Thermomix Spaghetti & Meatballs - Japanese style

Another, little less confronting dish for the Thermomix today. This is adapted from a recipe from Jane Lawson's book "Yoshoku". The press release attached to the information on the book states that Jane has left Murdoch Books to become a freelance writer. However, she has returned and is now the Food Editor for Murdoch books. We will bring you more of her recipes later.

Jane says that it is a "Japanese version of spaghetti and meatballs." The sauce with ginger and tomato is "a surprisingly great combination" and makes for a "light, zesty sauce."

It really is so simple in the Thermomix, and the idea of steaming the balls while cooking the sauce appeals to me. The original recipe used oil to fry the balls partly, before adding to the sacue to cook.

Thanks Jane.

yoshoku chicken meatballs in gingery tomato sauce

Ingredients:

chicken meatballs
60 g bread, crusts removed, partly frozen
600 g chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped and partly frozen
1/2 large onion, cut into chunks
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
1 large egg
ground white pepper

sauce
1/2 large onion,
1 small red chilli, seeded
1 garlic clove
2cm fresh ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
60 ml mirin
2 x 400 tins tomatoes
1 teaspoon dashi granules
2 teaspoons Japanese soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

For garnish
3 tablespoons finely chopped mitsuba or
Flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
1 spring onion (scallion)

Method:

To make the meatballs, start by placing the bread in the TM bowl and grate for 15 seconds on speed 8. Remove and set aside.

Place the chicken pieces into the TM bowl, 300g at a time and mince for 15 seconds on speed 7. Set aside.

Put the onion and garlic into the TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down sides after 5 seconds. Add the oils and sauté for 5 minutes at 100°C on speed 1.

Add the chicken mince and breadcrumbs, sake, soy sauce, pepper and egg. Mix for 40 seconds on speed 4.

To make the sauce, place the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger into the TM bowl. Chop for 15 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down after 5 seconds. Add the oil and sauté for 5 minutes at 100°C on speed 1.

While these are sautéing, form the chicken mixture into walnut-sized balls (about 1 level tablespoon for each) and place onto the varoma tray and into the main Varoma dish.

Add to the TM bowl the mirin, tomatoes, dashi granules, soy sauce and sugar and set to cook for 4O minutes at 100°C on speed 2. Place the Varoma with meatballs on top to steam the balls. Check the chicken balls after 20 minutes and when cooked, remove to a Thermoserver or dish to keep warm.

Once the sauce has cooked pour over the meatballs and allow to sit for a few minutes for the flavours to meld.

Stir through the mitsuba or parsley and season, to taste. Serve with freshly cooked noodles.

Jane used udon noodles, I used soba noodles. Its up to you – the udon look better, but I didn’t have any on hand.

Banana Blossom Salad

Now how often have you walked through the markets and seen those lovely purple objects and wondered what they are, or knowing what they are, how would you use them?

Well, they can be stir-fried, stewed, roasted, steamed, used in curries, probably prepared in any number of ways. There is a great post showing how to prepare the blossom for a Filipino dish with coconut milk.

But today, we have a recipe that is based on a salad that I ate at the Sofitel Hanoi about 10 years ago. The recipe was part of a cooking class given by Mrs Nguyen Thi Kim Hai, the head Vietnamese chef at the hotel. The class was the first of the inaugural Viet Nam tour with The Unlimited Cuisine Company, run by Tony Tan, in 1998. The class followed a tour of the December 19 Market where we were exposed to loads of new ingredients and ideas.

The sliced banana blossom needs to be kept in acidulated water to prevent it oxidising and becoming brown. A cookbook described the blossom as having a taste "like very tender wood shavings"!! It is more a textural thing, but I really like the crunchiness. Cut the blossom very finely and forget the idea of wood-shavings.

