Daily Mixes

No Thermomix Chicken Pie

2012-03-02T20:59:00.001+08:00

I didn't use the Thermomix at all for this recipe but I wanted to share it as I enjoyed it so much! First I took a heavy ovenproof dish with a lid, that was suitable to also use on the stove top later. If you don't have one a baking tray you could seal with foil should work. I took a whole chicken (around 1.8kg) and put it right in the middle then surrounded with 2 peeled and roughly chopped carrots, 2 stalks of celery including leaves, 1 brown onion peeled and quartered, a whole bulb of garlic skin and all, 2 small fennel trimmed of leaves and quartered and a dozen whole button mushrooms. Baz doesn't like celery so I left it whole to remove it later but you could chop it if you want to leave it in. Next pour over a glass of white wine, a good grind of salt and pepper and 1 tsp sweet paprika- straight onto the chook. Finally pour over 2 tbs olive oil, and add fresh herbs in this case sage, thyme and rosemary still on stalks. Cover tightly with the lid or foil to seal and bake at 180 degrees for 90 minutes. I then left the oven turned off off with the dish still inside and went out for 3 hours. When I got home I took the chicken and garlic bulb out. I picked all the meat from the bones and added back to the juice and veges, then sliced the end off the garlic and squeezed the gooey insides into the veges too. I simmered for 5 mins then added 1/4 cup thin cream and 1 tsp of cornflour blended with enough water to make it runny and simmered again altogether for around 5 mins until it was thick and saucy. If you need to thicken more added more cornflour/water. I let it cool for 15 minutes, topped it with two layers of ready rolled puff pastry brushed with an egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 tsp water) and baked at 200 c for 10 mins then reduced to 170 for a further 15 minutes until it was puffed, crispy and golden. While this did take a long cooking time, the actual hands on minutes were few and only one dish to wash at the end. The house smelt deliciously of roasted goodies too.....

Mozzarella Cheese

2012-02-28T20:28:00.001+08:00

I recently attended a Mad Milie cheese making course and took home some great loot ready to make fresh cheese. After a few manual batches I turned to the Thermomix to see if that might take some of the labour away. I've had a big fail on making Haloumi, but I'm not convinced it wasn't to do with the fact I had frozen and defrosted the milk. I did however get a great batch of mozzarella on the weekend! I won't go over the recipe but I have posted the Mad Millie webpage in links- if you are keen to give it a go you'll need supplies and their Italian kit has all the bits. I did a half recipe to suit the volume of the thermo bowl and got enough at least half a dozen large pizza's. The stretching of the cheese was the most satisfying part- grown up play dough!

Caremelised Figs

2012-02-22T22:51:00.001+08:00

Thanks to my friend Amy, I had a large bag of fresh figs to be used so I decided to caramelise them. Into the Thermomix I added 200g of raw sugar, 1 measuring cup of water and the juice of 2 limes and cooked at varoma temp for 20 mins on stir with the measuring cup lid off. I washed, trimmed and quartered the figs ending up with 670g of fruit which I then added into the bowl with a split vanilla pod and 30g orange-cello (orange liqueur) and cooked for 30 mins again at varoma but reverse stir so as to retain some shape in the fruit. Use the rice basket rested on top of the lid to avoid fig splatters in the kitchen. With 5 minutes left to go add a large pinch of salt. Allow to cool then serve with ice cream, or swirl through softened icecream and re freeze. This would also be delicious with Greek yoghurt and muesli for a breakfast treat!

Icing

2012-02-17T21:47:00.001+08:00

A quick post today, I have been making Amy's cake for her birthday and wanted to share the Thermomix time saving help. I made a double batch of the basic chocolate cake recipe from the TM cookbook substituting extra flour for cocoa powder and 2 tsp vanilla extract for the double batch. I then found the Thermomix handy for blending food coloring with ready to roll icing- only 30 seconds on knead setting. It was a benefit that it wasn't too warm from handling and then rolled out easily for decorating. Next step is to figure out how to post a photo of my masterpiece!

