Owner of the world famous
New Orleans restaurant Brennan's, Owen Edward Brennan challenged
his talented chef, Paul Blangé, to include bananas as
a way of promoting the imported fruit. In 1951, Chef Paul,
created Bananas Foster. The scrumptious
dessert was named for
Richard Foster, who, as chairman, served with Mr. Brennan on
the New
Orleans Crime Commission, a civic effort to clean up the French
Quarter. Mr. Foster was a frequent customer of the restaurant and a
very good friend of Owen Brennan.
Brennan's
Bananas Foster
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup firmly packed brown
sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup banana liqueur
- 4 firm bananas, cut in
half lengthwise, then halved
- 1/4 cup dark rum
- 4 scoops vanilla ice cream
- Combine the butter, sugar
and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet. Place the pan
over low heat either on an
alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring,
until the sugar dissolves.
- Stir in the banana liqueur,
then place the bananas in the pan.
When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully
add the rum. Continue
to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly
to ignite the rum.
- When the flames subside,
lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream. Generously
spoon warm sauce over the top of
the ice cream and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