Banana Blossom Salad

Ingredients:

1 fresh banana flower
100 g pork fillet, sliced thinly
100 g chicken breast, sliced thinly
50 g bean sprouts
30 g palm (or brown) sugar
30 g fish sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 red chilli, seeded
50 g peanuts, roasted
1/4 cup rau ram (Vietnamese mint)
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 cup mixed herbs – thai basil, coriander, saw-tooth coriander
8 thin slices of lemon (lime)
Salt and pepper for seasoning
20 g sesame seeds, lightly roasted
Fried shallots for decoration

Method:

Thinly slice the banana flower leaves and dip them in water with a little lemon juice for about 30 minutes, then rinse them under running water until the water becomes clear and leave them in the water.

Place the sliced pork fillet and the chicken breasts in a bowl that fits into the Varoma. Place 500 g water in the TM bowl and steam the meat for 15 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 3. Check meat after 10 minutes and stop if cooked through at this stage.

Blanch the bean sprouts by placing into the TM bowl with the water used to steam the meat and cook for 30 seconds at 80°C on reverse and speed 1. Drain and refresh in iced water.

Place the palm sugar, fish sauce, lemon juice and chilli into the TM bowl mix for 10 seconds at speed 7. Marinade chicken and pork with this sauce while preparing remaining ingredients.

Place peanuts and rau ram into TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5. Remove and keep aside.

Drain the banana flower and bean sprouts.

In a large bowl mix banana flower, sprouts, meats with marinade, peanuts and rau ram, red pepper and herbs roughly chopped. Check for seasoning and add salt/pepper as desired.

Plate out and garnish with sesame seeds and dried shallots.

Thermomix Beetroot Curry

Thought that I would do something simple today so that I do not estrange all readers of this blog. Soooorry for those of you who still think that this is just still too weird.

Today's recipe was inspired by a fantastic little recipe from Jules Clancy at Stone Soup. Check out the photography - really makes me think that I should get a decent camera and only use natural light.

I have made beetroot curries before, but always forget about my poor little curry plant out the front. It is looking a little sad during the cold weather, but once the leaves are fried they end up looking brown anyway.

Thermomix Beetroot Curry

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp yellow mustard seed
1 fresh coconut
2 large onions, peeled & quartered
1 clove garlic
1 cm piece fresh ginger
1 large green chilli, halved & seeds removed
2 Tbsp oil
3 medium beetroot
water or stock to add to coconut water to make up to 250 ml
2 tsp palm sugar
juice of 1 lemon or lime
1 tsp oil
2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
1 Tbsp fresh coriander leaves

Method:

Place the coriander, cumin and mustard seeds into the TM bowl and dry roast for 5 minutes at 100°C on speed 1. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Remove flesh from coconut, saving water for later. Break coconut flesh into chunks and place into TM bowl and chop for 30 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down after 15 seconds. It should be shredded but not mashed. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place onion, garlic, ginger and chilli in TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 7.
Scrape down after 5 seconds. add oil to the TM bowl and cook for 5 minutes at 100°C on speed 1.

While onion mixture is cooking, peel beetroot and cut into 2cm chunks.

Once onion has sauteed, add beetroot, coconut flesh, spice mix, coconut water & stock/water and palm sugar. Cook for 30 minutes at 100°C on reverse and speed 1. Check to see if the beetroot is tender enough at this point, you may need to cook it for another 10-20 minutes.

Once the beetroot is tender, heat the teaspoon of oil in a frying pan and carefully drop in the curry leaves, they will tend to spit and jump out. Fry for about 20 seconds then add to the curry with the lemon/lime juice. Mix the curry leaves and juice through for 30 seconds on reverse and speed 1.

Serve topped with coriander leaves.

Thermomix Yolkless Eggs

I will preface this recipe by saying that it may well be beginner’s luck and so please don’t abuse me if things go wrong when you try this at home. I have repeated the recipe successfully four times so far, even under pressure for a dinner party.