Green Mango Chutney

2012-02-13T20:31:00.001+08:00

Our local green grocer had green mangoes on sale, chutney time! First I peeled then took the flesh off 3 large mangoes. I roughly chopped the flesh ready to go. Then I took 1 peeled and quartered brown onion, a large green chilli, 1 large red chilli, 3 cloves garlic and a peeled 2cm piece of fresh ginger and blitzed them at speed 5 for 5 seconds to chop. Next add in the mango flesh, 100g brown sugar, 140g white vinegar, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp each of salt, ground fennel, ground cumin and ground turmeric give it 2 or 3 seconds at speed 5 to chop and combine then 5 mins temp 90 degrees at stir to dissolve sugar. Finally cook at varoma heat for 50 minutes and bottle in sterilized jars. Don't forget to rest your basket over the lid opening or you'll have mango chutney everywhere! This made around 3 cups of chutney in all.

Cannelloni- Comfort Food

2012-02-09T21:35:00.001+08:00

Any meal involving Bechamel screams comfort food to me. I made a chicken cannelloni this week using some sauces I had made with the Thermomix. Amy loved it, and we even got Jack to try a mouthful so it's definitely family friendly. A few weeks back I made Passata when I was using up my tomatoes from the markets (recipe straight from the cookbook that came with the thermo) so I had around 500ml on hand. Spread half in the base of a lasagne dish suitable for the oven. Next mince 500g of chicken breast- i like to use mostly frozen chicken cut in chunks for a good texture. Then wilt around 150 g baby spinach leaves by zapping in the microwave for 30 secs. Stir in with the chicken mince and 1 cup of ricotta cheese using stir on reverse for 30 secs. Season with salt, pepper and around a teaspoon of ground nutmeg and stir again for 10 secs. Clean the thermo bowl and get a batch of Bechamel with Cheese started again using the basic cookbook recipe. For the next step I had fresh cannelloni sheets I bought in the supermarket, but I think you could buy fresh lasagna sheets and trim into halves/thirds to get a square shape in need. Gently roll each sheet around a couple of dessert spoons of the mince mix and lay seam side down in the lasagne tray on top of the passata. I made 11 plump cannelloni in all from this recipe. Pour your remaining passata evenly over the rolls, and top with the cheesy sauce in a smooth layer. Sprinkle more grated tasty cheese on top and bake at 175 degrees for 30 mins and rest a further 10 mins before serving. For the very energetic you could certainly make and roll your own fresh pasta and to save dishes wilt spinach in the thermo too, but the microwave does wilt well!

Green Curry Paste

2012-02-06T20:42:00.001+08:00

Nicola inspired me to give green curry paste a go as she loves the Thermomix red curry paste. I browsed a few favorite cookbooks, my supplies and what I could buy at the local fruit and veg shop and came up with this. It should make enough for about 4 curries, and will need to be frozen in batches of 100g to store. First I dry fried 2tsp coriander seeds and 2 tsp of cumin seeds on varoma temp stir for 5 minutes. Then mill at speed 8 for 30 seconds. Next add 6 cloves garlic, 6 shallots (small purple onions not spring onions), 9 large green chillies (including seeds if they are the mild type) halved, 4 cm ginger root peeled and quartered, 6 small lemongrass stalks mostly white part, and 50g vegetable oil. Blitz at speed 8 for 20 seconds, then scrape sides and repeat until mix is well combined and quite fine texture. At this stage freeze portions for future use. For your curry fry 100g for 5 minutes then make as usual whether it be in your thermo or on the stove. Check for seasoning and add fish sauce, lime juice or brown sugar in need. If you enjoy more spice add finely sliced chillies.

Holidays are over....

