Bacon-wrapped Dates with Almonds
Grilled Figs with Brie
Grilled Mangos with prosciutto
Grilled Bananas
We watched an episode of Alton Brown's show, Good Eats, recently, and became obsessed with banana ice cream. We actually tried making it with grilled bananas, and, though we are as hard-core grillers as we can be, we thought it was absolutely awful. Oh well.
The silver lining came during our discussion about what would make a great grilled banana desert, and MOM reminded us that we already had one - from our Girl Scout days. Vaguely, from the dim, dark past....came an idea for a really kicked up grilled banana that can be adjusted to meet the tastes of your favorite guests.
Here, we will take a basic recipe, then give you a few ideas to make it fresh and exciting for even your most gourmet guests!
The Girl Scout Version
Start with one fresh, but not overly ripe banana for each guest
Then, for each banana:
4 oz of milk chocolate
4-5 mini marshmallows
1 Tbs chopped pecans
Slice the peel-on banana lengthwise about half-way through, but end-to-end, leaving about 1 inch on each end intact, with the skin not cut. Gently pry the banana open, pressing the ends toward each other to open up the shallow pocket. Stuff the chocolate, marshmallows and pecans into the pocket and put the bananas on a medium/low grill, over the cool side, for about 30 mins. Place them lengthwise on the grate, and the slits will help them sit upright. About half-way through, reverse their direction, rotating so that the other end is closer to the fire.
We put them on the grill when our entre comes off - and let them cook on the low fire until most of our guests have finished eating. By that time, the skins are dark brown, the bananas are baked, and the insides are great and gooey. We love them served just the way they are, with a scoop of Alton's banana ice cream, but they could be scooped out into a bowl and topped with whipped cream and a cherry.
See our sidebar for some "alternative" toppings!