Today’s post is based on a recipe from Fuchsia Dunlop’s book “Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook” that I first read about in a review. It appears a little involved and Fuchsia discussed the problems she encountered trying to reproduce the dish. Bloggers have also tried reproducing the eggs with mixed success. I have found that it works extremely well in the Thermomix, and I am sure that it would do just as well in a conventional steamer.

The result is what looks like a hard-boiled egg, that when cut has no yolk. The texture is a smooth, firm, but not chewy egg-white, softer than normal hard-boiled egg-whites. It is worth trying for some fun. Really, the character building that may ensue will be good.

Some differences between what Fuchsia described in her eventual recipe and how I approached it are as follows:

a) To remove the top of the egg, she uses the heavy back corner of a cleaver to crack the pointy end of the shell. I used a skewer to make a small hole near the flatter base (where the air sac will be found) as if you would to puncture the egg shell for boiling. The first hole was made at a point approximately 1 cm from the middle of the flat end of the egg. Once the shell was gently punctured it was easy to use the skewer to slowly enlarge the opening so that it ended with a hole approximately 2 cm diameter.

As an aside, I had lunch on Friday at Cumulus Inc, Andrew McConnell’s new concern in Flinders Lane, Melbourne. While finishing my main, Damien Pignolet came in and sat down next to me. We chatted about different things, including the fact that I had ripped off one of his recipes for this blog. He recalled how one night just before service he put down some scrupulously cleaned empty egg shells and their contents in another bowl while he answered the phone, only to have another chef empty them into the rubbish bins!!! So, don’t leave your empty eggshells unattended while preparing the recipe.
(Damien has recommended using a knife to quickly and cleanly chop off the pointy end – but he was scrambling his eggs)

Restaurants, or those with no expense to spare, may use the Inox Professional Egg Topper, developed with the help of Alain Passard. It produces a larger opening in the shell, but it leaves a smooth edge and a hole that the yolk comes out of easily.

b) To remove the white, I inserted a small teaspoon into the egg to hold the yolk back while the white was emptied into a saucer. The yolk was then allowed to go into another container and some of the yolks ruptured on the rough edge of the shell.

c) After cleaning and drying the inside of the eggshell, I used some oil to reduce the chances of the white sticking to the membrane. Damien used to strip the membrane out of the shells

d) Fuchsia used chicken stock, while I simply used water to add to the egg whites. If you are going to use stock then it should be very clear. A gelatinous stock is likely to assist with binding of the final product, but water works OK for me.

e) The original recipe called for equal quantities of egg white and stock. I only used two-thirds of the amount of water to egg white. Had I used stock with gelatin then equal quantities may have produced a perfect result. Fuchsia also added salt to the mixture, but I left it out as my understanding is that salt tends to reduce the ability of the white to bond with the water.

f) Fuchsia used a bed of cooked rice in which to place the egg shells, but I just placed part of an egg carton in the steamer.

g) When pouring the mixture into the empty shells I found that using a pouring cup was easier than the funnel, used in the original recipe. But you must keep mixing the egg and water to prevent all the white going into one shell and water into another.

h) The original called for little pieces of paper with a pin prick to cover each shell opening. At first I just placed a couple of layers of absorbent paper over the top of all the eggs. Now I just put the top of the egg container over them and it works fine.

i) After cooling in the ice bath I prefer to let the eggs cool in the fridge for an hour or so before gently peeling and then reheated them for service in the steamer. They are easier to peel that way, but on Saturday I peeled them straight away and no problems.

It is hard to see from my poor photography, but when cut there is no yolk, but a silken white egg.

Thermomix Yolkless Eggs

Ingredients:

5 fresh shiitake mushrooms or wood ear fungus (or if using dried, then soak in hot water from the kettle for 30 minutes)
8 medium eggs
About 250 ml water or clear chicken stock, some for the egg mix and some to make a sauce
500 ml water for steaming
16 baby pak choy, trimmed with any wilted and discoloured leaves discarded, cut in half
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 Tbsp cold water
2 tsp sesame oil
White pepper
(400 g cooked rice – if not using the egg container or similar holder)

Method:

If using dried shiitake or wood ear fungus, drain. Cut off and discard the woody stalks and then cut the caps into even slices; set aside.

