Banana Chocolate-chip Ice-cream

I am testing new cake at the moment which is leaving me with plenty of egg yolks in the fridge. and when life gives you egg yolks, i make ice-cream! last week i made some delicious strawberry ice-cream on the suggestion of my friend and fellow foodie but this week having had some terribly ripe bananas to get rid of, I made some banana ice-cream.

The best thing about this ice-cream and anything else involving fresh bananas is that they are available all the year round so you can make this delicious dessert whenever you feel like even in the middle of winter.

I have an ice-cream machine which makes the process easier but, if you don't have an ice-cream machine, you can still make this recipe a try.

Here is what you need to make about 2l tub of ice-cream
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon lemon juice
150 sugar
5 egg yolks
200ml milk
250ml double cream
100g dark chocolate - chopped

Start off by blending the bananas. Only they are mashed to a pulp, stir in the lemon juice immediately. Place the bananas together with 1 tablespoon from the weighed sugar into a pot and place over very low heat. Once the sugar has melted and the bananas warmed, switch the heat off and set aside.

In another pot, heat the milk. Whip the egg yolks and the sugar in a bowl and once it has doubled in volume, add the warm milk. Return the milk and egg mixture to the cook and heat slightly until the mixture coats the back of your spoon and leaves a mark should you make a line with your finger.

Do not leave the milk and egg mixture at any point. This process is very short and you want to avoid having scrambled eggs.

Now take the milk off the heat and pour it into a large pot. Stir in the bananas and allow the mixture to cool completely. Then place the bowl in the fridge and chill for about 30 minutes.

Once you are ready to churn your ice-cream, beat the double cream and fold it slowly into the banana mixture. Place the ice-cream into your ice-cream machine and churn.

Once the ice-cream starts to thicken, add the chocolate pieces. Make sure that these pieces are chopped but hand into small chunks. Do not grate or blend the chocolate. This will make your chocolate too small to enjoy.

Should you like to contact me, please do so on concita@demicoli.com

Marks & Spencer Food

I just came back from a very inspirational trip to the Marks & Spencer outlet in Baystreet and boy was that fun!

They are sponsoring my next article in the Best Buy supplement out with The Time on Wednesday 14th May, so I had to go to collect ( or rather choose) some ingredients.

When it comes to quality convenience food I think they are tops! they have a very wide selection of food which is ready to serve in minutes and with absolutely NO prepations, you just open the packet, warm and serve!

This is obviously not what I will be doing for the Best Buy supplement but the food will be superfast to prepare. Just imagine, they have a marinade which only takes 5 minutes as against the normal marinades that take a couple of minutes or hours to do their trick.

I do suggest you give them a visit!

Chickpea, Bean & Carrot Soup

Weather still hasn’t settled and with the heat-wave we had last week, I’m sure most of you thought that summer was here. Well for those of you who still need to get in shape for the beach, there is still time!

This week I am giving you a recipe for a delicious soup that is also low in GI. The beans and chickpeas help you feel fuller for longer so add them liberally to your dishes!

Here is what you need to serve 4
50g dried Butter beans or cannelini
50g dried chickpeas
1Kg carrots
1 large onion
1 tablespoon Kunserva – Maltese tomato paste
1 teaspoon chicken stock granules

Start off by soaking the chickpeas and the beans for (if possible) a couple of hours before you start cooking. Should you be preparing this dish in the evening try to soak the beans at least in the morning or even the night before. Soaking will drastically reduce your cooking time. Make sure that you use a large bowl and add a lot of water for the bean and chickpeas to absorb.

To make the soup, place the onions and a little oil or some water if you want a fat free soup in a pot and allow the onions to cook. Once the onions have softened, add enough water to fill your pot about three-quarters full. Add the beans and the chickpeas and slice in the carrots. Place the kunserva and the stock granules and bring the pot to a boil.

Simmer the soup for about 1 hour until the beans and the chickpeas can be squashed when pressed between your fingers.

Blend the soup in a liquidizer and serve warm.

Should you like to contact me, please do so on concita@demicoli.com