Monday, January 4, 2016

Fireworks over London, Leftover Cream, Ice Trays, Downton Abbey.

I know New Year is over, but these pictures from London showing their fireworks over Big Ben and the London Eye are really worth watching. I understand they cost in the region of £2 million which I think is, give or take, about $4 million. One speculates that the money could be better used elsewhere but they are still fabulous to watch. I also understand that Sydney spent around $7.5 million US and Dubai around $6 million US. When one considers all the disasters in the world it makes one think. But I suppose the world needs fireworks to cheer us up although I know some people can't stand them. I tend to be ambivalent, I enjoy watching them, but I think of all the animals, both wild and domestic, who are frightened by the noise.




I wanted to serve cream with mincemeat pie on Saturday, but I didn't want to waste any cream so I googled and discovered you can freeze cream. Who knew, I certainly didn't. Many of you will have heard me bitching complaining about cream in this part of the world compared with the cream I used to get in England. Even the ordinary whipping cream was thicker than anything one can buy here. However, we can buy small pots of Double Devon cream which is English. Trouble is, whilst delicious, it is too thick to use on many things, so, over Christmas I took one pot of it and then filled the pot with whipping cream and added it to the Double Devon which I then whipped. It worked really well, I got a thick, tasty cream to serve on Boxing Day. I did the same again for Matt and I on Saturday and then froze the rest. It is dolloped or piped (if you are feeling ambitious) onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Frozen and then when completely solid, packed into a plastic bag. You can use it for coffee or put a dollop on a piece of pie where it will thaw ready to be eaten. Not very even dollops are they?  Never mind, for a first time it's not too bad. Look a bit like meringues.

I watched, and enjoyed the first episode from Season 6 of Downton Abbey. It is so sad that this is the last season, but it would be sad to see it continue into the Second World War.

This looked like a delicious ice cream for my vegetarian or vegan friends. Mind you, I remember my mother making ice cream without a machine to churn everything. As I recall, she would freeze it for a while and then beat it again doing that once or twice, then she would put it in the ice trays (in those days we had trays with removable dividers. If you look at the picture below, the middle part just lifts right out. Wasn't sure I would find a picture.




Vegan Roasted Banana Ice Cream

  • Time1 1/2 hours, plus chilling
  • YieldAbout 1 1/2 quarts







Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups/200 grams raw, unsalted cashews
  • 4 medium bananas, preferably somewhat speckled but not brown, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
  • 6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons/90 grams extra-virgin coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons/28 grams dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon/5 grams plus a pinch kosher salt
  • ¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar
  • ½ cup/80 grams cocoa butter, available at baking supply stores and online
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/266 milliliters coconut milk
  • ½ cup/65 grams chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)

Preparation

  1. To make the cashew milk, place the cashews in a large bowl and add water to cover by a couple of inches. Soak cashews overnight.
  2. In the morning, drain the cashews and place them in a blender with about 1 3/4 cups (375 grams) fresh water. Blend until smooth. If you use a Vitamix, there will be no need to strain – the milk will be perfectly smooth; for other blenders, check the consistency and, if necessary, strain the cashew milk through a fine-mesh strainer. Cashew milk will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for up to 4 days.
  3. To roast the bananas, heat the oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the middle. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss the bananas, 2 tablespoons/27 grams coconut oil, brown sugar and pinch of salt. Spread on prepared baking sheet and bake until caramelized, about 15 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
  4. Put 1/4 cup water into a small saucepan over medium to low heat. Add sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until sugar has dissolved. Add cocoa butter, remaining 4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons/63 grams coconut oil and remaining salt. Stir until melted.
  5. Pour the sugar mixture into in a food processor (or use a tall 2-quart container and an immersion blender), and add the coconut milk and 1 cup/212 grams cashew milk. Blend until smooth. Add roasted bananas and blend again to combine until very smooth. Cover and refrigerate the ice cream base until chilled, 1 to 2 hours.
  6. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In the last minute of churning, add toasted walnuts, if desired, and churn until incorporated. Transfer the ice cream to a storage container and freeze up to 7 days. Alternatively, you can serve it immediately. It will be the consistency of soft-serve.

Have a great day
 

28 comments:

  1. Thanks. I have frozen cream before, but did not know you could whip it and freeze it. I need to try that. I buy cream labeled 36% here. Some brands are not worth buying.

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    1. Our is 35% Denise, but it is still thin compared to what I used to have in the UK. This way of freezing means you don't have to unfreeze all of it at once.

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  2. I had no idea you could freeze cream. Yeah fireworks scare my German shepherd so bad. I had taken them out the other night...not even near midnight either...and someone on the water shot off a whole bunch. Sagan nearly tore my arm out of the socket towing me back in the house.

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    1. Nor me JoJo. Pour Sagan. It really is scary for them. I had 3 Shepherds and one of them was terrified, the other two didn't care.

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  3. Fireworks do scare animals, but while they are going off, most people forget their troubles.

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  4. Hi Jo - the fireworks were really good. I know poor animals - not so easy ... birds get terrified too ... I'm not sure I've frozen cream ... I use it up. They do look like meringues don't they .. look good too .. cheers Hilary

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    1. They were good Hilary, did you see them live? Birds would be terrified, it's very difficult. They seem to have frozen beautifully.

