Cooking Class with Janice Wong 2am : dessertbar

Tonight was a great class at Savour School with Janice Wong from 2am : dessertbar in Singapore.

I am not much of a dessert fan, but this was really an interesting exercise. There were many fascinating techniques and ingredients used to effortlessly prepare a couple of exciting desserts.

Although I was excited about the dessert dinner next week, it is even more appealing now.

The first dessert had chilli chocolate coral impregnated with truffle balls filled with peanut butter sauce.



It is a most enjoyable combination of textures and flavours with the heat of the chilli giving warmth without overdoing it and the softer aerated texture of the coral being punctuated by the crunchy truffles with their soft gooey sauce centre. The chocolate brick is served on some chocolate soil and matched with fresh honeycomb and more of the peanut sauce and some dill, for colour and flavour. The dill, though only small really marries well with the chilli chocolate.





The second dessert has more components and more techniques to stimulate the mind as well as the palate. Firstly, a basil and white chocolate ganache prepared sous vide by being cooked at 60⁰C. Phillipa Sibley infused white chocolate with rose geranium at a Masterclass at Lake House on Sunday by infusing the cream. This method using sous vide certainly enabled the basil flavour to penetrate the final product. It was a surprisingly agreeable combination.

The next component was described as a passionfruit blanket, but it was more of a gossamer sheet using pectin powder and spreading the mixture very thinly on a silpat mat before dehydrating the sheet. The fruit leather was to be draped over the basil chocolate ganache.



Passionfruit fluff was prepared from passionfruit puree, egg white powder and gelatine and involved leaving the mixture to stand for 6 hours to develop its flavour before whipping for about 30 or 40 minutes. This meringue was then spread on silpat mats and dehydrated overnight to produce a result similar to the meringue that Andrew McConnell had in his dessert from Sunday’s Lake House class. Sorry Andrew, but this was better.



To accompany the basil chocolate ganache and crispy fluff Janice made a yuzu fruit pate.

The final component was a coconut sherbert which involved making a marshmallow with sugar, glucose and invert sugar, before mixing with coconut puree and pacotizing. The resulting sherbert was so intense in flavour with wonderful mouth-feel and reminded me of a Brent Savage coconut foam on steroids.
Janice was very ably assisted by her fellow chef Derrick and is sure to win many fans during her classes and dinners at Savour School over the next week.





For those needing egg white powder for the passionfruit fluff, it can be obtained from Melbourne Food Ingredient Depot as seen in the Raymond Capaldi range. Janice said that she had her first and possibly most memorable introduction to molecular gastronomy while working at Fenix with Raymond

Cooking Class with Attica's Ben Shewry

This is the only cooking class that Ben Shewry from Attica Restaurant in Ripponlea is giving in Australia this year. So I felt very privileged to be in a small class of 16 at Tony Tan's unlimited Cuisine Co last night.

Life has become very busy, firstly after being invited to Madridfusion at the beginning of the year; then after he was mobbed by overseas chefs during the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival; and, finally, it has gone completely mad since his restaurant was ranked 73 in the San Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants awards.

This is the third class that Ben has given at Tony's and his enthusiasm and attention to detail continue to inspire. Plenty has been written about Ben, a successful import from New Zealand, and he deserves all the accolades.



The first dish that Ben demonstrated was the Osmanthus & chrysanthemum broth with abalone, cuttlefish and fried chicken.

The making of the stock for the broth shows a great care for his product and attention to detail. It is made in a Chinese or Thai style, with the carcasses being blanched and rinsed before being slowly simmered with copious skimming of scum and fat. There is never a drop of fat left after cooking and there is definitely no need to clarify with an egg white raft.

The stock has aromatics such as pandanus, galangal and coriander and the final broth has coconut, palm sugar and soy added to produce a delicate flavour. The broth is served with osmanthus flowers, chrysanthemum petals, abalone, cuttlefish, shitake mushrooms, deep fried chicken wing meat and a few other bits.

Ben explained that he owed a lot to David Thompson for the thinking behind, and construction of this dish. It was a triumph and a great addition to his new menu.



