Hey everyone, we'd like to start this week by apologizing for the lack of an article last week. With an abundance of work to do for our programs we had to make a choice and our choice unfortunately left you, dear readers, without an article. We are sorry.

This week however, we'll be taking a look at the first of many sub-topics called "Culinary at Cost" where we'll show you how to make an exceptionally delicious dish on a student budget. This week we're going to look at one of my favourite desserts to serve at a party that is so simple to make, it's a little ridiculous; we're speaking of Bananas Foster. For those who aren't familiar, it's a dessert made from bananas, cinnamon, brown sugar and dark rum.

The dish was created in 1951 by Paul Blangé at Brennan's Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named for Richard Foster, a friend of Owen Brennan's who was then the New Orleans Crime Commission chairman. It is still served at a number of fine restaurants in New Orleans as well as in many restaurants around the world. Although it's considered to be a dessert worthy of the finer restaurants in the world, we're going to show you an easy way to make it for your next family get-together without setting your house on fire or emptying your bank account. First, we'll need the ingredients!

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 3 1/2 tbsp rum (I know you ALL have some of this around the house)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 bananas, peeled and sliced lengthwise and crosswise
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (Substitute almonds if you wish)
- 1 pint vanilla ice cream

For ingredients like vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and brown sugar, if you don't have them, you can buy them for cheap at the bulk barn (it is the student's best friend). You can also use maple syrup as a substitute for vanilla extract.

METHOD:
To prepare the bananas, simply peel as if you were going to eat them and run a knife along them lengthwise. If you wish, you can also cut those halves in half as well.

In a large, deep frying pan, over medium heat (on an electric stovetop, set it to about 3 or 4, on a gas range keep it to about a half-flame). Next, melt the butter and continuously stir to prevent the butter from burning. It is very important that the butter doesn't burn! Stir in sugar, rum, vanilla and cinnamon. When the mixture begins to bubble, place the bananas and walnuts in pan. Cook until bananas are hot, roughly two minutes. Serve at once over vanilla ice cream. It should make about four servings.

The most common method of preparing Bananas Foster is to flambé the rum after you add in the bananas and walnuts. To flambé is to ignite the alcohol in the mixture. The alcohol will burn away, leaving your sauce with a rum-infused flavour. We chose not to add this directly into the method for this recipe as we don't want anyone to try it on his or her first go and set his or her kitchen on fire!

So there you have it: Bananas Foster in all its glory! It's a perfect holiday dessert and will definitely get requests for more. Please email us if you have any questions on method or ingredients and we'll be happy to do what we can. Cheers everyone! See you next week.

Recipe tried/tested and provided by allrecipes.com.

Got questions, comments or suggestions? Feel free to e-mail us at foodforthoughtfc@gmail.com