The Bush Gourmand

Blog Design

2012-02-01T21:43:00.003+08:00

By the way, you may have noticed that my blog looks a bit different. I loved the design that I had, but the person who designed it hasn't updated it for New Blogger and it won't work. So sad. I haven't found another design I liked, so basic and simple it is!

iPad Apps for Foodies

2012-02-01T21:39:00.002+08:00

I haven't posted for a while as I've been away on holidays in Bremer Bay. Well, back and forth on holidays, anyway. We've been home twice for bowls and going back next week to finish our holiday! Luckily when I booked the caravan last year I booked for 4 weeks - I must have known it would be a strange season.

Anyhoo, I've lashed out and bought myself an iPad. I tossed up between a Kindle and the iPad, but after lots of research, went for the big one. I'm glad I did because I'm quite besotted with it.

The Apps! I've downloaded heaps of them. Best of all are the recipe apps, there's some clever ones out there. I'm loving the following Thermomix Apps - RoboGourmet, Spin A Dinner and Thermomix. Others I'm enjoying are Paprika, which allows you to grab recipes from the net or add your own, and Jamie Oliver recipes.

I also love Kindle, Words with Friends, Seven Little Words, Tapatalk (so I can connect to the Thermomix Forum) and I get all my email on my iPad.

Here's a link to a whole pile of foodie apps.
I had to laugh at "The Perfect Egg Timer". My lord, if you need an App to boil an egg, there's something seriously wrong!!

Enjoy!

Megan

Delicious Tuna Slice

2012-01-13T19:25:00.004+08:00

My gorgeous sister now has a food blog. Her recipes are simple and delicious, designed to be made with ingredients you're likely to have in the pantry or freezer.

This particular one is a winner. It's one I'd forgotten about and I realised the last time I made it would have been almost 30 years ago when we were living out at the old farmhouse, better known as "Charlie's".

I've made it for tea tonight as I forgot to defrost the fish I was planning to cook. The whole thing was made in the Thermomix and there's minimal washing up. My kind of meal!

I seem to remember adding some finely diced onion to the rice, so I did this when I made it tonight. It's in the oven as I type.

Here's a link to Nan's Country Kitchen and her Curried Tuna Slice.

Enjoy!

Megan

Excellent Online Grocery Store

2011-12-28T20:23:00.001+08:00

As most followers of my blog would know, I like to try and shop locally. However, there is a limit to what my local storekeeper can provide, so I do shop elsewhere when necessary.

This online store was recommended to me by my Thermomix consultant. It's exceptional because they only charge a flat $5.00 fee for postage.
I ordered 10kg of goods recently, so to receive a package from Perth for only $5.00 is incredible.

http://www.2brothersfoods.com are just brilliant. The various things I bought included some fresh almonds, some yummy Sour Cream and Chives Soy Crisps, delicious Roasted, Salted Edamame, Peaz Wheelz and Rice Crackers. I also bought some flax seed and buckwheat for bread.

Everything was packed beautifully and arrived here very quickly. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Brown Butter Shortbread

2011-12-20T15:00:00.000+08:00

I adore shortbread, but have never been successful in making it myself. It's usually too crumbly or too soft and just doesn't taste right.
Since Christmas is nearly upon us, I thought I'd try again. I've been inspired by a cookery programme I saw recently where a Scottish woman showed Rick Stein how she made shortbread. She didn't give the recipe, but she showed her method. The unusual part was that she didn't mix the ingredients until she got a dough. She simply put the processed ingredients into a dish and pressed it all in.

I used the recipe from the Anchor Ground Rice packet as there was still some in the pack. I must have bought it a while ago because I can simply make my own ground rice in the Thermomix these days.

As I was busy this morning, I forgot about the shortbread cooking away and it went quite golden in colour. This resulted in a delicious brown butter flavour as the butter hadn't quite incorporated in parts. So, I've renamed this recipe, Brown Butter Shortbread. I thought afterwards that I should have removed some of the sugar and sprinkled it on top, so have added that tweak to the recipe.

Brown Butter Shortbread
90g rice (ground rice if you don't have a Thermomix)
80g castor sugar
210g plain flour
180g cold diced butter
1 Tbsp castor sugar extra

Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line a slice tin - place lining in so it comes up at the sides for ease of removal.
Blitz rice on speed 9 for a minute or so. If using regular or raw sugar, you can add it after 30 seconds to make castor sugar.
Place all ingredients into the Thermomix or food processor and blend on speed 6 until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Press into slice tin and bake for about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and score into pieces. Sprinkle extra castor over the top and bake until golden.
Let cool in tin for 10 minutes or so. Lift out and cut into pieces along score lines.

Next time, I'll sub out about 30g of the flour for some almond meal.

Pumpkin & Spinach Salad

2011-12-17T15:50:00.001+08:00

This delicious salad is a combination of two or three and was inspired by two friends Julie & Robyn who both make delicious salads.

Pumpkin & Spinach Salad
1 small butternut pumpkin, peeled and diced to thumbnail size
2 rashers of bacon, cut into small strips and sautéed until crisp
2 spring onions, sliced into rings
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
1/4 cup pistachios, lightly toasted
1 packet baby spinach leaves

Dressing
40ml light olive oil
20ml soy sauce
20ml lemon juice
1 clove garlic - crushed
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Steam or microwave the pumpkin until tender, not mushy. Cool to room temperature.
Mix dressing ingredients together in a jar.
Lay spinach leaves on a large shallow platter and arrange salad ingredients on top. When ready to serve, top with the dressing. Serve at room temperature.

Polish Colslaw

2011-12-04T20:54:00.001+08:00

This is a delicious version of a coleslaw. It's an all in one Thermomix recipe which, at a pinch, may be able to be made in a food processor.

The recipe was posted by JudyDawn on the Thermomix Forum and it originally came from a Thermomix Polish Cooking Class in Adelaide. Thanks Judy!!

I've renamed it, because it really is a coleslaw. I also added lemon rind as I love the flavour.

Polish Coleslaw (normally called Raw Vegetable Salad)

1/2 cabbage (around 250g), chopped into chunks
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped into chunks
50g dill cucumbers (I used cornichons, the baby dill cucumbers), chopped finely
1/2 green apple, core removed, chopped into chunks
1/2 red onion (I used brown), chopped into chunks
small bunch parsley
juice and rind of half a lemon
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste
3 Tbsp light olive oil

Place all ingredients (except cornichons) in the Thermomix bowl and process on speed 4 for 8 seconds, using spatula to assist with incorporation if necessary.
I processed for a further 6 seconds on speed 4 to get the right consistency. Best to do short bursts and check constantly.

Harvesting Time

2011-11-21T12:57:00.001+08:00

Harvest in the wheatbelt, the busiest time of the year.

Not just for the guys out there taking the off the crops, but for those in the kitchen feeding them. Today I have four to feed. Son 1 is home and working for another farmer, Son 2 is out harvesting and has his partner with him today and Snaggers (Dear Husband) is carting the grain.

So wraps it was all round. Once I'd cut, sliced and grated the fillings, it didn't take long at all. I like to use Tortilla Wraps. I used to like the Old El Paso ones, but they stick together too much, so now I use the Select Brand (Horrors! I do try to avoid these home brands that are taking over the supermarket shelves).

Some banana cake, chocolate peppermint biscuits, peanut biscuits, some fruit and some nuts as well as hot chicken wings and everyone is taken care of for the rest of the day.

Now, to think about tea!!

Lemon Cat Cake

2011-11-09T17:23:00.000+08:00

I have a cat who loves people food. He gets up on the breakfast bar and tries to eat my toast in the mornings. He's horribly annoying and is constantly being growled at, but it doesn't deter him one bit.

He's a black cat, named Diesel. He has an attitude. He also likes raw cake batter...

Mmm, Lemon Cake

I love Lemon Cake

Tell me if I've got something on my whiskers...or on my chest fur, or my head, won't you?

For the record, everything will be sterilised in the dishwasher!!

Not Chocolate Ripple Biscuits

2011-10-28T13:33:00.003+08:00

These are the most delicious chocolate biscuits I've ever made. The original recipe is from LeeJ on the Thermomix Forum. I've adapted it by doubling it and reducing the sugar, butter and bi-carb soda.
They can be easily made in a food processor or an electric mixer with a dough hook.

The following recipe makes about 100 biscuits, as I like to join them with peppermint icing. Halve it if you don't want to join them together. they look spectacular sprinkled with sifted icing sugar.

Not Chocolate Ripple Biscuits

400g plain flour
100g cocoa
1 1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
450gm castor sugar
270gm butter, room temperature, cubed
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Add all dry ingredients to food processor or bowl and blend.
Add butter and eggs and mix/process until combined.
Roll heaped teaspoons of the mixture into balls and place on trays allowing room to spread.

Press down gently with the pad of the thumb.

Bake for 13 minutes if you like a chewy texture inside the biscuit and 15 - 17 if you like your biscuits to be crunchy all the way through.
Remove from tray carefully with an egg slice as they're very soft and fragile until they cool down.

Ice with peppermint icing made with pure icing sugar. When made with pure icing sugar, icing tends to be harder and that's better for biscuits of this kind. They won't come apart and will stay crunchy for a few days.

Tips
Only ice a dozen or so at a time. These will also freeze well un-iced.
Raspberry flavoured icing would also go well with these biscuits.

Minted Cabbage Salad

2011-10-17T17:43:00.000+08:00

Sick and tired of boring coleslaw? Me too. I just didn't want to make a creamy coleslaw to have with our steak tonight.
After a little googling, I found an interesting Lebanese Cabbage Salad.

Not liking some of the ingredients I made a variation which is fresh and delicious. My taste tester found the salad a bit too tangy, so I add some agave syrup and this gave a delicious flavour. Honey would also be fine.
If making it without the sweetener, I'd call it "Tangy Cabbage Salad".

Minted Cabbage Salad
1/2 green cabbage, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)
1 red apple, cored and quartered, thinly sliced from the short end of each quarter
1/2 carrot, grated finely or sliced into very thin strips
the leaves from 4 or 5 stalks of fresh mint, chopped

Dressing
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp good quality olive oil - could probably reduce to 2 Tbsp
1 Tbsp agave syrup or honey (optional)
1/4 tsp fresh crushed garlic - I use the Woolies one in the plastic jar
sprinkling white pepper

Place dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to blend. Pour into a shallow dish. Add sliced apple. This prevents it from going brown.
Mix all salad ingredients together - hands are the easiest utensils to use here. Add the apple and dressing and mix again.

Enjoy!

Megan

Menu Plan October 3rd - 16th

2011-10-04T12:51:00.000+08:00

This fortnight we're having:

Monday 3rd - Boeuf Bourguignon - this is my own recipe.

Tuesday 4th - Chicken & Almond Stir Fry with Hokkein Noodles

Wednesday 5th - Salmon Patties and Salad

Thursday 6th to Sunday 9th - Steve will be having freezer meals as I'm away.

Monday 10th - Creamy Lemon Chicken & veggies

Tuesday 11th - Pork Steaks in Mustard Sauce with Braised Cabbage & Apple

Wednesday 12th - Roast Chicken

Thursday 13th - Lasagne & Salad

Friday 14th - Left overs

Saturday 15th - at a Wedding!

Sunday 16th - BBQ at Bowls. I'll take a Mexican Bean Salad to share.

I find menu planning is working really well. I might swap meals around a little if unforeseen events occur, but I stick to the menu otherwise.

Planning a menu means that I shop to that menu, so there's no last minute searching for some ingredient.

It also stops me buying things I think I might use and then find in the bottom of the fridge all mouldy weeks later.

Do you Menu Plan?

Megan

Boeuf Bourguignon

2011-10-03T20:46:00.000+08:00

Simply put, this is a beef stew with bacon, mushrooms and red wine. I just love the French name!

I like to use Gravy Beef for my stews. It has a lot of 'gristle' which, with long slow cooking, melts down and provides a delicious flavour. I cook this in my Le Creuset oval casserole as it browns the meat beautifully and is equally happy on either the stove top or in a slow oven.

Megan's Boeuf Bourguignon
2 Tbsp oil
1 kg Gravy Beef
200ml beef stock (2 tsp beef stock powder in water)
200ml red wine
2 Tbsp oil, extra
2 onions, diced
375g sliced baby mushrooms
3 slices Parma ham, pancetta or short cut bacon
1 x 440g can diced tomatoes
1 tsp black pepper
5 or 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only or 2 tsp dried thyme

To thicken:
3 Tbsp plain flour
2 Tbsp oil

Brown diced beef in batches in hot oil. Deglaze the pan with stock and wine. Reserve, and then clean pan.
Add extra oil and sauté onions, mushrooms and ham or bacon. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on low in the oven or on the stove for around 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.

Mix oil and flour and stir in around 1/2 cup of the liquid from the pan. Add this mixture back into the beef and stir in well. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes or so on top of stove, stirring regularly.

Serve with baby peas and whole boiled new potatoes with sour cream.

Left overs make a great pie filling.

Home Made Chicken Stock

2011-09-26T22:03:00.000+08:00

Home Made Concentrated Chicken Stock

Home made stocks can often make the difference between a nice meal and a delicious meal. If you've ever made a risotto with home made stock, you'll certainly never make one with powdered stock cubes or even bought liquid stock ever again.

I regularly make chicken stock from the carcass of a cooked chook or with trimmings from thigh cutlets.
Variations can be created through adding different flavourings to the stock as it's simmering. The most common variation that I make is an Asian inspired chicken stock.

Chicken Thigh Cutlets are often available at the supermarket at a great price compared to the more processed skinless boneless thigh meat.

I bought a 1.7kg pack recently at $5.49 per kilo, compared to $12.99 per kilo for boneless thigh meat. Total cost of It is a bit of work to skin and bone the thighs, but I make a nice stock with all the bits I cut off.

When I weighed the chicken meat, I had 930g, making the cost of just the meat $10 per kg. Considering I would normally trim the boneless thighs of fat and sinew, that's a pretty good result. Plus, I have a nice stock brewing with the trimmings.

Basic Chicken Stock
Carcass of cooked chook, raw carcass or trimmings from thighs
1 carrot, roughly chopped (don't bother peeling)
1 peeled onion, roughly chopped
2 stick celery, roughly chopped
bunch of parsley
2 bay leaves
few sprigs fresh thyme or a sprinkling of dried
salt and pepper

If trimmings and bones are raw, bake in a 200 degree oven for around 3/4 hour. Drain fat away (save it and use to roast potatoes - divine!).
Place bones, skin, fat etc in a pot with other ingredients except seasonings. Cover with water and place on a low flame. Let simmer gently for around 2 - 3 hours. Strain. Test for seasoning and add. Place in fridge to cool.
Good stock will become jelly-like in consistency. Skim off fat when cool. Freeze in ziplock bags or use within a few days. If you don't use it, place back on stove and bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or so and place back in fridge.

Once strained, stock can be further concentrated by reducing it. Do this prior to seasoning. Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce by half.
Freeze in ice cube trays if not using within a few days

Asian Chicken Stock
Carcass of cooked chook, raw carcass or trimmings from thighs (raw is best for this recipe)
2 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp sherry
1/2 tsp chilli paste (optional)
1 star anise
1 2cm piece cinnamon stick
3 Tbsp brown sugar
4 white peppercorns

Prepare and cook as above. Test for seasoning.

Thai Chicken Stock
Carcass of cooked chook, raw carcass or trimmings from thighs (raw is best for this recipe)
2 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 Tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce
3 Tbsp sherry
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce

3 Lime leaves
2 sticks lemongrass
2 tsp Chilli paste (optional)

Use basic stock in soups, risottos, casseroles, gravies and sauces. Use Asian or Thai stock for Asian style soups, curries and stir fries.

Enjoy!

Megan

Relaxing with a Book

2011-09-19T18:34:00.003+08:00

My idea of heaven. Relaxing with a recipe book and a glass of white.

I'm really enjoying this new recipe book. It's Donna Hay's 'Fast, Fresh, Simple'. I've been watching the series on Foxtel and have become quite enamoured with Ms Hay. She hasn't always been my favourite cooking celebrity, but since watching her TV Show, I've begun to appreciate her no-nonsense approach to food.

She has the quick & luscious approach of Nigella and the freshness of Jamie. I'm loving some of these recipes, though I do feel they're more 'lunch with the girls' dishes rather than family meals. I'm drooling over pretty much everything in there, but mentally cancelling out a lot of the recipes as I know that Dear Husband probably wouldn't be very satisfied with a meal so presented.

I'm so looking forward to summer and all the delicious freshness of salads and tasty barbecues, sitting outside relaxing and chatting after a working day. We entertain a lot in summer - it's so much easier and more relaxed eating outside rather than sitting at a dining table. Hopefully our patio decking will be completed this summer and we'll be able to really utilise our outside area to it's full potential.

Yours in deliciousness,

Megan

This Week's Meal Plan

2011-09-12T19:52:00.002+08:00

I've been meal planning for about 6 weeks now and am finding it so much easier and so much cheaper.

My fridge and pantry aren't full of bits and pieces that I've bought at the supermarket 'just in case' or 'that looks nice' or 'I might like that'. My shopping list has my menu plan on the back and I don't deviate unless absolutely necessary.

My new fridge is much smaller than my older one and I can't cram as much in to it, which is just as well because things don't get lost at the back like they once did. Cleaning the fridge was like checking the results of a science experiment on various types of mould.

My pantry is still a bit overcrowded as I have all those packages and containers filled with things that I thought I might need. I have so many different types of grains, seeds and flours that I could survive for weeks if we were suddenly overcome by a nuclear meltdown or something.

So, to this week's menu. I usually try to have one beef or lamb, one pork, two chicken, one fish and one vegetarian meal one night is always left overs for when I have meetings or am out for the day and I don't have time to cook.
I usually have a roast on Tuesdays, but this week I'll be in Perth.

MONDAY: Greek Lamb Stew with fried Polenta & steamed green beans

TUESDAY: Left overs

WEDNESDAY: Char Sui Pork Stir Fry and Noodles

THURSDAY: Chicken & Leek Pie with Scrunched Filo Topping (practice for Shire Catering next week), Glazed Carrots and Smashed Potatoes

FRIDAY: Fish (Bronze Whaler from Albany) & homemade Chips with tossed salad & yummy special dressing and broccoli salad

SATURDAY: Left Overs

SUNDAY: Korean Beef Spare Ribs with Fried Rice

I notice that there's no vegetarian meal this week, but I have to practice my Chicken & Leek Pie to make sure it will be OK for Council. CWA are catering this month and I've revamped their menu with some more interesting options, so I'm putting myself forward to cook since I changed the menu.