The next new dish of Beef, Seagrass. White Cabbage again had a lot more stages than would be possible for anybody doing a Masterchef challenge. It shows what can be done with relatively inexpensive ingredients combined with a lot of thinking, heaps of time and careful handling of the product.

The beef chosen was bavette, which is a part of the flank. I vividly recall over 30 years ago during my university training, being shown by one of the Redlich family, how to butterfly and slice this cut of meat to make the most delectable breakfast steaks. So, part of my education was not wasted. The purpose of the demonstration was actually to show the importance of where vets stuck injections, but a handy hint all the same.

Ben took great care with the steak. Initially ensuring it was warmed before browning and then placed on racks to cook until the meat reached 56°C internal temperature. Every piece was tested and nothing under 55°C was removed. The meat was allowed to rest and then warmed/flash heated before slicing for service.

Other components to the dish included black potatoes that reminded us of a dish we had eaten at Mugaritz. The potatoes underwent four or so steps over a period of time, and not something knocked up just before service. The resulting texture was slightly rubbery, as Ben wanted, and not crisp, despite having been finished in the deep frier.

The other components to the dish included a smoked black sesame oil, a black pepper vinegar, the stalks from wombok, home-made prawn floss, miso dressing and seagrass.

The whole dish tasted delicious, but the tender beef and the smoked sesame oil were the stand out players.



Much of Ben's cooking has been inspired by memories from his times in New Zealand with family. But the final dish of the night had been inspired by his visit to relations on a farm in Canada. Ben shared part of the text from his upcoming book, being published by Murdoch Books, describing the flavours of agriculture, and how it resulted in this dish. He told of seeing the proper maple syrup production and eating toasted cheese smothered in divine maple syrup.

The dessert course was Canadian grilled cheese toasties with hay ice cream and Tasmanian black truffle. The milk had been infused with hay, and after much experimentation, a caramel and milk custard was constructed to be finished in the Pacojet.

The cheese toasties had maple syrup poured over them, and along with the ice cream it was smothered in shavings of Tasmanian bluck truffle for a little decadence.

This was yet another success and was a superb end to a fantastic evening with the very generous Ben Shewry.

Cooking Class with Nic Poelaert @ Tony Tan's

Last night I attended a fantastic class at Tony Tan's Unlimited Cuisine in Toorak with Nic Poelaert from Embrasse (not pronounced Embrace - but like this ) in Carlton.

I will fill in more details later, but just needed to post the photos before I lose them

It was wonderful to hear Nic's philosophy and to see him working calmly in the kitchen.

The need for fresh seasonal produce and the philosophy of foraging like Ben Shewry, Dan Hunter, George Biron, Alla Wolf-Tasker and Matt Wilkinson is appealing and heartening.

The other aspect of his cooking that really appeals is his use of the Thermomix. Each of the three dishes demonstrated had components that were produced in the Thermomix.



The dishes that Nic & Vanessa Mateus prepared were:

John Dory semi-fried/semi-steamed in squid ink on burnt carrot puree (done in the TMX), with baby beetroots and grapefruit.






Beef cheek on onion tart with black garlic emulsion, green lentil & spinach puree (in the TMX) and charcoal





Chocolate mushrooms on a forest floor with tuile twigs & leaves and sorrel & mint granita moss (done in the TMX)





Thanks to Nic, Vanessa, ........ (oops, sorry forgotten her name already) and Tony Tan for a memorable night.

Thermomix Quince Paste

Quince paste is such a wonderful little accompaniment to cheese, and when somebody gives you a dozen quinces, it is just the thing to cook, especially if you have a Thermomix.

Quince paste used to be such a chore and fraught with dangers as the hot sticky mixture spits up while you stir to stop it sticking to the base of the pan.

In Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish's latest cookbook "MoVida Rustica" there is a story about Frank's father making a membrillo machine with an industrial mixer and a gas jet. Well, the Thermomix is just like Frank's father's machine, being able to mix and cook at the same time.

The recipe in "Movida Rustica" does not use the core and peel, which is how I learned to cook it from Maggie Beer's "Maggie's Farm". I have seen recipes for quince paste using whole quinces in the Thermomix, but I find them too gritty. This is a little more time consuming, but the pectin from the peel and core once strained helps set the paste, without the gritty bits.

