Day 182: Bananas Foster & Midnight D'Espresso Delight (Happy National Ice Cream Day!)

When thinking about dinner for the first day being home after vacation, I thought, "Salad!  We've been eating like crazy all week!" (See previous post.) So, we did have salad with grilled chicken for supper.  But in the morning, I had found out that it was National Ice Cream Day.  I'm an ice cream girl at heart.  How can I not celebrate?  So, I planned a rather extravagant dessert for Randy and I, but kept fruit in it to keep it healthy--bananas foster. ;)  I love the flambe part of this dish.  I remember when I was in Costa Rica, they had a flambe station for fruit in the dining area of our "resort."  I brought fruit there everyday to watch it flame and then enjoy the flavor. :)

Bananas Foster
If you're not afraid of flaming food, this dish couldn't be easier!  If you use a small skillet, it will be rather easy to catch a flame (the alcohol has to actually touch the flame of your gas stove).  If you use a saucepan (like I did) or if you have an electric stove, just use a lighter to set your sauce aflame.   This recipe serves 2.

2 slightly under ripe bananas
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8-1/4 cup dark rum (such as Myer's or Bacardi Select)
vanilla ice cream
whipped cream (optional)
pound cake (optional) -- I used Tastefully Simple's Tropical Pound Cake--it was a parting gift from them to me!

Slice the bananas on a diagonal.  Hint: choose the right helper!  I asked Randy to slice the bananas on a diagonal and this is what he did:

After that, I put him behind the camera lens. ;)  Truthfully, you can slice your bananas however you'd like.

Over medium-high heat, melt the butter and add the brown sugar.  Stir to combine.  Add the bananas and cook them on one side until browned. 

Flip and brown the other side of the bananas. 

Remove the pan from the heat and add the rum. 

Return to heat and set aflame.  Let the alcohol burn and when the flame is gone, the sauce is done! 

Unfortunately, you can't see the blue/white flame of the alcohol in the pan.  But it was there!  I stepped back to protect my scarf! haha!

Serve over ice cream and pound cake, if desired.  Top with whipped cream.

Midnight D'Espresso Delight
Here's a fun drink to serve with this "fancy" dessert!  I came up with it while in search for a rum/coffee dessert drink to go with the bananas foster.  As I was perusing the liquor store, I found mocha Kahlua!  I had to buy it.  You can use regular Kahlua, too.  The "Midnight" of this drink is the dark color, Randy came up with "D'Espresso": D for Dattolo and the espresso for the strong coffee, and the "Delight" is in the ice cream and chocolate shavings!  Enjoy!

equal parts: dark rum, strong iced coffee, mocha Kahlua
1 small scoop of vanilla ice cream
semi-sweet chocolate shavings (I buy a bar and use a vegetable peeler to get cute little curls)

Mix the rum, iced coffee, and Kahlua. 

Top with a small scoop of ice cream and sprinkle on chocolate shavings.  Serve cold (over ice if desired).