Banana Foster Tribute

Here's a tribute to all participants in Paper Chef #10 New Orleans edition, an invention from Brennan's Restaurant, Banana Foster, "a quintessential New Orleans dessert, and a favorite among most locals" according to Chuck Taggart.

Click here to view the flambe in action. Alternatively, go to Google Video and search for "Banana Foster" playable:true. You will need the Google Video Player to view. Please donate to Hurricane Katrina disaster relief at the Red Cross if you enjoyed the video.



Everyone is a winner for participating, but here are official ones from judge Kevin of Seriously Good:

Paper Chef September:
Stephen of What's for Dinner (StephenCooks.com) with Beer-Boiled Shrimp Po'boy.

Kevin's "Special" Award:
June of June's Blog with Tempura-style Beer Battered Shrimp and Crispy Sausage Strips, Fried Basil Green Tomato Rings. Check out Noodle Cook's visualisation of a similar dish with baked Sausage Chips.

Kevin's "Blog I Most Wanted to Eat" Award:
Shauna of Gluten-Free Girl with Red Beans and Rice.

.... and the unofficial 2-minute Noodle Cook Awards:

....to be completed with Links from Owen's roundup

Did you miss out on an award? Please post in the comments. Congratulations to all, and don't forget to battle it out all again for next month's Paper Chef in the great spirit of this auspicious internet cooking show for all internet savvy cooks, chefs, and dreamers.

To wind up the Cajun, Creole, New Orleans and IMBB virtual party, here's a toast to all winners, participants, judge Kevin, and host Owen, with loud singing (put on cowboy hats first) of the chorus from "Jambalaya on the Bayou" by Hank Williams Sr, 1952 :

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file' gumbo
'Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou

...not sure what the words mean? Try a dictionary. For Australians, this song is a happier, Cajun country equivalent of eating lamb beside a billabong: in the swagman ballad "Waltzing Matilda", the fellow leapt into the water to avoid capture before he had a chance to cook his stolen lamb for dinner! Given the chance, one imagines ChubbyCat's "Beer Marinated Lamb" roasting in the campfire next to the "bayou"....