Remove the end of your egg in whatever way you feel comfortable so that you have a small circle of shell gone from the tip. Insert a small spoon into the egg to hold the yolk away from the hole while you drain the egg white into a bowl. Next, remove the yolk into a separate bowl. Rinse the shell carefully and shake dry. Repeat with the remaining eggs.

Measure the combined volume of the egg-whites, place two-thirds of this volume of chicken stock or water into the TM bowl and heat for 2 minutes at 50°C on reverse and speed soft. Set Thermomix to 4 minutes at 50°C on reverse and speed 2, while blades are turning, add the egg-whites through the top of the lid. The egg-whites and water/stock should be stirred together, but without introducing frothy air bubbles. Push the mixture through a sieve to get rid of any stringy bits of egg-white.

Place your egg holder in the Varoma. (If you are using cooked rice, then lay it in a thick layer on a heatproof dish that will fit into the Varoma and push indentations in to hold the eggs, and place into the Varoma.) Place the empty eggshells in the egg boxes or rice, holes facing upwards. Mix the egg-white mix and pour carefully in to nearly fill the eggshells. Make sure you gently stir the egg-white mixture between eggshells to ensure even distribution of the mix.

Place the 500 ml water into the TM bowl. Place lid on & position Varoma. Set Thermomix for 25 minutes at 100°C (NOT Varoma temp) on speed 1. The egg-whites need to cook very gently.

Once cooked the egg-white may protrude from the shell, do not worry. Remove the cooked eggs to a bowl of iced water and leave for about 5 minutes. If you need them straight away then shell the eggs very carefully, and place in a heatproof dish. Place the bowl back in the Varoma and steam for 10 minutes at 100°C on speed 1 to keep them warm. If you can, place in the fridge until ready to serve and then shell them carefully & place in the heatproof bowl. Place 300 ml water in the TM bowl & steam for 15 minutes at 100°C on speed 1 to warm them through.

While the eggs are heating, place the pak choy, standing up in a bowl and pour boiling water in to blanch the stems. Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a wok over a medium flame. Add the sliced shiitake or wood fungus and stir-fry until they are fragrant. Remove and set aside. Heat the other Tbsp oil, drain the pak choy well and stir-fry for a few minutes until cooked but still a little crunchy. Lay them neatly around the edge of a serving dish.

Place the warmed eggs in the centre of the serving dish, so they are surrounded by pak choy leaves. Return the mushrooms to the wok and add the rest of the chicken stock/water and the soy sauce and bring to the boil. Stir in the cornflour mixture and stir until the liquid thickens and reduces. When it is silky and glossy, pour the liquid with the mushrooms over the waiting eggs. Drizzle over the sesame oil and sprinkle with a little pepper.

Fuchsia finished the recipe with “Breathe a sigh of relief, and serve.” Hopefully you will not find it too traumatic.

Thermomix Asian Pesto

I have been a bit neglectful, so this has been published originally at "A Little Bit of Thermomix Magic" to keep our joint Thermomix blog alive and active.

This recipe came about as a result of having Thai basil and coriander in the crisper after making a couple of dishes at the weekend. Often these herbs just find their way into a variety of creations to add some fresh flavours, but while looking for a particular recipe I found a couple of similar Asian pesto recipes and decided that these herbs should be used thus.

Two of the books that had Asian pestos were “Asian Greens” by Anita Loh-Yien Lau and “Travels with a Hot Wok” by Ken Hom. I am sure there are plenty of variations on the theme, so please don’t feel limited by the recipe.



Thermomix Asian Pesto :

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic
2 cm piece fresh ginger
1 fresh red chilli, seeded
3 tablespoons Thai basil
2 tablespoons fresh coriander
2 tablespoons rau ram (Vietnamese Mint)
1 tablespoon fresh mint
250 g roasted, unsalted peanuts (optional)
1 tablespoon palm sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Method:

Place garlic, ginger and chilli in TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 7.