I have a First Aid course all weekend, so left overs or maybe a meal from the pub on Saturday night.

I'm off to Perth tomorrow to have a tooth removed. I'm pretty distressed about it, but am hoping that I'll be able to get an implant to replace it. Bad dentistry years ago has caused bone damage in an infected root canal on a tooth that was crowned. I'm paranoid about false teeth and am determined to keep my teeth until the very end! So, all fingers and toes crossed for me, please...

Megan

p.s. The Fried Polenta was divine! Easy peasy with the Thermomix too. I'll post the recipe soon.

Orange or Lemon Cake

2011-09-07T10:57:00.000+08:00

My Dear Husband has a penchant for Orange Cake, so it's something I make frequently.

Today I went to make it and had no oranges! Rather than make a trip to the local store to buy a couple, I chose to make a Lemon Cake instead. I had plenty of lemons thanks to some generous friends with lemon trees.

I used what I call a Custard Lemon. It's a Meyer Lemon, which is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin and is a native of China.
It has a very thin, smooth skin and is deliciously fragrant. In my opinion the meyer lemon isn't suited to savoury dishes, but is fantastic in cakes and desserts.

Orange (or Lemon) Cake

155g softened butter
3 eggs
2/3 cup (120g) castor sugar
1 cup (160g) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp grated rind

Combine butter and sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Add an egg and beat again. Repeat. Add the third egg with the flour and baking powder. Beat until combined. Stir in the rind.

Bake at 180C for 35 minutes in a greased lined orange tin. Turn out and ice with orange or lemon icing.

Update!
I wanted to make this recently and only had 2 eggs. I modified the recipe and actually liked this one better! Instructions are for the Thermomix, adapt for regular mixers as above.

Orange or Lemon Cake
130g softened butter or Dairy Soft
120g castor sugar
160g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bi-carb
Juice and rind of half and orange (or lemon, remainder is used in the icing)

Combine butter and sugar and beat for 2 minutes, speed 4. Add 1 egg and beat again on speed 4 for 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients, juice and remaining egg and beat for 30 - 40 seconds, speed 3 or until incorporated.
Add rind and blend for 10 seconds, speed 2.

Bake in a greased lined loaf tin for 35 minutes on 180C

Make icing with 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, remaining juice and rind and 2 tsp butter. Can ice while still a little warm and top with coconut.

A Good Cup of Coffee

2011-08-29T13:57:00.000+08:00

Why is it so difficult to buy a really good cup of coffee?

I was in Albany at the weekend and I bought a total of 3 cups of coffee at different places and only one was really drinkable.

I know my coffee choice is a little fussy - a long black topped up with soy, but I make a superb one at home with my little 15 year old Black & Decker percolator, so surely a cafe should get it right?

Unfortunately, that's just not the case. If the coffee is too strong, the acidic nature of the coffee is high and the soy milk will separate. Not only is this ugly, it's a nuisance as I have to keep stirring it to bring it back together. I've tried ordering a weak long black, but have found that it's just too weak and tastes rather like I imagine dishwater would taste.

Gloria Jeans was the first coffee I had and it was only just drinkable and that's because they allowed me to add my own soy milk. At $4.80, it was pretty expensive too.

The next was at Bay Merchants, for breakfast. Really too strong, but at least the proprietor noticed I wasn't drinking it and offered to bring some hot water to dilute it. Not sure of the price here, but I imagine it was pretty expensive too.

The last and worst was at Calamari's Cafe on the Beach. Not only did we wait ages to be served, I almost gave up waiting for the coffee it took so long. And when it finally arrived, it was served in a small glass with the coffee sitting at the bottom and the soy sitting on top. It was so excruciatingly strong that the soy milk would not even attempt to join the coffee, not matter how much one stirred!! I could only manage two sips out of that one.
The only plus here is that all their coffees are $4.00, no extra charge for the soy. But, since I couldn't drink it, that really became the most expensive coffee that I had all weekend.

Probably the only place in Albany I have enjoyed a good coffee is at Dome, but then the food is so boring at Dome that I don't generally bother going there.

So, today I'm sipping a delicious cup of coffee made at home just the way I like it!

Warm Eggplant Salad

2011-08-15T09:02:00.004+08:00

When I make a lasagne, I layer thin strips of Mediterranean vegetables between the meat and pasta. Often, it's difficult to manage to get all the layers I want and last night I was left with strips of baby eggplant. I'd also forgotten to add the lovely fresh basil I'd picked up at the supermarket. What to do with the eggplant?
I was serving salad with the lasagne and had a germ of an idea which turned into a simple and delicious warm salad.

Warm Eggplant Salad
5 or 6 baby eggplant, sliced longways
olive oil
bunch of fresh basil
splash of balsamic vinegar

Saute eggplant in oil - it will absorb it all, so be generous.
Place in a serving dish and tear over basil leaves.
Drizzle with balsamic, toss and serve.

Pumpkin Soup

2011-07-03T14:18:00.005+08:00

Pumpkin Soup must be the most ubiquitous soup in the world. It seems whenever there's a soup of the day on a restaurant menu, it's going to be pumpkin. Everyone loves it and it's cheap and easy to make.

When I go to a restaurant, I like to try something I haven't had before, so find it really annoying when chefs take the easy way out and make a plain and boring pumpkin soup. There are so many things you can add to it to make it different, yet still delicious.

Here's the adaptions I like to do to take pumpkin soup up a notch in the culinary stakes.

Thai Pumpkin Soup 1
Chop an onion and saute in a mixture of butter and oil with 2 tbs of red curry paste.
Add chopped peeled pumpkin that has been microwaved or steamed for 5 minutes or so.
Add chicken stock or water and chicken stock powder and cook until pumpkin is soft.
Process and add up to 1/2 can of coconut milk.
Season to taste.
Serve with chopped coriander.

Thai Pumpkin Soup 2
Make in the same way as above, but use a blend of pumpkin and sweet potato. Add some grated fresh ginger for extra zing.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Make using the same method as Thai Pumpkin Soup, but add Indian Curry Paste such as Korma or Tikka.
Instead of coconut milk use light pouring cream or plain yoghurt and serve with pappadams.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Place 2 tbsp oil in baking dish and place in pre heated 200 degree oven.
Microwave or steam pumpkin
Place in roasting pan and bake until browned on all sides.
Add to sauteed onion and proceed as normal.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup 2
Use a mixture of carrot and pumpkin or sweet potato and pumpkin

4 P's Soup - Pea, Pasta, Pancetta and Pumpkin
Saute onion as normal and make regular plain pumpkin soup. When cooked add some pouring cream or cream cheese before blending. Add to this mixture some cooked ribbon pasta, fried diced pancetta (or bacon), some frozen peas (or corn niblets).
Test for seasoning and serve with crusty bread.

Pumpkin & Roasted Cherry Tomato
The acid in the tomatoes adds a wonderful tang to the soup. Just add to plain pumpkin soup, no other flavours are needed.
Roast some cherry tomatoes in olive oil in a hot oven until the skins burst. When cool enough to handle, pop them out of their skins and add to your pumpkin soup. Process, top with some chopped chives or parsley and serve with crusty bread.

No more boring pumpkin soup! If you have any further ideas, please list in the comments section below.

No Fail Sponge Cake

2011-06-26T12:51:00.000+08:00

I had a card with this recipe of my Mum's that I wrote out years ago for this "No-Fail Sponge Cake". When writing it down, I'd written next to the title "...yeah, sure".

Some years later, (and many failed sponges later) I came across the recipe card and thought I'd give it a try. Much to my utter amazement, I made my first successful sponge cake!

I've made it many, many times since and have even left out the raising agents and it still worked, though wasn't quite as light.

Recently in Nyabing, the local CWA held a cooking morning where we demonstrated how to make Cream Puffs and my No Fail Sponge Cake.

Here's a photo of a couple of successful students with their sponge:

Unfortunately, the commercial oven wasn't ideal and they didn't rise quite as much as they should have, but they were still good sponge cakes!

No Fail Sponge Cake

4 large eggs, room temperature (stale eggs are best)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup cornflour
1/2 cup custard powder
1 tsp plain flour
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 180C fan forced
Grease and line the bases of 2 high sided 20cm cake tins with baking paper and flour the sides.
Using whisk attachment of mixer, beat eggs for 8 minutes. Beat for an extra 2 minutes if you have beater blades.
Meanwhile, sift flour, custard powder and raising agents three times.
Add sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes.
Use whisk from mixer (or beater blade) to incorporate dry ingredients.
Pour into tins and tap gently to remove large air bubbles.
Bake for 18 - 20 minutes.

Ginger Sponge
Use raw caster and add 2 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Chocolate Sponge
Replace 1/4 cup cornflour with 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder. Increase sugar amount to 2/3 cup.

Getting Organised - Menu Planning

2011-06-26T12:34:00.000+08:00

Menu Planning is something I do in fits and starts. During very busy times like seeding and harvest, it's invaluable as I can plan meals that will either cook while I'm out in the paddock waiting, waiting or are quick and easy to prepare when I do get home.

Having a template makes it that much easier. Normally, I just use a note pad, but the page will be lost back in the pad as many other notes get written. I've developed a simple template that can be downloaded or printed from Google Docs:

Menu Plan

Lunch has been included as, often, in the quieter times, the men will come home for lunch. I still quite often will make a soup or wraps, depending on the season as I like to sit down for lunch with my daughter when she comes home during her lunch break.

Here's my plan for this week. I'm hoping to do a little shopping on the way home from Perth on Tuesday.

Monday 27th June

Normally, I'll just print it off and write my menu down so it can be changed. This time, I just used a handwriting font, found here: Angelina Font

Off to make custard for ice cream and ANZAC's. Enjoy your menu planning!

Getting Organised - Shopping

2011-06-24T17:42:00.006+08:00

Recently, I helped out a friend in need and did a quick run around the supermarket for her. She handed me a Grocery Check List where she'd just ticked off all the items she required. It was so easy to use and on querying her about it, the list is a downloadable pdf from a blog. There's loads of these blogs out there, written by young mums, mostly, trying to get their lives into some sort of order and sharing their ideas with their avid readers.

The Grocery Check List was obviously from a US 'gal' and, while still really handy, didn't quite include the things that I would normally buy. I mean, where was the MightyMite? (I no longer buy Vegemite as it's not an Australian product anymore..)

So, I've developed my own check list. Since I buy very little pre-prepared stuff, it won't suit everyone, but I've left plenty of spaces to add your own items. (I didn't actually add MightyMite, but put in the item 'Spreads', and space to write the particular spread needed.)
I also make my own toiletries washing up liquid and cleaning products, so didn't include those either. Since I don't have babies, there's no nappies, baby food etc. either.
I don't usually buy eggs as I have a friend and a daughter with chooks and we swap eggs for soap.

If you'd like me to create one with these items, let me know what you need and I'll try to fit it in. Tell me what I can take out of the list that you don't normally buy.

I don't buy these items every week, of course, but it's still handy to have the whole list of things that I use.

This link will take you to Google Docs. You can then click 'File' and 'Download' or 'Print'. Let me know what you think, I'd love some feedback. I haven't made it all fancy with pretty pictures, that's just not my thing!

I'm sure there'll be something I've left off the list!

Grocery Check List
(modified 3/7/11)

Creamy Cauliflower & Brie Soup

2011-06-16T19:36:00.000+08:00

This particular soup came about when our outside fridge (beer fridge - but contains a lot of stuff that doesn't fit in the inside fridge) had a little fit and froze everything on the top shelf. A whole cauliflower was frozen solid.

What to do? Cauliflower Soup came to mind. I remember many years ago going to a restaurant where there was a Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Blue Cheese on the menu. So, I thought, "Why not?".

Unfortunately, I didn't have any Blue Cheese and there wasn't any at our local store. I would have liked to use a Blue Castello, a very light 'blue' cheese. Brie was available, so that's what I used.

Creamy Cauliflower & Brie Soup
1 onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 whole cauliflower
1 litre milk
1/2 litre good chicken stock ( I made my own)
2 tsp chicken stock powder
125g Creamy Brie (I use Australian Gold brand)
cracked black pepper
chopped chives, to garnish (wish I had some in the garden)

Saute diced onion in olive oil. Add milk, chopped cauliflower, stock and stock powder. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes. Put into a food processor or blender and puree. Add Brie and seasonings to taste and puree again.
Top with chopped chives to serve.
For Thermomix:
Chop onion on speed 5 for a few seconds. Scrape down and add oil. Saute on 100/speed 2/5 minutes. Add cauliflower, stock, milk and stock powder. Cook on 100/speed 2-3 20 - 30 minutes. Bring up to speed 7 slowly to puree for a few seconds. Add Brie and seasonings to taste, repeat.

TangZhong Bread

2011-06-08T09:51:00.002+08:00

TangZhong is the name of a starter that is used in the making of asian style soft sweet bread. I read about it on this blog and decided to try it out as the consistency of the cooked bread looked so soft and luscious.
I used the Thermomix to make the TangZhong, but you can use a saucepan easily enough. I reduced the sugar to make the loaf less sweet. It had a lovely texture and didn't have that 'yeasty' smell that home made loaves often get after a few days.

Tang Zhong Starter

250ml water
50g bread flour
Place in and cook for 5 1/2 minutes/60/speed 4, or cook on stove, stirring constantly until thick and glossy.
Scrape out and place in a bowl on the bench (or fridge if you're in a hot area) to cool to room temperature.

Bread
500g bread flour (Wallaby)
160g TangZhong starter
200g water
2 tsp salt
30g sugar
2 tsp yeast
50g melted cooled butter (I just melt in the microwave)
I also added my 90g of mixed seeds
Place all in and mix on for 15 minutes. If you have a breadmaker, let it go through the knead cycle twice. This will give it a fantastic start.
Remove (flour hands so they don't stick to dough) and prove in a warm spot until doubled. Orr you can an allow the dough to prove in the TMX and then do next knead in the TMX as well)
Knead again by hand for a few minutes and then place in bread tin in a warm spot. Cover with a billowed plastic bag. It should rise above the tin.

Bake at 220C for 25 minutes. Remove from tin and bake a further 5 - 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Here's another picture of a much better loaf that I made with this starter after I realised that my yeast was out of date:

Apple & Fennel Pork Steaks

2011-06-07T19:41:00.000+08:00

I bought some lovely pork steaks in Albany recently which were just too good to bash out to make schnitzels. So, I decided cook them as regular steaks and serve with a creamy apple & fennel sauce.
We all know that apple and pork have a wonderful affinity for each other, but not many people would think of fennel in this mix. I adore the aniseedy deliciousness of fennel seeds and normally will make a cabbage dish with fennel seeds and apple to serve with pork.
This time, a sauce was called for, so the apple and fennel seeds made a delicious debut. I didn't measure everything as I cooked, so amounts are estimates only. Use your own judgement and taste as you go!

Apple & Fennel Pork Steaks
8 pork steaks
1 Tbsp oil
pepper, salt
2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, sliced
1 green apple, sliced (place in a bowl of water with some lemon juice to prevent browning)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 cup chicken stock (or water with 2 tsp chicken stock powder)
2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup pouring cream (or skinny tinny if you're watching your fat intake)
1 Tbsp or so of cornflour

Heat oil in a large heavy based fry pan. Season pork steaks and cook on both sides for a few minutes on high heat until browned. Remove to a plate and cover with foil.
Heat butter in pan and add onion. Saute for a few minutes and add sliced apple and brown sugar, fennel seeds and balsamic. Saute until softened and caramelised.
Add chicken stock and cover with lid. Cook for 10 minutes or so until very soft. Test for seasoning.
Add cream mixed with cornflour and cook until thickened.
Return steaks and any juices to pan and reheat.
Serve with vegetables in season. I served with french beans, minted matchstick carrot and smashed potatoes.

Megan's Perfect Pasties

2011-05-28T14:11:00.001+08:00

These are the best pasties you'll ever taste! I've changed the recipe slightly, as I now tend to use bought puff pastry. I find there's no need to add water as the onion releases a lot of liquid when it's chopped finely.

I am so thrilled to have made these. I adore bakery pasties and recently had a horrible experience of (not) eating a truly awful pastie from the local bakery in town. The pastry was lovely, but the filling was a hard lump of something that tasted rather like cardboard.

For the pastry, make a batch of Rough Puff Pastry, using the method described here. Roll and turn about 6 times and then cut in half and refrigerate for half an hour or so.
If pushed for time, use ready rolled puff pastry. I prefer Pampas 25% Fat Reduced. It works a treat.

To make the filling:
250g lean beef mince
3 carrots
2 onions
1 turnip
1/2 to1 parsnip
4 tsp beef stock powder
2 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
a few frozen peas
1 beaten egg for glazing.

I don't bother peeling the root vegetables. Just chop roughly. Add the vegetables in large dice to bowl of food processor or Thermomix. I do carrots first for 4 seconds, speed 4. Tip out into bowl with mince, sotck powder, peas and pepper. Then chop turnip and parsnip for 6 seconds, speed 4. Add to carrot and mince mixture. Chop onions for 5 seconds, speed 5, scrape down and chop for 2 more seconds, speed 5.
If using a food processor, blitz all veggies for a few seconds or until chopped. Add to mince with the remaining ingredients.

To make pasties:
Preheat oven to 225C. Line two trays with baking paper.
Roll out pastry and cut circles using a small side plate (I make smaller ones now using my pie maker cutter). Brush inside with beaten egg and place filling on one half, avoiding edges. Fold other half over and seal with finger crimping. Prick with a fork and place on baking tray.
Brush with beaten egg and bake for half an hour.
Remove from tray and place straight onto oven racks and bake for a further 10 minutes. If using bought puff pastry, there's no need to do this. I just bake until they're cooked and remove to a cake rack to cool.
This is due to the liquid that is being released from the filling as it cooks. If you leave pasties on the tray the base with go soggy.

Filling the pastie

Ready for the egg glaze and baking

I used 3/4 of the pastry and made 10 pasties. The remaining pastry was made into 2 pastie sized apple turnovers, a croissant and some spirals with sugar on top.

Rough Puff Pastry

2011-05-22T14:42:00.005+08:00

It's been a while since I've posted here. Skinflint business has been busy and, although I've been doing a lot of cooking still, I haven't had time to blog about it!

Today I wanted to make sausage rolls to put in the men's lunch boxes for seeding. I had a little of the Pampas 25% Fat Reduced Puff Pastry in the freezer, but have had it in my mind to make some Puff Pastry, so that's just what I did.

