But, in just 6 more days we will be setting sail on Celebrity Cruise/Bravo’s Top Chef the Cruise, from Miami. Completely stoked and just getting ready to tweet a howdy to Gail Simmons…

Bananas Foster is what inspired this recipe. Caramel, spice, and bold tropical sweetness abounds. When you have prepared a batch of these, there are numerous ways to put them to use. I like mine with ham steaks, or pork chops or tenderloin, they’re great with good French Vanilla ice cream, and will complement any fruit tart, or any slice of cake, or simply prepare a plate of roasted pineapple presented with knives and some whipped cream as a dessert.

A hodge-podge from the start, this wonderful salad is one of those “play-with-it” salads. If you started with just the crab and some salad dressing, and simply added stuff that you thought would taste good with those two items, you could possibly end up with a crab salad version similar to the one below. Don’t hold back, have fun with this one; it’s a great salad to have for supper on a warm summer evening and unless you are such a purist that you refuse to eat mock crab, try it with the mock crab first before you go out and spend too much for lump crab meat. Note: If you can, make this a day ahead of the day you plan on serving it; I think it gets better by sitting overnight.

Other versions of this dish below have been called “Safari Supper” and were served often as a standard in my home for years. Many were the conversations that took place before, during, and after the preparation of the basic recipe. My version is a little sweeter, a little “peanutier”, and with a little more kick. Play with any or all of it; it’s very flexible in terms of flavor layers. Have fun and enjoy!