Scrape down sides of bowl and add basil, coriander and mints and chop for another 15 seconds on speed 7.

Add peanuts, if using, and palm sugar to TM bowl and chop for 20 seconds on speed 5.

Add remaining ingredients and blend for 30 seconds on speed 5. Add some boiling water through the hole in the lid if the mixture appears too thick when using the peanuts.

Thermomix Salad with the Flavours of Sicily

Just another simple salad with prawns prepared in the Varoma (steamer) attachment of the Thermomix. Full Steam Ahead.

Salad with the Flavours of Sicily

Ingredients:

400g Spanish onions, sliced thinly
50g red wine vinegar
1000g large green (raw) prawns
1 lemon sliced
1000g water
pinch salt
400g cherry tomatoes cut in half
20g parsley, leaves only
1 clove garlic
50g extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
white pepper

Method:

Place in a bowl the thin slices of onion and drizzle with the vinegar.

Remove the shell from the prawns without removing the head or tail piece and remove the black intestinal tract. If you wish to keep them straight for presentation then you can skewer them as in the photo.

Place the prawns in the Varoma with three slices of lemon.

Pour the water into the TM bowl, add the pinch of salt and a slice of lemon. Position the Varoma and cook for 15 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1. Allow to cool slightly before placing the prawns on a plate to remove their heads and then set them aside.

Remove onions from the vinegar and spread in the tray of the Varoma. Place the tray in the Varoma and reposition to steam the onions for 5 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1.

Arrange the onion on a flat plate, add the tomatoes and lastly the prawns.

Empty water from the TM bowl then dry it before placing the parsley and garlic into the bowl and chopping for 5 seconds on speed 7. Add the oil, salt and pepper and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3.

Drizzle dressing over the prawns, tomatoes and onions.

Decorate with slices of lemon.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

See also here

Minute Sponges from Interlude

Just a quick word of thanks to Robin Wickens and the team from Interlude for a great experience last night.

The evening served to convert my wife to the fact that some of the new technology being seen in restaurant kitchens really is sensible, able to be utilised at home and not just "wanky" (not her word - but along those lines).

Tonight she had some minute sponges to finish dinner courtesy of new found knowledge, the old cream gun and the microwave.

Thanks again.

Simple Shaddock & Shrimp Salad

Last weekend we caught up with a friend from Sydney and went to yum cha. It was great to meet up, but the food left a bit to be desired, and, because we did the early sitting, we were out on the streets by 1 pm. So, rather than just head straight home, feeling sad about our lack-luster lunch, we decided to make a detour and visit Little Saigon Market in Footscray.

Now, this is not quite like December 19 Market in Hanoi. No snakes being skun on boards with a nail to hold their head, no roasted dogs with teeth bared, no live chickens or ducks wallowing around in cages, but a great variety of fresh produce to stimulate the senses, in a positive fashion. There were lots of familiar and lots of less common (for round-eyes like us) fruit, veggies, meat and fish. Some of the purchases included banana blossoms, lotus roots, bitter melon, beef tendons, tripe and a whole oxtail. The oxtail was boned and stuffed with some of the tendons before cooking in the slow cooker. This is a Janni Kyritsis recipe from “Wild Weed Pie” and I’ll write about it later (even though there was very little TMX involved).

Kathryn Elliott has recently posted about making some new or different for dinner. I had already decided to do just that, but now it was even more relevant. So there have been a few creations in the last few days featuring the treasures from Little Saigon.

First up is a recipe using pomelo. There were mountains of both pink and yellow fleshed pomelos, with slices available for tasting. The yellow fleshed ones seemed a bit dry, so I punted for pink and purchased prawns to produce the following salad.

It is based on a couple of similar recipes, and you can certainly use your imagination to conjure up something that will satisfy your hunger, or search the web.

