"New from the Kitchen"
Recipe of the Month - July 2018
Desserts: Bananas Foster
I needed a new dessert to serve to some regular guests who have had most of my standard desserts on numerous occasions. I noticed some bananas on the counter and remembered a favorite classic dessert that used to be a standard on restaurant menus. It was a hit that night so I have added back to the menu rotation.
Once considered an exotic fruit, after 1870 with better shipping and botany, bananas became a million dollar industry in the U.S. by the turn of the century. With the major fruit companies based in New Orleans there was a plentiful supply. In 1951 the dessert was invented at the iconic Brennan's restaurant when Owen Brennan told his wife to come up with a new dessert that night to honor police commissioner Richard Foster.
Made with bananas, butter, sugar, allspice, nutmeg, rum, banana liqueur and vanilla ice cream it is traditionally flambeed at the table, I decided it was better for me to do it in the kitchen then trust Michael not to singe the guests eyebrows in the dining room.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon banana liqueur 2 under ripe bananas, sliced
1/4 cup dark rum
vanilla ice cream
Instructions
Use an ice cream scoop to make four ice cream balls and return to the freezer ahead of time.
Melt the butter in a 10 inch skillet over low heat. Add the brown sugar, allspice and nutmeg and stir until sugar dissolves.
Add the banana liqueur and bring to a simmer. Add the bananas and cook for a minute then turn the bananas and cook for another minute spooning the sauce over the bananas as they cook. Remove the bananas to another pan and keep warm.
Bring the sauce to a simmer and slowly add the rum. Use a stick lighter to carefully ignite the sauce and continue cooking until the flame extinguishes. Continue cooking until sauce is syrupy.
Put the ice cream balls into serving dishes, put the bananas on top and spoon the sauce over all.
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