The ideal bananas for cooking are just ripe, yellow with barely any brown spots. Double this recipe if you want a more substantial dessert or serve with vanilla ice cream.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 small servings

　　2 bananas, ripe but not too soft

　　1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

　　Flour for dredging

　　1 tablespoon sugar, plus more to pass at the table

　　Fresh lemon juice

　　

Step 1

Peel the bananas, cut them in half crosswise, then lengthwise, so that each banana has been made into 4 pieces. Put the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat.

　　

Step 2

Dredge the banana pieces lightly in the flour, shaking them to remove the excess. When the butter foam subsides, add the pieces to the skillet. Cook, turning frequently, until they are golden and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the sugar and cook 1 minute more.

　　

Step 3

Serve, passing additional sugar and lemon juice at the table.

　　From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books.Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.