The first recipe that I consulted was from a Tony Tan cooking class, and he in turn adapted the recipe from Mai Pham’s “Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table”. The other was in a book, by Nguyen Ngoc Tu, which is in Vietnamese, English and French, with the English title “A Guide to Typical Vietnamese Cookery” (The Vietnamese is “So Tay Noi Tro – 70 Mon an thuan tuy Viet Nam”, while the French title is “70 Recettes Types du Vietnam – guide pratique et concret”). The recipe for Gỏi bưởi in this book is translated as Salad of Shaddock. I had never heard of Shaddock before, but it appears that pomelos took on that name after being introduced into the West Indies by Captain Shaddock in the 17th century. This recipe called for Stomach, and since I had just used some, I felt that I would save you from more tripe.

Even though we are in the depths of winter, it was easy to imagine eating this dish beside the pool at a hotel on Phu Quoc, on a beautifully warm day. Hey, I can even smell the fermenting anchovies from the distant fish sauce factory.

Shaddock and Shrimp Salad (Gỏi bưởi)

Ingredients:

20 medium prawns, peeled, de-veined and cut in half lengthwise

Marinade for prawns:
1 shallot
2 tsps fish sauce
2 tsps light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
freshly crushed pepper
2 Tbsp oil

1 pomelo
1 Tbsp freshly chopped rau ram (Vietnamese mint)
1/2 cup coriander leaves
1/2 cup Thai basil
1 chilli
1/2 cup carrot, julienned
1/2 cup cucumber, julienned
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsps sugar
juice of 1 lemon (or lime)
freshly crushed pepper

2 Tbsps fried shallots
2 Tbsps roasted peanuts, chopped

Method:

Place the shallot in TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7. Add remaining marinade ingredients and blend for 10 seconds on speed 4. Place prawns in ceramic or glass bowl that will fit into the Varoma, mix through the marinade and place in fridge for 15 minutes.

Peel the pomelo and segment, removing the pith & membranes and then break into small pieces.

Place the dish with prawns & marinade into the Varoma. Put 500 g water into the TM bowl and position Varoma on top. Steam the prawns for 10 minutes, or until they turn pink and are cooked, at Varoma temperature on speed 3. Once cooked, allow prawns to cool slightly in the marinade.

Combine all the salad ingredients, except for the peanuts and fried shallots, in a bowl and toss gently. Add the prawns and marinade to the salad. Toss again and serve garnished with fried shallots and peanuts.

See also here

Thermomix Tripe Curry

I don’t expect many people will read this post once they see what it’s about, but it’s not a lot of old tripe.

In the introduction to a previous tripe dish that I adapted from “Grossi Florentino – Secrets and Recipes”, (now available in paperback), Guy Grossi says that “Tripe is one of those love-hate things”. I can only agree, having eaten this dish on many occasions in the Florentino Cellar Bar and recalling with joy to friends, who recoil at the mention of the word “tripe”.

The first time I purchased tripe was from Jonathon Gianfreda’s father’s shop in Box Hill, while still at university. The recipe I made was similar to Guy’s recipe and I fell in love with tripe. Many people, however, were first subjected to a dish of chewy meat and onions with a very bland white sauce and never revisited tripe.

In the introduction to his recipe, Guy also talks of a restaurant in Rome called Checchino dal 1887, in the Testaccio district. The restaurant faces the piazza opposite what was the abattoir (Mattatoio) and is now part of the MACRO, Rome’s Museum of Contemporary Art. The restaurant is definitely worth a visit if you like offal.

Using bleached, cooked tripe in recipes means that you do not have to be concerned about the aroma of tripe filling the house. Well, not as much as if you cook it from the “green” state - now stomachs are turning.

I vividly recall the What Tripe dinner at the Meat Market in March 1999 where 5 tripe dishes were presented, including one from Jimmy Shui, a Cantonese-style tripe. Being the fortnight of the Olympic Games in China I was hoping to do a Chinese style tripe dish, similar to Jimmy Shui’s, but for now we will make do with a tripe curry.

