Banana Fritters

Phew!  It has been a day, let me tell you!  I worked until 4:30.  Picked up our CSA share.  Rushed home to take pictures of the haul and split it among it's recipients (we share our share with 2 other people).  And barely made it to my volleyball game at 6! 

Now it's nearly 9 and I still haven't finished today's post!  But don't you worry - I just couldn't resist sharing these fritters with you! 

Andy had a night class on Monday night and I was left bored and alone at home.  But I spotted some over-ripe bananas on the counter that begged to be used.  So perusing through one of my vintage cookbooks, I found the perfect fritter recipe that could satisfy my craving!


Ingredients:
Adapted from the 1947 edition of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book

3 over-ripe bananas
juice from 1 lemon
1 cup flour
1/2 traspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil, for frying
powdered sugar, optional

In a heavy-bottomed pan, add about an inch tall worth of vegetable oil.  Heat under medium high heat, until temperature is around 370 F.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, butter.  Stir in the flour and salt until batter is just combined.

Peel bananas and push through a metal sieve to rid of seeds.  If you don't care about the seeds, you could just go right ahead and mash the bananas if you wanted.  Stir mashed bananas with the lemon juice and mix well.

Add the mashed bananas to the batter and mix well.

Working in batches, spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into the hot vegetable oil to make each fritter.  I did about 4 fritters per batch.  Fry for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

Top fritters with powdered sugar, if desired.

These were so good.  I could have taken the easy route and just sliced the bananas, dipped them in the batter, and fried them that way, but I didn't.  I love how the banana flavor is incorporated throughout the dough and it lends to a custard-like filling.  Andy came home that night and made work of a few of them too!