2012-02-02T20:42:00.001+08:00

The long and lovely summer holidays have ended, kids are back at school and reality sets in again. Now I have more need to look to the Thermomix for easy dinners again rather than lazing around the BBQ. I had a bag of grape tomatoes in the fridge that needed using so I did an old fave of mine but with help from the thermo. I lined a shallow baking tray with baking paper and spread around 700g of grape tomatoes evenly out (only do this when they are seasonal and cheap as they are in Perth right now or it could be expensive). Next I threw in a whole unpeeled bulb of garlic and buried a whole skinless chicken breast in the tomatoes covering where I could. Then I sprinkled a pinch of sea salt, 1 tsp dried chilli flakes, laid 4 anchovy fillets across the top and a generous grind of pepper. Finally I liberally splashed olive oil over- say 2tbs and shook the tray a bit to combine and put in the oven at 175 fan forced for 30 mins. So far no peeling, chopping etc so very easy! While that's baking if you don't have any Parmesan or similar cheese already grated in the fridge use the Thermomix to grate some up and set aside. Cook up enough spaghetti or any ribbon pasta you fancy in the thermo as you normally would and set aside to drain. Once your tomato mix is done check to see if they are starting to split and collapse, if not give them a few more minutes. Set aside the chicken and garlic bulb and tip the rest including all the pan juices into the thermo bowl. Blitz at speed 5 for 5 seconds for a chunky texture and longer if you prefer smoother. Test for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Slice then chop the chicken and add in, then slice the whole bulb of garlic across the top exposing the cloves by cross section and squeeze the soft garlic in too. I like to use about 1 tsp and save the bulb in the fridge for the next few days. Yummy in salad dressing or for bruschetta. Finally chuck in the cooked pasta and stir on reverse just long enough to combine and serve topped with the grated cheese and some shredded fresh basil. This makes enough sauce for 2 adults and 2 young kids ie smaller serves, or two really saucy adult serves, so just adjust pasta portions to suit. Variations to the sauce that I have tried- adding olives and capers to the roasting pan, pesto at the blending stage, leaving the chicken out and stirring a can of tuna in with the roasted sauce and cooked pasta.

Beer Can Chicken

2012-01-26T00:22:00.001+08:00

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi! A chicken roasted on the barbeque with beer- does it get any more Australian than that! After reading a recipe in the latest edition of ABC Delicious I decided to give it my take, with a Steve influence. First I brined a 2.5kg free range chicken overnight in the following solution- 100g salt, 100g sugar and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika dissolved in 1 cup warm water then topped up to 2 litres of cool water from the tap. Put the chicken in the brine in a deep saucepan then top up with cold water to cover, cover with a lid and refrigerate overnight. The next day I drained the bird in a colander for an hour to dry out and bring closer to room temp. I lit the BBQ and spread a layer of charcoal to light over the grill side, but you can leave that step out in need. It's important your BBQ has a hood if not I'm sure your oven will do. Next the can of beer- I chose a 500ml can due to the large bird. I drained about 1/4 of the beer and stuffed into the can half a sliced lemon, fresh thyme, sage and oregano from the garden. I placed the can on a foil lined tray, and standing the chicken upright slid it onto the beer can filling the cavity. I basted it with half a cup of tomato sauce (see recipe a few days back) and roasted on the bbq under the hood for 2 hrs at approx 180 degrees. We used heat from the charcoal for most of that but had to boost it with the gas burner towards the end. Cover with foil and rest for 30 mins before carving to serve. Happy Australia Day!

Sorbet or Slushie?

2012-01-24T17:56:00.001+08:00

We had a sorbet failure this week. After hearing my friends with Thermomixes rave about the delicious sorbet they can make we decided to try a lemon sorbet. I followed the recipe from the book- using just over 200g lemon and all we ended up with was sorbet slush! I tried adding a bit more ice but in the end we settled for slush and I chucked the rest in the freezer to sulk. There is a silver lining to my cloud though- today I pulled the now frozen sorbet block out of the freezer, shaved chunks off it with a bread knife and reblitzed for about a minute at speed 10 and managed a passable sorbet after all..... I'd love to hear any ideas on how to make sorbet right the first time, and in the meantime I'll try a refreshing cocktail recipe. Mix a measure of vodka with a cup of lemon sorbet, take a tall champagne flute and pour cava in the bottom, add a generous dollop of vodka/sorbet mix and top with fresh chopped mint and more cava to fill the glass. Perfect for a 38 degree scorching day here in Perth. Cheers!

Kitsch Bar

2012-01-21T21:04:00.001+08:00

We farmed the kids out to their lovely Auntie, and headed to Kitsch Bar in Leederville for a meal. Great atmosphere, it feels like you are in Asia (especially with Perth's sultry climate right now). The swinging chair Cherie and I both had a turn in was fun, and the odd frangipani blossom dropping from gnarled branches overhead added to the experience. The food was delish, and 'small plate' style, but Baz raised the query as to how a few beers can cost more than a well prepared and flavored meal? And I mean 8 beers between 3 of us over a few hours.... Your thoughts? Is beer marked up higher percentage profit than wine?

