Fried Bananas with Cinnamon and Maple Syrup

I spent this last weekend in beautiful Primm, NV. Yup. Have you ever been to Primm? Heard of it?It's the place with three casinos and a roller coaster right on the border of Nevada and California. Don't be too overwhelmed with excitement, now, but did you know Buffalo Bill's Resort and Casino has a buffalo shaped swimming pool? No, seriously....

(Note the lack of people. The water was freezing...and pretty dirty).

The good news is that the weekend was filled with music. There were singers from CA, Nevada and Southern Utah. We all performed, then stayed up 'til 2am singing and carrying on, and fortunately, the management was insightful enough to give us a suite at the very end of the hallway to use just for that purpose. Didn't even get one noise complaint (unlike *cough* some events *cough*).

The bad news is there was really nothing for me to eat there. I mean, I could've probably wrestled with some manager somewhere and ended up with a dry piece of plain chicken or a salad, but seriously, in the crowded land of cheap buffets and booze, I really didn't want to take that risk. Fortunately, we've upgraded our road-trip travel kitchen to include a hotplate, GREATLY expanding the menu choices from just the rice cooker. (Shhh! Don't tell management!)

Ok, that's the last unrelated picture for the day, I promise =)

So, here's the thing... unless I want to bring the ENTIRE kitchen to an event like this, food gets a little repetitive. So, when I get home and am cranky, sleepy, and exhausted, I really crave something new. So, tonight, while staring blankly at the pile of accumulated mail, I noticed the over-stock of bananas left over from the trip.

So, fried bananas it was.

It's a good thing I have a man that enables allows me indulge in these late night impulse-cooking sessions. =)

So, we fired up the stove. It was easy and tasty. We came up with a great, simple dessert that would also be great with ice cream or french toast.

Fried Bananas with Cinnamon and Maple Syrup

Ingredients

Bananas, 1 per person, quartered
Butter (salted), 1 tbsp per banana
Sugar, 1 tbsp per banana
Maple syrup to taste
Cinnamon to taste

Directions

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat
Sprinkle sugar on a small saucer or plate
Place flat side of each banana into the sugar, then place in pan
Cook for 6-8 minutes, until banana is golden brown
Drizzle maple syrup over each banana piece, then turn over
Cook 3-5 more minutes until bananas are cooked through

Remove from heat and sprinkle with cinnamon
Enjoy the gooey, warm, caramelized tasty goodness with fresh berries or ice cream!

Here are some photos from the process. Perfect golden brown. That's a scan pan in case you were wondering:

For our first batch, we didn't add the maple syrup. Still tasty. Have I mentioned I love blackberry season?

Happy Eating!