I've been looking at a recipe on this site for Rough Puff Pastry and I thought that this was the way to go.
I honestly didn't think it would be that great, I'm not a good pastry maker. But, I was in for a pleasant surprise - it was wonderful! Certainly not difficult, maybe a little time consuming, but still not terribly hard to do.

I wanted to use my Thermomix as my hands are way too hot to try to rub in butter without it melting. The key to making great pastry is to have everything really cold. Checking the recipe in the EDC, it appears that you throw everything in to the Thermomix and use the dough setting.
So, that's just what I did (I put iceblocks in the water to chill it) and it turned out to be too much for the poor machine. So I tipped half of it out and just did it in two batches.

Here's the method:

500g flour
500g cold butter, cut into chunks
110ml icy water

Throw into Thermomix, blend as much as possible on speed 4. Tip half out and blend remaining pastry on speed 4 - 5 for 20 seconds. Tip on to well floured bench and repeat with remaining ingredients.

Roll pastry out to a long thick rectangle, short end facing you. Fold the top 1/3 down and the bottom 1/3 up and press edges together lightly with rolling pin. Move pastry around a 1/4 turn.
Each time you roll, put more flour on the mat and also onto the top of the pastry. This pastry contains a lot of water and can cope with the extra flour.

Roll out again, keep flour on your bench all the time. Try to keep the rectangle shape.

Repeat the above step three more times, constantly flouring the bench and the top of the pastry.

Cut in half and roll out one half as evenly as possible, making it about 3mm thick, the same as ready rolled Puff Pastry.

Cover with baking paper and roll up. Fold in two lightly and place in a freezer bag in the fridge. When you're ready to use it, simply unroll it onto a floured bench.
Freeze the other half of the pastry if you don't need it right away. This is what it looks like - notice the layers.

In between two trips to the farm (the first I don't really know why I had to go because after waiting around in the paddock for 10 minutes or so I was told I could go home, blockages apparently), I managed to make my pastry.

After returning from the farm the first time, I unrolled it and cut a strip off to make Pig in a Blanket for the men's lunch.

Wow! Gobsmacked! Just like Puff Pastry!

On returning from the second trip to the farm, I cut the remainder of the piece into rectangles for Cream Matchsticks, my husband's favourite.

Again! Amazing Puff Pastry!

So, since I originally started this in order to make sausage rolls, I thought I'd better do so!

I squished out the filling from 1 packet of the wonderful butcher's sausages I buy from our local store into the Thermomix (a food processor would work). I then added 3 slices of bread, a large squirt of tomato sauce and some herbs from the garden - thyme, parsley and rosemary. Blitz for 30 seconds or so and use for sausage rolls.

I like to shape the filling and lay it on the pastry, so I wet my hands and take a large lump of sausage mine and roll it in my hands.

Bake sausage rolls at 225C for about 12- 15 minutes.

Yum!

I thought this was the end of my blog post, but since there was some pastry left over, I made some little croissants.

The first ones I made used only one triangle of pastry, but then I decided to sandwich two triangles together and they were better.

Croissants

Cut pastry strip into squares and cut each square in half diagonally. Brush one triangle with water and place the other on top. Roll up from the long end and shape into a crescent. Use a little water to stick the final corner down. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with raw sugar if desired. Bake at 225C for about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

You can also dredge them with icing sugar when cooled. For those who like Chocolate Croissants, place a square of chocolate in the middle of the triangle before rolling up.

For savoury croissants, place a square of tasty cheese in the middle and sprinkle rolled croissant with a little paprika and salt or cayenne pepper and salt.

I left the bigger ones plain and I'll be having ham and cheese croissants for breakfast tomorrow morning! They really need to be long, skinny triangles to get the correct croissant shape.

When making this again, I made half the recipe and just made it in two batches.

Delicious Mayonnaise, Dijonnaise and Salad Dressings

2011-04-06T20:37:00.001+08:00

There is absolutely no need to buy mayonnaise or salad dressings. Sure, the Thermomix makes mayonnaise making easy, but anyone can make it in a food processor too!

I make two sorts of mayo; one is a cooked one and the other a raw egg one. I only ever make the raw egg one when I have access to fresh farm eggs. I have a friend who regularly supplies me with happy chook's eggs and I exchange the kindness with soap. (Thanks Michaela) This time, I'll give her a jar of homemade mayonnaise.

Egg Mayonnaise
2 large whole eggs, separated
1 Tbsp of Dijon Mustard
2 Tbsp White Balsamic Vinegar (or plain white, or lemon juice)
2 tsp honey ( I use Jarrah)
salt & pepper (white) to taste
250ml sunflower oil

Place yolks, salt and pepper, honey, mustard and vinegar in processor or Thermomix bowl. Mix on speed 4 for 30 seconds or so.
Scrape down.
With blades rotating on speed 4, MC in place, slowly pour oil onto lid of Thermomix. If using a food processor, slowly pour oil through spout while processor is working.
Add oil steadily over a period of about 5 minutes.
Once thickened, taste test for seasoning etc. and add egg whites, mixing for 10 seconds on speed 4.
Add 1/4 tsp of Vitamin C powder to help preserve, if desired. Store in jars in the refrigerator.

I make double this recipe. I like to make a variety of dressings with this one mayonnaise.
1. Add yoghurt and chopped mint to make a potato salad dressing.
2. Add lemon juice for a Waldorf salad dressing.
3. Add wholegrain mustard and Special Salad Dressing for Dijonnaise.
4. Add anchovies for a Caeser salad dressing.
5. Add some mayonnaise to a creamy chicken casserole sauce for that tangy zing.

The possibilities are endless.

My cooked mayonnaise recipe can be found here. This is a sweeter mayonnaise and can be used in the following ways:

1. For tasty Tartare Sauce - add chopped capers and gherkins
2. Coleslaw Dressing - add some of the juice from canned pineapple. Add the chopped pineapple to the coleslaw.
3. Use as a potato salad dressing as is.
4. Mix with Special Salad Dressing, 2 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp dry mustard powder to make a Curried Pasta Salad Dressing.

Special Salad Dressing
This is a dressing I've developed over the years. It's similar to my Lemon & Mustard Dressing, with a few tweaks.

1/2 cup lemon juice & lemon zest
1/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup sunflower oil
3 tsp Jarrah honey (to taste)
2 tsp dulse flakes
2 tsp seeded mustard
1/2 tsp lemon herb seasoning
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp lecithin
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt & white pepper

Blend together and place in a jar or bottle. The turmeric is optional, but I like the yellow colour. The dulse flakes are a dried sea vegetable and add both flavour and nutrition, but are low in sodium.

I throw this dressing into a whole variety of dishes to add flavour and tanginess.

Vanilla Processor Cake

2011-03-31T14:22:00.002+08:00

This is a cake recipe that I've come up with based on a number of different recipes. I make it in the Thermomix, but it can be made in a food processor or even a normal mixer.
It will make one large cake suitable for a small baking dish, 2 smaller cakes or around 24 large patty cakes.
If no buttermilk is available, sour some milk by warming gently in the microwave and adding lemon juice. The acidic liquid is required to activate the bi-carb soda.
I add lecithin to my mixture, but it's not absolutely necessary. It just stops it looking curdled and makes for a smoother cake.
Lecithin is available from pharmacies and health food stores. It's made from soya beans and is an emulsifier.

Vanilla Cake
260g raw sugar
170g Dairy Soft
4 eggs, room temperature
300g plain flour
40g custard powder
2 tp baking powder
1 tsp bi-carb soda
1 cup buttermilk or soured milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lecithin (optional)

Blitz sugar to make into castor sugar.
Add butter blend and mix at speed 4 for 30 seconds.
Add eggs one at a time, beating at speed 4 and adding 3 Tbsp of flour mixture with the last egg to prevent curdling.
Add milk and flours and blend at speed 2 up to 4 until incorporated. Blend until smooth.

Bake at 160C for 1 hour in a small baking dish, 25 - 30 minutes on 200C for large patty cakes, 40 minutes at 180C for two smaller round cakes.

Vanilla Frosting
100g softened butter
200g icing sugar
1 Tbsp Custard Powder
2 - 3 Tbsp cream or milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp glucose (optional)

Blend butter, sugar and custard powder on speed 3 until smooth.
Add cream, essence and glucose. Continue blending until smooth and creamy.

The Challenge Continued...

2011-03-17T12:16:00.000+08:00

While the one month long Pantry and Freezer Challenge has officially finished, I'm still vowing to use up everything in my freezers.
I have one chest freezer which is nearly empty, an upright freezer with a mainly frozen fruit for sorbets etc, and two fridge freezers.
Luckily, one fridge freezer has some nice porterhouse steak from the local store which has only been there since January. So, no freezer burn!!
Steak, potato gratin and salad for tea tonight! And, of course, pepper sauce.

My Pepper Sauce is made with a secret gravy mix that I buy which is delicious. Use any gravy mix and add a good glug of sherry, about 1/2 a cup of cream (or skinny tinny if you're watching) and some crushed mixed peppercorns to taste. Cook as normal. If you have any beef stock in the fridge or freezer add some of that for a more intense flavour.

The Challenge Tuesday Week 4

2011-03-08T11:05:00.003+08:00

Today begins the final week of my Pantry & Freezer Challenge. All my freezers are beginning to look a bit bare, especially the chest freezer.

Yesterday, I made chicken stock with the carcass of the chicken cooked earlier in the week. I added a miripoix (diced carrot, celery and onion) and bouquet garni and cooked it on low for about 3 hours.

Last night's tea was a delicious concoction of Creamy Chicken with Vegies and Pasta.

I had three bone in chicken thighs and three people to feed. This actually fed three of us and made two meals to freeze.

Creamy Chicken with Vegetables and Pasta
3 bone in chicken thighs or a couple of marylands
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups of vegetables - I had carrots, red and green capsicum, snow peas, mushrooms and zucchini
1/2 cup cream
30g butter
salt & pepper
extra stock
Cornflour to thicken
Cooked pasta - about 2 cups

Poach chicken in stock and wine until well cooked. Allow to cool and then remove meat and dice. Place cooking liquid in freezer to set fat.
Saute harder vegetables in butter. Add cream and other vegetable and cook for a couple of minutes. Add extra stock and seasonings.
Add pasta, chicken and skimmed stock/wine from freezer and cook until vegetables are to your liking. Thicken with cornflour if necessary.

Sorry, no photo as camera not working. Lucky, darling son gave me his top notch camera for my birthday!

Tonight's tea is Curried Sausages. With only one packet of sausages (Lake Grace Butcher ones - the best!) and the whole family to feed tonight, I have to make them go a long way.

Dessert is Lemon Meringue Tarts. The reason I'm splashing out with dessert is because I have a jar of home made lemon butter in my pantry. Also, I made Hollandaise to have with my poached egg yesterday morning and had some left over egg whites.

Only thing is, when I opened the jar, it didn't taste the best and I realised it was a year old.... Pastry tarts already cooking in the oven, so I had to make another batch of Lemon Butter! Now I have even more egg whites! Meringues coming up, I think!

Here's the Lemon Butter recipe converted from a CWA one for the Thermomix:

Lemon Butter
500g sugar
250g butter
Juice of 4 lemons and zested rind of 3

Cook the above for 6 minutes/90/speed 3 to dissolve sugar and make a syrup.
Reduce heat to 80.

4 eggs - 2 with the whites, and 2 with yolks only

Beat the eggs and add slowly to the Thermomix bowl while on speed 3. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes until the mixture looks like honey and coats the back of a spoon.

Refrigerate in jars.

The Challenge - the rest of Week 3!

2011-03-06T17:54:00.002+08:00

Time has got away from me this week, so I'm condensing the menu for this week into one post.

I'm finding that "The Challenge" is really about using up what's in my freezer. My pantry is full, yes, but I use everything and constantly replace items as they are finished or low in stock.
I buy a lot of things in bulk - all my flours, sugar, rices, nuts and seeds. I have loads of spices because I love to cook curries.

The rest of this week's cooking:
Roast Chicken - cooked in the Turbo Oven outside because it's too hot to cook inside!
Banana Muffins - My own recipe can be found here

Cinnamon Scrolls - making these right now, so will post photo when they're done. (can't find the camera, so no photo! They are superb! Recipe to be found here, adapted by forum guru JulieO.
Creamy Tomato Salmon Pasta - The salmon had been in the freezer a while and tasted rather 'fishy'. It obviously doesn't have a long freezer life due to it's oil content. (still working on this recipe, so will post when I'm satisfied with it)

Other than that it's been left overs this week. Not terribly adventurous, I know, but the limited meat ingredients in my freezer is leaving me with very little motivation. Freezer burned chicken legs, dubious packets of stuff that could be dog meat & sausages.
I do have some special things in there - a whole duck, a duck breast and some duck stock, but want to save these for a special occasion. Also, a whole fillet steak which will be saved for when the whole family is here for tea.

Tea tonight is crumbed steak, cauliflower gratin, baked potatoes, carrots, beans and peas.

I've had my first disaster. Defrosted a bag of what looked like dog mince and threw it into the Thermomix with some diced carrot and pumpkin to cook for Rambo's tea and find out that it's sausage mince. Can't give it to Rambo and can't use it now as it's cooked!!!

Total Spend now around $235.00.

The Challenge - Tuesday Week 3

2011-03-06T12:35:00.001+08:00

Well, week 3 already and I'm starting to delve deeper and deeper into my freezer! I did a sneaky swap with my daughter - her lamb for my pork.

I found a wonderful Chicken Gallantine in the freezer that I'd made some time ago.
Tonight's tea was Madras Lamb Curry:

1 tsp turmeric
750g boneless leg lamb (can use shoulder, but cook longer)
Cut lamb into 2.5cm cubes and massage turmeric in.

2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cardamom
Roast in Thermomix for 5 minutes/Varoma/Speed 2.
Remove

2 tsp coriander seed
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (more if you like it hotter)
1 tsp cumin seeds
Roast for 5 minutes/Varoma/Speed 2.
Add:

1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Grind on speed 6 for a few seconds. Place paper towel between lid and bowl.

Add:
5 roughly chopped garlic cloves
2.5cm piece ginger, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp oil or ghee
Blend to a smooth paste on speed 7, scraping bowl down every few seconds.
Cook for 5 to 10 minutes/Speed 3 until fragrant.

Add:
Lamb
250ml coconut milk (reserve rest of 375ml can)
Cook on Varoma/Speed spoon/Reverse/10 minutes.

Add remaining coconut milk and reserved spices. Season with salt to tast.

Cook on 90/Speed spoon/Reverse/60 minutes.
Add:
2 Tbsp lime juice or tamarind to taste

Check for seasoning and tenderness. Can continue cooking if necessary.
Serve with basmati rice and Vegetable Korma (from the Every Day Cooking Book)

The Challenge - Monday Week 2

2011-03-02T09:32:00.000+08:00

Almost two weeks and I had done so well with the food shopping! But, a trip to Katanning today and a leisurely stroll around Woolworths changed all that.

Today's grocery spend was $105.87. Lots of veggies, some cheese, cream cheese, cream and ricotta and I did splurge on some Carnavon bananas. I figured that customers have to buy them at that price or the supermarket will stop buying them.

Tea tonight was Tandoori Chicken. A wonderful spice blend that I adapted and made in the TMX and then mixed with plain yoghurt.

Tandoori Spice Mix
3 Tbs garlic salt
4 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp ground coriander
2 Tbsp ground ginger (or can use fresh)
2 Tbsp ground cardamom
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp turmeric
1 Tbps garam masala

For 8 pieces of chicken, blend 4 Tbsp of the Tandoori Spice Mix with 400g plain yoghurt & 4 Tbsp lemon juice and marinate overnight in the fridge. Turn over in marinade to completely coat.
To cook, place chicken pieces on a rack over an oven tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in a very hot oven for 20 minutes or so or until cooked

Serve with a fresh salad and lime wedges.

The Challenge - Friday & Saturday Week 2

2011-03-02T09:12:00.000+08:00

Today it was another get your own breakfast day, but at least we had nice home made bread.

I had lunch on the road as I was heading to Bremer Bay to do a talk for their International Women's Day event entitled "Her Voice, Her Story". This was a wonderful night and I enjoyed it immensely. Thank you so much to Suzanne Hill and the lovely staff at the Bremer Bay Community Resource Centre for the invitation and the delightful gifts.

I left a couple of BBQ packs for the boys (DS 2 was home for the night) with instructions to make a salad to have with it.

My tea was a delicious Chicken and Seafood Laksa from the Bremer Bay Resort. This was really delicious and had masses of seafood including a gigantic prawn on top and lovely coriander and benito coconut broth. It didn't need the chicken at all, the seafood was the star of this dish. At only $15.00, this was superb value for a meal that was incredibly filling (I couldn't eat it all!).

Saturday morning's breakfast was easy to choose, my favourite, Eggs Florentine. Two beautifully poached eggs on a bed of wilted spinach with lashings of smoked salmon. Served on English Muffins and with a (bought) Hollandaise. I don't understand why chefs use bought Hollandaise! It's so easy to make and keeps in the fridge for days. Again, too much for me to eat, unfortunately.

On arriving home, I had to immediately turn on the oven and prepare a Chocolate Cake for tonight. The Bowling Club has a number of members and partners who have February birthdays, so the publican of the Pingrup Pub has invited us all to tea there tonight to celebrate en masse. I offered to make the cake.
Then on to afternoon tea for Bowls as it's a home game today.

SUNDAY

Simple breakfast of Baked Beans with diced bacon and tomato on toast, get your own lunch and fish and salad for tea.

The Challenge - Thursday Week 2

2011-02-26T14:14:00.001+08:00

Everyone got their own breaky this morning as DD staying here and up early to go to work. DH was up even earlier to check sheep and cart water. I had my usual tomato and avocado between toast. Yucky bought bread from the freezer as no home made left.

Lunch was a wrap with meatloaf from the other night, last of the coleslaw, tomato and cucumber with some egg mayo spread on the base.

I made a loaf of bread today and left it to rise too long in the tin. It's a high rise loaf, but not normally that high! My DD calls this style of loaf "Bum Bread".

Tea was Chilli Con Carne using the recipe from the Thermomix Every Day Cookbook. I added a few teaspoonfuls of cumin. I didn't have any Red Kidney Beans, so had to use a can of 5 Bean Mix. It was OK, but need green capsicum.
I didn't have any lettuce as I hadn't had time to shop today. So, we had it with corn chips, tomato, avocado, sour cream mixed with yoghurt and grated cheese. Not bad at all.

