Bananas Foster was created at Brennan’s in New Orleans in the early 1950s. Why did they do this? New Orleans was a major port for all things coming in from the Caribbean and south of the border, so why not. This is very rich but also very simple. It’s usually served over/with vanilla ice cream but I serve it over pound cake. You can also serve it in or over crepes if lucky you has any.
This is not the Brennan’s recipe; it was shown to me by a native of New Orleans who seemingly grew up on it and whose mother made it.
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1/2 stick (4 tbs.) butter, or maybe a little more
3/4—1 cup brown sugar (this kind of depends on your bananas content)
1 tsp. cinnamon, or maybe a little more. I use slightly more, but not too much, and this is not optional
A little nutmeg if you have it. I normally don’t, so: (optional)
Some ripe bananas you’re trying to get rid of. They can’t be overripe though, and you’ll see why. Use 3 or 4 of the medium-size ones you get in a bunch. Sometimes you get those freakishly long ones among the normal ones, and those might be better. 2 or 3 of those.
Dark rum
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Take out a skillet.
Slice the bananas. This first method is genius and deserves its own paragraph. Peel the bananas but don’t take them out of their skin. Lay them on a plate so the open peel forms a bed. Slice them on a diagonal, maybe 1/2” wide. Leave them in the skin. If you want to go more traditional, slice them length-wise in half.
Over medium heat melt the butter. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg if you have any. Stir this around until the sugar dissolves and it starts to bubble. Airlift your sliced bananas in their banana peel stretcher over the pan and tip the slices in. Stir them around so they get coated and browned but don’t burn. Maybe 3 or 4 minutes. If you’ve sliced your bananas along the length put them in the skillet and let them sit and turn them gently so they brown on both sides. This takes a little longer, 4–5 minutes.
Splash a little dark rum over all of this but don’t stir. Remove from heat and CAREFULLY use one of those fire wands or whatever they’re called, or use a long fireplace match if you have one and they still exist, I know they do, a couple of my siblings have them—where was I? Oh yes, you’ve turned off the heat and moved the skillet to another burner. Ignite and watch the flames carefully. They should go out fairly quickly, a minute or two. If not, shake the skillet gently.
As mentioned above, this is traditionally served over/with vanilla ice cream but I use pound cake. Also use the syrup left in the skillet, waste not want not. I wouldn’t go crazy with substitutions, like elaborate 5-ingredient Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors or multi-layer, multi-flavor bakery cake slices.
As they say in New Orleans, laissez les bon temps rouler!
COUSIN M ALERT!!! He is in internet/WiFi hell – and has limited or no access to respond to your gracious comments. He says “…We’re on day 2 of this and I’ve written down no passwords so I’m effectively locked out of DS. Hope to return sometime before the turn of the New Year!” I expect that we can all relate to his tech pain, and will send him good vibes while making the appropriate burnt offerings and sacrifices to the gods on the internet on his behalf.
Also – the man keeps doing recipes with fire – he obviously trusts me more than some people do – I am mostly banned from fire-required cooking.
I love Bananas Foster over crepes, haven’t made it in a long time. Thanks for the reminder, Cousin Matthew.
Well thanks for this, I just decided this will be dessert for New Year’s Eve.