Rum Raisin Rice Pudding

There are now two things I love from Ireland - Boyzone (yes, the boyband...stop shaking your head!) and this super-awesome rum raisin rice pudding I discovered on the St. Patrick's Day menu suggested by Food Network. What's even better about this rice pudding? It's by Ina Garten. That means automatic inclusion in my book of favorites.

Since we just passed St. Paddy's Day, I decided to partake in some Irish edible goodies with a side of Boyzone for a mini Irish weekend. You're not allowed to judge. Or else, I'll throw a Ronan Keating doll at you. Not that I own one. But, I will carve one out of a potato for said task. That'll make it an authentic Irish doll. Ha! *cough* Really bad joke.

I must tell you about my history with Boyzone though, since they were one of my first few celebrity crushes (not counting this Indian actor who I told my mom I wanted to hug when I was 8 or 9 years old). I don't like any of their recent songs but, I still love the albums they released in the late 90s and early 2000s because I spent days and nights obsessing over them. Listening to them now brings back memories from my teen years and I can't help but laugh. My brother would go round the bend when I used to listen to them since he hated boybands and Pop in general. He'd make fun of them all the time and say mean things. You know how I've got my revenge? A lot of people say HIS 3-month old son looks like ME when I was a baby. Mwahahaha But, obviously this is good news for my nephew since he's inherited my good looks. ;)

Bananas Foster by Ella Brennan

(Part of a weekly series by a group of bloggers, featuring Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers in Food - see end of post for list of bloggers participating & their blogs)

At #34, this week we have Ella Brennan, the queen of New Orleans cuisine. It is so strange that I was in New Orleans last year and never heard of Ella Brennan! Commander's Palace and Brennan's? Yes. Hurricanes from Pat O'Brien's? Oh yes. While reading about Ella, I wish there was more I'd learnt about her while I was in New Orleans because she is quite the restaurateur who's made an impact internationally. Unlike Paula Deen in Savannah, I heard absolutely nothing of Ella in New Orleans. Sad. Or maybe I just wasn't looking in the right direction.

Ella's story begins in High School when her brother, Owen Brennan, acquired a restaurant in New Orleans' French Quarter, which over the years gained its popular name, Brennan's. She criticized everything in the restaurant and didn't fail to tell her brother how she felt about the food either. So, Owen asked her to step in and prove her worth. And prove she did. By 18, she was practically running the restaurant, including operations. She had a voracious appetite for knowledge of the restaurant business and picked up as much as she could from tons of books she read and anyone from the restaurant arena she met. From there, she slowly worked her way up as a restaurant scion. She's had her share of ups and downs in life, battling through family feuds (she gave up working with Brennan's during the rift with Owen's family), growing her restaurant empire through acquisitions, including Commander's Palace, and also braving the shutting down of restaurants that didn't quite make the mark. But, in her entire career that spans over the last 65 years or so, she's forged on in taking Louisiana cooking worldwide and pioneering the notion of nouvelle Creole cuisine. In 1996, Commander's Palace was honored with the Lifetime Outstanding Restaurant Award by the James Beard Foundation and later, also with a Lifetime Service Award.

Now, Ella's not been known to cook though she has inspired and created some of the signature dishes you eat and hear of in New Orleans. One of those being Bananas Foster that she invented with the then chef of Brennan's (it is extremely strange that Martha Stewart features the exact same recipe as hers on her site). And that is what I chose for my weekly series feature. What's even better? I got to eat ALL of this deliciousness because the husband is allergic to bananas! Haha!

This dish absolutely strengthened my thoughts on butter and brown sugar being caramelized BFFs. I had to restrain myself from swiping at the mixture melting together because it is awesome! With the rum kicking in, the bananas that cook in this mixture take on a divine taste that you won't want to see the end of. I hope you enjoy! Bon Appetit!

Bananas Foster by Ella Brennan

Ingredients and instructions:

• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup banana liqueur (if you can't find any, you could use 1/2 teaspoon of banana extract mixed with water and a little rum to make 1/4 cup - I did this and it turned out really well)
• 4 bananas, cut in half lengthwise, then halved
• ¼ cup dark rum
• 4 scoops vanilla ice cream

On low heat in a skillet or heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Once the sugar has melted, gently add the banana liqueur or the banana extract with water mixture. Put the bananas in, cut side down. Let it cook till it gets soft and the underneath starts browning.