Please make sure that your Thermomix is not going to run off the bench. I used silicon mats that I received from an Electrolux demonstration under each foot on the Thermomix. They acted likey anti-slip mats.

Good luck and hope that you enjoy the results.

THERMOMIX QUINCE PASTE

Ingredients

1500 g quinces
600 g water
about 800 g sugar

Method

Wash, peel and core quinces. Place peel and cores in TM Bowl and chop for 20 seconds on speed 5, using spatula to push the peel down.

Cut quince flesh into chunks and place in Varoma tray.

Add water to the TM bowl and position Varoma and cook for 25 minutes at Varoma Temperature on speed 1.

Remove the Varoma tray and leave aside. Strain the peel and core mixture and collect the liquid in a separate bowl. Dispose of the pulp, clean the TM bowl and weigh in the liquid and pieces of quince into the TM bowl. Blend for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Add about three-quarters of the weight of pulp in sugar to the TM bowl. Mix for 15 seconds on speed 5.

Cook for 50 minutes at Varoma temperature on Speed 5 with the MC out and a Chux or similar over the opening and the steamer basket placed on top to reduce splatter.

NOTE that I placed silicon mats under the feet of the TMX to prevent it moving on the bench. Another alternative if you are not watching all the time is to place the whole machine into an empty kitchen sink to prevent it wandering off the bench.

Once cooked allow it to cool slightly (about 5 minutes) and pour into a tray greased with olive oil. Allow the tray to cool before covering and storing in the fridge.

Once set, it can be cut into pieces and wrapped in baking or greaseproof paper and then plastic wrap or foil.

Angels' Farts

This is a recipe from Antonio Carluccio’s book “An Invitation to Italian Cooking” (1991) Pavillion Books Ltd. The recipe came from a restaurant near Treviso in Italy.

The fritole are similar to bunuelos with a dough similar to choux pastry being fried in oil.

Carluccio said that he had decided that due to their heavenly lightness the only way to describe them was “angel’s farts”

One extra ingredient that possibly helps with the lightness is the baking powder added to the mix. It is not essential to have the baking powder with vanilla, but it is available in Australia and so should be easy enough to source. You can, of course, replace it with ordinary baking powder and some vanilla essence.

This was to be in the “soft” week, but as I am so far behind – it is in with the “sweet”.






Angels’ Farts (Fritole di Lino)

Ingredients:

100 g milk
100 g water
50 g sugar
15 g butter
200 g flour
2 tsp baking powder with vanilla (eg Lievito paneangeli)
4 eggs
Olive oil for frying

Filling:
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
150 g sugar
500 g milk
50 g corn flour

Method:

Place milk, water, sugar and butter into TM bowl and heat for 7 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1.

Add the flour and blend for 15 seconds on Speed 6.

Allow to cool to 60°C and then add the eggs one at a time through the opening in the lid with the tm set for 3 minutes at speed 5, add baking powder and mix 15 seconds on Speed 3 to incorporate.

Remove to a bowl and allow to cool for half an hour.

Place olive oil in a pan to a level of 2 cm and heat to 180°C.

Drop teaspoons of dough into the oil. It should immediately swell and usually turn itself over. The balls should be browned on all sides. Remove and drain on absorbent paper. The balls should have a crisp outer coat and hollow centre. Keep warm while preparing the filling.

Roughly clean the TM bowl and add all the ingredients for the filling. Cook for 8 minutes at 90°C on Speed 3. Leave aside to cool before placing into a piping bag.

Make a small hole in the base of each puff and fill with the cream filling.

Thermomix Otak Otak

Well soft being the theme for the week, I immediately thought of otak otak. A dish that I have had a few times in various forms, but then ones that I particularly prefer are the soft, squishy ones that remind you of the texture of brains. After all, otak apparently means brains in Malay.

The best otak otak that I recall eating was prepared by Annie Lee at a cooking school in Penang. It had such a delicate, soft texture and melted in the mouth.

Usually the otak otak is cooked in a banana leaf or pandan leaf deftly folded before grilling or steaming. The fish mixture is flavoured with a spice mix that usually has turmeric and chilli, but other ingredients seem to vary.

