Bananas Foster
While the bananas cook, scoop the ice cream into individual bowls so they are ready to go once the sauce has been flambéed. Before flambéing, make sure to roll up long shirt sleeves, tie back long hair, turn off the exhaust fan (otherwise the fan may pull the flames up) and turn off any lit burners (this is critical if you have a gas stove). A dark rum like Myers will give this dish a potent rum flavor, for less intense rum flavor, use a variety like Bacardi Gold.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick), melted
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 strip lemon zest (1 inch long by about 1/2 inch wide)
1 large, firm, ripe banana , peeled and halved lengthwise and then halved crosswise
2 tablespoons rum (see note above)
1/2 pint vanilla ice cream
1. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest; stir to dissolve the sugar, about 1 minute. (If the heat is too high, the butter and sugar will separate instead of combining to form a sauce.)
2. Add the bananas and spoon some sauce over each piece. Cook until the bananas are glossy and golden on the bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn the bananas and continue cooking until very soft but not mushy or falling apart, about 1 1/2 minutes longer.
3. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the rum and wait until the rum has warmed slightly, about 5 seconds. Wave a lit match over the pan until the rum ignites, shaking the pan to distribute the flame over the entire pan. When the flames subside (this will take 15 to 30 seconds), divide the bananas and sauce among the two bowls of ice cream, discarding lemon zest, and serve.
Safely Setting Bananas on Fire Before flambéing, make sure to roll up shirtsleeves, tie back long hair, turn off the exhaust fan (otherwise the fan may pull the flames up), and turn off any lit burners (this is critical if you have a gas stove). If you have long fireplace matches, use them to ignite the rum.
1. Remove the skillet from the heat and pour in the rum.
2. Off the heat, ignite the rum with long fireplace matches.
3. Return the skillet to the heat and gently shake the skillet to flambé the rum. Keep shaking until the flames subside.