Iced Pea Soup

OK, so this is soooooo late. I made it and took photos in January, but just never got around to posting it. A message from Tenina reminded me that I needed to get off my proverbial and get the blog active again.




Chilled Pea and Mint Soup.

Ingredients:

500 g peas (frozen are OK)
1000g good chicken (or vegetable) stock, in the form of frozen ice cubes
1/4 cup mint leaves

Method:

Depending on whether the peas are fresh or frozen the method varies only slightly.

If using fresh peas, place about 150g of the iced stock into the TM bowl and heat for 4 minutes at 100°C on speed 1. Add the peas and cook for 8 minutes at 100°C on speed 1.

If using frozen peas, place about 100g of the iced stock into the TM bowl and heat for 4 minutes at 100°C on speed 1. Add the peas and cook for 3 minutes at 100°C on speed 1.

Add the mint leaves and remaining cubes of frozen stock and blend for 2 minutes on speed 9.

That is all. Sorry that it took so long.

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 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.

Thermomix Moroccan Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Stew

This recipe comes from the Murdoch cookbook "A Little Taste of Morocco"

It has been adapted for the Thermomix and is simple.

It would be possible to cook the vegetables in the Varoma so that a larger meal could be made.

Thermomix Moroccan Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Stew

Ingredients:

few threads of saffron
400ml stock, chicken or vegetable
2 cloves garlic, peeled in the Thermomix
1 large onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp harissa, or pinch of cayenne pepper
400g butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
400g orange sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
60g raisins
1 Tbsp honey
Salt and pepper to taste
coriander leaves

Method:

Place saffron threads into some of the stock and keep aside.

Place garlic cloves into TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 6. Add onions to TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 5. Add oil and sauté for 5 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1.

Add spices to TM bowl and cook for 3 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1. Add stock, honey and saffron in stock to TM bowl, place pumpkin, sweet potato and raisins into the steamer basket, place into TM bowl and cook for 10 - 15 minutes at 100°C on Reverse and Speed 3 with the MC in place.

Remove the steamer basket and then remove the cinnamon stick from the stock mixture. Place the Butterfly over the blades and tip the pumpkin and sweet potato mix into the TM bowl. Cook for 5 minutes at 80°C on Reverse and Speed Soft.

Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle coriander leaves over the top.

Thermomix Onion Jam

This recipe is based on Greg Malouf's recipe in Arabesque. It is an accompaniment to a vegetable cous cous.

The jam matures and develops more flavour after a few days covered in the fridge.

The Thermomix does a wonderful job of constantly stirring to prevent the onion sticking.

Sorry to those who have been patiently waiting for this recipe.



Onion Jam

Ingredients:

5 medium red onions, peeled & quartered
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
250g dry sherry
250g tawny port
50g currants, soaked in an extra 50g sherry
freshly gound pepper

Method:

Place onions into TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down after 5 seconds. Add oil and salt and cook for 4 minutes at 90°C on speed 1.

Once onion has started to soften, add sherry and port, and cook for 20 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1 with the MC out of the lid and basket over the lid.

At this stage, add the currants and increase the temperature for 30 minutes at Varoma temperature on Speed 1, with the basket over the lid.

Once they are cooked add the pepper and cook for 3 minutes at 90°C on speed 1.

Use to accompany dishes, including cous cous with vegetables.

Thermomix Beetroot and Chocolate Custards

A dish using the combination of chocolate and beetroot in a sweet custrad that cooks well in the Varoma. So you only need the Thermomix to prepare these little delights

Sweet Beetroot and Chocolate Custards


Ingredients:

rind of half an orange
100g sugar
300g beetroot, unpeeled, cut into chunks
1 MC (100ml) orange juice
1/2 tsp salt
90g dark chocolate, Melts or broken
roughly into chunks
3 eggs
6 greased dariole moulds
600g water

Method:

Place orange rind and sugar into TM bowl and chop for 30 seconds on Speed 7.

Add beetroot to TM bowl and grate for 20 - 30 seconds on Speed 8. The pieces should be similar in size to rice grains. Add orange juice and salt and cook for 20 - 30 minutes at 90°C on Speed 1 with the MC in place.

