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 

Blueberry Bread Pudding with Baileys Cream Sauce

I'm sure all of us have been to restaurants/cafes or any other eating joint where you've ordered something so heavenly that you want to come home and figure out how to make that dish. It happens to me quite often, though by the time I'm stuffed like a python and get into the car, all thoughts of recreating that meal have been replaced by "I'm going to pass out with the amount of food I've eaten". 

But, a couple of months back, the husband and I ate at this little bar/restaurant that served a dessert that I'd give my heart and soul for. On the menu, it was a simple bread pudding with blueberries and Baileys cream sauce. On the plate, it was one spoon after the other of pure bliss. If I could, I would've literally licked the plate clean (guilty confession: I do this at home with desserts but, I don't care!). I didn't want to ruin my chances of going back there for more bites of this bliss, though, so I ate as ladylike as I could. 

That dessert has not left my mind till this day! I knew I'd never get to make a dish as delicious as that unless I wrestled the secrets out of the chef but, I sure as hell was going to try! So, this is my attempt at recreating the dessert that stole my heart and maybe, just MAYBE, found a bigger place in my heart than my husband. Bon Appetit!

Blueberry Bread Pudding with Baileys Cream Sauce

Ingredients and instructions:

For the bread pudding (adapted from Giada Di Laurentiis' recipe on Food Network)

• Butter, for greasing
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup maple syrup, plus extra for serving
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 lemon, zested
• 3 (1-inch thick) slices (8 ounces) day-old challah or sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 cups (12 ounces) fresh or frozen, thawed, and drained blueberries
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Handful of chopped pecans

For the sauce (adapted from Betty Crocker)

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream

Make the bread pudding: Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt, and lemon zest. Add the bread cubes and mix until coated. Stir in the blueberries. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining cinnamon, sugar and pecans. Sprinkle over the egg mixture in an even layer. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is set.

Make the sauce: In 1-quart saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter over low heat; do not allow to simmer. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. Mix water and 1 egg in small bowl; stir into butter until blended. Stir in 1 cup sugar. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat and stir in Baileys. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Slice your bread pudding onto a plate and top with Baileys cream sauce.

Creamed Spinach by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

(Part of a series featuring Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers in Food)

I was pleased to learn about the two ladies in the spotlight this week at #33- Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, the dynamic duo behind Canal House Cooking, a food magazine that dishes out seasonal delicacies. They're the brains behind Canal House (opened in 2006), a unique little food and design studio that's quite intriguing to read about from other articles. It's apparently laid out like a kitchen, dining room, office, workshop, studio all rolled into one where they cook up delicious food, write, create recipes, shoot and much more. Hirsheimer and Hamilton have known each other for about 15 years and have a bunch of credits they each carry in their bags. Hirsheimer, a writer and photogrpaher, served as the food and design editor for Metropolitan Home magazine, and was a founding editor at Saveur magazine. She shoots food photos for Jacques Pepin, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, and Rick Bayless. At the other end of the table, Hamilton, a chef, food stylist and recipe developer, has worked at Martha Stewart Living, Cooks Illustrated and also served as a food editor and director of the test kitchen at Saveur magazine. Both the ladies come from different cultural backgrounds - Hamilton's french heritage and Hirsheimer's california childhood - and that reflects highly in the food they lavish in their cookbooks.

When it was time to pick a recipe from their treasure trove, I first settled on their stewy roasted root vegetables. It looked so earthy and delicious that I couldn't resist. I'd planned to have the food and pictures all set by midnight Thursday so I could post it early on Friday. 

So, I gathered all the ingredients and started roasting. Every time I peered into the oven to check its done-ness, the aroma from the roasted vegetables was so heavenly. I smiled contently thinking I had a success of a dish. But, then, things slowly didn't turn out as I hoped they would. It could also perhaps be that I just discovered I can't stand the taste of parsnips. In addition, the liquid quickly dried up and my vegetables had still not completely softened, so I had to add a little more here and there. It didn't help. When I tasted the final product, all I could think was 'Blech'! No offense to the lovely ladies, but it is most likely me making a disaster of a good recipe.

There went all my plans of having the recipe and post ready for early Friday! I went back to the drawing board and started hunting for new recipes. I decided to stick with something really simple so I couldn't mess it up again. And my eyes took me straight to their version of creamed spinach, and my heart and hands followed. 

BOY, was I right to pick this one! This creamed spinach is one of the best I've ever eaten and the potatoes really add a new dimension to the dish. Me being thrilled with the results, is an understatement. I was grinning like a buffoon, is more like it! So, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Bon Appetit!

Creamed Spinach by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton (recipe found here and in Canal House Cooking Vol. 6)

Ingredients and instructions:

For the ginger-garlic paste

• 1 5-inch finger fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 6 cloves garlic
• Salt
• Really good extra-virgin olive oil

For the spinach

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1potato, peeled and diced
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 pound washed young spinach

For the ginger-garlic paste, pulse the ginger, garlic, and a pinch of salt in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add a little water to thin the paste. Store in a covered container with a little olive oil on the surface. Keeps for about a week.

For the spinach, melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add 1 big tablespoon ginger-garlic paste and cook for a minute, swirling it in the butter. Add the potatoes and stir until well coated. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until tender but not browned, about 10 minutes.

Add the cream and pile the spinach into the pot, pressing it down so that you can fit it all in. Cover and cook until the spinach wilts, about 10 minutes. Fold the spinach into the potatoes and cream, and serve.

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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