The Challenge - Wednesday Week 2

2011-02-23T20:20:00.003+08:00

Easy breakfast this morning - tinned spaghetti on toast of home made bread!

Lunch was left over salad and zucchini slice and tea was a bit of a cheat's one as I've been in my Skinflint workshop today.

I made the Quarter Cake from the Thermomix Budget Busters book and put the mixture in patty pans. I couldn't bring myself to use the full 250g sugar with only 250g flour, so reduced this to 190g and the mixture was plenty sweet enough.
These worked out quite well, with a flat top, so good for decorating. My patty cakes usually have a peak and rise a lot more than these. I don't really see this recipe as a budget one with 250g butter and 4 eggs!

Breakfast for tea. There were still some chops from the other night which hadn't been cooked, so

Chops, home made wedges, baked beans, eggs (fresh from a friends 'girls') and bacon:

Wedges
3 potatoes, unpeeled, cut in half along the flattest part and then into wedges and steamed for a few minutes in the Varoma basket.
Place in a plastic bag with 1/4 cup rice flour, salt, pepper, dash of chilli powder and shake to coat.
Deep fry or spray with oil and bake in a hot oven until cooked.

A dearth of green on the plate, but we had salad for lunch.

No expenditure today.
Total spend for 8 days: $75.09

The Challenge - Tuesday Week 2

2011-02-22T23:07:00.001+08:00

Breakfast this morning was tinned spaghetti on toast made with home made bread and bacon.

For lunch, I made a Zucchini Slice with my home grown yellow zucchini and some frozen peas using Elisabeth's Crustless Quiche Recipe. She is known as 'achookwoman' on the Thermomix Forum.
This is a little different from regular Zucchini Slice as it uses milk and cream. It was delicious! Served with left over salads from last night.

Tea was a yummy Meatloaf:
500g Low Fat Mince
1/2 cup breadcrumbs from left over home made bread dried in oven and blitzed in the Thermomix
1/2 kumara, chopped for about 4 seconds on speed 5
1 onion, chopped in Thermomix for around 4 seconds on speed 5
1 Tbsp Mild English Mustard
2 Tbsp Tomato Sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Pepper

Wrap in greased foil and place in a bread tin. Bake at 175 C for around 45 minutes. Open foil at top and glaze with Tomato Relish. Increase heat to 225 C and bake for another 25 minutes, or use the grill function of your oven to brown the top of the loaf.
Served with mixed vegies from freezer and mashed potato. Gravy made with Knorr Gravy mix with 3 Tbsp Tomato Relish added to it.

No purchases today.

Total Spend still stands at $75.09

The Challenge - Monday Week 1

2011-02-21T21:23:00.002+08:00

Easy breakfast today, cereal and toast from home made bread. When cereal runs out, I'll make muesli.

Lunch was packed for DH - wraps made from the meat of the last turkey wing and salad with bought Dijonnaise that was in the pantry. Sliced bread and wraps are part of a permanent order from my local store. I don't want to cancel this, so will have to add the cost of this to my running total.

Tea was barbecued lamb chops with a variety of salads - Curried Broccoli, Pumpkin and Spinach, Coleslaw, Tomato, Onion and Cucumber in White Balsamic. No dessert again as I'm not a dessert eater and DH didn't want any. Whew! I didn't make dessert as paperwork took up a lot of my time today.

You can see in the photo two yellow zucchinis from our garden. I'll make a zucchini slice tomorrow for lunch, I think

Total Spend still stands at $75.09. That's pretty incredible for a week as I'm more likely to spend around $200 or $300 in one week on food.

The Challenge - Sunday Week 1

2011-02-20T21:41:00.001+08:00

Still in Albany this morning, so a delicious breakfast at THE place to have breaky in Albany, Dylans on the Terrace.

We both enjoyed the Breakfast Stack - mushrooms & onion, spinach, bacon and a poached egg all on toast served with a grilled tomato. DH had his with a sausage. Only criticism is that neither of us liked the onion with this, even DH who loves onion with anything.

On the way home from Albany we called in to IGA and bought some fresh fruit and vegies, soy milk and some EasiYo Greek yoghurt mix. Ooh, and I did cheat, because I bought some bacon. There's only a little bit left in the fridge and I can't live without bacon.

Cost: $59.29, so Total Spend now $75.09.

Lunch was a sandwich of tomato from the garden, avocado and dijonnaise on home made bread.

Since I still had the roast vegies from Friday night and the turkey wings, tea is re heated vegies (steamed in the Varoma), gravy already made Friday night and some broccoli purchased today. Since the turkey wings were tough, I decided to cook them further. Made a miripoix of carrot and onion, diced really finely thanks to my birthday present - a gorgeous Global Cook's Knife. Saute in olive oil and add deglaze white wine. add a little water. Place turkey wings in liquid and cook on very low for an hour. I used my Le Creuset casserole for this.

Remove legs from pan and place in Thermoserver. Add liquid to Thermomix bowl. Blend on speed 5 for a few seconds. Add the gravy to the liquid and thicken with a little cornflour if necessary. Cook on 100, speed 2 for 5 minutes or so until boiling and any added cornflour is cooked. Remove and pour over wings. This should keep warm while vegies are steaming. I put the beans, which were already cooked, in a small dish in the base of the Varoma and roasted cooked vegies in the top part of the steamer. No need to wash bowl, just add 500 ml hot water. Have broccoli ready in basket to add to the bowl in the last 5 to 6 minutes of steaming.

No dessert, we don't need it after last night!

Delicious! Very frugal and no little bits of left overs sitting in the fridge.

Total Spend still stands at $75.09

Nut Butter

2011-02-20T16:55:00.001+08:00

This is a post I've had sitting in draft format for some time as I was planning to add a photo. Can't find the photo, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

There's nothing more satisfying to me than being able to make something that I would normally buy, and, not only that, but to make it better and much healthier than the bought version.

Today it was Nut Butter, ACP Butter, to be precise. Almond, Cashew and Peanut Butter is delicious and so simple to make in the Thermomix.

To make this, roast 200g almonds in the oven until they're crispy and allow to cool.
Place in Thermomix with 200g unsalted cashews and 100g salted peanuts. Whizz on speed 6 to 7 for around 30 seconds, helping the mixture move with the spatula. Continue blending until the desired consistency is achieved. No need to add any oil unless you like it very chunky. Add 1/2 teaspoon or so of salt to taste.

Store in a jar in the cupboard and use within a few months if it lasts that long!

Healthy Cooking

2011-02-20T16:54:00.001+08:00

Another post sitting in draft format waiting for a photo. No photo, sorry!

I love my food and so do my family. However, it can be tricky to keep the healthy balance, so I've decided to see if I can include more whole foods into our diet.

We already eat my wholemeal/rye/white homemade bread with seeds, but it's the cakes and bickies that are the issue. I've been experimenting with the addition of wholemeal flour in two of my regular recipes.
Today I made both American Pancakes and Carrot Cake substituting one third of the flour with wholemeal.

I didn't notice any difference in either finished product. The Pancakes were still light and luscious as was the Carrot Cake.

I try to use brown rice wherever possible and will experiment with wholemeal pasta in future.

I'm also looking at the different substitutes for sugar. I refuse to use artificial ingredients, so have bought some Agave Syrup and Rapadura Sugar.

There's a great article by a blogger friend of mine which explains all about the different sugar substitutes here. Quirky Jo is a mine of dietary information on things such as sweeteners, gluten free flours, dairy substitutes, making chocolate from scratch and other wonderful ideas. She's also a Thermomix addict.

Tonight I'm making Porcupine Meatballs, a recipe that traditionally uses a can of condensed tomato soup. Since I'm not using processed ingredients, I'm making my own 'condensed soup' from a recipe provided by another Thermomix user, Chelsea. I've substituted the frozen raw tomatoes with canned tomatoes (one of the few canned ingredients that I do use) and have added a few more things to the recipe.

This is the basis of it here:

1 large brown onion, peeled and cut into eighths
1 green apple, cored and cut into eighths (I don't bother peeling)
2 x 410g cans crushed tomatoes in juice
50g red wine vinegar
150g rapadura or around 130g brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
3 tsp dried bell peppers (available from bulk food stores), substitute with 1/4 red capsicum chopped with the onion and apple
1/4 tsp mixed herbs

Place onion and apple (and capsicum if substituting) into Thermomix bowl and chop for 7 seconds on speed 5. Add all other ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.

Cook for 40 minutes on Varoma temperature, speed 2.

Blend for 1 minute, slowly turning dial to 9 making sure MC is in place.

Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal. Turn upside down for 10 minutes to complete sealing process.

Use wherever a recipe calls for a can of tomato soup.

The Challenge - Saturday Week 1

2011-02-20T15:48:00.007+08:00

It was my birthday on Saturday and I had a wonderful trip to Albany where I was 'gonged' at the Sandalwood Factory and then tea with friends at the Wild Duck.

The Wild Duck had a Five Course Degustation Menu (simply a fancy way of saying Set Menu) for $85 which a few of us chose to have with the matched wines for an extra $35.
The dishes were all small, delicately presented and brought out on enormous plates. The boys all thought they were going to starve. Boy, were they wrong!

The first course was a delicious cauliflower soup served with a seared scallop (just one, mind you) and some sort of decorative herb. We're not sure what it was, but it was a deep maroon colour. Don't remember what wine we had with this as I'd already finished it by the time the soup was served. (Well, it was only an 80ml serve of wine!)

Next, came a 15-hour cooked belly of pork with crackling, again with a seared scallop on a bed of Persian mash. This just fell apart, was wonderfully tasty and there was no fat as it had all been rendered out in the cooking process. Served with a light Sauvignon Blanc, I think, that I felt was a bit sweet. I wouldn't have served seared scallop twice, perhaps a prawn with the soup. One of the guests was allergic to seafood, but it wasn't an issue for the kitchen.

A Raspberry Sorbet came out in between here which was presented on a tiny plate and was a perfectly shaped quenelle. A bit sweet for my taste, but with a delicious hint of something aniseed, perhaps basil. The men thought it was hilarious, but ate it.

Course three was braised beef cheeks served on a corn puree with caramilised onion jam. An equally delicious dish, very rich and filling. By this stage, I was feeling quite replete. The wine was a Cab Sav and was great match for the dish.
Instead of the beef, I would have appreciated a vegetarian dish here as we'd had no vegies to speak of up to now.

Next, my favourite, crispy skin duck breast on a pumpkin puree with spinach, baby carrot (one! DH said our carrots must be ready to pick) and pea puree. Absolutely superb and I was glad to see some vegies! A Pinot Noir came with the duck, not my favourite and not something I'd serve with duck.

Finally, a Lemon Tart that wasn't tart at all, but very sweet with a crunchy sugar topping. I didn't eat mine as I was already coming down with acid reflux and had raided the kitchen for some antacid tablets. Dessert was served with the most sickly wine I've ever tasted. A "Cane Cut" Reisling. Not one of us could stomach it.

All in all, a very tasty, but very expensive meal. I loved the presentation and service and, of course enjoyed the company. I wouldn't bother doing the matching wines again, but it was a good experience to try this.

No expenditure on food for home today, so Total Spend still stands at $15.80. Not bad for four days of three meals a day.

The Challenge - Friday Week 1

2011-02-20T15:21:00.002+08:00

Breakfast again was poached egg with some left over Hollandaise Sauce on toast.
Packed lunch as off to school for a day of relief teaching. Just a salad and left over lasagne. Dear Husband packed it for me, so it was a huge piece of lasagne and an unusual salad with carrot and pickled onions.

On the way home from school I bought some milk, pumpkin, potatoes and kumura to have for tea - $12.00.

Tea was some Turkey Wings from the freezer, roasted with potatoes, pumpkin and kumura and left over french beans from the previous night. As the oven was going, I baked a loaf of bread for tomorrow's breakfast.

Since it was my birthday the following day, I went to the pub with a girlfriend and my daughter for a couple of drinks. Therefore, by the time I got home it was too late to eat, so tea went in the fridge to be resurrected for another night's meal. Dear Husband said it was nice, though the Turkey Wings were a bit tough.

Best Cooked Mayonnaise

2011-02-20T15:14:00.003+08:00

This was originally my Mum's recipe and many would recognise it from days gone by. I've adapted it as it had a tendency to separate and was a little bit runny for my liking

Add to

2 Tbs plain flour
2 Tbsp dry mustard
1.5 Tbsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup (100g) bland tasting oil - sunflower, grapeseed or ricebran
4 tsp dijon mustard (optional)
2 tsp lecithin (optional)

Mix on speed 4 for 30 seconds, then speed 6 for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, measure out 2 cups (410g) milk and 1 cup (230g) brown vinegar. Add both slowly while continuing to mix on speed 2-3.
Cook on 80 degrees C for 15 - 20 minutes on speed 3.

This is a very versatile mayonnaise. It's excellent in sandwiches and wraps and as a base for other salad dressings.

To make Coleslaw Dressing:
Mix mayo with some of the juice from a can of pineapple - add the pineapple to the coleslaw

Ranch Dressing
Mix equal parts mayo and sour cream. Add some chopped parsley and dill

Potato Salad Dressing
Mix equal parts with either sour cream or yoghurt and add some chopped gherkin and mint

Curried Salad Dressing
Mix equal parts with cream or sour cream and add 1 tsp curry powder and 1/2 tsp dry mustard

I've changed this to 'cooked' mayonnaise, rather than 'boiled', because it shouldn't really boil!
If making in a saucepan, cook over low heat while stirring regularly until thickened.

The Challenge - Thursday Week 1

2011-02-18T16:32:00.002+08:00

Breakfast this morning was a Croissant again with bacon, cheese and tomato.

Lunch today, was left over Lasagne as I was called in to school for the afternoon and didn't have time to make anything. Lasagne was delicious. Rather than layering the grilled vegies, I just chopped them up and added them to the bolognaise sauce. I made a little white sauce and added ricotta, parmesan and cheddar and spread over the top. Delicious!

Tea was some Barramundi that was in the freezer. Coated in wholemeal flour with salt and pepper added and lightly fried in a mixture of butter and oil. Served with simple mashed potatoes, french beans and carrots that were forgotten the previous night!

I made a yummy sauce for the fish:

Lemon Sauce

Mix and heat in microwave or Thermomix:

Juice and rind of one lemon

2 Tbsp homemade cooked mayonnaise

1/2 cup fish stock (water and powdered fish stock)

Thicken will a little cornflour.

The Challenge - Wednesday Week 1

2011-02-16T10:16:00.001+08:00

Breakfast this morning was easy as I had the croissants that we received for free from the Spirit Radio guy in Bunbury.

Breakfast
Bacon, Cheese and Tomato Croissants

No need to provide a recipe for these as they're simple!

Lunch
Left over Pizza Subs from Tuesday Week 1

Tea
Lasagne and salad
There is a tub of ricotta in the fridge which needs to be used, so I thought of Lasagne as I make my cheese sauce with ricotta. On checking the pantry, I had two packets of lasagne sheets.
I make my lasagne with a simple bolognaise recipe using tomato passata (made yesterday), tinned tomatoes and tomato paste (got all those!) and add in grilled Mediterranean vegies. I have squash, zucchini and eggplant.

No purchases today as I have lettuce in the fridge and tomatoes & cucumber from the garden. I have plenty of Tangy Lemon Dressing.

So expenditure still stands at $3.80

The Challenge - Tuesday Week 1

2011-02-16T08:37:00.004+08:00

On our way home from Busselton, my sister and I stopped in at Spotlight in Bunbury only to find a man in a ute calling out "Free Stuff!"

Spirit Radio were giving away free bread, rolls and croissants. Well, foraging is allowed, so we grabbed a loaf of bread, croissants, a packet of Turkish bread and some knot rolls. What a fortuitous start to our Freezer and Pantry Challenge!

Another quick stop in Collie to pick my sister's vegetable garden of all it's bounty. Fresh beans, baby eggplant and some roma tomatoes added to our purchases made at the Busselton Markets on Sunday.

Breakfast
Cream of Tomato on Toast with Bacon - affectionately referred to as Cat Sick by various family members.
Serves 3
2 x ripe tomatoes - peeled & diced. (make a light cross in the bottom with a sharp knife and place in a tall jug. Pour boiling water over and let sit for 30 seconds. Refresh with cold water and then peel)
2 eggs
1 Tbs sour cream (normally I use cream, but there wasn't any in the fridge)
3 slices bacon

Fry bacon in pan, remove and keep warm. Add tomatoes to pan, season and fry. Beat eggs with cream.
When tomatoes are cooked, add eggs and stir around until cooked. Should look like cat sick.

Serve on hot buttered toast with the bacon.

Lunch
Pizza Subs

Made tomato passata with added herbs from the garden (bay, oregano and basil) in the Thermomix.
Use as a pizza sauce on Turkish bread halves. Top with diced onion, chorizo, ham, pineapple, champignons and top with a mix of grated mozzarella (in my freezer), cheddar & parmesan cheeses. Bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes.

Tea
Baked Chicken Pieces with Lemon
Serves 4

1 packet Ingham's Frozen Chicken Pieces, defrosted
1 Tbsp capers (Whew! I had some in the fridge)

Photography by Mark O'Meara

1 lemon cut into wedges
2 garlic cloves, chopped (forgot these, not enough wine)
3 small onions, cut in half (didn't need them)
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock (I used water and 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bunch thyme (recipe said Lemon Thyme, but Rambo had dug it up)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Arrange chicken pieces, in a large ovenproof dish. Top with lemon wedges, capers and garlic. Whisk oil, stock and wine together and pour over. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and spread thyme sprigs on top.
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour.
Increase oven temperature to 200 degrees C and bake a further 30 minutes or until chicken is golden.

Served with mashed potato, fresh beans and baby squash. Forgot the carrots sitting in the Thermomix, too much wine.

Steamed Apricot Pudding
This is best done in a Bessemer Dutch Oven. We ended up having to bake this as I used the Le Crueset Casserole Dish.

1 large tinned apricots, drained
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
1 batch cake mixture (or can use a packet cake mix if one in pantry)

Melt butter in pan and add sugar. Cook until bubbling and sugar dissolved. Add apricots in a single layer and cook a little. Pour over cake mixture and place lid on pan. Cook on top of stove on very low heat for 40 minutes or in oven with no lid if the pan has no steam vents.
Serve with fresh cream.

Purchases today: Onions and Cream - $3.80

The Freezer & Pantry Challenge

2011-02-16T08:05:00.001+08:00

A chance comment to my sister has led to a month long challenge of frugality. I mentioned that my pantry and freezer were so full I figured I could live on them for three months if there was a nuclear holocaust. She suggested I try it for a month. So, I am and I will record each day's meals, snacks and food purchases.

