Used Pete Evans Family Food recipe for this Jamaican Jerk Chicken. The spices used are thyme, paprika, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg on a base of red onion, garlic, lime and tamari. All combined in Thermomix to make a paste for marinating the chicken. Left out chillies served with salad and his green goddess dressing. Notes for next time: process spices first before adding other ingredients. Good flavour, recommend fry to seal and brown chicken first before roasting.
Adapted a feijoa zest cordial recipe by Alessandra Zecchini NZ Gardener Magazine May 2008 for the Thermomix. Fantastic way to use the feijoa skins.
http://alessandrazecchini.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/feijoa-and-lemon-zest-cordial.html?m=1
Feijoa zest recipe
500 ml boiling water
juice of one lemon
12-14 feijoas ( peel only)
1 teaspoon tartaric acid
100 g – 250 g sugar ( I use 100 g for a lower sugar cordial but there is another recipe labelled Allesandra Zecchini that uses 250g sugar for 500 ml of boiling water, or 500g to 1tr of boiling water ) I’ve done both and would maybe increase sugar to individual taste.
1)Add all ingredients to TM bowl. Cook 25 minutes / 100 degrees / Reverse / Speed 2 until all sugar is dissolved.
2) Pour cordial through a fine sieve into sterilised bottle/containers.
Store in the fridge. Use 1 part cordial to 3 to 4 parts water. The cordials are also good mixed with tonic/soda water.
Enjoy!
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http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/left-over-cereal-slice-bars/92472
Use the packets of leftover cereals, combine in thermomix for this slice recipe (link above)from the community, left out the honey and only had 2 TB of coconut left. Great for Anzac Day, tasted just like an Anzac slice.
Below link is another good leftover cereal recipe we should try, dried fruit, chia seeds and coconut oil used instead of butter and sugar.
http://thermomg.squarespace.com/thermomg-recipes/2014/4/10/leftover-cereal-slice.
First week back from school holidays, getting back into semblance of a routine has meant less time to blog. This week is marked by food highs, one thermomix food fail( didn’t follow the recipe ) and some reliable basic recipe standards. The reliable standards were smoothies, milkshakes, pizza bread, porridge, shortbread ( a new recipe I tried from the community, had 81 top ratings and was great ) link below http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/grandmas-shortbread/45249, Masterchef chocolate brownie (recipe community), wholemeal bread rolls using soft butter rolls as a base,KFC chicken recipe(road to loving my Thermomix recipe) minestrone soup,
yummy leek and potato soup, mashed potatoes , steamed potatoes, chinese style stir fried vegetables; one of our favourite Thermomix recipes and our favourite stir fry to make. Simple and cooks in 7 minutes. I usually use a kg of fresh vegetables and cook for 9 minutes and it’s done, set and forget, tip into thermomserver to keep warm, stays crunchy for ages, love it!
The Thermomix guided mash potatoes are super smooth, tasty and super easy to prepare. Simply put on the all ingredients, no water required, and set to cook. Lastly whip for a minute and that’s perfect mash potato every time.
Breakfast is a breeze using guided recipes for crepes, American pancakes, pikelets, poached eggs, waffles and the loveliest creamiest porridge you could imagine. Honestly, the guided porridge is really really good, ready in 11 minutes no stirring, husbands favourite! It serves up a generous 5-6 people and topped with fresh fruit, cinnamon and maple syrup or honey, it’s incredible …. Husband keeps saying “wow” and “people would pay $15 for this at a cafe.” We used to microwave porridge but this is 1000% better. Miss 8 favourite breakfast is now Thermomix porridge.
Poached eggs using the guided recipe is messy and only allows for 2-3 eggs at a time. Our favourite go to recipe is sous vide poached eggs link below
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/basics-recipes/perfectly-poached-eggs/126178.
The amazing thing about these poached eggs is you place the eggs with shell on into the steamer basket, and cook between 11-12.5 minutes at 70C. We set 12.5 minutes and use between 3 and 6 eggs depending on who wants eggs . It does take a little experimentation with timing to produce your preferred balance of cooked white and yolk but it’s super cool to watch everyone crack their eggs and watch the egg slide out whole. Note the eggs have to be cold from fridge and you can add boiling water to the TM bowl and wait for the temperature to reach 70C before putting the eggs in and setting the temperature to remain at 70C for the duration of the cook time.
