Boozy Baked Bananas

I don't know what it is at the moment with me and filo pastry but we're just not bonding.  My choice of recipe for tonight was doomed from the start.  Last night, a fish-based dinner seemed like a good idea.  I got the fish out to defrost.  By the time I got home tonight, I just couldn't face making the recipe of choice as it was a bit fiddly and I've been up since 4am.  I then searched BBC Good Food for an alternative recipe and came up with their fish pie slice.

Nice idea, simple recipe but for me it didn't work because firstly my filo wouldn't brown nicely and it was so insipid looking, I couldn't be bothered to take a picture of the finished dish (it had been in the oven for twice as long as suggested and I was worried the fish would dry out).  And to add insult to injury, the boneless fish that I purchased was absolutely riddled with the blighters.  *Unimpressed Face*

If you want a quick, easy, fishy recipe then this is really good.  You simply top fish fillets with a mix of cream cheese, herbs and prawns (I used smoked salmon); pop some scrunched up filo on top and bake for ten minutes.  Even after twenty minutes, my fish was beautifully moist.  But the bones just got to me and I didn't enjoy it as much as I could've as every second mini-forkful required eagle-eyed inspection prior to consumption.

To make up for it - and as a reward for dragging my sorry backside out for a run at 4am this morning - I made use of the pile of bananas in my fruit bowl that are slowly heading towards cake-making territory.  The recipe comes from my Ultimate Barbecue Book and I was wanting to make it all last summer.  The last time I'd made baked bananas was in the Guides over a camp fire about twenty years ago (showing my age).

But we never had any decent weather to barbecue.  Or rather I couldn't convince the husband it was worth him being paranoid about burning the garden down in order to have a barbecue.  Instead, we did the Hyacinth Bu-cket thing and had 'Indoor-Outdoor' barbecues where I cook everything under the grill and we eat outside.

Surely at least two of your five a day?  No?

Anyhow, I also conveniently had some passionfruit left over from New Year so it made sense to use them up.  Really simple.  Stick a banana on a piece of foil.  Squeeze over the innards from half a passionfruit.  Add a tbsp of orange juice (I used lime) and some orange liqueur (I used rum).  Wrap up into a parcel, bake for 10 mins (I did this on 180c (fan) as there are no temperatures for a barbecue).  I then whipped up some marscapone (they used whipped cream) with lime zest and juice and a touch of icing sugar to sweeten (they used orange) to serve as an accompaniment.  Lush.

Based on the quantities below, MyFitnessPal.com calculates it to be 160cals per portion - depending on how big your bananas are of course and what type of cream-based accoutrement you choose to go with it.

A lovely taste of summer in the depths of winter.  Well okay it's spring-like at the moment.  But you get my drift.

Recipe - serves 4

• 4 medium, ripe bananas, peeled
• 2 passion fruit
• 4tbsp orange juice
• 4tsp orange liqueur or rum (optional)

• 4tbsp whipped cream (or marscapone)
• 2tsp icing sugar
• 4tsp orange juice 
• zest of half an orange

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180 fan or cook on a preheated barbecue.
2. Place each banana on a sheet of foil.  Halve the passion fruits and squeeze one half over each of the bananas to get the juice and the seeds out.  Pour 1tbsp orange juice and 1tsp of the alcohol (if using) over each banana.  Fold up the edges of the foil to make a parcel and if using an oven place the parcels on a baking sheet.  Bake or barbecue for ten minutes.
3. Meanwhile, put the cream icing sugar, orange juice and zest in a bowl and mix until combined.
4. Put each banana on to a serving plate, peel back the foil and place 1 tbsp of the cream mixture onto each plate.  Serve.