Add chocolate and blend for 10 seconds on Speed 5.

Add eggs and blend for 10 seconds on Speed 4.

Place mixture into greased dariole moulds and position in the Varoma. Place the 600g water into the TM bowl (no need to clean) and set for 20 minutes at Varoma temperature on Speed 1.

Serve with whipped cream, yoghurt, yoghurt ice cream, ice cream, ….

Thermomix Cauliflower and Almond Soup

Well, another cauliflower soup - just for a change. One that uses the Thermomix to firstly grind the almonds to speed up cooking and then cooks the soup and finally blitzs it to a smooth velvety finish.






Cauliflower and Almond Soup

Ingredients:

few saffron threads
1/2 MC (50ml) water
100g almonds
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
500g cauliflower, cut into chunks
1000g stock, chicken or vegetable
freshly ground nutmeg
salt and pepper
100ml cream


Method:

Place saffron threads into the water and keep aside.

Place almonds into TM bowl and grind for 30 seconds on Speed 9. Remove and set aside.

Place onion into TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 5. Add oil and sauté for 4 minutes at 90°C on Speed 1.

Add cauliflower to TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Add stock, nutmeg, salt and pepper to TM bowl and cook for 15 minutes at 90°C on Speed 1. Add almonds and saffron in water to TM bowl and cook for 10 minutes at 90°C on Speed 2.

Make sure the MC is in place and slowly increase the Speed up to 9 for 30 seconds. Add the cream and blend for 20 seconds on Speed 4.

Transfer to a serving dish and decorate with more cream over the top.

Thermomix ChocBeet Cream

This came from a week of developing recipes with beetroot and chocolate.

It not only looks delicious, tastes good and is full of healthy beetroot (and not so healthy chocolate and cream)

Simple, but yummy.

Thermomix ChocBeet Cream

Ingredients:

400 g beetroot, cut into chunks
(don’t bother peeling,
just wash and remove top and root tip)
50 g orange juice
pinch salt
100 g milk or dark chocolate
200 ml cream (35%)


Method:

Place the beetroot in the TM bowl and chop for 20 seconds on speed 8.

Add orange juice and salt and cook for 25 minutes at 90°C on speed 1.

Add chocolate to TM bowl and blend for 15 seconds on speed 8.

Remove mixture to a bowl and allow to cool while cleaning TM bowl.

Make sure the bowl is clean and dry. Place Butterfly on blades and place cream into TM bowl. Whip for 30 - 40 seconds on Speed 4, until the cream is holding shape.

Add beetroot and chocolate mixture and whip for 10 -15 seconds on Speed 3 until mixed well.

Serve as is, or cool in fridge before serving.

Thermomix Cauliflower Soup in the style of Ducasse

Cauliflowers have been abundant and there have been lots of cauliflower recipes tried at home.

This on is based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse's tome "Grand Livre de Cuisine: Alain Ducasse's Culinary Encyclopedia"

It is a luscious, velvety soup that would also benefit from a touch of truffle.

The benefit of using the Thermomix is that you do not need to strain the mixture to obtain the velvety texture of the finished soup.

No chervil was to hand - so parsley for garnish.

Cauliflower soup in the style of Ducasse

Ingredients:

1000ml water
1 cauliflower
100ml chicken stock
30g crème fraiche or cream
1/4 tsp curry powder
salt as needed

Croutons:
2 slices bread, 5mm
50g butter
Chervil

Method:

Place the water in the TM bowl and heat for 5 minutes at 100°C on speed 1. Cut the cauliflower into small florettes. Place the florettes into the TM bowl and cook for 3 minutes at 100°C on Reverse + speed 1. Drain the florettes and cool them in cold water to refresh.

Place the cauliflower florettes, chicken stock, cream and curry powder into the TM bowl and cook for 30 minutes at 90°C on speed 1. Allow to cool to 50°C then blend for 1 minute on Speed 9.

Check for seasoning and adjust as needed.

The soup may be served cool or warmed.

Croutons:

Trim the bread and cut into 5mm cubes. Lightly heat the butter in a frypan and toss the croutons until evenly browned. Drain and pat dry on paper towel.