One simple method of cooking for larger groups is to place the otak otak mixture into greased dariole moulds and cook in a bain-marie in the oven or steamer.

The Thermomix is great for making the spice mix, for chopping the fish and blending the custard mixture and then steaming the little custards.

The cookbook that I used to prepare a simple otak otak was Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia of Asian Food . It has an easy recipe that does not require unusual or difficult to source ingredients.

Rather than embarrass myself with poor banana leaf folding technique, I opted to cook the custards in dariole moulds.

It is a simple dish with great flavour and, as long as they are not overcooked, soft texture.

Otak Otak

Ingredients:

Spice mix:
3 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes (or 1 tsp chilli powder)
1 lemongrass, white part only cut into 2 cm pieces
1 clove garlic
2 candlenuts (or macadamias)
1 medium onion
1 kaffir lime leaf, thick stem removed and thinly sliced
6 Vietnamese mint leaves
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp belacan, toasted (optional – even 2 tsp fish sauce)

500g firm white fish, in 2 cm pieces
200ml coconut milk
2 eggs
1 Tbsp rice flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

8 greased dariole moulds

Method:

Place spice mix ingredients into the TM bowl and blend for 40 seconds at speed 7. Scrape the bowl down after 20 seconds.

Add fish and blend for 10 seconds on speed 5. Then add remaining ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on speed 3.

Place mixture into the moulds and put into the Varoma tray. Roughly clean out the TM bowl and add 700g water. Place lid on and position the Varoma and steam the custards for 20 minutes at Varoma temp on speed 1.

Serve warm with a suitable sauce.

Christmas pizza - pizza di Natale

OK. This is not strictly a Thermomix recipe, but thought that I would share the concept.

This is another recipe from Armando Percuoco and David Dale's new cookbook called "Buon Ricordo, How to make your home a great restaurant." The recipe is also in their previous cookbook, La Cucina Italiana.

It is another way to use up that panettone that you got for Christmas and don't want to make into a pudding

It is simple, but looks great and tastes delicious. I used peaches instead of kiwifruit, but a mix of berries and other summer fruits will work just fine.

Grazie mille Armando e buon appetito a tutti.

Pizza di Natale

Ingredients:

2 peaches, stoned and sliced
200g strawberries, hulled and sliced
200g blueberries
400g raspberries
2 Tbsp Maraschino liqueur (or cassis,kirsch,or similar liqueur - or orange juice)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 panettone (or sponge), about 10 - 13 cm diameter
12 mint leaves, finely chopped
ice cream or cream to serve

Method:

Place the peaches, strawbeeries, blueberries and half of the raspberries into a bowl and drizzle over the liqueur nnd 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Mix togethere and leave for an hour to macerate.

Slice off four discs of the panettone about 2 cm thick and place a disc in the middle of 4 plates.

Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the centre and spoon the fruit over the panettone.

Place the remaining raspberries into the Thermomix with the other tablespoon of sugar and the water. Puree for 30 seconds on speed 9 and drizzle the coulis over the fruita dn ice cream. Sprinkle the mint over the top.

Thermomix Christmas Salad

Well, yes, it is past Christmas, but I made this from a book that I received from Santa. The book is the latest from Armando Percuoco and David Dale called "Buon Ricordo, How to make your home a great restaurant." It is a great read with lots of new ideas and reworks of recipes from their previous book, "La Cucina Italiana". Armando has done a lot for Australian cuisine and some more information can be found here on Mietta's website.

It has lots of wonderful information, fantastic photos and great tips. The book is very much about sharing and getting back to the table as a community. As part of this there is also a chapter with recipes from other members of the restaurant and a recipe from Tetsuya Wakuda, who it is said "runs a pretty successful restaurant in Sydney." Tetsuya's recipe for Leatherjacket "Usuzukuri" was demonstrated at the Sydney Seafood School in November, and I can recommend it.

The recipe I have chosen is titled Insalata di Rinforzo and is based on a dish that the Percuoco family traditionally ate on Christmas eve.

The salad is like giardiniera or sotto aceti, with vegetables cooked in vinegar.

It is easily converted for the Thermomix by using the TM basket to hold the vegetables while cooking.

