Real Banana Pudding!

So this is an old Southern favorite, except the South prefers making a layer type of pudding--vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, vanilla cookies, repeat.  This is fine and good, except I want real bananas infused into my pudding, but not from a box.  You can also use banana extract, if you like the alcoholy after taste.  Really, you want bananas!

I typically use about two bananas and put them in my food processor.  You can also mash them if you would like a rustic, chunky pudding.  Place this in a very large measuring cup.  Pour in half and half till you have 3 cups total of both banana and milk.  This is extremely important because if you don't, you'll have more of a banana yogurt (and that isn't fun at all!).  In a sauce pan (preferably one with a pour spout), combine 3/4 of a cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and combine the milk concoction and set the stove top to medium.  It is very important to continue stirring the contents at the bottom, otherwise you'll end up with burned sugar.  This recipe tries your patience because you have to continue stirring until this bad boy thickens up like pudding.  Once it becomes thick, you want to temper four egg yolks.  Tempering is where you take about 3 tablespoons of the hot stuff (the milk concoction) and whisk it into the eggs--this prevents the eggs from scrambling.  Once tempered, pour the eggs in whilst you whisk so you don't end up scrambled eggs at the bottom.  Then put in a tablespoon of butter and melt it in.  Once melted, take it off the heat and pour into four serving containers.  Refrigerate to set.

This is a gluten free dessert as is.  My sous chef helped me caramelize some bananas to make it look pretty (you just sugar the sides and fry them in a pan with a bit of butter).  Once you add normal vanilla wafers, the recipe obviously is no longer gluten free.

I usually don't like pudding, especially pudding out of a box.  This pudding is super awesome.  And you can do so much to it (e.g., layer fruits or cookies).  So yummy.  I highly recommend you make this for guests, who are totally going to be impressed when you tell them it's not from a box!