So we’re celebrating Fat Tuesday or more specifically “Mardis Gras” (that’s French, you know) this week at RiverSong. That being said, here’s a traditional New Orleans dessert recipe that’s easy to do and pretty fun to make also!

You know how people suddenly show up conveniently around dinnertime and coincidentally don’t have any dinner plans? (Or at least they used to in pre-pandemic times.) Well, get ready because now that restrictions are starting to ease off then they might come back sooner than you think.

This is a great dessert for those times or anytime that you didn’t plan for dessert ahead of time, as it can be done at the last minute as long as you happen to have bananas lying around.

There’s a saying about falling off the banana boat, which is actually a real thing.

New Orleans is one of the major ports where bananas come in from the Caribbean. They are very much a part of the local cuisine for that reason.

This recipe was created in the ’50s at Brennan’s restaurant for Stephen Foster who was not only a regular customer but the head of the crime commission! It’s frustrating that time and again, recipes are not named after the person they were created by, but the person they were created for!

By the way make sure your fire insurance premiums are paid up to date before making this dish.

Bananas Foster

Recipe by America's Test KitchenCourse: Dessert

Make sure your fire insurance premiums are paid up to date before making this dish.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

• orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg

• 1 oz light rum

• Vanilla ice cream as needed

Directions

• Peel and cut bananas lengthwise.
• Melt butter and sprinkle with sugar.
• Add bananas and zest and allow to caramelize.
• Hit with rum and stand back!
• Sprinkle sweet spices over and serve over ice cream.