I recently attended Food & Wine Magazine's South Beach Wine & Food Festival and had an amazing time. I met so many wonderful people there and ate very well. This festival brings top chefs and food personalities from around the world. All of the Food Network stars are there. (Trust me, if you are a fan of the network, you may want to consider attending next year's event. You're guaranteed to see them all in person!)

I love food festivals. They bring people together to taste foods that you would never dream of eating at home. Many years ago I was introduced to Cuban finger bananas at a food festival. These tiny little bananas are sweeter and starchier than regular bananas, and I just adore them. They inspired me to create this recipe:

CARAMELIZED BANANAS
Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups finger bananas or two large bananas, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon tequila

1. Heat the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until it sizzles.

2. Add the bananas and allow them to brown on each side. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and tequila. Be careful when adding the tequila, because the heat can ignite the liquor.

3. Shake the pan until the liquid thickens.

4. Serve with ice cream and caramel sauce.