THE RULES:

1. You cannot purchase anything that is able to be easily frozen and kept. e.g. bacon.
2. Only staples of milk, eggs, cream and fresh fruit and vegetables may be purchased.
3. You must make bread if you have bread flour in the pantry and yoghurt if you have yoghurt mix.
4. No packaged, canned or frozen food is allowed to be purchased.

The next post will be about Day 1. It wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be!

Panko Breadcrumbs

2011-02-02T09:50:00.002+08:00

Panko Breadcrumbs are a Japanese product that's become popular, due in large to TV Shows like Masterchef. I refuse to buy it as it contains palm oil which I try to avoid in my food.

My mum used to make dried breadcrumbs from left over white bread and no one thought it was anything special, so why is Panko so?

I found a really interesting video on YouTube from UpperCrust Bakery somewhere in the US. Panko simply means small pieces.
The history of Panko isn't thousands or even hundreds of years. It was developed during WWII when the Japanese were fighting the Russians. They wanted to bake bread without heat, so created a method that used electric current.

The bakery in the video makes it this way today, using only electric current which has little heat, but still cooks the bread. The dough is risen three times. It comes out of the special ovens white and crustless, before being air dried for 18 hours and then made into breadcrumbs.

Fascinating! I bet the original Japanese version didn't have palm oil as they wouldn't have had access to it. I imagine they would have used something like rice bran oil.

The reasoning behind Panko's popularity is the fact that it's flaky rather than crumbly, so doesn't soak up as much oil as regular crumbs. It lacks any flavour, so is a good vehicle to carry other flavours.

I'm sticking with Mum's tried and true slow dried breadcrumbs from ordinary white bread. I don't eat white bread, but buy it for my husband. Why is that most men prefer white bread? To me, it's like glue.

Anyway, I have some crumbs in my oven right now. I just lightly blended crustless bread in my Thermomix and spread the crumbs on a tray to dry out on very low heat - below 50C. They'll take about 4 hours. Then I'll store them in a large coffee jar in the cupboard.

The classic use for Panko is to crumb fish and chicken for either deep or shallow frying. They're very versatile. You can make a great crusty casserole topping by adding some grated parmesan or ordinary cheddar cheese and a little melted butter. Cauliflower Cheese takes on a new dimension when topped with buttery, crispy breadcrumbs.

The Internet. The Good, The Bad and The Downright Stupid

2011-01-08T12:06:00.000+08:00

Love it or hate it, the Internet has become a huge part of our lives. I've had time to ruminate on this as my internet has been out of action for the last three or four days when my Bigpond Network Gateway gave way.

I've been desolate without it. I feel lost, alone and out of touch with the world. This sense of loss I find very disturbing. Perhaps it's simply because I live in an isolated area and the internet provides me with the connection to people and places that I lack due to this isolation. Or, have I tied myself inextricably to this way of being?

So many times a day, I want to hop on the internet to check or discuss a recipe on one of my forums, contact a business, check something on Google, flick off an email, check the weather, find out the price of something, and much, much more.

Almost every business has a website where you can access contact & company details at your leisure. Almost everyone has an email address, many people have joined Facebook. People are contactable 24/7 through any number of ways via the internet.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I really don't know. For a business, it's effective since people can check your products out any time of the day, not matter what time zone they're in. I love that I can purchase products online any time of the day or night, especially with WA's draconian shopping hours legislation.

Facebook is a concern. Every single photo, comment, status update etc is on the internet forever. The main server for Facebook, owned by Mark Zuckerburg, contains every piece of private information that you have in your profile and everything you've ever typed or uploaded. Isn't that just a little bit scary?

I'm constantly amazed at the amount of people who chronicle their mundane little lives on Facebook. I do it myself on occasion, but not to the extent that many others do. One person who I've since "unfriended" detailed her whole marriage breakdown, minute by minute via her iPhone. It was excruciating to read.

That's why I like having a blog. I can scream, shout, whinge, celebrate and commiserate and no one needs to read it if they don't want. My blog is mainly about food, my main passion. But, as with most passionate people, I do like to air my views on other issues that affect me or that I feel are unjust or just plain stupid.

Imported Pork in your Bacon

2011-01-03T09:09:00.000+08:00

Imported Pork! Yes, our little piggies are being sold on the overseas market because the local market is swamped with pork from Canada. They're waving to each other on the boats as they swap places.

Check your bacon packet - I bought the Woolies Home Brand Bacon recently (it was all they had on the shelf) and didn't notice until I got it home that it said, "Made in Australia from Imported and Local Ingredients".

This is one brand of bacon I will not be buying in future...

A New Year, a New Start. The Quest for Housewifely Perfection

2011-01-01T23:31:00.000+08:00

That's what I say every year around this time.

This year, I'll be much more organised; This year, I'll do the dishes and clean the kitchen before I go to bed every night; This year, I'll make the bed every day; This year, I'll walk three times a week at least; This year, I'll only drink wine on weekends etc etc.

Well, at least I'll try to do all these things. If I don't always manage, I won't beat myself up about it. I think that's a better resolution to have.

Thermomix Savings

2010-11-19T13:49:00.005+08:00

The Thermomix isn't a cheap piece of kitchen equipment, but it certainly saves money in the long run. Recipes that have a lot of chopping up, stirring or are tricky can be easily made in the Thermomix.
Today I've made both Whole Egg Mayonnaise and Tasty Fruit Chutney. This lead me to think about all the things I no longer buy in the supermarket.
So, I've decide to list these:

Mayonnnaise
Coleslaw Dressing
Salad Cream
Chutney
Tomato Relish
Jams
Peanut Paste
Packaged Sauces
Bottled Pasta Sauces
Packet Spice or Coating Mixes eg. Pepper Steak Spice, Fried Chicken Coating
Curry Pastes
Biscuits & Cakes
Toasted Muesli
Less Bread

Washing Powder
Self Raising Flour
Salad Dressings
Muesli Bars
Canned Soup
Castor Sugar - I only buy Raw Organic Sugar (grind into castor in TMX) and Icing Sugar

I'm sure I'll think of some more things to add to my list, but that's a fairly substantial list of products that can be quite expensive. I rarely bought cakes before anyway, but at times I'd have to buy a fruit cake for the lunch box. Now, I make large cakes and freeze half.
Things in red are those I've added later as I think of them or use them!

Due to my home business, Skinflint, I also don't buy the following personal care and skin care items:

Soap
Moisturiser
Cleanser
Scrub
Toner
Lip Balm
Anti-Wrinkle Cream
Body Buter
Hand Cream

I also make for myself:

Dishwashing Liquid
Hand Cleanser

So, although I beat myself up about my dreadful garden and my not-very-clean house and occasionally unmade bed and untidy bedroom, I feel very virtuous about the savings that I make because I produce so much of what I use.

Packaged Lettuce, Spinach etc (rant)

2010-09-27T18:00:00.001+08:00

That's it! I'm not buying spinach or lettuce in one of those damn clamshell plastic containers ever again!

Aside from the fact that the containers are so environmentally unfriendly, the leaves are squished in so tightly they're all mangled and bruised when I go to use them. This is the eleventeenth container of leaves that I've had to throw away and I'm ANGRY! Beautiful Baby Spinach that I was planning to use in my salad tonight and it's all in the bin, slimy and disgusting, purchased only on Friday.

I really wish that all supermarkets would have the leaves loose so you can just pick out what you want, put in in a plastic bag and know that the leaves will keep well in the fridge. IGA in Busselton does and most Coles supermarkets do too, but not Woolies.

Well, that's it for my rant.

Update!
Woolies in Katanning now have loose salad leaves. At about $15 per kilo, they're great value when you don't have any leaves in your garden.
I don't need them now, as my vegie garden is looking wonderful.

Delicious Thermomix Chocolate Cake

2010-09-22T13:45:00.005+08:00

This recipe has been adapted from one on the Thermomix Forum. It's such a great recipe and so many members have had success with it. Most use it as a base for birthday cakes because it's made in a slab tin.

I've reduced the original sugar content, used less eggs and also make it using the traditional cake making method.
It can easily be made in a Food Processor.

Chocolate Cake

170g butter (I use Dairy Soft for a softer cake texture)
260g sugar (process first if using coarse or raw sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bi-carb
40g cocoa - use the darkest you can find, Woolworths Home Brand is the best, believe it or not...
250g milk

Grease and line a small baking dish. I use the Scanpan one which is 21cm x 29cm.
Preheat oven to 160c fan forced.
Process butter and sugar at speed 5 - 6 for about 30 seconds or until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time. When adding the last egg, add some of the flour and cocoa mix.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients and the milk and process on speed 5 for a few seconds, using the spatula to assist. Scrape down and process again until all incorporated.

Bake for 40 minutes. Leave in tin for 5 to 10 minutes before turning out.

This also makes great muffins. Oven needs to be only a little hotter, around 170C. Bake for 20 -25 minutes.
Makes around 20, depending on size.

Buttercream Icing

125 g butter (real butter, not a dairy mix)
180g pure icing sugar
2 Tbsp cream or milk
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 Tbsp Glucose
2 tsp vanilla

Whizz all together for about 20 seconds. Scrape down and whizz again - about speed 5 or 6.

Favourite Cookware

2010-08-10T11:57:00.002+08:00

Le Creuset

I'm a fan of really good quality bake ware and cookware. I use my Thermomix a lot, but when cooking larger quantities or things that the Thermomix isn't suitable for, I love my Le Crueset cookware. I only have two items that I purchased online and I use these over and over again.

I love the fact that I can brown meat in the pans and get a really dark caramelisation. The dishes will go on the stove top or in the oven and can cook like a slow cooker. They wash up like a dream, absolutely spotless!

Le Creuset cook ware is an investment, it isn't cheap. It's sometimes available at a special price, but usually only limited colours. I really don't care about colour. I bought the red ones as only blue and red were available.
They're also very heavy, being enamelled cast iron, so not suitable for people who have arthritis or other conditions which would affect their ability to heft a full casserole from the oven.

I used to be a fan of Scanpan, but now only use their baking dishes. I bought the Scanpan frying pan and wok when they first came to Australia and was disappointed as they certainly were not 'non-stick'. The baking dishes, however, are exceptional. Definitely non stick and easy to clean.

You certainly don't need great quality cookware to be a good cook, but it does help. My eldest sister is an exceptional cook and has always had cheap saucepans and kitchenware. I honestly don't know how she's managed to produce the sort of food she has with only the most basic of equipment. It can be done, but I'd rather not have to.

Ice Cream Containers

2010-08-03T21:24:00.000+08:00

What is it with the manufacturers of ice cream lately? Where have our normal ice cream containers gone?

I asked these questions of my local store owner and was very cross to find that Peters have sold out to Multinational giant, Nestle. How could they do that? I loathe multinationals and try to avoid buying these brands as much as possible.

Nestle, in their weird sort of wisdom, chose to make these strange little tubs with lids that are almost impossible to remove. I fight with the damn things every time my nearest and dearest wants to have ice cream with his dessert (sacrilege). My wonderful local store owner agreed that we should be using local products, so he now buys Bulla ice cream. But, low and behold, they also have the horrible containers with the impossible lids!

These containers may fit into the freezer a bit better, but you can't re-use them. In a world where we're being encouraged to "Reduce, Re-use and Recycle", why have companies taken away the good old ice cream container?

Perfect Patty Cakes

2010-08-01T11:38:00.003+08:00

My family seem to love patty cakes. They're easy to eat, especially since they can be just grabbed, even with hands covered in grease, and quickly devoured.
I still go by the name "Patty Cakes", the Australian name, not "Cup Cakes", an Americanisation that is creeping in to our vocabulary.
My no fail recipe is a beauty, because it was originally a food processor recipe, so is perfect for the Thermomix.
I use paper patty pans, available from supermarkets and specialty stores.

Perfect Patty Cakes

240g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
220g butter, softened
150g castor sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Place butter, vanilla and sugar into the Thermomix bowl and mix on speed 4/3 minutes, scraping down frequently.
Add eggs one at a time on speed 4 and mix for around 30 seconds each. Scrape down in between. Mixture will curdle due to the ratio of egg to butter.
Add sifted flour and mix on dough setting/30 seconds or until incorporated. Use spatula to assist.
Use ice cream scoop to half fill patty pans and bake at 180 degrees C for about 15 minutes.
Recipe makes around 16.

Ice with buttercream icing. The following recipe makes heaps of icing, but it keeps in the fridge for a few weeks. It's adapted from a recipe by Serious Cakes and is fabulous for piping.
I haven't tried this is in the Thermomix yet, but it would be excellent as sometimes the mixer can put unwanted air bubbles in the icing.

Buttercream Icing/Filling

300g salted butter, softened
145g Copha, softened (or other vegetable shortening)
5 Tbsp Cream
2 tsp vanilla
780g pure icing sugar
3 Tbsp glucose

Soften copha over hot water, stirring regularly until smooth and creamy. Add to softened butter and mix with electric mixer until creamy and lighter in colour. Add vanilla. Slowly add icing sugar and continue mixing for about a minute. Add glucose and, depending on the weather, the amount of cream necessary to achieve a good consistency. For piping and in warmer weather, 2 tablespoons may be sufficient.
Add more cream if using as a filling.
Do not refrigerate iced cakes.

I've adjusted this recipe by using less sugar.

My Blog Personality

2010-07-25T15:27:00.000+08:00

Just for fun, I used Typealyzer to analyse my blog's 'personality'.
It's fairly accurate, I think:

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Yep, I think that's me....

Quick Tuna Risotto

2010-07-25T15:04:00.003+08:00

It seems whenever I have a big breakfast, I'm hungry again around lunchtime.
Today was no execption. Bacon, eggs, tomato and spaghetti for breakfast on a slice of gorgeous homemade bread at 9am (yes, we had a lie-in today), then hungry at 1 o'clock!

I've been in the kitchen most of the morning, baking more patty cakes and a carrot cake. I knew ol' Herman would be able to whip up a super quick risotto, so looked around for inspiration and spied a tin of tuna in spring water in the pantry. This recipe is enough for two people (or one greedy person!).

Tuna & Spinach Risotto

1 small onion, quartered
20g oil
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup tuna juice
small tin of tuna in spring water
zest and juice of 1 lemon (make up to 1/2 cup with water)
handful of spinach leaves (mine were from the garden)
parsley
1/2 punnet or so of cherry tomatoes

Grate the lemon rind with the parsley leaves for a second or two and set aside. I don't do this myself, as I have a whizz bang zester and I just use scissors to chop the parsley into the bowl.

Turn Thermomix on to speed 5 and drop onion on to blades, (cover with hand quickly) for a couple of seconds. Scrape down and blitz at speed 4 for a second or two if necessary. Scrape down again.
Add oil and heat at Varoma for 2 minutes/speed 1. Add rice and cook at same temperature for a couple of minutes.
Add wine, water and tuna juice and cook for 10 minutes/100/speed 2, reverse. Add lemon juice and rind and cook for a further 5 - 10 minutes or until rice is almost cooked. Add spinach leaves, tuna, chopped parsley and tomato and cook for 2 minutes/ reverse/speed 1 - 2. Use Thermomix spatula to help incorporate spinach.

You could add parmesan cheese, but I was so hungry, I just poured it into my bowl and scoffed it. Lemon pepper woud also be a nice addition. It doesn't need extra salt as the tuna is salty enough.
Sorry, no photo - too hungry!

Serious Cakes

2010-07-24T14:18:00.006+08:00

I've been watching some videos of a very clever lady, known as SeriousCakes in the US about decorating with Buttercream Icing. She does some amazing things, albeit a little over the top - garish colours and enough buttercream to drown a cat.
Her videos are very entertaining with little snippets to read and beautiful music to listen to while you watch.

I thought I'd try one of her cake recipes, she calls it yellow cake. I converted the recipe using an online conversion tool and thought it sounded a little out of whack:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour (250g plain flour)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup shortening (220g)
2 cups sugar (385g)
4 large eggs
3 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups milk (385g)

The closest thing I could find to vegetable shortening (they use the brand name Crisco), was Copha, which is coconut shortening. I used one third butter and two thirds copha. I couldn't bring myself to use 2 cups sugar, so I reduced to 1.5 cups, or 190g. As I was adding the milk, I knew it was way too much as the mixture was curdling, so I reduced it to the 300g. The mixture was still curdled, so I added another cup of flour, around 150g.

So, that made it a whole new recipe! The mixure still looked a little like it was curdled and the taste wasn't flash because I hadn't added any salt.

The warm cake tasted delicious, light and fluffy, though slightly 'eggy'. However, once cold, the cakes were firm and quite fatty tasting. I played around and made SeriousCakes Buttercream with Copha and butter and decorated them with little stars. I'm taking them up to Footy for afternoon tea. They looked really amatuerish, but the little girls will love them!

Smartie Biscuits

2010-06-02T13:33:00.002+08:00

These bickies are a huge hit in our family. Crisp and buttery with a delicious crunch of Smarties (or M & M's) make them very morish!
Since a bag of Smarties won't escape chocolate eagle eyes in our house, I often use Blackwood Lane Rainbow Choc Chips, available from supermarkets.

I make these in my Thermomix, but they are easily made in a regular mixer, though you'll need use softened butter and fold in the flours at the end.

Smartie Biscuits
Makes around 50 bickies

250g butter, diced
100g brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups plain flour (I use 1 cup spelt and 1 1/2 cups plain)
1/4 cup SR flour
1 tsp bi-carb soda

Preheat oven to 180C and line two large baking trays with baking paper.
Measure cubed butter into Thermomix bowl. Soften for 30 seconds on speed 2 at 37C.
Add sugars and vanilla. Blend on speed 4 for about 2 minutes until creamy.
Add room temperature eggs (I place eggs from the fridge into a bowl of hot water for about 30 seconds) and beat on speed 4 for 2 more minutes.
Sift in the flours and bi-carb and mix on dough setting for around 40 seconds, scraping down occasionally.
Place in a bowl in the fridge for at least an hour.

Roll flat dessertspoonfuls of mixture into balls and place on baking tray. Press down gently and place Smarties or Rainbow Chips onto flattened dough. Press in lightly.

Bake at 180C for around 15 minutes for a chewy biscuit or 20 for a crispy, crunchy biscuit.