This is a dish based on a Charmaine Solomon recipe for Tripe Curry.

Thermomix Tripe Curry

Ingredients:

700g tripe, preferably honeycomb tripe
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 clove garlic1 cm fresh ginger
1 stem lemon grass (white part only, 2 cm pieces)
1 medium onion, quartered
1-2 teaspoons chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground kencur (optional)
2 sprigs fresh curry leaves or 20 dried curry leaves (optional)
1 strip pandan leaf (optional)
3 cardamom pods
3 whole cloves
1 small stick cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water or stock
400ml coconut milk
lime juice to taste

Method:

Wash tripe and cut into 5cm squares.

Place coriander and cumin seeds in TM bowl and dry roast for 3 minutes at 100°C on speed 1 until they are fragrant and darker in colour. Grind seeds for 30 seconds on speed 9. Remove and set aside.

Place garlic, ginger and lemongrass into TM bowl and chop for 30 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down every 5 -10 seconds to ensure it all gets chopped. Add onion and chop for another 15 seconds on speed 6.

Add remaining ingredients except half the coconut milk to the TM bowl. Cook for 30 minutes at 100°C on reverse + speed soft leaving the Measuring Cup out of the lid.

The tripe should become tender and the gravy thick.

Stir in reserved coconut milk and cook for 5 minutes at 100°C on reverse + speed soft.

Serve with rice.

Thermomix Eggplant & Walnut Dip

Over the last few weeks I have been doing some sorting out and found a little treasure trove of recipes that I had cut from papers, magazines etc to make “one day”. There was certainly no intention to ever publish any of my produce and so very few of the recipes have dates or publications. I am sure that this came from “The Age” here in Melbourne, but more than that I am sorry, can’t help.

If anybody does know the author then I would like to acknowledge them. Thanks to whoever came up with the idea.

The original had too much in the way of walnuts for my taste and so I halved the amount of nuts. Other than that there is really only adaption for the Thermomix.

Eggplant & Walnut Dip.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant;
1/2 cup walnut pieces;
2 tsp fresh ginger
1 clove garlic,
1 chilli,
zest of one lemon;
juice of two lemons,
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil;
1/4 tsp ground allspice;
salt and black pepper;
chilli sauce, to taste

Method:

Cook the eggplant in the microwave, uncovered on a plate, on high for about 10 minutes until it deflates, and exchanges that brilliant black sheen for a greenish hue. Alternately cook in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes or until soft.

While the eggplant is baking, place the walnuts in TM bowl and grind for 15 seconds on speed 7, remove and set aside.

Place the ginger, garlic, chilli and lemon zest in TM bowl and chop for 20 seconds on speed 7.

Remove the eggplant from the oven, slash to let steam escape (take care), drain off any liquid and scrape the pulp into the TM bowl with garlic/chilli mix. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and blend for 30 seconds on speed 5 or until smooth.

Add the ground walnuts and process the lot until smooth on speed 9. Probably about 30 seconds.

Flavour with the allspice, salt and black pepper to taste and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.

If you need more heat you can add a chilli sauce.

Serve at room temperature.

Thermomix Pasta with Truffles

Sorry, only the pictures tonight, recipe tomorrow.

Basically wanted to show you how we were served truffles and pasta at Il Ristorante La Fornace di Mastro Giorgio . Plates were brought to the table ultrahot and placed before the diner. Swirls of butter were placed on the plates and truffle sliced over the top. The aroma was superb. The pasta dressed with butter or oil was then placed on top and more truffle shaved over this, some parmagiano and crakced black pepper finished the dish.

Simple, but absolutely superb.

.

Thermomix Truffled Eggs

This recipe is based on Richard Olney's Creamed Eggs from Damien Pignolet's book "French".

