Banana Ice Cream & Candied Pecans

Slowness-to-cotton-on-to-worldwide-human-trends is a personal trait I flaunt with no shame. It’s generally accompanied by a quiet smugness that lets you watch everyone else get all excited by a new trend, while you hold off and then watch it burn out. Then just when everyone else is nearly done with it, you jump on board and get to enjoy it all as if it were brand new. Because it is – to you.

Flares, fringes, mobile phones, skinny jeans, cronuts (I actually still haven’t yet tried one of these magical creations), frappuccinos, smartphones, apps of every kind (I only joined instagram a couple of months ago) and…. vegan ice cream made from bananas.

Ignorance… Is it blissful?

You are no doubt well-informed peeps and already know all about frozen banana ice cream. Indeed I must have read about it somewhere in every blog, food magazine and recipe website on a near weekly basis for the past few years – freeze bananas, whip em up and hey presto – ice cream! This concept seemed to drift across the front of my eyes, slowing down for a few seconds as it passed across my thought process and then disappearing again as I no doubt scoffed and unconsciously dismissed the notion as a sad attempt to find an alternative to ice-cream.

I make no bones about this – I like ice cream. A lot. So much so that I have an aversion to ice-cream that simply does not come up to scratch. In other words, I am an ice-cream snob. I will reject anything that fails on texture, flavour or which is too airy, too rich (yes it is most definitely possible) or screams of synthetic flavours (vanilla essence, I’m looking at you)

Satisfying me with vegan alternatives is, you see, a tough task.

Avocado Based Ice-Cream… Big Liars

Avocado based ice-cream does not do it for me and after getting all excited about the release of an Irish avocado based ice-cream in a certain national supermarket in recent months and forking out 7 euro (reckless spending of moolah on my part!)… I was grossly disappointed. Never again people.

A Modern Way to Cook by Anna Jones – taught me otherwise

Banana ice-cream, however, has won me over, heart and soul. Creamy, rich, delicious.

I mentioned in my last post that I recently got my hands on Anna Jones’ cookbook A Modern Way to Cook and contained therein is a recipe for banana ice-cream. I had a go, I polished off the bowl and I am now a committed banana ice-cream fiend.

Get your frozen banana pieces (chop em up before you freeze them) and chuck em in a blender with a few dried dates, a splash of vanilla essence (not too much or you’ll end up with an overpowering forced vanilla flavour….or use a vanilla pod if you have it) and a dash of cinnamon – whip it up and boom, you’re away with the ice-cream fairies. Don’t have to be too exact with the amounts – it’s whatever balance suits your tastes best.

An even better addition is a teaspoon of coconut cream if you have some around, it adds a beautiful creamy, rich texture to the ice-cream.

The candied pecans are the perfect accompaniment but you don’t have to if you don’t like pecans or are just too impatient to be messing about with nuts and frying pans. They are very quick to rustle up though and are absolutely worth it if you ask me.

For Your Nuts.. 

Toss 20 grams of roughly chopped (not too small, mind you) pecans into a pan over a medium heat and toast for a few minutes until you can get that lovely roasted nut smell. Shake them about and don’t be letting them catch. Burnt nuts are a tragic thing.

Add 1 tsp of maple or golden syrup (because this is Ireland and maple syrup is a challenge to locate…) and let it cook for a minute. Remove to a sheet of baking parchment and let cool.

Endless Possibilities…

Chocolate chips, peanut butter, dessicated coconut, a splash of rum…. the possibilities are endless for what you could chuck into the blender to change up the recipe according to your mood or taste preferences. Have fun people, there’s always more bananas…

Health Benefits

Apart from taste and sheer foodie enjoyment, this ice-cream is also a perfect food for runners – it’s basically just banana and dates whizzed up – so all carbs, low in fat and easily digestible. Great energy food. AND it’s a great way to use up ageing bananas and using up leftovers. So no look – you’re saving the environment, keeping your running energy levels in good nick, looking after your health AND it tastes yum. What more can I say?

I said that this ice-cream was worthy of its own blog post and I mean it. It’s bloody good and so easy – so you’ve no excuse not to give it a go. I spent years ignoring media telling me to make ice-cream out of bananas and now I can only rue those lost banana ice-cream eating years.

My wisdom to you.

