Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Public Service Banana Bread

Public Service


Paw-Paw worked for over 30 years for New Orleans Public Service, NOPSI, a division of Middle South Utilities System, now Entergy. When I was young, my dermatologist was located in a building near the NOPSI office. Grandma would drop me off at the medical offices, and Paw-Paw would meet me and take me to the doctor. After my appointment, Paw-Paw and I would walk back to NOPSI office on Baronne Street. I would sit in the lobby until he finished his work day. In the lobby, I watched people pay their utility bills and browsed through the rack of recipes provided by the extension service.

When I rented my first apartment as a graduate student, I asked Dad to pick up a set of NOPSI recipes for me. I assembled the 75+ sheets he picked up for me into a binder as my first cookbook.  The banana recipe sheet had about 15 recipes including banana bread, banana pudding, banana cake, and bananas foster

My Variations

To keep cost down, I use ½ stick of butter and ½ stick of margarine. Additionally, I use half white and half wheat flour. This is a great way to use up ripe bananas that you can buy inexpensively by the bag. I like pecans in this recipe, and your dad prefers walnuts. You like it when I substitute chocolate chips for the nuts or add ½ cup of chocolate chips.

Ingredients

¼
Cup
Butter (½ stick or 4 Tbsp)
¼
Cup
Margarine (½ stick or 4 Tbsp)
1
Cups
Sugar
1
Cups
Mashed ripe bananas (2 large or 3 small)
1
Tsp
Lemon juice
1
Tsp
Baking soda
2
Tbsp
Boiling water
2

Eggs, slightly beaten
½
Cup
Chopped nuts
½
Cup
Chocolate chips, optional
1
Cup
Wheat flour
1
Cup
White flour

Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a loaf pan. (I use a Pyrex bread pan.)
  2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add bananas and lemon juice and blend well.
  3. In a tea cup, add boiling water to soda. Add to creamed mixture. Mix well.
  4.  Add eggs and mix well.
  5.  Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing well.
  6.  Add nuts or chocolate chips, if desired. Mix well with a spatula by hand.
  7.  Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour until toothpick inserted in bread comes out clean. If not done, bake for an additional 5 minutes and check again. Repeat until done.
  8. Cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan. (I run a knife around the edge of the pan before removing the bread or use a spatula to loosen the bread before removing.)

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