15 January, 2023

Fat Red Bananas and Once-in-a-Lifetime Lasagna

Remember those red bananas in my last post?  The Montezuma Oropendolas thought they looked mighty tasty and helped themselves before we cut the stalk down.  I managed to salvage 7 that fell to the ground.  They were still pretty hard, so didn't suffer real damage.  

Fatter than standard supermarket bananas and a little shorter, too.

We ate the one that was ripe in a fruit salad with papaya and star fruit.  The taste was very much like a regular commercial banana, but the texture was delightful - silky smooth yet firm, but not mushy or mealy.  The others will be ripe soon.

In other food news I made "Once-in-a-Lifetime Lasagna".  I had intended to make Portobello Mushroom Parmesan, but things happened, as they do.  I also had a nice eggplant and some leftover homemade red sauce that I wanted to use.  A fruitless search through the freezer for the mozzarella cheese left me holding some frozen brie (made by our friend and former neighbor Chris, now of White Rock Farm), frozen previously rehydrated and cooked wild mushroom mix, frozen leftover filling for a pecan and mushroom tart.  So I precooked the portobello mushrooms and eggplant and combined things in layers in a large lasagna baking dish topped with grated parmesan.  Never again will these ingredients come into alignment.  I told Dennis that I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing - we'll find out after we have some tonight.  It made about 12 servings, so I am hoping that it tastes as good as it smelled cooking.  More fruit salad for dessert.

Smells bubbly delicious.