From the most simple things can come the tastiest, most unctuous, tongue slapping, lip smacking, take-me-away-to-a-dessert-island desserts. Nuf said.

Squash This

My 3 favourite things about Autumn (that’s Fall to all people west of the Atlantic!)

1. Dublin Marathon
2. Leaves (because c’mon, so much fun they create. You can kick them, throw them at your friends, make beards out of them, gather them up into huge piles and then jump right into them, bury your brothers under then…the list is endless but really they always just end up making me feel like a kid again. If you aren’t already in on the leaf-hysteria, then I’m very sorry for your loss and heartily recommend you get yourself and your boots out there and bring some friends)
3. Butternut Squash.

In fact, if I was being totally honest, I’d probably put Butternut Squash at the top of the list. I love the stuff, cannot get enough of it. If it could walk, talk and hold my hand, I’d probably marry it. But then again, if that were the case, I’d probably end up roasting it in a 220 degree fan oven, seasoning it in olive oil, salt and cayenne pepper and scoffing the lot. So on second thoughts, there may not be the makings of a good marriage there after all and there could be criminal repercussions, though it would taste sinfully good.

A lot of people I know have either never tried Butternut Squash, some have no idea what it is and others are quite intimidated by it and have no idea how to approach one. I am a self-confessed latecomer to the Squash, only discovering it’s orangey existence while in my last year in college. Since then, I have more than made up for our lost time together and I truly believe that I may now be largely singularly responsible for supporting the importation of Butternut Squash plants to the island of Ireland. I buy a lot of this stuff. It’s just so damn good AND it’s a vegetable which means it’s loaded with vitamins and minerals and all sorts of goodies that provide excellent nourishment for the bod.

Here’s what one unadulterated Squash looks like:

Enough about selling the Squash to you! If you have eaten it before, then you already know how good it is and you don’t need me to bang on at you about it. If you haven’t, then go get some, come back and try this recipe. It’s yum. This is my favourite lunch at the moment for days when I’m at home and have the time to make it. You can eat this cold either if you wanted to bring it as a packed lunch somewhere – doesn’t have to be to work – any day trip you fancy! I got the idea for this recipe from a brunch I had at Bibi’s in Dublin. I thought it was yum and really different so I’ve since experimented with the recipe quite a bit, trying various flavour combinations but I finally settled on this one. The nice thing about this is that it works as a hearty brunch, lunch, light dinner or supper. Whatever you’re having yourself.

Butternut Squash Eggs

Butternut squash (I’ll leave the quantity up to you…)
Cayenne pepper
Greek yogurt 100g
Clove of garlic
Eggs x 2
Fresh coriander
Rocket
Red chilli x 1
Butter x 2 tsps

1. Turn on the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

2. Peel the squash with a regular peeler. Mind your fingers when doing this. You’ll need to hold the Squash firmly and be tough with your peeler. Don’t be a wuss here. You can leave the skin on either if you prefer. It’s perfectly edible and adds a chewy texture. Up to yourself.

3. Slice the Squash into thick slices, however you like, just make sure they are roughly the same size to ensure even cooking.

4. Lightly grease a baking tray with some olive oil and place the squash on it. Spread the slices out so that they are not touching each other. This allows them to roast nicely and go nice and chewy, rather than sweating and going all mushy, which is not what we are going for here. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, cayenne and black pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes until nicely soft and caramelised on the outside.

5. Crush the garlic and mix it into the yoghurt. Set aside.

6. To make the chilli butter, simple dice the chilli very finely and mash it into the butter with some salt and pepper. It’s handy to use a ramekin for this. If you like, you can also mash in some finely grated lime zest.

7. When the squash is ready, turn the oven down to keep warm. Get a pan of boiling water going, swirl it around with a spoon and crack your egg into the whirlpool. When the white of the egg is cooked, your egg is ready. You want the yolk to still be lovely and runny so that it creates a sauce for the dish.

8.While the egg is cooking, you can get everything else ready. Get a dish and spoon the yoghurt onto the centre of the plate. Arrange the Butternut Squash slices on top of the yoghurt and season. Zap the butter in the microwave to melt it. When your egg is cooked, carefully remove it with a slotted spoon and place it on top of the squash. Cook the second egg and place it alongside egg no.1. Pour over the chilli butter and sprinkle over the fresh coriander, some seasoning and top it off with some fresh rocket.