Bananas Foster help

[beetle_slayer]

I attempted tomake this the other night with no success other than a really sweet hot liquid. I don't know if I cooked it too fast, not long enough, or what??? You may find the recipe I used here

[Uncle Bob]

Beetle slayer....Welcome ot DC. Maybe slow your fire down a bit, and cut back on the liqueur, and rum. See if you like that better!

[kitchenelf]

Hi there!

Just so you know I changed your recipe to a link. It was exactly like the Brennan's recipe, word for word, and they do hold the copyright to it.

Now, back to your recipe - It is most definitely supposed to be hot AND sweet. The ice cream sort of tones all that down. The bananas also should have been softened. I guess if you know you don't like it that sweet the next time you can leave out some of the brown sugar.

[Dave Hutchins]

If you flame it it is a dramatic for the dinning room sprinkle some cinnamom in the flames for a sparkle effect. I use to make this table side in the country club I worked in.

[TATTRAT]

I think KE summed it up, that is the desired effect. A few factors that could lead to a less then desirable finish are, not cooking out the bite of the booze, and not letting it reduce long enough leaving it too loose, and not viscous. Finish with butter for a nice sheen and a little extra body.

[beetle_slayer]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

Hi there!

Just so you know I changed your recipe to a link. It was exactly like the Brennan's recipe, word for word, and they do hold the copyright to it.

Yes it is Brennan's, but I wasn't allowed to post a link since I am under a certain number of posts.

Based on what I've gathered, I cooked it too fast and too hot. I cooked it on the stove top on 3 then moved it to 6 (the knob reads 1-9). It was kind of a foamy boiling mixture and I cooked it til the bananas were soft. I'll try it again tonight by cooking slow and low.

[VeraBlue]

I've had the bananas foster there many times, and the recipe is spot on. Is it possible your bananas were over ripe?

I just cook it all long enough to carmelize the sugar, give the banana a slight brown edge, and then ignite.


There is nothing like having a three course breakfast at Brennan's and ending it with the bananas Foster. You really need a big ol' nap after that breakfast.

[jpinmaryland]

Copyright on a recipe? Give me a break. For one thing, the ingredient shouldnt be protectable, it's just a list, you cant protect stuff like that. As for the recipe itself, there is almost no artistic quality to it at all, there is nothing about the wording that is creative. It's just "heat this" "stir that" etc. If you were to allow copy. on stuff like that then no one would be able to communicate about foods. Everybody would just claim on copyright on everything. I claim scrambled eggs: "Take two eggs, beat them..."

If the writing here had some sort of style to it e.g. "we used to use whiskey then one day in the kitchen a waif told us..." You know something that is not just a set of steps, then that would be protectible but only for the creative content. You would still be able to describe the basic process.

There is still another problem, it is arguable how much wording is needed to copy. The recipe maybe runs 120 words and is borderline, even if it didnt have the problems mentioned above. There was a case involving Madame Curies's letters. The letters were short e.g. 100 words and they were not long enuf to be copy. Most wisdom holds you would need about 100-200 words before you can be sure it would be protectable.

But here the problem is the wording is so basic. If you were to allow copy. on this then no one would be able to communicate about cooking and foster that knowledge. That is not the pt. of copyright, the point is to protect the creative aspect of the wording.

But go ahead, be your own copyright police, keep people from learning how to cook.

[Andy M.]

Yes, we are the copyright police, but we don't do it because we want to keep people from learning how to cook. That's clearly an absurd statement.

You may not like that there are copyright laws that keep you from doing what you want, but the owner of this site must deal with reality.

Recipe copyright holders have successfully sued sites like this one for posting recipes without permission and have won six figure awards. The admins and mods are charged with preventing that from happening here.

An attorney we have on staff agrees that ingredient lists are not copyrightable but is confident instructions are.

[stassie]

Originally Posted by jpinmaryland

Copyright on a recipe? Give me a break...

...But go ahead, be your own copyright police, keep people from learning how to cook.

To the best of my knowledge, kitchenelf had a valid point.