plantains foster

I had some folks over for a "breakfast for dinner" party this weekend. As if challah french toast with apples and honey wasn't sweet enough, I added to the delicious toothache with a version of bananas foster, a wonderful dessert originated at Brennan's in New Orleans.

I used plantains instead of bananas. I also served it over Kleinpeter Dairy's banana foster ice cream. It was a perfect hot/cold mix of complex and sweet deliciousness, finished with a nice bite of rum - which probably means I didn't burn off the rum completely. Somehow this doesn't bother me.

Plus, it's fun to light it on fire.

Ingredients
2 oz dark rum
3 tbs dark brown sugar
3 tbs butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 small very ripe (the skin should be black) plantain, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
ice cream

Melt the butter in a skillet.

Add the brown sugar, stir to combine.

Add the plantains. Stir to combine.

Carefully, add the rum. Let it get hot.

Even more carefully, tilt the pan slightly away from you, stand as far back as possible, and light the rum on fire (use a long fire starter for this).

Let the flames die down. Then serve over scoops of ice cream.

I served this to four people, after we'd eaten a pretty hearty meal - if your meal is lighter (or you just have a sweet tooth) you may want to increase the amounts of ingredients to make more. When I do it again, I'll probably use a larger plantain.