Home-made Vanilla Ice Cream

Making home-made ice cream from scratch is so easy if you have the help of an ice-cream maker and this recipe is a good basic one that you can use to make vanilla ice cream as well as other flavours such as mint chip or cookies & cream.

As we are using pure, fresh ingredients for this recipe, just remember that your home-made ice cream will not have the same characteristics as commercially prepared ice cream since most store-bought versions use gums and presevatives to make them firmer. If you desire a firmer consistency, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and store in the freezer until desired consistency is reached, usually two or more hours.

You may substitute lower fat creams and milk (reduced fat or low fat) for heavy cream and whole milk for a low-fat version of this recipe but keep in mind that this may change the taste, consistency and texture of the ice cream since the higher the fat content, the richer and creamier the result.

Adapted from the recipe in Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yoghurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker Instruction & Recipe Booklet, page 4

Makes approx. 1.25L

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk, well chilled
¾ cup caster sugar
2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
2 tsps vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthways, seeds scraped)

Method

1. In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste.
3. Churn mixture in an ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions
4. Serve with toppings of choice

Variations:

Cookies & Cream Ice cream: Add 3/4 cup coarsely chopped cookies or your favourite candy (chocolate chip, Oreos etc) during the last 5 minutes of churning. 

Mint Chip Ice cream: Omit the vanilla and replace with 1 to 1½ teaspoons peppermint extract. Chop 120g bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate into tiny uneven pieces. Add the chopped chocolate during the last 5 minutes of churning.

Banana and Raspberry Bread

I was originally going to make banana bread but realised I didn't have any walnuts in the pantry so I decided to make banana and raspberry bread instead :)

Ingredients

150g butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 ripe bananas, peeled, mashed (approx. 1 cup)
2 cups self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup milk
¾ cup fresh or frozen raspberries 
butter, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease base and sides of a 7cm deep, 11cm x 21cm (base) loaf pan. Line with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends.
   
2. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale. Add egg, in 2 batches, beating well after each addition.
   
3. Stir in banana. Sift flour and baking powder over banana mixture. Add milk. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Carefully fold in raspberries.
   
4. Spoon mixture into loaf pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 10 even slices.

Notes & Tips
If using frozen raspberries, place on paper towel to thaw before using.


To Freeze 
Individually wrap each slice in plastic wrap. Freeze slices in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. Remove from freezer and unwrap. Spread with butter or margarine and rewrap. Place into lunch box frozen. Slice will thaw by morning tea/recess

Bolognese sauce

This bolognese sauce is very easy to make, freezer friendly and can be used in other recipes. I like to add grated carrot into my bolognese sauce and occasionally 1 grated zucchini to increase the vegetable content of this dish.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated (optional)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
750g lean beef mince
140g carton tomato paste
1 cup thick Italian tomato pasta sauce (passata)
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup white wine
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon sugar (adjust to taste)

Method

1. Heat oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, or until tender. 
2. Add mince. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until browned. 
3. Add tomato paste, pasta sauce, stock, wine, oregano, nutmeg, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well. 
4. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, for 35 to 45 minutes or until thick. Season with salt, pepper and sugar if required. Serve with favourite pasta.

Vegetable Soup

I've been out of action in the kitchen for a few days since I've been struck down with the flu. I felt a bit better today so I thought I'd make myself a simple yet nutritious meal to help kick start the immune system, so what better to make than vegetable soup? Packed full of nutrients, vitamins and anti-oxidants, this recipe is also super easy to make if you have a slow cooker. Just set and forget... a couple of hours later... a nice meal awaits :)
 
I added some chopped bacon to this soup since I had some left over in the fridge, but for a meat free version, just omit it from this recipe. I also added some chilli flakes for a bit of kick.

You can pretty much add to this soup any kind of vegetable, whatever is in season or whatever happens to be in your fridge.

This recipe is also freezer friendly. A handy tip I learnt was to put the soup into individual microwavable soup containers. That way you can very easily take it out of the freezer and put straight into the microwave. Yummy soup in a matter of minutes!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
125g bacon, chopped (optional)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2-3 cups water
400g can diced roma tomatoes
1 tub tomato paste
¼ tsp chilli flakes (optional) 
⅓ cup dried risoni pasta (optional)
⅓ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

Method

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bacon and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. 
2. Add all ingredients except the risoni and parsley into a slow cooker and stir to combine.
3. Cover and cook on high for 2- 3 hours or on low for 4 to 6 hours.
4. Stir in risoni pasta during the last hour of cooking. Alternatively, if making ahead, cook the risoni pasta separately and stir into the soup just before serving.
   
5. Stir through parsley. Ladle soup into bowls. Serve with warm crusty bread.
   

Notes & Tips

To freeze: Store soup in an airtight container. Label, date and freeze for up to 3 months.

Chocolate Coated Bananas

The first time I ate a chocolate dipped banana was when I was on holidays in the Gold Coast this year. It was at the Warner Bros Movie World theme park. It was surprisingly nice, so I've been keen to try making it myself at home. The concept seemed simple enough. Anyways, the one that I ate in the Gold Coast was coated in chopped peanuts, but I've substituted it with hundreds and thousands instead. You could also coat the bananas in mini chocolate candies or toasted dessicated coconut. Whatever tickles your fancy :P

If you use ripe but firm bananas, you'll get a more creamier texture when you bite into them, much like an ice cream except less naughtier!