To serve, place the soup in bowls and sprinkle the croutons and chervil over the surface.

Thermomix Beetroot Relish

This recipe is based on one from Alla Wolf-Tasker's book "Lake House, A culinary journey in country Australia"

Beetroot has always been a part of the food at Lake House and currently forms part of the smoked eel entree.

Alla's original recipe calls for the beetroot to be steamed, which is easily achieved in the Varoma section of the Thermomix, if you prefer.

Other flavours such as coriander go well with the beetroot, so experiment.



Thermomix Beetroot Relish

Ingredients:

250g onions, peeled and quartered
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
500g beetroot, peeled and cut into eighths
200g sugar
1 MC (100ml) water
5 g grated horseradish, (I did a large amount in the Thermomix previously)
5 g brown mustard seeds
1 tsp salt
100ml red wine vinegar


Method:

Place onions into TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 5. Add oil and sauté for 5 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1.

Add beetroot to TM bowl and grate for 20 - 30 seconds on Speed 6, scrape down the sides every 10 seconds to incorporate all the beet and to check on size. The pieces should be similar in size to lentils. Add sugar, water, horseradish, mustard seeds and salt and cook for 30 - 40 minutes at 90°C on Speed 1 with the MC in place. The beetroot should be cooked, but not soft and mushy.

Add vinegar and blend for 10 seconds on Speed 3.

May be stored in the fridge for a week, or you can place in sterilised jars and seal to keep longer.

Thermomix Aloo Gobi

Aloo gobi has long been one of my favourite Indian dishes and this is based on a recipe fom Madhur Jaffrey's "Ultimate Curry Bible".

Normally the dish is fried and cooked in a frypan or larger pot, but this mock version cooks the sauce in the TM bowl frist and then the potato in the steamer basket while the cauliflower is steamed and the sauce kept warm in the Varoma.

The mixture of spices can easily be altered and varied to suit your palate.

Just another dish to show that it can be made in the Thermomix and that the Varoma is handy for keeping sauces warm while preparing other components of the meal.



Spicy Cauliflower and Potato (Mock Aloo Gobi)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds (optional)
1 garlic clove
2 cm fresh ginger
1 large onion, cut into eighths
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
200g peeled tomatoes, canned are OK
500g potatoes, cut into 1.5cm cubes
1 small cauliflower, cut into florettes, you can also use the stems, peeled and diced
700g water
1 tsp salt
Vegetable oil for frying (optional)

Method:

Place cumin, coriander and mustards seeds into TM bowl and dry roast for 8 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1. Remove and allow to cool.

Place garlic and ginger into TM bowl and mince for 15 seconds on Speed 7. Scrape down sides as needed to ensure the mix is even. Add onion and chop for 10 seconds on Speed 5. Add turmeric, pepper, salt, oil and spice mix to onions and cook for 8 minutes at 90°C on Speed 1. Add the tomato and cook out for another 5 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1. If using canned, then place on Reverse and Speed 1, to reduce pulverising them too much.

Remove the mixture from the TM bowl and place into a bowl that will fit into the Varoma. Place the cauliflower florettes into the Varoma and the potato cubes into the TM basket.



Without washing out the bowl, add 700g water with the second teaspoon of salt. Place the basket into the TM bowl, position the lid and then the Varoma and cook the potato and cauliflower for 25 minutes at Varoma temperature on Speed 2.

Check the potato and cauliflower after about 20 minutes, you want it to be al dente, with some texture to it and not soft.

When the potato and cauliflower are ready, remove to a large bowl and gently fold in the sauce mixture.

Serve warm.

Thermomix Cauliflower & Chickpea Patties

Well cauliflowers are getting a bit of a go in the house while I am trying to recreate Ferran Adria's cauliflower cous cous or risotto.

This time, the resulting puree was made into fritters with chickpea flour based on a recipe from Stephanie Alexander's Cooks' Companion.

The Thermomix is able to produce the chickpea flour from dried chickpeas in seconds.

Again, the recipe can be modified to suit your own palate, but the basic idea is how to use cauliflower in interesting ways, and in a fried form that may interest children.

The mixture can be made into little balls and fried as per Stephanie's original recipe, or as I did, and make it into larger patties.