The vibrant colours are perfect for Christmas.

Insalata di rinforzo (Christmas Salad)

Ingredients:

500g white vinegar
1000g ( plus extra) water
500g cauliflower, divided into florets
2 carrots, sliced into rounds
1 yellow capsicum, cut into 1 cm wide strips
1 red capsicum, cut into 1 cm wide strips
20 small cornichon gherkins, or sliced gherkins if larger
20 small pickled white onions
1 handful black olives, pitted
4 Tbsp extra virrgin olive oil
8 anchovies in oil, drained and roughly chopped
salt

Method:

Place the vinegar and 1000g water into the TM bowl. Set for 10 minutes at 100°C on speed 1. Place the cauliflower into the TM basket. When the Thermomix has reached 100°C you can place the basket into the TM bowl and cook the florets for 15 minutes at 100°C on speed 1.

Remove the TM basket with the spatula and drain off the cauliflower, reatining the vinegar and water mixture. Place the cauliflower florets into a salad bowl and put in the fridge.

Place the carrot slices into the TM basket and cook them for 10 - 12 minutes (you want them to still have some crunch) at 100°C on speed 1. Drain and add to the cauliflower. You may need to top up the TM bowl with boiling water if the level is getting low.

Place the capsicums into the TM basket and cook them for 5 -8 minutes (again, you want them to still have some crunch) at 100°C on speed 1. Drain and add to the salad bowl and return it to the fridge for at least 10 minutes.

Add the whole gherkins (or slices, pickled onions and olives to the bowl. Season with salt to taste and drizzle with the EVOO. Sprinkle with the anchovies.

Leave the salad to marinate in the fridge for at least 12 hours before serving.

Buon appetito e boun natale.

Thermomix Steamed Christmas Puddings - Cookbook Challenge

Well with the Cookbook Challenge in mind I decided to go through a few cookbooks and look at Christmas Pudding recipes.

The book that I found some most interesting information in was "Complete Book of Desserts", published by the International Culinary Society (Random House) in 1990 and edited by Barbara Croxford.

One of the interesting traditions that is part of Christmas is known as Stir-Up Sunday. This is something that I ahd not been aware of before reading this American book. It is the Sunday before Advent and all members of the family get to help stir the pudding. The Thermomix may help kill another tradition. Sorry. You can read more about Stir-Up Sunday here.

The book also gave explanations of how to make adjustments for making your pudding in the microwave. Because there is a high percentage of sugar, dried fruit, alcohol and sometimes fat (if using suet), then these attract microwave energy and high temperatures are quickly reached. I had noticed with reheating Christmas puds that they didn't take long to get hot and now I know why.

You need to reduce the amount of alcohol and increase the amount of moisture to compensate for the fact that it doesn't need to be cooked as long, but is prone to drying out.

There is also information on how best to reheat the puddings by cutting into individual portions and then reheating with a bowl of water in the centre of the microwave and a bowl over the whole to allow it to steam, then carefully push the slices back together into the pudding bowl or serving dish.

Individual slices can be reheated uncovered on a plate for a minute or so on high.

The following is actually an amalgam of a few recipes and converted to cook in the steamer attachment, Varoma, in individual moulds for ease of service.

I made something similar last year for the staff at Lake House restaurant for a treat on Christmas morning, and then had little individual puddings served to us for Christmas lunch.

There is a quick and easy version posted here: Cheats' Christmas Puddings

Thermomix Individual Steamed Christmas Puddings

Ingredients:

90g Pedro Ximinez Sherry, orange juice or water (more if the fruit is very dry)
250g Dried mixed fruit
125g Raisins
125g Sultanas
125g Currants

100g fresh bread, in rough chunks

125g Prunes, pitted

100g Butter
100g Dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Powdered Cloves (optional)
1 tsp Bi carb soda

1 Egg
100g Plain flour

Method:

If the dried fruits are not moist and fresh, then place them in a ceramic, glass or plastic bowl and macerate with the sherry, orange juice or water overnight. Otherwise just an hour will be enough.

Place bread into TM bowl and grate into breadcrumbs for 20 seconds on speed 7. Remove and set aside.