It's best to use paddle pop sticks or wooden chopsticks for holding the bananas as they're much stronger. I didn't have any available and used bamboo skewers, which still work but are not as stable when it comes to holding it in your hand.

Makes 4

Ingredients

4 medium bananas, peeled
200g dark chocolate melts
30g copha
½ cup hundreds & thousands, to decorate and/or
½ cup finely chopped unsalted peanuts, to decorate

Method

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Insert a paddle pop stick into one end of each banana. Place onto baking tray. Cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for 30 minutes.
2. Place the chocolate and copha in a medium heatproof bowl and microwave uncovered on medium (50%) for 30 seconds then stir. Repeat process until chocolate mixture has melted. Alternatively, place chocolate and copha into a small, heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon for 5 minutes or until smooth.
3. Place hundreds and thousands and nuts into separate plates.
4. Remove bananas from freezer. Pour chocolate mixture into a tall glass until three-quarters full. Dip bananas, one at a time, into chocolate. Working quickly, dip each banana into the hundreds and thousands or nuts to coat.
5. Serve immediately or return to freezer until required. Wrap bananas separately.
   

Notes & Tips:

Copha is a solidified form of coconut oil. It can be found in the refrigerated section of most Australian supermarkets, near where the butter is kept.

Watermelon Sorbet

It's Spring at the moment and the days are now getting warmer, so beat the heat with this refreshing sorbet. It's also low in fat!

The sugar syrup in this recipe can be adjusted depending on how sweet your watermelon is. The more naturally sweet the fruit, the less sugar syrup will be required for the recipe.

If you have an ice cream maker, you can just set and forget... but for those of us that don't have the luxury of owning one, there are a few steps involved in making this sorbet. But, it'll all be worth it in the end :)

You can omit the egg whites if you want, especially if you can't resist eating your sorbet once you take it out of the freezer :) Adding the egg whites gives your sorbet a nice light texture. If you don't add the egg whites, the sorbet will just taste 'icier'.

Serves 4

Ingredients

500ml (2 cups) water
1 cup caster sugar
1.2kg seedless watermelon, rind removed, coarsely chopped
2 egg whites, lightly whisked

Method

1. Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and stir over low heat for 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Boil for 5-10 minutes or until mixture thickens. Set aside for 30 minutes to cool.
2. Meanwhile, place watermelon in the jug of a blender and blend until pureed. Strain puree through a fine sieve into a jug, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible (you should have about 600ml of watermelon juice).
3. Add cooled sugar syrup to watermelon juice and stir until well combined. Pour into an airtight container or a 3cm-deep, 20cm x 30cm (base) lamington pan. Cover and place in the freezer for 4 -5 hours or until almost set.
4. Roughly break up the sorbet with a metal spoon and transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Process briefly until sorbet is smooth and has a soft, icy texture.
5. Return sorbet to container/lamington pan and place in the freezer for a further 4 hours or until firm. Remove from the freezer and repeat step 4. Return sorbet to the container/lamington pan and place in the freezer for a further 5 hours or until firm.
6. Place the sorbet and egg whites in the bowl of a food processor and process until sorbet is pale and smooth. Return to the container/lamington pan and place in the freezer for a further 4 hours or until almost firm. Scoop into serving glasses or bowls or cones and serve immediately.
   

Lamb, Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Cottage Pies

This recipe is a variation of the classic cottage pie. It's also freezer friendly so that you can have some now and some later :)

In this recipe, I've suggested to roast the pumpkin but you could just steam the pumpkin until it is tender. Same applies for the sweet potato. This would hasten the cooking process considerably, particularly if you are time poor!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3 tbs olive oil
1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground chilli
500g lamb mince
1x400g can diced tomatoes
125ml (1/2 cup) salt reduced chicken stock
2 tbs tomato paste
800g butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, coarsely chopped
400g sweet potato, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 rosemary sprig
1 cup coarsely grated cheddar cheese
2 tbs pine nuts
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Arrange the pumpkin in a single layer, in a large roasting pan. Drizzle over 2 tbs olive oil, season with some sea salt and pepper and toss to coat. Add the rosemary sprig then bake in oven for 45 minutes or until pumpkin is tender.
   
2. Cook sweet potato in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain then add to pumpkin. Use a potato masher or a fork to mash sweet potato and pumpkin until almost smooth.
   
3. Meanwhile, heat 1tbs olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the garlic, ground coriander, cumin, cinnamon and chilli and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic.
4. Increase heat to high. Add the mince and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 5 minutes or until browned. Stir in the tomatoes, stock and tomato paste. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt if needed.
   
5. Divide the mince mixture among individual oven proof dishes or 1 large oven proof dish. Spoon the pumpkin & potato mix evenly over the mince mixture and use the back of spoon to spread. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and pine nuts.
6. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheddar is golden and the pine nuts toasted. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Serve with salad leaves.

Notes & Tips

Freezing tip: At the end of step 5, cover the dishes with lids. Alternatively, wrap in plastic wrap, then in foil or place into foil storage containers. Label, date and freeze the pies for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the portions in the fridge for 6-8 hours or until thawed. Preheat oven to 200C. Remove the lids or plastic wrap and foil. Continue from step 6.