The Thermomix recipe fail this week was a seafood paella ( forgot to add the key spice saffron), that looked quite uninspiring but was eaten all the same . It didn’t have the lovely yellow colour and flavour but was edible. This week, I cooked pork and apple casserole with the pressure cooker and a chicken and leek pot in the oven just so I didn’t forget some old familiars. Definately enjoyed dusting off the pressure cooker. Haven’t yet converted these to Thermomix recipes, maybe later.
Friday lunch was a Thermomix high…. A pot luck paleo lunch. My friends Steph and Fran prepared some amazing dishes with the help of their thermomixes and all using paleo recipes. On the table is the yummy satay chicken ( Pete Evans Family Food) fabulous Thermomix fish cakes , healthy Thermomix Beetroot salad, crunchy seed crackers with cashew cream dip ( Pete Evans Family Food) and the most refreshing cocktail, coconut water with ginger, mango, and mint. (Pete Evans Family Food)
We traded recipes, thernomix tips and officially geeked out on Thermomix recipes and cooking! The food was exciting and inspiring. Can’t wait to do it again.
And the finale for the week was dinner cooked by Miss 14. While I took Miss 8 to ballet, Miss 14 prepared Chilli con carne (guided recipe) guacamole (guided recipe ) with corn chips for dinner. The guided chilli con carne was awesome, so flavoursome with a spice base of cinnamon, coriander seeds, and cumin, she used trimmed rump steak pre minced in the Thermomix …( we like less fat in the mince)
What a treat, dinner done by lovely daughter, dessert done, glass of wine for mum … Friday night is pretty perfect!
This is the final weekend of Easter school holidays, starting with some rain, lightning and thunder, it seems like perfect weather to treat the family with hot cross buns for lunch. Using the thermomix guided recipe from the Basic Cookbook, we are rewarded with these impressive looking scrumptious hot cross buns. Previously we had looked at the recipe and been put off by the extra elements of making the cross mixture and glaze but these were literally a ‘ piece of cake’ with the thermomix and they were ready in minutes. Kneaded dough in thermomix for 3 minutes instead of 2 minutes ( note BCB cookbook states 2-3 minutes, guided mode is set for 2 minutes ) , then left in the TM bowl to prove until doubled in size. It took longer than the recommended 1/2 hour, more like an hour because of the temperature drop coming into NZ cooler weather. Lemon zest (optional) and ground cloves were excluded because we had neither in the pantry. This didn’t effect the end result. Hot cross buns buttered for weekend lunch. Super yummy and better than anything we’ve ever bought. It’s starting to feel like any time the Thermomix is on the bench there should be something proving in it because a lot of these breads, rolls and baked goodies could be frozen and taken out for school lunches during the term.
Super quick meal. The thermomix has made food preparation so fast that now if the meal can’t be prepared in 10 minutes, it’s usually not on the weekday menu. Finding it more difficult to recall the meals made pre thermomix. This meal is what happens when one ingredient is missing. Tonight’s dinner was supposed to be wonton soup or dumplings. The filling had been premade in the thermomix earlier but on discovery my packet of wonton wrappers was well past expiry date, had to think creatively. Stuffed peppers is one of my mums favourite meals. So I used the chicken and prawn filling to stuff halved and deseeded bell peppers. The peppers filled both layers of the.varoma tray and dish perfectly and steamed for 20 minutes at Varoma temperature. Dinner was cooked while I cleaned up. Served with rice and a small salad for the kids. Neither of them are keen on cooked capsicums yet but greedily scooped out the filling from the peppers. Delicious, the first time I made these the peppers were slightly over cooked, this time with slightly less steaming peppers still had a lovely crunch factor. Note I used 1.5 ltr hot water in the TM bowl before turning to Varoma temperature.