Place the prunes into the TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 6. Add the macerated fruits, butter, sugar, molasses, spices and bicarb and cook for 25 minutes at 100°C on Reverse + speed 1.5

Allow it to cool in the bowl for half an hour or so. Then add the egg, flour and reserved breadcrumbs and mix for 2 minutes on Reverse + speed 4. You may need to use the spatula through the opening in the lid to help with mixing.

Place into greased dariole moulds and cover with some absorbent paper and then some foil.

Place dishes into the Varoma dish add 1000g water to TM bowl and cook for 50 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1.

You should be able to get 10 puddings into the varoma tray - click on the photo for a link to how to do it.


Allow the puddings to stand for 5 minutes before unmoulding carefully onto a serving plate and dress with cream or custard.

Thermomix Panettone Pudding - Cookbook Challenge

This is from a book titled "Chez Panisse Cooking" by Paul Bertolli with Alice Waters published in 1988 by Random House.

The Chez Panisse Restaurant was established in 1971 by Alice Waters and some friends. Some more of the history can be found on this Wiki page.

Alice Waters is also an International Vice-President of Slowfood International and has long supported the ideals of the Slowfood movement.

She has long been involved in promoting cooking based on the finest and freshest seasonal ingredients that are produced sustainably and locally. It is sobering to think that while kitchen gardens are being promoted for restaurants; and books like "Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion" and "Jamie at Home" encourage us to follow a similar mission at home, Alice Waters has been doing this for nearly forty years. There are some in Australia who have been doing the same for many years, such as George Biron at Sunnybrae Restaurant and Cooking School.

I wanted to make a panettone pudding in the style of a bread and butter pudding with leftover panettone from Christmas. I had been thinking that this was a modern interpretation of the classic dessert until I was browsing through "Chez Panisse Cooking", where I saw a recipe for panettone and then panettone bread pudding on page 309. The recipe was for 12 people. The Thermomix conversion is for 6 serves.

The recipe uses the steaming attachment - Varoma - to cook the pudding, so that you don't need to turn on the oven. But you can cook it in a bain-marie, especially if you double the recipe. I used a 1.5 litre bowl to fit into the Varoma.

Panettone Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

500g panettone cut into thin slices
50 g butter
100 g sugar
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
Sugar to sprinkle over top (optional)

Method:

Place butter into TM bowl and warm for 4 minutes at 60°C on speed 1. Place in a bowl and keep aside.

Without cleaning the TM bowl, add the sugar and mill for 20 seconds on speed 8, scraping down the sides after 10 seconds.

Add the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract, milk and cream and cook for 8 minutes at 80°C on speed 3.

While the custard is cooking, spread the panettone with the melted butter and cut into triangles. Place bread in a buttered baking dish that will fit inside the Varoma tray.

Place the dish into the Varoma tray and pour the custard mixture carefully over the buttered bread and allow to settle for a minute or two.

Put 700ml water into the TM bowl and put lid on and position the Varoma. Set the TM to steam for 35 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1. When ready the custard should be set and the pudding fluffy. You may need to cook it for a little longer.

If you wish you can sprinkle sugar over the top and place under a hot grill to give a crunchy top.

Thermomix Wild Weed Pie - Cookbook Chanllenge

Well, when I first started this blog I had great intentions of making a recipe from each of the cookbooks that I own. My plans were to convert a recipe from each book to suit the Thermomix.


Unfortunately my plans went very much astray, mainly due to the complete lack of planning. So, when I saw that Rilsta had started a 52 week planned theme Cookbook Challenege I decided that it was time to get back into the kitchen library and start cooking.



By coincidence I had made a broad bean dish on the week that Rilsta's theme was beans, but only decided to commit this week. So, Greek.



Where to start? I have a few Greek cookbooks and mediterranean books with lots of Greek recipes. On the top shelf I spotted "Wogfood" by John Newton, a collection of stories and recipes from people of mediterranean origin, who have helped develop the food culture in Australia.



There were 3 Greeks and all mentioned wild weeds, horta. In fact, Peter Conistis (Cosmos, Eleni's, Omega and now Civic dining room) said "If I had to choose one ingredient, i;d say that wild greens are the essence of Greek food." So, I decided to make a wild weed pie.




