I got my very own copy of the Joy of Cooking for the first time about a year ago. Since then, I've made the one same recipe over and over again without ever thinking about making anything else.
I give you, ladies and gentleman my famed "stick to every crevice of your duodenum" Mushroom Veloute Sauce
Honestly, it's amazing. Stir in some extra heavy cream or a half a stick of butter when you take it off the heat, and it's called "Sauce Supreme".
So, because I posess Jesus of cooking I decided that it's fine time for me to move on to other sections of The Book. Sections that make my tears leak just thinking about them. I really don't even have to add salt to any of my baked goods because I cry all over the dough and my tears produce the exact equivalent of 1 tsp iodized sodium. I clogged my tear ducts with wax, put on Frank Sinatra duets for comfort and plunged forward.
I finally settled on an easy thing called a "Banana Brown Betty". No one knows who the heck Brown Betty is supposed to be, but I 'm sure she is Betty Crocker's dead alcoholic aunt. I picked banana because I haven't been able to get the tempura dessert out of my mind that Kayla and I received at Wasabi Fusion in Minneapolis. It made us anything short of crazy. Slightly crunchy outside, but all banana goo on the inside.
I swear they just smash a slice of banana down with a fork and flip it in
some burning hot oil for 10 seconds, but it is delicious.
Banana Brown Betty (Adapted from Joy of Cooking, but modified to my own liking)
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Get a pie plate ready for crust and custard distribution.
Combine in a bowl and set aside:
1 1/2 cups crushed Nilla Wafers or any off brand*
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 stick of unsalted butter, melted (While butter is melting quick change to No. 8 of Duets. The song is New York, New York with Tony Bennett. Do a slow dance with the refrigerator door for 30 seconds and high kick your way to the microwave when the butter is completely melted)
Peel and cut into even slices:
4 firm, ripe bananas**
In a medium sauce pan simmer 1 1/2 cups of milk
While milk is heating beat into a bowl:
1 Lg. Egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tblspn all purpose flour
1 tblspn cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt (or tears, in my case)
Whisk half of the hot milk into the egg mixture, proceed to mix this mixture gradually into the rest of the milk in the pan. Return to medium heat whisking constantly and scraping down sides until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat, still whisking, for 1 minute. Add 1/2 tsp of Vanilla extract. Fold bananas into saucepan and set aside.
Press half of Nilla Wafer crumbs into the bottom of pie plate. Spoon banana mixture over crumbs, and dust with ground cinnamon. Cover with the rest of the wafer crumbs. Bake until the top is brown and filling is warm. Allow to cool before serving.
Perfecto! No incessant sobbing necessary!
Joy recommends eating all of this in one sitting with a strawberry sauce on one side and Frank Sinatra on the other. The sauce is shown in the lead photo, but I wouldn't make it again. This dish would be better served hot with ice cream. It doesn't reheat well, but it makes a good breakfast meal served cold!
*Crush Nilla Wafers by putting them them in a Ziplock bag and crushing them with whatever is handy, i.e. bottle, rolling pin, fist, head.
**This sh*t is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S
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