[antiquie]

26. Wonderful.

My sides hurt now.

[freshwest]

30. We had bananas shipped in at the port and they had tarantulas in them...

The employees at the old supermarkets had to deal with those guys. I never saw them in the produce aisle. And never had to deal with the buggers until I moved to an arid area. Ugh...

[antiquie]

31. Ugh, indeed.

Tropical tarantulas are more arboreal while ours are more terrestrial. I've always been way more afraid of scorpions.

[freshwest]

32. Had to deal with scorpions, too. They suck. Rather, they sting. You know what I mean.

[Warpy]

33. They're 300 calories apiece of potassium packed goodness

if they're the big Cavendish bananas.

However, even if they're the tiny varietals, they're still full of good nutrition.

Try calling a food bank. I know the main thing I missed on a poverty diet was fresh fruit. The closest I got was a splurge on a jar of applesauce once in a blue moon.

[The empressof all]

34. What you don't share .....freeze

A few frozen bananas sliced and put in a food processor with a little peanut butter (optional) makes a terrific "ice cream". They can also be used for smoothies or defrosted and used for baking. I also recommend dehydrating though even with a good dehydrator I never could get them really crisp and dry enough to preserve for long periods.

[japple]

38. Frozen Chocolate Banana Pops

http://www.joyofbaking.com/FrozenChocolateBananaPops.html

[antiquie]

39. Drooling

[Jenoch]

42. I freeze bananas for

strawberry banana smoothies. I love banana bread but since it's so fattening I don't have it much anymore. Since I am pretty much the only person in our house who eats bananas, I onmy buy them three at a time. Managing those three bananas on a rotating basis from green to ripe is as many bananas as I can handle ; )

My 81 year old father's best friend, retired physician has a banana for breakfast every Tuesday. (He's very regimented to say the least). Each Thursday or Friday he and his banana-loathing wife go banana shopping to buy a single banana so it is at the precise ripeness for Tuesday.

[antiquie]

43. I don't have that much self-discipline

especially when it comes to bananas.

[Tanuki]

44. I just now saw the photos, and didn't realize they are still green.

In Jamaica, still-green bananas are often used just as you would use an "Irish" potato, cooked as a side dish or as a component of stew.

[antiquie]

45. Green bananas

Thank you for another good idea. I plan to try bananas as a savory dish. The photo with my husband is from Thanksgiving. The other tree still looks like the second photo -- the bananas are a bigger now.

[geologic]

46. Just found a new use--

banana piano...
[IMG][/IMG]
http://www.salon.com/2013/01/09/the_kickstarter_solution/

[mother earth]

47. You can make an "ice cream" with frozen bananas, you can use the frozen bananas as a base

and add other fruits to your liking. There's an appliance sold just for this task, it's called Yonanas, but you can use a blender or a Vitamix. Freezing bananas is probably the way to go with the amounts you have.

http://www.yonanas.com/recipes

[antiquie]

48. Very interesting.

I had not heard of yonanas before. Thank you.

edit: typos

[guardian]

51. Bananas Foster

[guardian]

52. Banana Liqueur

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/08/diy-vs-buy-banana-liqueur.html

Why DIY?

Real bananas taste sweet and bright, while artificial banana flavoring can be cloying and taste like paint. Banana extract and artificial banana just aren't the same as fresh bananas, which in addition to being delicious happen to also be cheap and readily available. Add a couple of bananas to a little rum and sugar, and you have a tasty tropical liqueur for just a few bucks, and it kicks the butt of every banana liqueur I've been able to get my hands on.

As I planned my banana liqueur recipe, there was no doubt that the base should be rum and the sugar should be raw since both would add depth to the liqueur. I used a rum distilled from molasses and turbinado sugar which retained a little molasses flavor. With all that richness, I didn't think vanilla was necessary. However, if you use white sugar or vodka, you may want the added oomph of a vanilla bean. You could even reduce the sugar for a more subtle liqueur or leave the sugar out altogether for a tasty, unusual banana-infused rum.

[antiquie]

54. Had not thought of a liqueur,

just gotta see how what equipment is needed.
That Bananas Foster looks seriously good.

[guardian]

57. Bananas Foster

is one of my favorite desserts. It is very easy to make too. Be sure to use a good quality vanilla ice cream. I like the original Brennan's Restaurant recipe: http://www.brennansneworleans.com/r_bananasfoster.html

BANANAS FOSTER

¼ cup (½ stick) butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup banana liqueur
4 bananas, cut in half
lengthwise, then halved
¼ cup dark rum
4 scoops vanilla ice cream

Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet. Place the pan over low heat either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan. When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum. Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum. When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream. Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.


If you ever visit New Orleans be sure to stop into Brennan's for a taste.

[antiquie]

58. Thank you.

New Orleans visit: only in my dreams!

[guardian]

59. follow up?

So what did you end up doing? Just curious.

[antiquie]

61. Thanks for asking.

What context your tagline?
Fools, all?

[guardian]

62. tagline

Shakespeare. Context is basically that no one today uses reason to choose who to love.

[antiquie]

60. Approximately one gallon frozen smashed into one cup baggies.

The bananas on the second tree have not ripened yet and, unlike the first tree, the bananas have not broken the tree with their weight.

We gave away until that became impractical and peeled, smashed and baggied the remainder. It is convenient to reach in and grab a bag or two and make no mess banana bread or add to a smoothie. Life has used some of my excess energy so I confess to not making anything create as yet.