French Toast

1. Preheat the grill to medium heat.
2. Mix egg, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg together until well combined
3. Dip both sides of bread into the egg mixture and place on an oiled griddle, skillet or directly on the grill grates.
4. Cook until the egg is set and lightly brown on both sides.
5. After the French toast is cooked, cover to hold warm until bananas are finished.

Bananas Foster

1. Cut bananas into slices, and have all ingredients prepped and alongside the grill ready to use.
2. Heat skillet over medium heat. Add butter, cinnamon and brown sugar to the pan.
3. Stir until sugar dissolves.
4. Stir in banana liquor.
5. Add bananas to the pan. Cook until softened and start to brown lightly.  Add pecans if desired.
6. Pull pan off heat, slowly add the rum.
7. Cook for about 10 seconds, until rum is warm. Then, ignite with a long match or grill lighter at the edge of the pan. If, for some reason, it does not ignite, carefully return the pan to the grill and cook for a minute or two until the alcohol burns off.
8. Bananas are finished once the flames go out. Serve immediately over French toast.
9. If desired, top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Although I don’t top my breakfast with ice cream or whipped cream, it would be a delightful addition. You can also try this on pancakes, which are just as quick and easy to make as French toast.

The dessert version of bananas foster is made from caramelizing bananas in brown sugar with butter and cinnamon. I like to add banana liqueur (creme de banana), which I enjoy, especially if your bananas aren’t quite to the desired ripeness. Rum is then added to the skillet and ignited. Classically, the dish then flambéed, and the warm bananas are served immediately over ice cream.

Please follow these easy tips to flambe safely:

1. Have all your ingredients ready prior to cooking.
2. Use a skillet with a long handle.
3. Never pour liquor straight from the bottle into the pan. Pour the amount you will use into a little container.
4. Remove skillet from grill when adding liquor so it doesn’t prematurely ignite.
5. Once the liquor is added to the pan, return to the grill. Ignite it immediately using a long match or barbecue lighter.
6. Light the fumes at the edge of the pan, not the liquid. It will ignite quickly.
7. Keep your head and body away from the pan.
8. Let the flames go out by themselves.
9. Keep a lid nearby just in case you need to stop the fire.

The History of Bananas Foster

The original bananas foster recipe was created in the 1950s in New Orleans. As a major port for bananas, a chef by the name of Paul Blange created the recipe and named it after Richard Foster. Foster was a friend of the restaurant owner and often dined at the restaurant. One taste and you can understand why it became so popular.

This dish is one of the many reasons I love to make breakfast on the grill. I have plenty of space to cook, and if I want to flambé some bananas, I don’t have to worry about flames in my kitchen. That said, if you do decide to cook this indoors, never flambé under a kitchen hood and remove the pan from the stove prior to igniting. It’s okay to make it inside as long as you use proper precautions.

I love grilling breakfast because I can juggle multiple side dishes at once with no issues.  Want to make some home fries? Cook them in a skillet or on a griddle. Bacon I love to cook on a griddle or a grill with a flat top surface. I can lay down a pound of bacon and have it cooked in no time.