Saucy Mixer

2012-01-20T19:24:00.000+08:00

A $4 box full of tomatoes I bought at the markets this week has inspired a cooking frenzy. So far I have tried fruity tomato (ketchup style) sauce, BBQ sauce and some passata. My lovely neighbor Tilly tasted the ketchup and pronounced it hotdog worthy so here's how I made it. Put 1 brown onion, 1 cored green apple (both quartered), 1cm peeled fresh ginger, 1 clove of garlic and 30g of olive oil in the thermo bowl. First blitz at speed 5 for 3 seconds to chop, then sauté at varoma temp reverse stir for 5 mins. Next add 1 kg ripe tomatoes, flesh from a large ripe mango, 1/2 tsp allspice and 1 mc lid of water. Again blitz for 3 secs at speed 5 to chop then cook for 30 mins at 100 degrees speed 1. I rested the rice basket on the lid to contain splashes. Blitz at speed 9 for 30 seconds then pass through a fine sieve, return to bowl and add 1tsp salt, 75g red wine vinegar and 50g raw sugar. Cook for 30 mins varoma stir speed (again use basket for splashes). Test for seasoning and consistency and cook a little longer in need. It will thicken a little when cooled. Bottle in sterile bottles- I've found swing tops beer bottles work a treat. It's quite orange, for a better colour I might try plums (around 200g) in lieu of mango flesh but the kids happily dipped chips in it tonight regardless. Makes around 500ml

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

2012-01-16T22:13:00.001+08:00

After a disastrous first attempt (grey gluey rice...blech) I managed a nice Risotto last night. I do think a great risotto is a labour of love, and find I really enjoy stirring and nurturing it to the right blend. I am happy though to have a version for midweek dinners and even Jack ate a bowl- albeit without any chicken or mushrooms in his serve! I used 1 brown onion and 2 cloves of garlic and processed at speed 5 for 3 seconds to chop. I then added 400g of chicken diced into 2cm cubes, and 30 g of olive oil and sautéed at 100 degrees for 6 minutes on reverse stir. Next went into 300g of Arborio rice, 140g sliced mushrooms, 900g chicken stock and 100g white wine. I cooked it at 100 degrees reverse speed 1 1/2 for 16 minutes and then poured into the thermo server to sit for 5 minutes before serving with a generous sprinkle of grated Romano cheese. Parmesan or even tasty cheese would have been fine too, and when I ate some as left overs for lunch today I added a splash of hot sriracha chilli sauce. I ended up sitting the rice basket on top during cooking instead of the measuring cup so more steam could escape but not the risotto as it was bubbling through the lid opening.

Party food or just yummy morning tea

2012-01-15T17:24:00.001+08:00

I was scanning the fridge for healthy snacks this morning, and decided I had the fixings for some chicken sausage rolls- a perfect chance to try and adapt an old fave to the Thermo. First defrost 3 sheets of ready rolled puff pastry and pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celcius (fan forced). Line a baking tray with baking paper. Into the thermo put a peeled and quartered a brown onion, a whole carrot and half a zucchini again quartered. Pulse on turbo 4 or 5 times for a fine dice, then add 15g oil and sauté at Varoma for 4 mins at speed 1 to soften. Next add a slightly defrosted chicken breast dcubed coarsely(5cm pieces or so) and 40-50g of stale bread torn into smaller pieces and blitz at speed 9 for 5 seconds. Season with 1/2 tsp of ground cumin and 1/2 tsp of garlic salt and blitz again for 3 seconds or until the mix is a fine mince. Cut the defrosted pastry sheets in half and create a sausage shaped strip of the mince mix down each of the 6 pastry rectangles lengthwise. Roll them into long sausage shapes with the seam on the underside. Cut them with a sharp knife at 2cm intervals to make bite sized morsels, lay out on the tray, brush each lightly with milk and bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden. This recipe should make around 50 mini sausage rolls. Even our fussiest eater gave me 100 out of 100 score on these! I use low fat pastry but don't feel you have to, and you could certainly make your own rough puff if you have the energy, but these were 45 mins from start to stomach.