"Wild Weed Pie" just happens to be the name of a cookbook that I have in my collection. It is by Janni Kyritsis, who worked at Stephanie's, Berowra Waters, Bennelong and MG Garage.



The recipe appears on page 47 of Wild Weed Pie, but was also included in Stepahnie Alexander's "A Shared Table" on page 194.



Basically the pie is made of filo pastry encasing a filling of ricotta and greens. It is easy enough to make and you could cheat and buy prepared filo, but it is not that difficult to make the pastry, especially if you have a pasta roller.


Due to computer problems the recipe will appear tomorrow

Thermomix Pizzoccheri Soup

Well, the first time that I remember seeing Pizzoccheri soup prepared was by Valerio Nucci, when he was at The Boulevard Restaurant in Studley Park road in Kew, Melbourne.

Nucci had been at Cafe di Stasio from its inception and has been in various restaurants and catering businesses, more recently the Grand Hotel in Richmond.

The buckwheat noodles can easily be sourced and it is a great winter soup.

Pizzoccheri Soup

Ingredients:

200g green cabbage
2 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
3 Tbsp olive oil
1000g vegetable or chicken stock
100g buckwheat (pizzoccheri) noodles or wholewheat spaghetti,
broken
300g Fontina, Jarlsberg or
Gruyere cheese, cubed
Salt and pepper, to taste



Method:

Clean, trim and thinly slice the cabbage and place into the Varoma dish and tray.

Place garlic cloves into TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on Speed 7. Add the onion and chop for 5 seconds on Speed 5. Add the potato cubes and oil and sauté for 7 minutes at 90°C on Reverse + Speed 1.

Place stock into TM bowl, place Varoma on top and cook for 10 minutes at 100°C on Reverse + Speed 1. Add the broken pasta pieces and cook for another 10 minutes at 100°C on Reverse + Speed 1.

Check to see how soft the cabbage is. It depends on how thickly you have cut the cabbage. If necessary, place the soup into a Thermoserver to keep warm while finishing the cabbage. You may need to add some water to the TM bowl and cook the cabbage for a bit longer on Varoma Temperature on Speed 1.

Once the cabbage has cooked, place into a serving bowl, sprinkle cheese over the cabbage and then top with the soup. Check for seasoning and serve.

Thermomix Moroccan Chickpea and Pumpkin Stew

This recipe is from Allan Campion and Michele Curtis' wonderful cookbook "In The Kitchen"

It is a great book with over 1000 recipes and presented in simple easy to follow ways.

I was fortunate enough to first meet Michele and Allan at Howquadale in 1997 at a cooking class featuring Greg Malouf. They have been a constant source of inspiration and have done a great deal to promote good food in Melbourne and Australia. They had a monthly newsletter that took the form of a blog, well before that term existed.

Pumpkin & Chickpea Stew

Ingredients:

100g chickpeas, soaked overnight ( or 400g can chickpeas)
700g water
1 clove garlic
1 cm piece fresh ginger
1 large onion, peeled & quartered
1/2 capsicum (preferably red), diced
2 Tbsp oil
500g butternut pumpkin, peeled and
cut into 1cm cubes
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 Tbsp tomato paste
300g vegetable or chicken stock
salt & pepper
fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

If using the soaked chickpeas, place into the TM bowl with the water and cook for 45 – 50 minutes at 90°C on Reverse + speed soft. Drain and set aside.

Place garlic and ginger into TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down after 5 seconds. Add onion, chop for 5 seconds on Speed 5, add capsicum and oil to the TM bowl and cook for 5 minutes at 80°C on speed 1.

While onion mixture is cooking, peel pumpkin and cut into cubes.

Add pumpkin and spices and cook for another 5 minutes at 80°C on reverse and speed 1. Add the tomato paste and cook another 3 minutes at 80°C on reverse and speed 1.

Add the drained chickpeas, stock, salt and pepper. Cook for 12- 15 minutes at 80°C on reverse and speed 1.

Check to see if the vegetables are tender enough at this point, you may need to add some water and cook it for another 10 minutes, but you do not want them to become mushy. The sauce should be thick.

Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.