Chocolate Muffins

2010-06-02T09:44:00.001+08:00

These delicious morsels aren't so much muffins as patty cakes, but the method is more like a muffin. They are easily made in the Thermomix and can also be made in a bowl.
I find that Woolworths Home Brand Cocoa is absolutely divine for these. It's rich and dark, unlike Cadbury's bland offering.

Chocolate Muffins
Makes about 10

Preheat oven to 180 C and place muffin or patty cake cases into tins.

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
Mix together in a bowl and allow to cool a little while preparing remainder of the recipe.

60g butter - melted in microwave
60g oil (80ml)
145g caster sugar (2/3 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
Blend on speed 3 - 4 for 30 seconds

3 eggs
Add eggs and blend for a further 30 seconds.

1 cup SR flour
1/4 cup plain flour
Scrape down bowl and add flours and chocolate mixture. Mix on dough setting for 10 seconds or so, scraping down occasionally until all mixture is smooth.

Pour into prepared muffin cases and bake for around 20 minutes or until muffins bounce back when touched lightly.
Cool on wire rack and cut out top, place some Hazelnut Chocolate Spread and a big dollop of cream into muffin, replace top and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Sorry, no photo - they went up to footy for afternoon tea.

Maggie Beer's Sour Cream Pastry

2010-05-22T20:15:00.001+08:00

Pastry making is not my forte. My hands seem to be too hot, or something! So, I was thrilled to find a pastry that worked beautifully for me and could be made easily in my Thermomix.

Sour Cream Pastry
Makes one large quiche or two smaller ones.
(To make a quiche, allow 20 minutes resting time for pastry and another 20 minutes resting time once pastry is in the tin, then a further 1/2 hour or so cooking time)
This is a deliciously short, flaky pastry that's well worth making.

Ingredients:
200g chilled butter in chunks
250g plain flour

Process in . (I actually put my bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill it) for a few seconds until it looks like breadcrumbs.

120g sour cream (1/2 cup)

Add to and process on speed 3-4 for a few seconds until crumbly, but beginning to come together. Tip out on to floured board. Bring together and throw on to counter a couple of times (helps prevent shrinkage!). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes.
Place on to silicon mat. Bash with rolling pin to help with rolling out. Make a large rectangle or circle and place in flan tin. Rest in fridge for another 20 minutes. Bake in a very hot oven (220C) for 5 - 10 minutes until beginning to brown. If you have high sides on quiche tin, cover with foil. Remove from oven and discard foil. Inhibit pastry by placing a tea towel over the top and pressing down.
Pour in desired filling and bake for 25 - 35 minutes, depending on size.

I made a yummy vegetarian quiche with this pastry recently:

Making Bread with a Ferment

2010-05-08T11:29:00.002+08:00

SPELT/WHEAT BREAD

Bread making is a fascinating subject to someone like me who likes to perfect and conquer any commercial made products. The picture above shows today's loaf which is a blend of wholemeal spelt flour and white wheat flour with linseeds and sesame seeds. It has a sprinkling of oat flour on top.

It's easy to make a loaf of bread, but I want to make a loaf of bread that is healthy, as well as having similar qualities to commercially made bread. That lovely softness and the fine texture of soft wholemeal bread is something I aspire to achieve.

I'm getting there very slowly with additions such as Wonder Fresh and Natural Bread Improver from All About Bread in Greenwood. These products only need to be added in small amounts and contain natural enzymes to help create a softer crumb and better keeping ability. I also use Ascorbic Acid, or Vitamin C powder, as it is a natural preservative for home made bread.

Another tip I've learned from reading online Richard Bertinet's Bread information is to make an extra 300g of dough, then keep that 300g aside and place it in the fridge for up to three days. When making the next loaf, add this ferment to the regular dough. Prior to forming the bread or rolls, remove the 300g extra and place it back in the fridge for the next time you make bread.

I've been using this method for some time now and have been able to reduce the amount of yeast I use by 25%. The bread also develops a better flavour.

This isn't a true ferment as such, because true ferments will have to be refreshed with double its weight in flour and water.What happens though, is that after a while the dough becomes too large and the extra is thrown away. That seems like a waste, so I'll keep using the method I'm using now.

Natural Egg Replacement

2010-05-03T21:02:00.000+08:00

Last night, I'd planned to make Salmon Patties for tea with left over fresh salmon that we were given, but had no eggs! I'm lucky that we get beautiful home grown eggs from my daughter's chooks. I save all my scraps for them. But, I'd been doing a lot of cooking lately and used them all.

What to do? Well, google is my friend. I found that you can use a number of things to replace eggs, depending on what you're cooking. The wonderful Pioneer Thinking website provided the following:

2 tbsp cornstarch = 1 egg
2 tbsp arrowroot flour = 1 egg
2 tbsp potato starch = 1 egg
1 heaping tbsp soy powder + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg
1 tbsp soy milk powder + 1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg.
1 banana = 1 egg in cakes.
1 tbsp milled flax seed and 3 tbsp water = 1 egg. Light, fluffy cakes!

I had made a flax seed gel once before when trying to make a natural hair gel. I remember heating up flax seeds in a pot of water and getting this amazing gel, so I did the same again.
Place 1 tbsp flax seeds and six tbsp water in a small saucepan. Let it simmer on low heat until a gel is formed. Strain, cool and use.

Has anyone else tried other egg substitutes? If so, did they work? Please leave your comments.

I used about 1 1/2 tbsp of the gel and my salmon patties were perfect!

The Edible Garden

2010-04-27T14:27:00.001+08:00

There's no way you can ever say that I'm a gardener. I pull out weeds sometimes and plant things sometimes, but often forget to water them.

The exception to that comment is my vegetable garden. I absolutely love being able to go out and collect herbs and vegetables to be used in my cooking.
I've been picking the last of the summer vegies and getting the garden ready for winter vegies in between caring for Rambo, the Wonder Dog after his brush with death.
Green Capsicums, Spinach, Basil, Oregano and Lebanese Eggplant have featured strongly in our menus recently.

Tomatoes were unsuccessful this year, all leaf and very little fruit. I didn't prepare the vegie patch properly and it certainly showed with yellow spotted tomatoes and a baby watermelon that struggled to survive as it's poor roots battled their way through heavy clay.

But, thanks to a couple of birthday Bunnings Vouchers, my vegie patch is having a wonderful treat with loads of mushroom compost, sulphate of potash and a new liquid fertiliser I found.
Sabrina Hahn was discussing a fertiliser on one of her Saturday morning radio shows. The person who developed it was talking about how our WA soils are so deplete of minerals and nutrients and she did a huge amount of research to develop a liquid fertiliser that was not only effective, but safe for river systems (not that there's any run-off into rivers here!), so I searched for something that appeared to be this fertiliser. I think I have the right one - they can't say brand names on the ABC!
I bought a heap of seedlings to plant and now have in my vegie patch and in my garden near the back door:

Asparagus (new, two and three years old)
Bay
Blackberry Bush
Broccolini
Capsicum, still going
Cauliflower
Dill
Fennel
Gai Laan (A Chinese Vegie)
Lebanese Eggplant
Lemongrass
Lemon Thyme
Mint
Mizuna (Salad Leaves)
Oregano
Passionfruit, really late, but loads of flowers and fruit
Thyme
Sage
Spinach, still continuing to produce
Spring Onions
Raspberry Bush
Rosemary
Baby Watermelon, still struggling along

If I had my way, all my garden would be an edible one, with just a few landscape features like geraniums and fast growing trees. The trouble is, I'd forget to water it all!

Macadamia ANZAC Biscuits

2010-04-26T13:21:00.002+08:00

These are the most delicious ANZAC Bickies ever! Truly Australian due to the Macadamia nuts in them.
Thanks to achookwoman from the Thermomix Forum for this recipe:

Macadamia ANZAC Biscuits
150g macadamias
120g butter
2 Tbsp Golden Syrup [100g]
100g rolled oats
180g plain flour
100g brown sugar
50g desiccated coconut
1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
3 Tbsp of water

Preheat oven to 160c fan forced.
Chop macadamias in Thermomix for a few seconds, stopping and starting to ensure even chopping. Leave in the bowl.
Place butter and golden syrup in the bowl and heat for 2 minutes at 60c on speed 2.
Add remainder of the ingredients and process on the knead setting for 20 seconds or so until mixed.
Roll dessert spoonfuls into balls and place on lined baking tray. Flatten with wet fingers. For nice round edges that won't break off, place a cookie cutter around each bickie and circle around the edges.
Bake for 15 minutes (soft biscuits) or 20 minutes (crispy biscuits).
Remove from oven and cool on tray for minute or so, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Thermomix Sponge Cake

2010-04-22T12:28:00.004+08:00

Yes! You can make a sponge cake in the Thermomix. The recipe is one I normally make in my beloved Kitchen Aid. It has never failed for me, even once when I left out one of the raising agents.

No Fail Thermomix Sponge
4 large eggs
100g castor sugar (or blitz your sugar in the Thermomix first)
100g wheaten cornflour (also known as wheat starch)
70g custard powder
1 tsp plain flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 20cm deep sided tin with baking paper.

Place butterfly into Thermomix bowl.
Add eggs and beat on speed 4 for 8 minutes.
While this is beating, sift flour onto baking paper twice.
Scrape down lid.
Add sugar and beat on speed 4 for 3 minutes.
Remove butterfly.
Add flour and mix on speed 1 - 2 for about 20 seconds.

Pour into bowl and bake for 25 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack and remove paper.
Carefully turn over. Allow to cool.

Decorate as desired. I used home made Plum & Mulberry Jam in the middle, whipped cream and grated chocolate on top.

Melting Moments

2010-04-11T20:20:00.001+08:00

Mmm, just the name conjures up the remembered taste of these delicious little morsels! This recipe comes from a favourite book, 'Family Circle Biscuits Recipes'. Whatever happened to Family Circle magazine? It's disappeared from the shelves, unfortunately.

Melting Moments
180g unsalted butter (I normally don't like unsalted butter in biscuits, but it works in these)
1/2 cup (70g) icing sugar (make in TMX first, if desired)
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup (50g) cornflour
1 cup (170g) plain flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a couple of baking trays with baking paper.
Place softened butter, icing sugar and vanilla in TMX and beat on speed 4-5 for about 3 minutes or until light and creamy.
Add sifted flours and mix on speed 2-3 until just combined. Scrape mixture into a piping bag and use a 1 cm star shaped piping nozzle to pipe rosettes of around 4cm in diameter.
Decorate with glace cherries or glace ginger.
Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
Transfer to a cake rack to cool.
Alternatively, leave out the decoration and sandwich together, when cool, with a flavoured butter cream.

Bean Stew

2010-04-09T13:16:00.001+08:00

Bean Stew doesn't sound particularly appetising, but this is quite delicious! Of course, it's a vegetarian meal, but that shouldn't put any carnivores off. It could be served over a grilled chicken breast or a lamb steak. This is a recipe for the Thermomix.
I've been scouring my recipe books and the net for vegetarian recipes using legumes and pulses to replace the protein component that meat supplies in our diet. It's important to limit our meat intake as it is acid forming and takes a long time to digest unless accompanied by the right enzyme producing vegetables. Plus, meat is horribly expensive!

I wasn't really able to find a recipe that appealed to me, so I made one up instead, adapting a Gordon Ramsay (horrors - can't bear the man!) recipe.

Bean Stew
1 onion, cut into 8ths
2 cloves garlic
3 sprigs oregano
3 sage leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp dried chilli flakes, (optional)
1 large carrot, diced
220g chopped vegies (I used baby aubergine, green pepper and a small tin of champignons)
2 bay leaves
400g water
3 tsp vegetable stock
2 tomatoes skinned, roughly chopped
Ground pepper
2 cans 4 Bean Mix
plain yoghurt

Chop onion, garlic and herbs by tipping on to spinning blades of TMX at speed 5. Scrape down and add oil and spices. Cook on 100c for 2 minutes at speed 1.
Add carrots, water, herbs and stock and cook on 100c for 5 minutes, speed 1, reverse. Add chopped tomatoes and vegies and cook on 100c for 15 minutes, speed 2, reverse. Add beans and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes as before. Add pepper.
Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and fresh chopped parsley. Sprinkle with paprika, if desired.

Hot Cross Buns

2010-04-08T17:04:00.003+08:00

I know that Easter is over for another year, but I had a number of failures trying to make HXB's this year and finally discovered that I didn't read the recipe correctly!!
So, not to be outdone, I tried again. This time with the right amount of yeast...
The recipe I used is from the cookbook that comes with the Thermomix, Everyday Cooking.
I've modified it slightly.

Hot Cross Buns
235g warm water
2 Tbsp. milk powder
4 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp bun spice essence (available from All About Bread)
1/2 tsp ground cloves
70g butter
1/2 tsp lemon oil (or essence)

Add the above ingredients to the Thermomix bowl and heat to 90C on speed 1 for 50 seconds.

1 egg
500g bread mix (I used High Fibre White)
1 1/2 tsp Wonder Fresh (All About Bread)

Add the above ingredients to the liquid and knead on the dough setting for 3 minutes.

170g of any dried fruits. (currants and sultanas, dried apricots (chop in TMX first), cranberries, mixed fruit)

Add to dough and mix for about 10 seconds on speed 5. Turn out and knead gently to further incorporate fruit.
Place in a greased bowl and cover with a tea towel. Put in a warm place and allow to rise until doubled in size. This takes about an hour and a half.
Punch down dough and shape into a log. Cut log into three even pieces (I weigh mine).
Cut each piece into four (approx 93g each), making 12 dough balls.

Roll into balls and then press through your thumb and forefinger to make a mushroom shape, twisting the base of the dough ball. Put any exposed fruit to the bottom.
This ensures that the dough is shaped into a smooth ball and the fruit doesn't burn when the buns are cooked.

Place into a small baking dish lined with baking paper. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow to rise for 1/2 an hour or so, until doubled again. 15 minutes before cooking, pre heat oven to 220C.

To place crosses on buns, mix the following together and place in a ziplock bag.

60g plain flour
60g water
1 tsp icing sugar

Squish together until blended.
Cut a small hole in one corner and pipe mixture in lines long ways then cross ways on buns.

Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes or until a nice golden colour.
While they're baking make the sugar syrup:
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp sugar
Place in a small saucepan and heat until bubbling and sugar is dissolved.

Brush with hot sugar syrup while warm.

Next time, I'd prove the shaped buns a lot longer to create a softer, lighter bun. Also, oven should only be at about 180 if fan forced as I found these were a bit hard on the bottom.

Jamie Oliver - not just the Naked Chef...

2010-04-01T19:46:00.001+08:00

This video is fairly long, but well worth watching.
Jamie Oliver has taken on the obesity problems of the western world. His philosophy is:

"I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again, and empower people everywhere to fight obesity."

Jamie Oliver

We all need to take this on board. Teach your children to cook, teach them about fresh food, teach them about the hidden dangers of fast food, cool drinks and processed supermarket foods.

Pizza Scrolls

2010-03-28T12:07:00.002+08:00

It's always a challenge thinking of something savoury to make for the bowlers' afternoon teas.
They generally have a beer as they've finished the game, so sweet things just don't cut it and I loathe making sandwiches. I have made a million sandwiches for packed lunches over the years, I'm sure.

Yesterday, I made Pizza Scrolls, which went down a treat.

Pizza Scrolls
Makes 30

500g white bread mix (I used All About Bread's HiFibre White)
300g water
1 tsp dried yeast
50g olive oil
2 tsp Italian herbs or a handful of fresh (blend on 6 before adding water)
2 Tbsp grated fresh parmesan cheese

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and knead on dough setting for 2 minutes. Place in a greased bowl in a warm place and cover with a cloth. Leave to rise for half and hour or so. If you don't have a Thermomix, mix ingredients together in a bowl. Turn out on to bench and knead for 5 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the Pizza Sauce:

Pizza Sauce
Makes 2 jars

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, quartered
1 tin tomatoes (440g) or about 6 roma tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried Italian herbs or handful of fresh
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Heat oil on 100 for 1 minute, speed soft. Turn dial to speed 5 and add onions carefully. Place MC cup on immediately and chop for a second or two. Scrape down bowl and cook for 3 minutes on Varoma temperature.
Add all other ingredients and blend on speed 5 for 5 seconds.
Cook on 100 for 20 minutes. Blend again if necessary. Cool before using.

If you don't have a Thermomix, sauté chopped onion in a pan and add other ingredients. Cook for 20 minutes or so. When cool, place in a food processor or blender.

To put together:
Cut dough in half and roll out one at a time into a rectangle shape. To prevent dough from shrinking back when rolling, roll out on a shiny surface which the dough will stick to. Glass cutting boards are good. I happen to have a polished laminex bench top which is perfect.Trim edges of rectangle.
Top with sauce and finely diced toppings such as cabanossi, pineapple, capsicum, mushrooms etc. - no more than three toppings.
Roll up long ends.

Place on to a cutting board and put roll into freezer for and hour for easy cutting if desired. Roll can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for later use at this stage.

When ready to bake, cut 1 cm slices from roll, place on lined baking tray and re-shape into circles.

Cover with a cloth and allow to rise for about an hour, depending on how warm the room is. In the last 10 minutes, pre heat oven to 220C.
Cover with a blend of parmesan, mozzarella and tasty cheese and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Delicious hot or cold.

Lime Coconut Panna Cotta

2010-03-26T15:40:00.002+08:00

This is a delicious dessert which is perfect served after a big Indian Feast.
My guests last night said it was light and refreshing without being too rich or creamy. It can be made the day before, but is best made the morning before the evening meal.
If you don't have a Thermomix, simply make it on the stove and do a bit of stirring. When adding lime juice, stir vigorously so it doesn't split.
I forgot to take a photo, so will have to make this one again for the photo opportunity...

Lime Coconut Panna Cotta
Serves 6
2 tsp powdered gelatine or 4 gelatine leaves
6 Kaffir Lime Leaves
thinly peeled rind of 1 lime
40g sugar
150g light evaporated milk or single cream
350g coconut cream (Light is fine)
25g of lime juice (about 1 or 2 limes)

Soak gelatine leaves in cold water (for powdered gelatine, sponge in a little cold water). Mill sugar and then place kaffir lime leaves, lime rind, evaporated milk (or cream) and coconut cream in TM and heat to 70° for 5 minutes, speed spoon. Leave to infuse for another 5 minutes.
Strain to remove leaves and rind.
Bring to boil, approx 4 minutes at 90° on speed 3. Squeeze out gelatine leaves and stir in for about 10 seconds on speed 3. Add lime juice and stir 5 seconds on speed 2

Pour into greased moulds or into cocktail glasses and refrigerate.
To serve, turn out of moulds and spoon generous amounts mango coulis around one side and berry coulis around the other. Use a skewer to draw strands of each sauce into the other. Add some sliced kiwi fruit for decoration.
For cocktail glasses, do the same, pouring sauces each side on top of panna cotta.