Keeping our Bechamel fan happy

2012-01-12T15:52:00.001+08:00

Ok it's simple food but Amy's very favorite thing to eat, pasta with Cheese sauce. This is now a one pot all in together dish thanks to the thermo. Happy days! Take 125g of tasty cheese and blitz for a few seconds at speed 8 to chop up then add in 15g butter, 2tsp plain flour, 200g skim milk, 200g water and 100 of dry pasta ie macaroni or small shells. Cook for 16 mins, 90 degrees reverse speed one and voila- cheesy pasta. I added a drained 185g can of tuna today and was asked for corn next time please. For variation I'll try adding frozen peas and corn at the 12 minute mark, or stirring creamed corn in with the tuna. It is quite saucy so it will cope with a few additions. This was adapted and halved from a recipe posted on Brazen's Gluten Free Thermomix blog- check out my links to find her blog it has lots of recipes and information for Thermomix.

Spiced Plum Paste

2012-01-11T19:02:00.001+08:00

My fruit drawer in the fridge had a few plums (sugar and blood variety) getting squishy and taking up space, so I decided to try a plum paste. I will serve it with a cheese platter and crackers, and expect it will last a month in the fridge due to the sugar content and preserving process. I removed stones and ended up with 260g plums. I added 200g raw sugar and as I didn't have any lemons a used a quarter of a grapefruit with skin, pith and seeds removed to add some tang. I blitzed them for 3 seconds at speed 8 so there was still some texture but almost puréed. Then I added a cinnamon quill and 1 star anise whole and cooked at varoma heat, reverse and stirring for 1 hour with the measuring lid off. Then I allowed it to cool for 15 mins and spread on a piece of baking paper in a dehydrator and left for 1 hr 45 mins. You could put it in an oven at lowest temp on a baking tray for same result. It was quite sticky and almost firm but not yet leathery. Can't wait to try some with a nice gooey cheese and a glass of bubbles! I also think this could easily be doubled, and I'd like to try a version with fresh red chilli added for bite.

Fruity Dreams!

2012-01-08T22:48:00.001+08:00

I think this machine will earn it's place on fruity dream alone! I've tweaked the recipe somewhat but the kids love it and it's a regular guessing game to pick what fruit I've added. Don't be tempted to double quantities when you have visitors, the load is too great. Just run two batches.35-40 raw sugar on speed 8 for 30 secondsAdd 400g frozen fruit and blitz at speed 9 for 60 seconds, scraping down in need.Insert butterfly and add an egg white then mix at speed 4 for a minute or until soft serve consistency.Eat straight away or can be frozen but it does get a bit icey.So far we've tried the following combo'sStrawberryBlueberry, raspberry, cranberryMango PassionfruitBanana and mixed berriesWatermelon, Pineapple, Kiwi and bananaI've been freezing any fruit on it's way out in chunks ready to blend, so my wastage is way down too- but our berry consumption up! Thank goodness for bulk frozen packs at our local green grocer.A dollop of Greek yoghurt is also delish added with the fruit.

All scream for ice cream!

2012-01-04T21:42:00.000+08:00

After another 30 + degree summer day in Perth I decided to give ice cream a try. I used a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks 'Must Eat' by Russell Blaikie and applied the mixer method. Here's what happened!Into the bowl add 3 egg yolks, 250 ml cream, 250 ml milk (I used skim), 100 sugar, 2 tsp liquid glucose and 1 tsp vanailla bean paste.Mix at 80 degrees and speed 4 for 7 minutes or unil thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Chill overnight then churn in an ice cream machine then finish in freezer for an hour or two.Results were ok... And the kids had no complaints but I could taste the cream had separated somewhat. Next time I'll apply Russell's method a little more by adding cream after cooking other ingredients then chilling, or by forgoing the ice cream machine and trying the mix method of freezing until firm then re mixing. Wish me luck it's a challenge that we'll all enjoy.

Pizza Sauce

2012-01-02T19:32:00.001+08:00

Happy New Year!I decided to test out the new mixer with a Pizza sauce, as follows. We had visitors and kids ranging from age 3 to 15 happily ate the Pizza unknowingly eating plenty of veg!Blitz 1 brown onion, 2 carrots, 1 celery stick, 1/2 zucchini and 2 cloves garlic for a few seconds to dice, then sauté in 1 tbs olive oil for 5 minutes to soften.I added 1 can diced tomatoes, 500g passata and 2 tbs tomato paste and cooked at 100 degrees, for 20 mins slowly stirring.The final step was a blend at speed 9 for about 15 seconds until a really smooth texture.I used a cup between 6 pizza's and froze the rest in small batches for future use.As I get better with the mixer, I would imagine I could just use whole tomatoes and homemade tomato paste to ensure a preservative free blend.