As thanks for me having bbq’d for them the previous week, my assistant rugby coach Lance and his fabulous wife Liz invited me and some family over to their place for a reciprocal thank-you meal. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times before, both Lance and Liz have previous history as chefs, so I was ALL too curious to know what they’d be making for us out of their home kitchen. The result of their efforts: a simple, but t-a-s-t-y meal of pan-fried chicken and fish pieces, served with a rainbow of chopped veggies, sauces (including peanut butter?!) and rice-paper wraps. After cleaning every morsel of food off the communal serving plates (seriously), Liz headed back into the kitchen to make us dessert.
Question: pastry chef + many years of experience + dinner party at her house = what’s she going to make for us?
Question: pastry chef + many years of experience + dinner party at her house = what’s she going to make for us?
Answer (too easy): caramelized bananas on toasted raisin bread served with ice cream and warmed pecans. If Mrs. Pastry Chef can get away with something this easy at her dinner parties, surely you and I can as well.It was a great night of laughs and stories … and a great way to say “See you later” to a great couple of friends in Cairns!
Loose recipe: to make the caramel for the bananas, simply toss them into a pan over medium-high heat with a handfull of brown sugar and (in our case = fed four adults) maybe a half cup-sized glob of fresh butter.
The proportions of sugar-to-butter are more art than science (in my opinion) - if it's too dry, add more butter. If it's too oily / runny, add more sugar. When it bubbles in the pan, here's what you're looking for:
Serve atop triangular-cut pieces of toasted cinnamon bread with ice cream of your choosing, and a few microwave-warmed pecans ... and you have an incredibly impressive low-effort dessert.
Pastry Chef-approved, by Liz.
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