Notes:

It doesn’t matter what ratio of coconut cream to evaporated milk you use, as long as the amount of liquid is 500g.
Coconut Milk can be used instead of cream.

If you don’t have enough coconut cream, add a little coconut essence to the mixture.

Boeuf avec l'orange

2010-03-09T07:46:00.001+08:00

It may have something to do with the fact that I recently watched Julie/Julia and have just read the book as well that the desire for some Frenchiness has slipped into my cooking.
My mum, the queen of home cooking, in my eyes, had a French background and I've always loved the language as well as the food.

Normally, I'm not one to use a recipe when I make a stew, but today I wanted a particular flavour, orange and red wine in my beef casserole. Deciding to cook it very slowly in the oven, it definitely called for serious contemplation. None of the recipes I looked at were quite what I wanted, so I did my own thing, and here it is:

Boeuf avec l'orange

1 - 1.5 kg beef, large dice (mine was already diced, supermarket stuff, and a bit too small)
1/2 cup or so of olive oil (yes, it's a lot, but there's no fat left on the meat, and you need it to keep the meat moist)
salt and pepper
Coat beef in the oil and add salt and pepper. Be generous with the seasoning as there is no other seasoning in the dish.
Heat a large non stick frying pan until very hot. Put small amounts of meat into pan and let brown on one side. Toss around for a minute or so and place oven-proof casserole. (I use a Scanpan Dutch Oven). Repeat with remaining meat in small batches until all meat is browned.

1.5 cups red wine
1 cup water
Juice and rind of one orange
Take the pan off the heat and deglaze with red wine. Add water, rind and juice and cook down until reduced by half. Pour over the meat.

2 onions, sliced
2 bay leaves
2 sage leaves

Put onions over the top of the meat with the herbs.

2 heaped Tbsp Tomato Paste
2 heaped Tbsp plain flour
Mix together and smoosh over the onions, then stir in (so no lumps form).
Cook in a slow oven, 150 degrees C for two and a half hours. Check for tenderness of meat. Some meat may need another half hour or so.

I would much rather use gravy beef for this, but stewing steak was all I had in the freezer. Pan frying the meat prior to cooking slowly really adds colour and delicious flavour to any meat. It's definitely worth the mess and the smoke! I just open all the doors and windows.

I didn't take a photo of my dinner plate, but the stew was a wonderful rich colour and the taste was superb. I'll make pies with the remaining stew.

Don't you just love the French language? Beef Stew with Orange doesn't sound nearly as enticing as Bouef avec l'orange.

When I announced what we were having for tea tonight, Steve said, "A toasted sandwich will do me, I'm not hungry".

Cheese and Bacon Rolls

2010-03-07T17:52:00.003+08:00

These are just delicious. Similar to the ones that you can buy in the shop, but so much healthier - no preservatives, no additives. The idea to make them came from maddy, on the Thermomix forum. Thanks maddy!

Make a batch of dough as follows:

250g white bread mix (I use All About Bread)
250g spelt flour
2 Tbsp Bioactive Yeast (All About Bread) or 2 tsp dried yeast
2 Tbsp oat bran
2 Tbsp wheatgerm
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lecithin
1 Tbsp oil
300ml warm milk (made with powdered milk)

Place all into bowl of Thermomix. Allow to rise until it pops out of the top of the Thermomix bowl. (or place in a bowl and allow to rise until doubled)
Punch down and knead for two minutes.
Form dough into eight or so flat rolls. Next time, I'll roll them out so they're thinner. If they're rounded once they rise, it makes it difficult to put the cheese and bacon on top. Place on a tray. Allow bread and rolls to rise under a cloth until doubled again. Be patient, this may take two hours. Remember, this is slow food.
When almost ready to bake, heat oven to 180 degrees C. Brush rolls with beaten egg and top with grated cheese and diced bacon. Bake for 20 minutes.

I think next time I'll put some grated cheese in the dough and see what happens...

Roast Duck

2010-03-03T15:23:00.001+08:00

Duck is a delicious restaurant meal. Whenever I see it on the menu, I always order it, thinking that it's something I'd never cook myself.

However, I was in Woolworths in Katanning a while ago when I happened to notice they stocked frozen duck. These are farmed ducks and free range. So I bought one and put it in my freezer where it's been mocking me ever since.

I had planned to cook it for Steve's birthday on Monday night, but I 'chickened' out. Now it was in the fridge mocking me. Yesterday I put it in a little brine bath, something I always do with chicken and today, finally cooked it. It was strange looking with a really long neck and of course, longer wings than a chook.

Googling 'how to cook a roast duck', I came across an excellent website that had loads of hints and tips. Things like, never stuff the cavity of a whole duck. This prevents hot air entering the cavity and cooking from the inside out. You can, however place herbs, orange zest and seasonings inside the cavity to add to the flavour when cooking. (I didn't bother)

After removing from the brine, I rinsed the excess salty water from the bird and dried it as instructed. The duck was then placed on a rack in a baking dish and sprinkled with more salt before placing in a pre-heated oven at 190 degrees C. My size 18 duck cooked for 2 hours.

It released a lot of fat, which is good, because duck fat makes for deliciously brown and crunchy roast potatoes! Once removed from the oven, I turned it breast side down so all the juices could run into the breast.

The fat and juices are setting in the fridge and tonight I'll roast some spuds in the duck fat and make gravy with the juices that have set at the bottom of the fat. The plan is to serve it with sautéed carrot sticks with steamed broccoli and snow peas.

Cooking it earlier in the day has some benefits in that I have a chance to cook something else in case it's inedible as well as being able to separate out fat and juices. Duck reheats well according to the website I checked.

There's not much meat on a size 18 duck, so I'm glad I didn't ask anyone to tea!

I'm now roasting the bones to make a brown stock. I think I'll try duck again soon!

Flour Tortillas

2010-03-02T14:19:00.003+08:00

In summer, tortillas make a great wrap to have for lunch when you don't feel like bread or anything too heavy. Plus you can stuff a heck of a lot of salad into a tortilla!

Once again, I had none in the pantry, so decided to try my hand again. I'd previously made spelt tortillas without a great deal of success, so this time I made regular flour tortillas.

I used a recipe from Trudy Olive, a Thermomix user and recipe designer extraordinare.

Flour Tortillas
320g plain flour (I use bread making flour - Wallaby Brand)
30g olive oil (3 Tbsp)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
180g warm water

Place all into Thermomix bowl and mix for 10 seconds at speed 7 to combine or whizz in the food processor until it forms a ball.
Set to knead position and knead for 3 minutes or knead by hand. Turn out onto board and rest for 5 - 10 minutes.
Form into 8 balls - I like to make sure all are the same size, so I weigh them:

Roll each piece, first between two sheets of baking paper to get it going:

The dough is quite elastic and wants to shrink back, so I use my large rolling pin first.
Once it is slightly tamed, remove the top sheet of baking paper and roll all the edges, going around in a circle until the dough is very thin. If it sticks to the paper and won't roll, lift up and place back down again.

I use my little rolling pin for this, just so the shape doesn't get weird. Be forceful with these tortillas, you can't hurt them. The shapes are still fairly weird, many looking like a map of Australia!

Have the frying pan on medium heat and spray with oil. Peel the tortilla off the paper and place into pan, pressing out to prevent it shrinking or folding on itself.

Turn when the bubbles appear on the surface. Press down if large bubbles are forming underneath.

Place onto a dinner plate and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Continue cooking each one and placing under the plastic.

The finished tortillas on a large dinner plate.

I made wraps with chicken nuggets, grated cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayo. They went down a treat.

These are best kept on a plate enclosed in a plastic bag. They re-heat really well in the microwave for 15 seconds.
These tortillas make excellent vehicles for dips, especially Mexican or Turkish style dips. Cut into pieces with scissors, spray with a little oil and place in oven for 5 or 10 minutes until dry and crisp. You can sprinkle seasoned salt over them once sprayed with oil for extra flavour.

Creamy Curried Cauliflower Salad

2010-03-01T14:31:00.001+08:00

Two very good cooks I know make this salad, though each salad is slightly different. My version uses blanched cauliflower as I prefer the less crunchy texture of the cauliflower.
Thanks Michelle and Robyn for inspiring this.
My version has currants instead of sultanas, as I don't like sultanas in salads.

Creamy Curried Cauliflower Salad
1/2 head of a small cauliflower
1/2 red apple
1/2 onion
2 sticks celery
1/4 red capsicum
1/4 green capsicum
handful roasted salted cashews
handful currants
1/4 cup frozen corn, cooked in microwave

Dressing
3 heaped Tbsp thickened cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp dry mustard

Cut the cauliflower into the tiniest of florets and place in a colander. Drop the colander into boiling water for about 20 seconds. Remove and drain.
(If you have a Thermomix, boil 1200ml water in TMX bowl and place florets in basket into water. Swish boiling water through the cauliflower on speed 8 for 20 seconds. Remove basket and allow to drain.)
All other vegies are chopped very finely and added to the dressing. Mix in cauliflower and allow to sit at room temperature for the best flavour.
Variations include using different vegies. I feel it really needs the apple and celery, but the corn could be substituted for peas and onion for spring onion.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

2010-03-01T10:36:00.004+08:00

A classic winter dessert, this would have to be everyone's favourite. Whizzed up in the Thermomix, the whole thing takes about 20 minutes if made in muffin tins.

Sticky Toffee Puddings
Pre heat oven to a moderate temperature, about 175 degrees fan forced.
Place in Thermomix bowl or food processor:
1 1/2 cups seeded dates
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 tsp bi-carb soda

Allow to stand for 5 minutes.

Add:
3/4 cup brown sugar
60g butter

Process (on speed 4) until dates are roughly chopped.

Add:
2 eggs, then 1 cup self raising flour, processing and scraping down sides until combined.

Bake in muffin tins for 15 - 17 minutes. Stand in tins 5 minutes before turning out .

Caramel Sauce
While the muffins are cooking, make the caramel sauce by placing 1 cup brown sugar, 100g butter, 300mls cream and 1 tsp vanilla in the Thermomix bowl and cook for 5 minutes on 80 at speed 4 or until thickened.

Serve muffins on a plate and pour sauce over. Place a quenelle of ice cream to one side of the muffin and top ice cream with a mint sprig.

Pantry Pancake Mix

2010-03-01T10:19:00.002+08:00

This recipe is one from Nigella Lawson, my foodie idol. It's wonderfully versatile and very economical. There's no need to buy those pancake mixes in the plastic bottles as this is just as easy and much, much nicer.

Pantry Pancake Mix
600g plain flour (I use half wheat flour, half spelt flour)
50g baking powder
50g castor
2 tsp bi-carb soda
1 tsp salt

Whizz all together in the Thermomix or blender. Store in a jar in the pantry.

When you are wanting to make pancakes for breaky just use 1 cup milk and 1 egg for every cup of dry mix. Whisk together and let sit for 10 minutes or so. Stir in 1 Tbsp of melted butter and start making pancakes!

These pancakes are very similar to the "golden arches" sort. I adore them for breakfast with unsalted butter that I've whipped up with maple syrup in the Thermomix before freezing in ice cube trays. The mixture can be thinned down with a little more milk added to the mixture if you prefer a slightly thinner pancake.

For a dessert pancake, add some chopped banana and serve with caramel made from cream, butter and brown sugar boiled together (sticky toffee pudding sauce).

For pikelets, just add a little more sugar. You can also add chopped dates and orange rind or orange and date pikelets.

So you don't forget what you need to add, it's a good idea to write a label for the jar and include the recipe for mixing the pancakes.

Cucumber Salad

2010-02-25T21:04:00.001+08:00

My friend's husband has the most wonderful vegetable garden, he's a real green thumb, unlike me. We have a deal going...he shares his veges and I supply him with lip balm!

Recently, I received a huge bag of cucumbers. I love cucumbers, but there's only so much you can do with them. Fortunately, home grown produce keeps for ages. Another friend gave me some cherry tomatoes which were delicious little morsels.

My guys aren't really enamoured with cucumbers, but do love the old tomato, cucumber and onion in vinegar. I decided to re-vamp this salad tonight:

Cucumber Salad
1 cucumber
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
1/2 onion, sliced
handful basil leaves

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Cut the cue in half lengthways and remove seeds. Slice thickly and place in a bowl with tomatoes and onions. Add vinegar and oil. Tear basil in to small pieces and add just before serving.

So simple, yet so tasty.

Why do pro chefs choose Thermomix?

2010-02-13T21:02:00.002+08:00

Why do pro chefs choose Thermomix?

Click the link above to view a video which shows the mighty Thermomix in action. Four top chefs use and talk about the Thermomix.

Moroccan Couscous Salad

2010-02-13T16:45:00.004+08:00

Summer means lots of BBQ's in our house. Almost every night, we cook on the BBQ. Rissoles, Salmon Patties, Fish, Chicken, it doesn't matter what it is, if it can be fried, Steve has to cook!

That means lots of salads too, which can be difficult if produce isn't always available and fresh. I love recipes that use store cupboard and freezer ingredients and I've adapted a Taste.com.au recipe. This salad is almost a meal on its own and it keeps for two or three days:

Photography by Ben Dearnley

Moroccan Couscous Salad
350 - 500g cubed pumpkin
2 - 3 Tbsp dukkah
1 Tbsp peanut oil
oil for frying
250g frozen (or fresh) broad beans (or peas)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup couscous
2 tsp Thermomix Vege stock or 1 tsp vege stock powder
1 can chickpeas, drained
30g toasted pine nuts
Chopped fresh coriander (or dried, or parsley)
Lemon Mustard Dressing

Toss cubed pumpkin into a freezer bag and pour in peanut oil. Shake to coat. Add dukkah and shake around until all coated.
Fry gently in the extra oil, stirring frequently until well browned. Drain and set aside to cool.
Simmer broad beans in a little water until just tender and drain. Pinch beans out of their skins and discard skins.
Place stock into boiling water and stir to dissolve. Stir in couscous with a fork to separate. Place a cover over container and set aside for about 5 minutes or until all liquid is dissolved. Stir with fork to separate grains. Place into salad bowl and stir in all other ingredients. Finish with the Lemon Mustard Dressing to taste.

NB: If you don't have any dukkah on hand, use a combination of spices such as coriander, cinnamon, ginger and cumin and add some sesame seeds to the mixture.

Spelt and Wheat Bread

2010-02-11T21:03:00.005+08:00

Spelt and Wheat Bread

Long have I held the view that the Western diet contains way too much wheat. It's consumed in large amounts every day. Even our 'cornflour' is wheaten flour that's been processed to make it finer and more easily mixed with water.

In my quest to try different flours, they've proven to be difficult to find and extremely expensive. Usually found at health food stores that charge outrageous prices anyway, but also only available in small quantities. Then I found a wonderful place in Greenwood called "All About Bread". They have an enormous range of flours in all different package sizes and will also send orders to the country. www.allaboutbread.com.au

Spelt is an ancient grain, having been grown in Iran around 5000 BC. It is similar in appearance to wheat, though has a tougher husk. Though it contains more protein than wheat, it's in a form that's easier to digest. It still has gluten, so isn't suitable for coeliacs.

Spelt can be used as a total substitute for wheat, but I prefer to do a blend of wheat and spelt in my cakes, biscuits and bread. Today I made bread with a 50:50 mix of the two flours:

250g strong wheat flour
250g wholemeal spelt flour
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp lecithin
1 Tbsp pepitas
1 Tbsp oat bran
1 Tbsp wheatgerm
2 tsp salt
300g water
2 Tbsp Probiotic yeast (from All About Bread. Can replace with 2 tsp regular dried yeast)

Blend in Thermomix on the dough setting for 5 minutes. Leave to rise until popping out of the hole in the lid. Push down and blend again on the dough setting for 2 minutes. Roll out into a rectangular slab, roll up and place in tin.
Dust with flour and cut diagonal slices across the top. Leave to rise for an hour or so. Bake at 220 degrees C for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 200 and continue to cook for 30 more minutes. To test, tip out of tin and knock on the bottom of the loaf. It should sound hollow and feel light. Sometimes, I place the loaf back in without the tin for 5 minutes for a crusty loaf.

Vegetable Medley with Tomato Passata

2010-02-06T20:57:00.007+08:00

This is one of those dishes that I've had at a restaurant and have re-created at home. In this case, the Venice in Albany. It's a vegetarian meal, but can be easily prepared for carnivores by the addition of some crumbed veal, pork or chicken.
This is a summer dish as you will need a lot of fresh ripe tomatoes.

It sounds complicated as there are quite a number if steps involving a bit of preparation, but it's not difficult at all. If you happen to have some left over risotto, this is a great way to use it up. The stuffing ingredients can vary depending on what's in your fridge or garden.

Vegetable Medley with Tomato Passata
1. Zucchini stuffed with roasted pumpkin, fetta and topped with mozzarella
2. Tomatoes stuffed with zucchini, spinach and basil
3. Green Capsicum stuffed with mushroom (or vegetable) risotto.

Make the Tomato Passata first:
2 kg tomatoes
30ml olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp tomato paste
salt (requires quite a bit, but to your own taste) and pepper

Peel tomatoes by dropping into boiling water for a few seconds. Slit skin with a sharp knife and peel. Chop into quarters. Sauté onion and garlic in hot oil. Add tomatoes and simmer until tender. Add tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste. Blitz with a stick blender. Set aside.

While the Passata is cooking, make a Risotto of choice. I make a Mushroom Risotto in the Thermomix because I don't have to worry about stirring it. I use a mixture of dried porcini, chantarelle and fresh mushrooms.

1. ZUCCHINI
Slice zucchini in half lengthwise. Allow one zucchini for three people. Chop half of the zucchini into tiny dice for the tomato filling. Hollow out the other half and place in a steamer basket.
Filling for Zucchini
olive oil
1 cup small dice pumpkin or sweet potato
1/2 onion, small dice
1/4 cup crumbled fetta

Saute pumpkin in oil until browned, add onion and sauté until softened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add fetta and set aside. When zucchini half has been pre-steamed, (I use the Thermomix) press into cavity. Top with grated mozzarella.