This is where it gets interesting. Once the bananas are ready, slowly add the rum. Let the rum get hot and start smoking. Stand as far as you can and gently tip the pan on its side to ignite the rum. Once the flames subside, turn the heat off. 

Serve your bananas with ice cream or Cool Whip, like I did, and drizzle with the warm sauce.

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Here's a list of the other bloggers participating in this series. Do go over to their blogs to see what yummy dishes they've whipped up. If you'd like to join the group, please get in touch with Mary of One Perfect Bite. 

Val - More Than Burnt Toast [] Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed [] Susan - The Spice Garden [] Heather - girlichef [] Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney [] Jeanette - Healthy Living [] Mary - One Perfect Bite [] Kathleen - Bake Away with Me [] Sue - The View from Great Island [] Barbara - Movable Feasts [] Linda A - There and Back Again [] Nancy - Picadillo [] Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits [] Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen [] Annie - Most Lovely Things [] Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook [] Alyce - More Time at the Table [] Amrita -Beetles Kitchen Escapades 

Tiramisu Italiano

I remember falling in love with this heavenly dessert called Tiramisu somewhere in my early 20s. That first bite I took of this soft, creamy goodness sealed the deal in bumping this dessert up to my top favorites. Ever since, I've ordered Tiramisu's at as many restaurants as I possibly could and to be honest, not many impressed. This one place in Singapore, The Coffee Connoisseur, stood out to me as the restaurant with the best Tiramisu. It had the perfect light, fluffy and creamy mascarpone texture with the best blend of rum/coffee liquor. I have tried Tiramisu's after that but loved none as much.

Now, I'm not a Tiramisu expert so I wouldn't know if that was the authentic flavor but imagine my delight when the recipe I picked from Food Network's Tyler Florence gave me the same heavenly taste as the one from The Coffee Connoisseur. My eyes literally had hearts dancing in them, much like the cartoons we see.

I loved the recipe even more because it didn't have any raw egg whites to make it fluffy. It may have been lighter with the egg whites, but I don't care. I have a pet peeve in the kitchen - I don't like working with raw eggs. I like my eggs processed in some way or the other. Yes, I know the Tiramisu's I've eaten at restaurants most likely contained raw egg whites but, as long as I'm oblivious, I'm fine.

One thing I would change about this recipe next time is making my own ladyfingers. The ones I got from the store were not really good but, I didn't have the patience to go hunting for good, authentic ladyfingers. In the end, it was scrumptious nevertheless, after sitting in the refrigerator for more than a day and soaking up moisture from the mascarpone cream. The fact that the hubby and I finished a big bowl in two days is testament to that.

Bon Appetit!

Tiramisu Italiano (adapted from Tyler Florence/Food Network)

Ingredients and instructions

• 7 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup Kahlua, plus 2 tablespoons
• 8 ounces mascarpone, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup brewed espresso coffee
• 1 ounce dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup rum (you can reduce this amount if you like it milder)
• 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
• 48 ladyfingers
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Cream together egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Add 1/3 cup of the Kahlua and continue to whisk until mixture is thick and doubled in volume. This is basically a zabaglione. Remove from heat. Stir in the mascarpone until completely blended.

In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture, to lighten.

In a small saucepan, combine espresso, chocolate, rum, vanilla, and remaining 2 tablespoons Kahlua. Heat gently, and stir to dissolve the chocolate. Then, chill the mixture to cool it down, about 15 minutes. Dip each ladyfinger in the chilled coffee mixture for about 5 seconds and arrange in a single layer on a 9 by 13-inch glass baking pan. If you have really good ladyfingers, a quick dunk will do. Do not oversoak the cookies or they will become too moist. Spread 1/2 the mascarpone cream evenly with a spatula on top of the dipped ladyfingers. Repeat with a second layer of dipped ladyfingers and remaining mascarpone cream. Sprinkle top with cocoa powder. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. You can add shaved dark chocolate on top right before serving, as an option.