Bananas en Fuego

Although the old adage is to only serve dinner guests something you’ve made before, I tend to NEVER follow that advice. For me, entertaining opens up the possibility to try a new dish, a new technique, a new ingredient…anything to keep things interesting. And so for my dinner with recent San Fran transplant, Laura, I decided to light something on fire.

Maybe trying this with a bottle of wine in me wasn’t the best idea, but it worked out wonderfully (to both our surprise, especially since I had her screaming out directions from the other room, clearly acknowledging I had never attempted this before) and was surely a great way to end dinner…and start the rest of the night.

Caramelized bananas and fresh blackberries with vanilla frozen yogurt

I took the frozen yogurt out first so it would soften a bit, but by the time we finished, it was almost melted, so, my suggestion would be to only take it out a couple minutes ahead of time.

Slice one banana into thin disks and add to a hot, buttered frying pan. Sprinkle on some cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg.

Scoop the FY into a tumbler, add 4 berries, add another scoop of FY and then 2 berries.

Once the bananas brown a bit, flip them over.

Then break into your roommate’s liquor cabinet and find a decent bourbon (I used Blanton’s.) I clearly didn’t measure, but I added about 2-3 splashes of bourbon.

Turn up the flame to its highest capability and then dip/tilt your pan into the fire. Once the fire catches on the bourbon, it will create a large flame that will last less than 5 seconds. So, just go with it and don’t be scared. Lower the flame and shake the pan a bit. Once the fire has died down, keep the bananas on there for another minute so they really soak up all the fire and bourbon.

Pour the bananas over the frozen yogurt and berries and serve.

Editors Note: Click HERE for a new spin on this dessert