Peanut Butter Beignets With Caramelized Bananas And Bitter Caramel Ice Cream Food

CARAMELIZED BANANAS

Steps:

• chocolate-Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet. Add 2 sliced bananas and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Cook until golden and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the bananas with cinnamon and spoon over rum raisin ice cream.
• Copyright (c)2011 Food Network Magazine, LLC. Published by Hyperion. Available wherever books are sold. All Rights Reserved. Photograph courtesy of Antonis Achilleos.

PEANUT BUTTER BEIGNETS WITH CARAMELIZED BANANAS AND BITTER CARAMEL ICE CREAM

Steps:

• For peanut butter ganache:
• Bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add peanut butter and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cover and chill until ganache is firm, about 2 hours.
• Using 1 level tablespoon ganache for each, form 1 1/4-inch balls. Place on baking sheet. Freeze ganache balls overnight.
• For beignet batter:
• Whisk flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add club soda, then eggs and melted butter. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture is well blended and smooth.
• Pour enough oil into heavy large skillet to reach depth of 1 1/2 inches; heat to 350°F. Remove peanut butter ganache balls from freezer. Working with a few ganache balls at a time, dip into beignet batter, coating balls completely. Lift balls out with fork and slowly slide into hot oil; fry until batter is set and slightly crisp, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer beignets to paper towels to drain. Keep warm.
• Meanwhile, prepare caramelized bananas:
• Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and stir until sugar begins to melt, bubble, and form thick mass, about 4 minutes. Add rum and lemon juice; simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add bananas and cook until glazed with caramel, about 1 minute.
• Place 3 beignets on each plate. Dust with powdered sugar. Place caramelized bananas and scoop of Bitter Caramel Ice Cream alongside beignets. Sprinkle ice cream with peanut brittle and serve.

BITTER CARAMEL ICE CREAM

Steps:

• For caramel:
• Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, and lemon juice in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until mixture is very dark amber (but not burned), occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 10 minutes (time will vary depending on size of pan). Remove from heat; add cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Return to medium heat and stir until any caramel bits dissolve and mixture is slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Stir in fleur de sel. Cool.
• For custard:
• Whisk egg yolks and sugar to blend in large bowl. Bring milk, cream, and corn syrup to simmer in heavy large saucepan. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until slightly thickened and instant-read thermometer inserted into custard registers 175°F, about 14 minutes. Strain custard. Stir in lemon juice, vanilla, and fleur de sel.
• Whisk caramel into custard. Refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.)
• Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer ice cream to container; cover and freeze until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep frozen.)
• *A type of sea salt available at specialty foods stores and some supermarkets.