The thermomix guided mash potatoes are excellent. It’s so convenient , you add the cut potatoes, milk, butter and salt all together at the beginning and the thermomix does all the work. ( the trick is to cut the potatoes into the 1cm/2cm dice, so it cooks soft and mashes easily with the butterfly in) There’s no need to drain the potatoes, no need to stand by the stove to make sure it doesn’t boil over and it’s a quick whip at the end to finish. If they’re not soft enough, just reset the cooking for another five minutes. When they’re falling apart, turn the speed dial and whip. Then enjoy fluffy, silky smooth mash potato. A couple times I have cut potatoes too big and not checked they were soft enough and ended up with lumpy partially raw mash but just whizzed with the butterfly out to fix.
Note: need to make sure the butterfly is set securely in place for this recipe. Turn the butterfly anticlockwise to hook slightly under the blades before you add the potatoes, have had the butterfly stray off the base by the movement of the potatoes but found that as long as the potatoes are well cooked before the whipping it all settles fine.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/strawberry-ice-cream/126476
This is feijoa heavan right here. For the first time in ten years our trees have an abundance of good size fruit. Using the strawberry ice cream recipe from the recipe community, link above, and substituting the strawberries for feijoa pulp we made feijoa icecream. Once frozen, the icecream is cut into squares and blitzed for a few seconds at speed 9 in the thermomix then ready to scoop and eat. The result is sublime… Creamy, dreamy, soft, sweet feijoa icecream. We would challenge anyone to find a better gourmet icecream.
Notes :- reduced sugar in recipe from 150g to 100g, and instead of 500g cream used 300g cream and 200g milk. The icecream is usually a bit hard and icy to cut into squares with sharp knife but if left out for a few minutes softens quickly, pays to freeze in shallow containers. And after second churn, it looks crumbly but you can press into an icecream scoop to make it look pretty, eat straight away or refreeze for later . Omigosh it’s divine! And the whole family wants more.
Steamed nasi goreng… This quirky cooking recipe by Jo Whitton is definately a healthy take on the Indonesian dish. The Varoma is used to steam vegetables and eggs while the TM bowl cooks the sauce and the rice steams in the TM basket. After 15 minutes the rice was undercooked , I would add 5 minutes extra to the cooking time next time and make sure the liquid covered the rice. Found it easier to add boiling water and microwave a few more minutes just to the rice. The overall verdict is it doesn’t really taste like nasi goreng but it was a lovely healthy meal. There’s no extra oil in frying rice and vegetables so it’s definately a “lite” flavoursome fried rice. And the thermomix chops all the vegetables so the kids ate more vegetables in this rice then they normally would. If you’re expecting authentic nasi goreng you might be disappointed but I will definately try these takes on nasi goreng again with a couple of recipe community recipes next.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/main-dishes-others-recipes/easy-nasi-goreng/181395.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/starters-recipes/san-choy-bau/174069
One of our favourite meals San choy bau is low carb, simple tasty, fast food. I turboed two chicken thighs to make mince and turboed some leftover cooked pork in the thermomix separately. Soaked a packet of bean thread vermicelli in boiling water for a few minutes Many recipes don’t have this addition but it’s one way to bulk up this dish simply. You could just add more chicken or pork. Chopped and cooked garlic, ginger and spring onion, in the thermomix. Added the chicken and pork meat and cook with sauces to taste; any combo of fish sauce, tamari, soy sauce, oyster sauce, tsp honey works well. Lastly added vegetables and vermicilli. This is such a versatile meal because you can add anything ; carrot, zucchini, capsicums, spinach, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, cucumber, water chestnuts, sesame seeds or nuts. For this meal, julienned carrot and zucchini using a mandolin but they could be easily chopped in the thermomix as per recipe link above. The vegetables when finely sliced need no more than a toss in the sauces. Served all together in lettuce cups topped with coriander and chilli sauce. My kids love eating these cups because it’s relaxed finger food. There’s something fun about heaping the lettuce cups yourself and adding your own herbs, seeds and chilli sauces.
A san choy bau closely resembling our recipe from the community is pasted above.
NZ thermomix mum's blog 