Bananas in Coffee Bean Syrup

very good with plain yogurt. low fat is fine even thought the recipe suggests whole milk.

recipe #184

This recipe looked really interesting and I had everything required in the house already.

From Food and Wine:
Bananas in Coffee Bean Syrup
* 2 cups water
* 1/2 cup whole espresso beans
* 1/2 cup sugar
* Two 3-inch strips of lemon zest
* One 3-inch cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
* 8 firm, medium bananas
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* Plain whole-milk yogurt, for serving
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the water with the whole espresso beans and bring to a boil. Simmer the beans over low heat for 20 minutes. Add the sugar, strips of lemon zest and pieces of cinnamon stick and simmer over moderate heat for 5 minutes or until syrupy.
2. Meanwhile, peel the bananas and slice them 1/2 inch thick on the diagonal. In a large, shallow dish, toss the bananas with the lemon juice.
3. Pour the hot espresso syrup over the bananas and let stand until cooled to room temperature, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours. Spoon the bananas and coffee bean syrup over the yogurt and serve.

I used agave nectar instead of sugar and added it towards the very end of the time that everything simmered. I also never chilled it, just let it sit overnight in a covered ceramic bowl.

I was a bit confused. I was pretty sure I should strain out the coffee beans, but the photo in Food and Wine looked like they were left in, so I kept them. Not a bad thing, but I ate round them.

All and all it was wonderful. I have never had anything like it although it reminded me of an ideal coffee yogurt. If you have some greener bananas around this is a great thing to do with them.