Middle Eastern Cauliflower Fritters

Ingredients:

120 g dried chickpeas
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp salt
1 cm fresh ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 large cauliflower, cut roughly into chunks
1 egg
Vegetable oil for frying

Method:

Place chickpeas into TM bowl and mill for 40 seconds on speed 9. Remove and set aside.

Place cumin and coriander seeds into TM bowl and dry roast for 8 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1. Add salt and mill for 10 seconds on Speed 9. Add ginger, turmeric and pepper and blend for 20 seconds on Speed 7. Scrape down sides after 10 seconds.

Remove the mixture from the bowl and keep aside. Place 200g of the cauliflower into the TM bowl and grate for 5 seconds on Speed 5. The cauliflower should be coarsely grated, not mush. Remove the cauliflower and add batches of cauliflower until it is all grated.

When the last batch of cauliflower has been grated, add the spice mixture and the egg to the cauliflower in the TM bowl. Mix for 10 seconds on Reverse and Speed 5 to mix, and then add this to the bowl with the remaining grated cauliflower and mix all together.

The mixture can then be made into walnut-sized balls and fried in 1 cm of hot oil, or made into patties and grilled in a small amount of oil.

Serve with a chutney, pickle or sauce of your liking.

Thermomix Cauliflower Pilaf

Well, back in 2001 at Tasting Australia in Adelaide, Juan-Mari Arzak and Ferran Adria were invited to give a presentation for chefs and media on the Sunday morning. Being neither a chef nor in the media I should not really have been there, but some friends said that nobody would notice and so I sat through an interesting couple of hours. The air was redolent with orange essence to make you think that you were in an orange grove near Seville.

That was the start of foam mania in Australia, and many chefs who I heard laugh and condemn on that day, have since adorned dishes with a variety of foams.

Something that did not go down well at all, was the idea of using a microplane to produce shavings of cauliflower that were then presented to the diner as "cauliflower risotto". I have since seen a number of negative reviews from people being presented with such cauliflower risottos in other restaurants.

Well, I had a cauliflower in the fridge, and decided to see how it would go in the Thermomix.

Using the Reverse setting and putting just the tops of the florettes into the bowl resulted in the following product, which I then steamed in the Varoma and made a "cauliflower pilaf"


It may be something that used with milk to cook the cauliflower for just a minute or two could be used to encourage children to eat their vegetables.

There are probably a myriad of other dishes that people can make with the cauliflower "rice". I roughly chopped the remaining cauliflower stalks and put them into the Thermomix bowl and made cauliflower soup while the "pilaf" was steaming.

Cauliflower Pilaf

Ingredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsps coriander seeds
2cm piece fresh ginger
1 medium onion, cut into quarters
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground turmeric
3 Tbsp cashews
2 Tbsp currants
1 medium cauliflower
salt
pepper

Method:

Place the cumin and coriander seeds into the TM bowl and dry roast for 8 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1. Set aside and put the ginger into the TM bowl, grate for 5 seconds on Speed 7. Add onion and chop for 10 seconds on Speed 5. Add the oil and saute for 7 minutes at 100°C on Speed 1.

Add the turmeric, cashews and currants and mix for 15 seconds on Reverse and Speed 5. Place the mixture into a bowl that fits into the upper Varoma tray.

Cut the tops off the florettes of the cauliflower off and place batches of about 150 grams in the TM bowl. Blitz each batch for 3 seconds on Reverse and Speed 5. Place each batch into the base of the Varoma dish. When finished, place tray into the Varoma and place lid on Varoma.

Place 600ml water into the TM bowl, position the Varoma and steam for 10 minutes at Varoma temperature on Speed 1. You may need to carefully turn the cauliflower "rice" over during cooking to ensure even cooking.

Once the "rice" has steamed, carefully remove the tray and cauliflower and mix together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Thermomix Ratatouille

Thermomix Onion Jam

This recipe has finally been posted here

Thermomix Curried Parsnip Soup

Thermomix Parsnip Puff

Thermomix Mushroom Crostini

Thermomix Varoma Tomatoes with Asian Flavours

Thermomix Letcho