Flames are a staple of island luaus and can be fun to use in food presentation. As long as you take the necessary precautions, cooking and garnishing with flames adds a sense of drama to your presentation.

Flaming garnishes are an easy way to spark up a drink. Just be sure you extinguish them before trying to drink the beverage.

You'll need:

-Cubed bread, lightly toasted
-Lemon extract
-Fruit such as:
-Pineapple
-Lemon wedges
-Orange wheels
-Lime halves
-Strawberries and other berries
-Skewers (if made of wood, soak them in water for a while before using)

Dip the bread in your lemon extract and then stack your garnish with the lemon extract soaked bread cube on the bottom. Light the cube and serve.

Hibachi cooking is a delightful way to involve your guests in the process of cooking. It's fun to prepare these kebabs at the table or buffet, and you can find sterno-powered hibachis that won't smoke out your home if you're serving inside (Fig. 1).

You'll need:

-2lbs. good quality beef, cubed
-Vegetables, cut up in bite sized pieces
-Bell peppers
-Red onion
-Zucchini
-Eggplant
-Potatoes, even
-Skewers, metal or soaked wood sized to fit your hibachi

Marinate the beef overnight. When you're ready to serve lay out all your ingredients and your fired up hibachi and let your guests build their own kebabs and place them on the hibachi to cook. Make sure your beef cubes are cooked through before eating.

Marinade

-1 cup soy sauce
-2 Tbs red wine vinegar
-1/2 cup water
-4 Tbs sugar
-4 tsp cornstarch
-2" piece of ginger root, sliced
-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
-8 small dried chili peppers
-2 small onions, minced

Brini's Brown Sugar Bananas are perfect on the grill outdoors, in a grill pan in the kitchen or even at the table on your hibachi.

You'll need:

-Bananas - 1 for each guest
-Brown sugar (2 Tbs. per banana)
-Bacardi Coco rum or Bacardi dark rum (2 Tbs. per banana)

Don't peel your bananas. Lay them on their flat side (so they look like a yellow smile) and cut a slit into, but not through the banana along its length (Fig. 2). Combine the brown sugar and rum and mix well until it's a sugary syrup. Then, using a turkey baster, fill the slot in the banana with the rum mixture. Place the bananas on your heat source and as they cook they will open up revealing the rum and sugar soaked fruit inside. It takes about 10 minutes.

If you can't get to Hawaii you can always host a luau inspired party at home. Why not try it this weekend?

Episode 206 Main Page