Going Bananas

The smothering heat of the summer has me going absolutely nuts, so to cool myself down, I’ve been mixin’ up a blender-ful of thick, banana smoothie almost daily.

As you all well know, bananas are kind of my thing. I buy them in bulk and eat them when they’re perfectly ripe, then freeze the spotty, brown ones for later.

After throwing an entire, unpeeled banana into the freezer, I learned a very important rule in banana freezing: never throw an unpeeled banana into the fridge. The skin turns black, and when frozen, is logically  horrendous to peel. I had to shave the skin off. Shave! Learning from my stupid, but delicious mistake, I now peel and slice the bananas into 16 pieces (so that I can easily measure bananas by counting) on a plate. Then I just slip all the bananas into an oversized Ziploc bag (less banana-sessed people can use a smaller one) and freeze!

Unlike smoothies with only bananas, milk and yoghurt, but I’ve found that adding a couple more ingredients adds not only a greater depth in flavour, but also tons of health benefits.

 

 

I’m the kind of girl who loves a thick, almost frozen smoothie. Unfortunately, most commercial smoothies attain this texture by adding scoop-upon-scoop of ice cream. Instead, I’ve found that oatmeal is a reasonable substitute. It makes the smoothie thick, prevents the smoothie from being overly sweet, and adds a lovely natural base that complements the banana taste. Health wise, oatmeal is uber rich in fibre, keeping you full for longer, and cleaning our your digestive tract (hint: and saving you calories).

However, you would be right to think that plain, dry oatmeal would negatively affect the texture of your smoothie. Instead of using the cardboardy stuff, I soak equal amounts of quick cook oatmeal and water, letting it absorb for at least an hour, but preferably overnight. This oatmeal is then pulverised with some skim milk, so that you don’t get any gritty textures.

Cinnamon is probably my favourite spice to use on sweets. Akin to blueberries, it’s high in antioxidants and aids digestion. Something cool? It also fights type 2 diabetes!

 

 

In short, this is probably one of the easiest and yummiest recipes I can ever give you. Just make sure that you have a strong, willing blender; for mine is minuscule and poots acrid smells of burning acrylic when I try to blend ice.

Oh, and of course. What kind of person would I be if I forgot to tell you the following: to make a healthy chocolate banana smoothie, add 2 tbsp of cocoa powder.

All in all, this delightfully slurpable smoothie clocks in at just under 200 calories, while delivering a large dosage of your daily fibre and very little cholesterol. But a smoothie is nowhere near as good without someone to share it with!

Banana Oatmeal Smoothie

Makes 600ml, or two servings

• 1 large banana, frozen
• 1/2 cup oatmeal, soaked
• 150ml skim milk
• 100g plain or vanilla yoghurt
• A dash of cinnamon

For strong blenders:

1. Pulverise oatmeal and half of the skim milk, until oatmeal is shredded into tiny pieces. If adding cocoa powder, add here.
2. Add everything else, and blend until smooth.

For weak blenders:

1. Pulverise oatmeal and half of the skim milk, until oatmeal is shredded into tiny pieces. If adding cocoa powder, add here.
2. Add frozen banana and remaining skim milk. Blend until smooth.
3. Add dash of cinnamon and yoghurt. Blend until smooth.

Mango Madness

Honestly, summer is no time for baking. With the already scorching temperatures outside, the most we can do is lie on the floor, trying to forget the blaze of the sun. Only a masochist would want to open an oven to 180 degrees and undo the fruits of our air conditioner’s labour.

It’s rather a shame, actually, because besides loving to bake cakes, I am one serious tropaholic. Pineapple, mangoes, bananas…I love them all! Right down to each little passionfruit and mangosteen. There’s something so blatantly summery, and happy about tropical fruits, which is why we shouldn’t let the heat get us down. Instead of baking them into delicious carbolicious snacks, we should embrace desserts (and foods) that use other methods to obtain our tastebud’s delight.

So, how about some mousse? Mango mousse, to be specific. It’s deliciously creamy, and easy to make – at the most requiring a quick stir on the stove, which heats up your kitchen considerably less than an oven.

This recipe is actually more of a bavarian cream, but it’s still light and fluffy, while maintaining an explosive burst of mango flavour. This simplistic, but rich dessert can be served at both casual and formal tables, and the fact that it can be pre-made only makes it an easier choice when it comes to serving at events.

Also, I really like mangoes.

Back when I lived in Australia, we had a tree in our backyard. It seemed rather uninteresting, so when we moved in, we never paid it much mind. Then one day, our neighbour came over to see the new house and exclaimed how lucky we were to have a mango tree.

Wait. What?!?!

Before we knew it, my dad returned home with a bulging bag of fertiliser. Unfortunately, no one told him that adding too much fertiliser to a plant will burn its roots. Oops. However, the tree was hardy and survived the burned roots, living for many, many more years and bearing hundreds of mango for me to eat.

In some countries, you can buy canned mango puree, which makes this dessert even easier. Alas, Shanghai is lacking in the canned goods aisle, but using fresh mangoes is hardly a downside. I actually prefer to use fresh fruit, rather than their syruped counterparts. For this recipe, you will need 2 medium mangoes. Peel and cut the flesh off, then blend in a blender. Just remember to be careful of your fingers!

Mango Mousse

• 2 1/2 tsp gelatin
• 2 tbsp water
• 250g mango puree (approximately 2 large mangoes)
• 100g or 1/2 cup sugar
• 227g/8 oz whipping cream.

1. Pour the water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the water, and set aside until it the gelatine has swollen and sunk.
2. Heat the sugar and half of the mango puree in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Do not boil. Stir in gelatine until  completely dissolved, then stir in remaining mango puree.
3. In a large, chilled bowl, whip cream to soft peaks. Gently fold in cooled mango puree mixture, then continue whipping until well incorporated.
4. Pour mousse into moulds and refrigerate until set.

The dessert picture is actually a combination of lemon cheesecake and mango mousse that was served with an afternoon tea a while back. Whilst the mango mousse was perfect, I found the lemon cheesecake not lemony enough, and too cheesy by far. More on that once I improve the recipe (:

have you ever wondered what 2.7kg of cheese looks like?

Good cheese is expensive here, so it’s much cheaper to buy it in bulk. That is, if you can eat it all.

I went to Metro, a bulk supplier, and brought home this slab of cheese.

Unfortunately, that hunk of cheese wouldn’t fit into my already bursting freezer, so I had to chop and package it into little bags for future use.

And if you thought this delectable mound of mozarella cheese is overdoing it, this is the SMALLEST block of cheese we could find. When you think you can take on 10kg of Cheddar, I’ll take you to Metro.