Recipe: Chocolate Banana Strudel

the appetizer:

Chocolate for Breakfast: Entertaining Menus to Start the Day with a Celebration From Napa Valley's Oak Knoll Inn by Barbara Passino, includes recipes like Chocolate Omelet with Blueberries in a Pinot Noir Sauce; Tajine of Kefta and Eggs; and Chocolate Banana Strudel.

Cookbook

Chocolate Banana Strudel

Strudel ingredients

2 tablespoons butter for the bananas
4 bananas, peeled and split lengthwise
8 sheets filo dough
1/4 cup melted butter for the filo
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Caramel sauce ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cognac

To Make The Strudel

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and gently add the bananas. When the bottom of the banana is golden brown, turn it over and cook the other side.

Place a sheet of filo on your work surface. Brush it with melted butter and top with another sheet. Top that with butter and fold it in half. You shoud have a 4-layered piece measuring 6 x 8 inches.

Put two halves of grilled banana near the 6-inch edge. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips. Roll the bananas in the filo, then tuck in the edges and continue rolling. Place the package seam side down on a greased cookie sheet. Continue with the other three. Brush all four packages with more melted butter.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until they turn golden brown.

To Make the Caramel Sauce

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and cognac and stir until they're combined and bubbling.

To Assemble

Place a swirl of caramel sauce on each plate. Make a diagonal cut through the middle of each strudel. Place one half on the caramel sauce and balance the other half on top so that the luscious chocolately banana filling is visible.

from:
Chocolate for Breakfast
Entertaining Menus to Start the Day
with a Celebration From Napa Valley's Oak Knoll Inn
by Barbara Passino
The Gerald & Marc Hoberman Collection 2009
Hardcover; $40.00; 288 pages
ISBN-10: 1919939555
ISBN-13: 978-1919939551
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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