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  5. I always enjoyed watching fireworks; especially watching them with young children; watching the delight in their eyes. We hadn't seen any fireworks though for a long time since the dog would be afraid of the loud noise so we always would stay home on the 4th. I think it is money well spent though; we do need a bit of joy in our lives especially with all the turmoil happening lately.

    I have never seen Downtown Abby but know of a lot of people that enjoy the show.

    betty

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    1. I too always enjoyed them, Betty, but as you say, the dogs don't nor many other birds and animals.

      Pity you never saw the Downton Abbey series, it was/is very good.

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  6. That vegan ice cream sounds good, but way too much fat for me. One bowl and I'd hit my limit for the day.

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    1. Well it would be a treat for now and again Diane.

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  7. Wow, what spectacular fireworks. Ours are usually pretty lame. And it may be $4 million, but we all need entertainment. Cheering up. In the past few weeks people have spent over a billion dollars seeing Star Wars, and no one's complained about them not spending that money on something more noble. ;)

    I'll admit I loved watching Downton Abbey. As a writer, I think it takes real skill to make a show truly interesting when it's purely dialogue driven. I mean... they don't really DO anything, do they? They mostly just sit around and talk. And it's still a great show. That says something.

    And wait, in this recipe you actually MAKE the cashew milk? Wow. My wife loves drinking that stuff, but we've never thought to make it. And well, that is really, really easy to make. Go figure.

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    1. The were spectacular weren't they ABFTS? Yes, I guess you are right about spending on the movies or on fireworks. There is a difference though, it's a lot of money coming out of one 'pocket'.

      I never realised that before, yes, it is dialogue driven but the writer does a wonderful job of it.

      Never tried cashew milk but it sounds good. Maybe you can save money making your own.

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  8. Happy New Year, Jo!
    I watched Dwonton Abby too. Interesting start to the new season, lots of good news, which means it'll be bad coming up! Still a good show.
    I love fireworks, but at that cost, not so sure. Wow!
    Not into cream, but I do remember those ice trays. :)

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    1. Thanks Yolanda. It's a great show but until the previous comment, I hadn't registered it was dialogue driven. Clever writing.

      Not into cream? Mind you with the cream here, I'm not surprised.

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  9. The fireworks are amazing! Nice way to ring in the year. My mom also always complained about the whipping cream not being as thick as in Germany. I loved Downton Abbey. My hubby and I watched the preview before the show-it was funny with the countdown. I love the first show and wonder what else will happen. If it went on to WW2, how would they have Maggie Smith there she would be like 120 yrs old then:)

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    1. Aren't they. Doesn't surprised me she complained. The Double Devon is pretty good and mixing the two works well. I saw a bit of the preview but not too much. Maybe it's one of the reasons this is the last season because they would have to kill Maggie Smith off. Maybe they will do before this ends anyway although she seems pretty healthy right now. But I think if they went on that long we would see them putting the place up for sale as well which would be a really sad ending. What is it with ladies maids? The first one Cora had was an itch with a b in front and now Maggie Smith's maid is another one.

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  10. I'm not a big fan about fireworks and would never fight traffic to go see them in a big city. We live near Hershey Park and they have them every weekend in the summer so it's not big deal around us. I love mincement but never put the extra cream on any of my deserts.

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    1. No nor me Susan. Oh I love cream on mince meat. Yum.

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  11. I think fireworks are a ridiculous waste of money. A laser light show would be much better environmentally and I assume would cost a lot less money. I find them boring to tell the truth.

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    1. You know you're right Pinky, we watched a combined laser, fireworks show at Disney one year and the laser was very attractive.

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  12. HNY Jo! I adore fireworks but do baulk at the cost. I heard Sydney spent $900,000 AUS, which I can live with. I don't know where that atrocious figure came from--over $7 million! NO!

    I will definitely make that ice cream. I love ice cream but commercial brands are full of bad stuff. And I freeze cream once it's whipped. Runny cream doesn't freeze. I know what you mean about bad cream. Try France. They're in love with chantilly cream which is so weak compared to 'proper' cream. But you can only dream of cream when you're in France. (Did I say, it's one of my favourite foods...bad me!)

    Keep those recipes coming, Jo!

    Denise :-)

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    1. Apart from on film Denise, I haven't seen any fireworks lately although we do get them round here on certain holidays, but we can't see the organised ones only the home ones. It's all the bangers I get fed up with because of the wildlife and pets.

      I never have tried making ice cream. I used to enjoy Chantilly cream, haven't had it in years. Great on strawberries. One of my favourites too so bad me as well. Amazing how many spoons and stuff I use when whipping it, all of which have to be licked afterwards.

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  13. Had to google it, didn't I? "Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations cost $7.2 million, with $750,000 going on fireworks".

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    1. I wonder where the idea of millions on the actual fireworks came from then.

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    2. Easy mistake to make I guess. :-)

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  14. I have only had real cream once, that I know of. My family is Whup Cream, Non dairy topping, people. My husband's Grammie was a for real cook who never used short cuts. She'd make her own whipped cream. Seriously delicious.

    I want to watch Downtown Abby. I just started Mad Men today after talking it up to boy #2 and getting him interested...not sure that will work for the other show. LOL

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