Recipe#8941

Title: Bananas Foster 01

From: Christi Wilson christi@meaddata.com 
 Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes 
 Subject: Bananas Foster 
 Date: 20 Feb 1994 17:18:07 -0500 
 Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH 
 Message-ID: <2k8niv$onb@s.ms.uky.edu> 
 References: <2jqei3$91e@s.ms.uky.edu> 

   4 tablespoons butter
    1 cup brown sugar
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    4 tablespoons banana liqueur
    4 bananas, cut in half lengthwise, then halved
    About 1/4 cup rum
    4 scoops vanilla ice cream
    Melt the butter over an alcohol burner in a flambe pan or attractive
 skillet.  Add the sugar, cinnamon and the banana liqueur and stir to
 mix. Heat for a few minutes and place the halved bananas in the sauce
 and saute until soft and slightly browned. Add the rum and allow it to
 heat well; then tip the pan so that the flame from the burner causes
 the sauce to light. First lift the bananas carefully out of the pan and
 place four pieces over each portion of ice cream and spoon the hot
 sauce from the pan over the top.
    Serves four.
    Note: This can also be prepared over a stove burner and then brought
 to the dinner table and flamed.
 In case you're interested:
    This flamed dessert was invented at Brennan's in the 1950s when the
 restaurant's founder, Owen E. Brennan Sr., wanted to find a new way to
 use bananas. New Orleans was the major port of entry for bananas
 shipped from Central America and South America and Brennan wanted to
 promote the plentiful fruit. He challenged his chef, Paul Blange, to
 create an interesting dish.
    The dish, made of bananas and rum and served over vanilla ice cream,
 was named for Brennan's friend, Richard Foster, who owned the Foster
 Awning Company and served as vice chairman of the city's Vice Committee
 in charge of cleaning up the French Quarter. Foster was a frequent
 diner at Brennan's and the owner thought it fitting to name the new
 dish in his honor.
    Today the dessert is the most requested item on the menu of the
 famous French Quarter restaurant, which serves 35,000 pounds of bananas
 each year.  Now, this local discovery is found on menus throughout the
 world.
 Here's another take on this:
 BANANAS FOSTER SHORTCAKE
    2 1/2 cups flour
    2 teaspoons baking soda
    3/4 teaspoon salt
    3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled
    1 cup banana puree
    4 1/2 cups heavy cream (divided use)
    2 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, tightly packed
    2 tablespoons granulated sugar
    2 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
    2 1/2 tablespoons banana liqueur
    5 bananas, peeled and sliced
    Preheat oven to 400 F.
    Sift together into a mixing bowl the flour, baking soda and salt.
    Cut in the cold butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Lightly
 stir in banana puree to make a damp dough.  Turn out onto floured
 surface and roll or pat to 1 inch thick.  Cut into 2 1/2-inch circles
 with floured cutter.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until
 golden, about 30 minutes.
    Combine 2 1/2 cups cream and the brown sugar in a heavy saucepan.
    Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until slightly
 thickened, about 10 to 12 minutes.  Do not scorch.  Allow to cool about
 10 minutes.
    Meanwhile, whip the rest of the cream and the granulated sugar
 together until soft peaks form.
    To assemble, stir rum and banana liqueur into the warm sauce.  Split
 the biscuits and place on individual plates.  Top with banana slices;
 drizzle with sauce.  Top with whipped cream.  Makes 10 servings.
    Per serving: Calories 922   Fat 55 g    Cholesterol 190 mg Sodium
    387 mg    Percent calories from fat 52%  :-(