Our food blog Eat Arkansas asked the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates for their favorite recipes. We don’t know who will win, Democrat Mike Ross or Republican Asa Hutchinson. As they say, results are uncertain: Eat dessert first. It’s something both parties agree on. Here are the recipes:
Ross sent along a recipe for banana pudding from his mother, Frances Ross, which he said “has been one of my favorites since I was a kid — and continues to be one today.”
Frances Ross’ banana pudding
3 cups milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 T. of flour
3 egg yolks (save whites for topping if desired)
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
vanilla wafers
2 bananas
Put 2 cups milk in a 2-quart saucepan and heat very slowly. While milk is heating, beat together the sugar, flour and egg yolks. Add the remaining cup of milk and mix well.
Add the sugar-flour-egg mixture to the heated milk and stir constantly until the mixture thickens and is about to boil. Add the butter and vanilla and remove from burner.
Place vanilla wafers in bottom of 2-qt. dish, add part of the mixture. Layer slices of two bananas and add remaining mixture.
Serve with whipped topping, or beat egg whites and place on top and cook in oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Hutchinson’s wife, Susan, sent along one of his favorite recipes, a classic apple pie. He “likes it best warm with vanilla ice cream. But he also likes a cold slice re-heated in a little butter in a skillet for a tasty treat or addition to breakfast.”
Apple pie (from the 1970 printing of the Betty Crocker’s Cookbook)
Makes one 9-inch pie, crust top and bottom
Use your favorite pie crust. (Susan Hutchinson makes her own with the recipe from the same Betty Crocker’s Cookbook).
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Gold Medal flour, non-rising
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of salt
6 cups pared and thinly sliced tart apples
(Asa prefers a sweeter apple, like Delicious)
2 T. butter or margarine (optional)
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare the pastry of your choice. Stir together sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt; mix with apples.
Turn into pastry-lined pie pan; dot with butter. Cover with top crust, make slits in it, seal and flute.
Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Remove foil last 15 minutes of baking.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.