Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Juanita is in the House!

Brian and I are off to the coast of Maine for a vacation. We fell in love with the area a couple of years ago and didn't even want to come home. Somehow we fought the urge to chuck it all and sell lobster rolls on the beach but it remains to be seen how we do this time!

Whatever happens, I am leaving you in the capable hands of my friend Jen, otherwise known as Juanita from Juanita's Cocina. Jen is a smart, funny and talented spit fire (totally my kind of person) and I can't remember a dish she's made that I didn't want to eat.  Despite the fact that she lives in Texas and I'm in New York, we've determined that we would both be much happier if we lived right next door to each other. Maybe she'll join us in Maine? ;)

Thank you so much, Jen, for filling in here. I will be back on Monday...maybe :)...with an interesting week of new recipes, Labor Day weekend ideas and some unusual kitchen assistance from my furry sous chef. Enjoy!


Hi, y'all!  I'm Jen from Juanita's Cocina.
I was a seriously happy gal when Anita asked if I would be willing to guest post here in her kitchen.  Why?  Because I adore Anita.  And because Anita and I have bonded over the 2 "B's"...booze and bananas.  That's right...booze and bananas have brought me a friend for life.
Anita is the queen of the cocktail...you need only look around her site to know it.  She and I got into a convo the other day about our various adult beverage collections.  We both could collectively serve cocktails galore to the combined populations of a Target during their school supply sale and Central Park during a free Justin Bieber concert.
And if our massive amounts of booze weren't enough, we both have a certain affinity for another "b" thing...banana ice cream.
I have a, ummmm, *thing* for banana ice cream.  A *thing* so big and severe that if I can hone in on a shop that sells banana ice cream within a 50 mile radius of wherever I'm located at the time, I will most certainly be found there, spoon in hand.
So, when I stumbled across this recipe for roasted banana ice cream on Tracey's Culinary Adventures, I knew I had scored.  Big time!  Ummm, bananas roasted in brown sugar?  I'm drooling!  Then turning them into creamy ice cream?  Puh-lease.  I'll never leave my house again!
Roasted Banana Ice Cream
Ingredients 
3 bananas, peeled
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
 
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400.
Slice bananas and combine them with the brown sugar and butter in a small, lightly-greased baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring once during cooking, until the bananas have browned and cooked through.
Once bananas are out of the oven, allow them to cool for approximately 10 minutes. Scrape the bananas and syrup into a food processor or blender. Add the half and half, granulated sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt, and process until smooth.
Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, and up to overnight.
Once cooled, chill using an ice cream machine according to your machine’s specific instructions. (I processed mine for approximately 20 minutes) Freeze in a freezer-safe container until ready to serve.
This banana ice cream tastes of sweet, roasted bananas…in frozen form.

If you love bananas, banana ice cream, or amazing desserts in general, this ice cream is for you.

Whenever Anita returns to her blog, I’d like to say that I’ll have some of this banana ice cream waiting for her, but it’ll probably be all gone.  Okay, it’s already all gone.  Ooops.

And one more big note of thanks to Anita for allowing me to make something delicious to share in her kitchen!

21 comments:

  1. Mmmm... this looks fantastic. I love banana ice cream. Truly one of my favorites and there is something to be said about finding a good bowl of it! Yum!

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  2. Ahhhhhh that ice cream sounds crazy amazinggggg. Brown sugar...mmm...bananas...mmmm

    (Have fun in Maine Anita & Brian!)

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  3. Oh yea! The brown sugar and butter plus the roasted bananas make this ice cream sound so incredible. Adding to my ice cream recipe list. Yum!

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  4. I hope you have an amazing time in Maine. We fell in love with it too. And what a great guest post! This is an amazing batch of ice cream. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Jen,
    The only thing that would make this ice cream better would be a shot of rum:) Remember the 2 B's, booze and bananas, or in the is case roasted banana ice cream.

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  6. We really want to go to Maine! Enjoy. This ice cream sounds delicious, I really need to pull my ice cream maker out and get something made in it!

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  7. Damnit. Becky is right. I forgot the booze.

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  8. Have a great trip!!! This recipe looks so good!!!

    www.lifeofamodernhousewife.com

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  9. What a marvelous guest post, Anita!!! I can see you transforming this ice cream into some amazing boozy cocktail! Have a great time in Maine...and Jen, thanks for the wonderful recipe~

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  10. I love the both of you. I love this ice cream Anita..like I told you before I would have never thought of roasted banana. and I like where Liz's head is at above!!

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  11. Ooh, roasted bananas. Fabulous! This would make one heck of a banana split. Have a great vacation, Anita!

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  12. Whoa! What an interesting ice cream flavor! I have got to give this a try!!

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  13. What an amazing ice cream! I love roasting the bananas with brown sugar! It's like a caramel banana. Love this! A very fun post and it's obvious that you two have a lot in common.

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  14. Enjoy Maine! I grew up there. It is the most wonderful place in the summer time!

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  15. Anita, Jen will never join you bc she hates snow ;)

    Jen, I've never had banana ice cream. I think I need to fix this!

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  16. here are many types of bananas, so it would be nice if this recipe ddapat practiced for snacks while watching TV.
    thank you share it.
    greetings always healthy

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  17. How fun to find Jen here! And with a fantastic ice cream...I'm not sure the bananas roasted with brown sugar would even make it into the ice cream. I'd be busy sampling for "quality control."

    Anita, have a wonderful vacation...Maine sounds like an ideal getaway.

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  18. Oooh, this sounds fantastic! I'm definitely going to make some this weekend... maybe with a few dark chocolate chips??

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