2. TOMATO
Peel by piercing a few holes in each tomato and dropping into boiling water for a few seconds. Allow one tomato per person. Slice top from peeled tomatoes and remove seeds and flesh, leaving just a shell.
Filling for Tomatoes
1 Tbsp butter
diced zucchini
spinach leaves
basil
pepper

Sauté zucchini in butter and when soft add spinach and torn basil leaves. Stir until wilted. Add freshly ground pepper to taste. Allow to cool and fill tomatoes. Top with fresh breadcrumbs and grated parmesan.

3. CAPSICUM
I find it's best to turn capsicums upside down as the stem end is more stable. Remove the stem and turn on it's end. Slice the top from each capsicum (1 small one per person or half a large one). De-seed and remove membranes. Place in steamer basket with zucchini and steam until just softened.

Fill with risotto and top with garlic breadcrumbs and mozzarella.

Mushroom Risotto, Pumpkin ( haven't added fetta yet), Zucchini/Spinach

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Place all stuffed vegetables into a wide dish, such as a lasagne dish and place enough Tomato Passata in to cover base of pan to 1 cm depth. Place dish in oven for about 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour or until tomato is softened and toppings are cooked and browned. While this is cooking, put the remaining Passata in a saucepan and heat gently on the stove.

Place each vegetable on a serving plate, cutting zucchini into portions and spoon sauce around base to cover plate. Top with sprigs of basil or parsley. Add crumbed veal, pork chops or crumbed chicken for the carnivores.

Unfortunately, this was devoured before I had a chance to photograph the finished product!

Homemade Bickies

2010-02-06T09:40:00.001+08:00

Rarely do I buy biscuits any more. I like to avoid unnecessary additives in my food as much as possible. I also prefer butter to margarine as it's a natural food. Most commercial bickies use margarine because it's cheaper.

Yesterday I made giant chocolate chip 'cookies' (damn American terms sneaking into our language!) from a recipe by Valli Little, of Better Homes and Gardens fame. I was bitterly disappointed with the outcome. To 300g flour, the recipe had a whopping 300g of sugar a well as 350g chocolate chips! When I made them, I used 240g sugar and 230g chocolate chips (that was the size of the packet). They were still way too sweet for me.

There's nothing worse than following a recipe and finding it's not right. I recently purchased the book "Ratio" by Michael Ruhlman. This book is a revelation for home cooks. The ratio for everything you cook is provided with explanations in simple terms. So, I checked out the ratio for 'cookie' dough, as biscuits in the US are a totally different thing.
No wonder Valli Little's recipe didn't work well! The ratio for bickies is:

3 parts flour to 2 parts butter to 1 part sugar.

Therefore, her recipe for the choc chip cookies should have been:

300g flour, 200g butter, 100g sugar.

With the addition of choc chips, the sugar could be cut even further if desired. The recipe also used brown sugar, which doesn't give that lovely contrast of the bickie and the little dark spots of chocolate.

So, I've re-created her recipe and am now claiming it as my own:

Megan's Choc Chip Bickies
200g soft butter
100g castor sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
300g plain flour
1/2 tsp bi-carb
230g dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 190 degrees and line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla and cream. Sift flour and bi-carb. Fold into butter mixture with choc chips. Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and place on baking sheet. Press down gently.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes depending on size of bickie. Allow to cool on tray for a few minutes before using a spatula to move them to a cooling rack.

Using this standard ratio of 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter and 1 part sugar for bickies I can create different varieties from much the same recipe. Here's a few:

For shortbread, replace part of the flour with ground rice.
Replace 1/3 of the flour with ground nuts.
For low GI bickies (diabetics etc), replace sugar with agave nectar and flour with rice flour.
Use a combination of brown sugar and golden syrup, add 2 tsp ginger, an egg and 1 tp bi-carb for ginger bickies. Top with chopped glace ginger.
Add 90g melted chocolate, sift flour over it and fold into butter sugar mixture.
Add peanut paste the same way as melted chocolate.
Use a combination of sugar and honey.
Instead of rolling dough into balls and flattening, roll dough into a log and chill. Cut thin slices from the log.
Top with Smarties, cherries or nuts.
Roll in crushed nuts or crushed cornflakes.

The possibilities appear to be endless. Of course, the ratio isn't hard and fast. More sugar will yield a crisper biscuit, more butter a shorter biscuit. Anna Olsen, from the programme, "Sugar", replaces some of the flour with cornflour for a chewy bickie.

For now, I'll stick with the 3:2:1 ratio and try lots of ingredient variations.

Ginger Chilli Chicken

2010-02-01T18:04:00.002+08:00

This is something I came up with tonight. I love that sticky sweet/hot/salty chicken that you can get at Chinese Restaurants and wanted to make something similar. It's delicious - I wish I'd measured everything that I put in! It was a case of a blob of this and a bit of that, so I am writing this straight after I've made it in case I forget what I did.

Ginger Chilli Chicken
4 boneless chicken thighs
1 brown onion, roughly diced
3 Tbsp Peanut Oil
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 cloves garlic, finely diced (2 tsp of garlic in the jar)
1 cm piece of ginger, finely diced (3 tsp of ginger in the jar)
1 diced red chilli or 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

Heat oils and when hot sauté ginger, chilli & garlic. Add sugar and cook until bubbling and beginning to caramelise. Add vinegar and soy sauce and continue to cook. Taste to see if balance of sweet, sour and salty is right and add more of what is needed.
When thick and bubbly add chicken and stir in. Cook, stirring frequently. Add onion when chicken is cooked and stir while cooking. Remove from heat while onion is still crisp.
Serve topped with chopped spring onion. Accompany with Fried Rice and Stir Fry Vegetables in Oyster Sauce.

This is a variation that I'm going to try next time:
Schezuan Beef: Replace chicken with thinly sliced rump steak. Replace chilli with black pepper, add a little plum sauce.

A Favourite from my Mum - Pineapple Fruit Cake

2010-01-31T18:16:00.001+08:00

Often when I'm cooking or looking at recipes I am reminded of my mother. Mum was a passionate foodie and a brilliant cook. Quite an achievement, given her background.
My mother was born into a privileged household in Victoria and didn't ever learn to cook since there was household staff to undertake such menial tasks.

She learned the hard way in some dreadfully dingy kitchens over the years that my father was a stock agent for Elders. They lived in some appalling houses on the outskirts of towns in WA.

Mum was an avid recipe collector, she had masses of recipes from magazines and newspapers, but, unlike me, she actually tried every one of those recipes!

One of the things I most remember is how Mum would re-create a restaurant meal that she'd recently had. It's something I continue to do now, as a restaurant meal is a rare treat.

Often when I cook I think of my mum and how she has influenced my love of cooking and food.

Thanks Mum!!

Here's one of the recipes that she found in the Women's Weekly many years ago when they used to have little lift out recipe booklets. I usually start this one the night before I want to bake it:

Pineapple Fruit Cake
1 can crushed pineapple
125g butter
350g mixed fruit
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
1/4 cup sherry
1 tsp bi-carb soda

Place all ingredients, including juice from can into a large saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer 3 minutes. Turn off heat and place lid on pan. Allow to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 165 degrees C and grease and line base and sides of a 30cm square cake tin.

Stir into cooled mixture:
2 beaten eggs
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour.

Decorate with blanched almonds and bake 1 1/4 hours.

You can add nuts if desired. This cake keeps very well.

Lemon & Mustard Salad Dressing

2010-01-29T21:54:00.005+08:00

This is definitely a favourite in our house. I never buy French or Italian Dressing any more, they just pale in comparison to the flavour in this one. The usual ratio for vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, but I find this just too much oil. I use 1:2 of lemon juice and oil.

Lemon & Mustard Dressing
½ cup lemon juice
1 cup flavourless oil - grapeseed or rice bran
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 Tbsp honey

Place all in a jar and shake well. Adjust flavourings to your own taste.
Uses

Marinade sliced champignons for a few hours, then pour over a lettuce salad just before serving.
Mix with mayonnaise and coleslaw dressing
Mix with sour cream or yoghurt

Delicious Rissoles

2010-01-29T21:41:00.003+08:00

Rissoles are a pretty basic thing to make and I have never used a recipe in my life, but faced with only a tray of mince in the freezer, I went to my heaving bookshelf (full of cookbooks) and found a Women's Weekly book all about mince!
The very first recipe was for Rissoles, so I thought, what the heck, I'll use this recipe. It was unusual in that the bacon and onion are cooked before adding to the mixture. I've used bacon previously in rissoles and have found that it turns them pink, making them appear uncooked.
But the cooking made all the difference and definitely added to the flavour.

I didn't have enough beef mince (I like to make double quantity as they are great cold), so added pork mince to the mix and felt that this then needed sage and apple, so here's the tweaked recipe:

Tasty Rissoles
500g beef mince
500g pork mince
3 rashers bacon, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 green apple, finely diced
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cup chopped parsley
6 large sage leaves, or 1 tsp dried sage
2 eggs
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
4 Tbsp barbecue sauce
fresh ground black pepper

Blitz breadcrumbs and herbs in the Thermomix or food processor. Sauté bacon and onion in a little butter or oil until golden. Add apple and sauté for a few minutes. Allow to cool a little before adding to the rest of the ingredients. Form into patties and refrigerate until ready to cook.
Fry in oil until well browned on both sides.
I would have posted a photo, but they're all gone!!

Spelt Tortillas

2010-01-28T14:20:00.003+08:00

Today I wanted to have wraps for lunch and the local store didn't have any in stock. So, what to do? Make my own...

I did a search of my favourite site www.forumthermomix.com and found that Jo, a member who has a fabulous blog called Quirky Cooking has a recipe for Spelt Tortillas. Having just received my order of Spelt Flour from All About Bread, this was a perfect opportunity to try her recipe.

Jo's Spelt Tortillas
1. Mix together in food processor or Thermomix until blended:
- 2 cups (300g) spelt flour
- 1 t sea salt
- 2 t baking powder (optional, but I think they're nicer with)

2. Add and process until completely mixed:
- 2 Tablespoons butter

3. With processor/Thermomix running on medium speed (Thermomix speed 6), add water in a slow stream, until dough forms a soft ball. Let it process on med. speed for about 5 seconds more.
- approx. 1/2 cup water (I used almost a cup to get the right consistency)

4. Poke dough with your finger - it shouldn't be overly sticky, but it should be nice and soft and stretchy - if it's too hard, the tortillas will be thick and tough. (And if it's too sticky they'll be hard to roll.) Add more flour or water if you need to.

5. Heat up your pan - you can use an electric frypan, or a large iron skillet or non-stick frypan. It needs to be quite hot - between hot and medium hot. After you've cooked one you'll know whether it needs to be turned up or down. Don't put any oil in the pan.

6. While the pan's heating up, flour the table/counter and pinch off a ball of dough, Squish it into the flour, coating both sides, then roll out with rolling pin, flipping it over back and forth to keep it from sticking. (You'll use quite a bit of flour for rolling them out.) Don't worry if they're not pretty circles - rectangles are fine, all tastes the same. Roll it as thin as you can, only a couple of millimetres thick.

7. Dust it off a little if it's too floury, carefully peel off table, and place in hot, dry pan. While it starts to cook, begin the next one, reflouring the table first... but keep an eye on the pan, turning the tortilla over once it starts to bubble. It should have little brown spots on it. It only takes a few seconds per side - if the heat's too low, they'll be hard and crunchy, so cook them hot and quick for nice soft ones.

8. As the tortillas cook, put them on a dinner plate inside a plastic bag, and close it up after you put each one in. This keeps them soft and warm until you're ready to eat.

I'm afraid mine didn't turn out quite as I expected initially. It was difficult to get the tortillas into the hot pan without them wrinkling up or folding over on themselves. I did, however, manage to get a few decent looking tortillas made.

Tuna and salad wrap for lunch! Very tasty.

Simple Tomato and Grapefruit Salad

2010-01-27T20:36:00.003+08:00

During the summer months we have a LOT of barbecues. I vary the meat but find it hard to create new delicious salads with the basic fruits and veges that I can buy at our local store.
I had a ruby grapefruit in the fruit bowl that has been sitting there for a while and some tomatoes which were a bit pale, so I thought I'd make a salad from these. But what would I add to make it a bit more 'special'?
Remembering that some basil seeds planted a few months ago actually developed into basil plants, I thought I'd use some fresh torn basil leaves.

Tomato and Grapefruit Salad
2 tomatoes
1 ruby grapefruit
6 basil leaves
French Dressing (I used my home-made dressing)

Cut tomatoes in half and slice. Then cut each of the halved sliced tomatoes in half again. Peel and slice grapefruit in the same way so that you have sliced 'quarters'.
Spread into a shallow glass dish. Top with torn basil leaves and drizzle dressing over the top. Leave to marinate for an hour or so.

I forgot to take a photo before this was all devoured!

The Amazing Thermomix

2010-01-21T22:13:00.001+08:00

Thought I'd better write about this fantastic machine in case anyone is interested in learning more about it.

The Thermomix is a German designed multi-purpose kitchen machine. It can basically replace your blender, bread machine, mincer, food processor and stick blender. It can even replace your mixer in many cases.

It not only mixes, it whips, grinds, beats, minces, crushes, purees and it also cooks and steams. As if that's not enough, it will also weigh your ingredients as you add them!

I bought my TMX in September after seeing the new TM31 demonstration by Elsie McDowell. I was thoroughly convinced that this is what I had to have. I generally have to have every kitchen gadget that I see, so I was really hoping that it would live up to my expectations. It's expensive!

Well, I can say it certainly has and gone well beyond them. I use my TMX every single day, often three or four times. I make by bread in it, make cakes and biscuit doughs, pizza bases, sauces, jams and chutneys. I prepare a lot of the evening meal in the TMX, if not the whole meal. I've made fantastic vegetable stock paste that I keep in the fridge and use to flavour soups, casseroles and gravies. Ice cream and sorbet have been on the menu lately due to the heat here in WA. I also make my little dog's meals in it. She's ancient - we just worked out that today is the 16th anniversary of the day we got her for my son's 11th birthday!!

If you want to find out more about the Thermomix, go to this site: Thermomix in Australia.
This February/March, I'm planning to have a Varoma demonstration. This is the steaming part of the machine. If you would like to come along, please let me know!

Wonder Bread

2010-01-21T21:54:00.002+08:00

I've been working on my bread recipe for months now, trying to get it perfect. It's pretty much exactly how I like it now, so I'll put the recipe here for posterity.
I use Lauke's Wallaby Bread Flour, available at Woolworths. I often put in some other types of flour in the mix such as Kamut and Spelt. These are available from All About Bread in Greenwood. I've made it with only Kamut and it still worked perfectly. Kamut is an ancient grain from Africa. Similar to Spelt, it has gluten, but in a more easily digestible form than wheat.

WONDER BREAD

500g bread flour (a blend is wonderful)
300g tepid water
1 Tbsp lecithin (optional)
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp seeds (I use pepitas, sunflower and flax)
1 Tbsp salt or, to taste
1.5 tsp Wonderfresh (avail from All About Bread)
1 tsp Natural Bread Improver ( '' )
2 tsp dried yeast

Mix on for 5 minutes. Leave to rise in until peeking out of the top. (Thanks to Isi from Portugal who is on the Thermomix Forum. This was her idea to leave it in the TMX for the first rise.) Poke down and mix on for another 2 minutes. Roll out to a rectangle shape and roll up like a sausage, place in large tin. Leave to rise in fridge overnight, if desired, or as normal. Bake for 25 minutes on 200. Remove from tin and place back in oven for 5 minutes. (optional for really crusty bread)

If you're one of those unlucky people who don't own a Thermomix, you could still do this in the breakmaker or by hand.

Seafood Laksa

2010-01-21T20:49:00.005+08:00

This is a delicious hearty meal that grows and grows - I always have to put it in a larger pan. Normally, the noodles, cooked seafood and bok choy are placed in the bowl and the hot coconut milk stock poured over. I find this too difficult, so I make it all in the pan.
This time, I used canned bean sprouts and soba noodles as I'd run out of rice noodles (shock, horror! They're on my shopping list as I type...)

SEAFOOD LAKSA

I use a range of different seafood such as prawns, firm fleshed fish, scallops and/or squid in this dish.

Start with:
5 stalks spring onion
1 red chilli
1 clove garlic

Chop everything (can blitz in Thermomix) and fry gently in either ghee or oil. Add:

1 can coconut milk
1 can Valcom Laksa Sauce
1 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped into three and bruised with a knife
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 lime, cut in half - squeeze juice into stock, then throw lime halves in too.
2 cups chicken stock
4 Tbsp fish sauce

Cook on low heat until well blended. When almost ready to eat, add:

Seafood
Rice noodles and hokkein noodles
chopped coriander stems
finely julienned carrot strips

When seafood is nearly cooked add:

julienned snow peas
chopped bok choy

Place lid on pan and when allow to come to simmer. Stir gently and push everything into the coconut milk stock. Add more water if necessary.
Serve in large bowls and top with:

chopped coriander leaves
bean sprouts

Enjoy!

What Makes a Great Cook?

2010-01-21T19:22:00.002+08:00

So often I hear TV chefs and cooks go on about making a great meal using the "freshest ingredients", or, "the best you can afford". To me, a great cook should be able to produce a tasty meal with nothing more than limp celery, old cabbage, some freezer-burned mince and some spices.

I'd love to be able to nip down to the Fresh Produce Market, pick up a few fresh scallops, some coriander,fresh beans sprouts and a couple of limes for a light quick entrée. But, realistically, I have to make do with vegetables and meat that comes in to our local store once a week.

I have a wonderful freezer that I make good use of. It's full of marinated chicken, lamb and steak as well as frozen mango cheeks, strawberry puree, raspberry coulis and diced watermelon. I freeze a lot of fruit to use in pies or for sorbets. My freezer also has a good supply of fish and prawns that I've purchased already frozen. I always have frozen veges on hand too, as the store may run out of green veges and they rarely get beans in unless I order them.

So, I reckon I can prepare a great meal without having the "freshest ingredients", direct from the grower or straight off the boat. It's all about planning ahead. Whenever I'm in Perth, I always bring home fresh fish and seasonal vegetables and fruit.

My pantry... man, I could live off my pantry for several months and never have to shop!

Pantry Left

Pantry Centre

Pantry Right

If I want to cook bread, biscuits, cakes, a curry, a tagine, a risotto, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Greek or Malaysian I have everything I need. All the spices, oils, beans, nuts, grains, flours, dried fruits and specialty ingredients I need.

My worst nightmare is deciding that I'm going to make something delicious for tea and find that I don't have the right ingredients. I know that necessity is the mother of invention, and I've certainly had to substitute from time to time, but I love to have all ingredients at hand.