The original technique employs a water bath with a trivet inside on top of the stove in which to heat the saute pan containing the egg mixture. I must confess that I have not tried this method, but the results in the Thermomix were superb. Please check out Damien's recipe and try the creamed eggs - in Thermomix or bain marie - you won't be disappointed. (WARNING - this is not for people with cholesterol issues!!! - please don't think about issuing legal proceedings).

The eggs can be prepared without the truffles, but while the Australian truffles are in season I feel obligated to support the fledgling industry, and urge you to consider doing the same.

Richard Olney apparently used 500g of truffles (not sure for how many serves), but Damien suggests perfumimg eggs with 30g of fresh truffles for a few days in a sealed container, before using half for this recipe and the remainder for some risotto.

Creamed Truffled Eggs

Ingredients:

20g fresh truffle
100g soft unsalted butter
4 whole eggs
6 egg yolks
salt and freshly ground white pepper

Method:

Start by placing the truffle in the TM bowl. Chop finely for 10 seconds on speed 7.

Insert butterfly into the TM bowl. Add 30g of the butter and melt for 2 minutes on 50ºC at speed 1.

Add the eggs, yolks and some salt and mix for 30 seconds on speed 3. Cook the eggs for 20 minutes at 80ºC on speed soft. You should have very small particles developing that are moist but bound together. You may need to lower the temperature to 70ºC if they are cooking too quickly, so watch through the vent hole in the lid.

Once the eggs have developed the right consistency then set the machine for 3 minutes at 70ºC on speed soft and gradually add small pieces of butter through the lid, allowing time for the pieces to melt and amalgamate.

Adjust seasoning with salt and white pepper. Serve with love and some extra truffle slices.

Thermomix Truffle Soup

There has been a lot of discussion locally about truffles lately (1, 2, 3, 4) , due to the fantastic truffle season we are having this year and, also with all the new producers. One area of discussion has been about the strength of the aroma from the local versus the European truffles.

A good point made by Neil is that who really cares, we can’t get fresh truffles from Europe now, so let’s enjoy them while we can. Support our local producers.

George Biron at Sunnybrae also pointed out that truffles seem to lose some of their aroma when cooked. I couldn’t agree more, but one dish that does allow the diner to be hit with loads of truffle scent when the product is cooked is Paul Bocuse’s Truffle Soup. A soup that is served with a pastry lid to hold in the fantastic smell until the diner breaks open the crust.

M. Bocuse created this truffle soup for M. and Mme Valéry Giscard d Estaing, on Tuesday 25 February 1975, when the French president presented him with the cross of the Légion d'Honneur, as an ambassador of French cooking.

It was on the degustation menu at Restaurant Paul Bocuse in Diamaru during its existence and continues to grace the menu in Lyon.

It really is best to chop the vegetables by hand so that you have about 2mm cubes. It is better for presentation, but then what would be left for the Thermomix?

TRUFFLE SOUP
Soupe aux truffes Élysée

Ingredients:
Quantities per person

Matignon
2 teaspoons carrot
2 teaspoons onion
2 teaspoons celery
2 teaspoons mushrooms
2 teaspoons unsalted butter

50 g truffle
20 g foie gras
250 g strong chicken consommé
60 g flaky pastry
1 egg yolk, beaten
Salt and pepper as needed

Method:

Use individual ovenproof soup bowls. Preheat oven to 220°C.

Place the carrot and onion into the TM bowl and chop for 2 seconds on speed 6. Add the celery and mushrooms and chop for another 3 seconds on speed 6. You want the vegetables to look like tiny dice( a brunoise) Add butter and cook for 4 minutes at 90°C until soft to make a matignon. Put 2 tablespoons of this matigtnon into each soup bowl with finely sliced truffles, foie gras and the consomme. Check the seasoning.

Take a thin layer of flaky pastry, brush with egg yolk and cover the soup bowl with it, sealing the edges tightly.

Put the bowls into the oven, to cook very quickly. The pastry will puff up and turn a beautiful golden colour when cooked.

To eat the soup, break the pastry with your spoon so that it falls in flakes into the bowl.

Merci M. Bocuse.