Steamed pork buns

January 7, 2015September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

After initially not being convinced they were authentic char siew pow, we now totally love these buns. The filling was again leftover lamb diced finely with oyster sauce, hoisin sauce and soy gravy. I left out the onion and used the homemade thermomix chicken stock for additional flavour. Yum yum yum. The thermomix is king, the dough was so easy and took literally less than five minutes to make in total. Miss 13 helped me roll and wrap the filling, then into Varoma to steam for 10 minutes, t’s a super quick scrumptious lunch.

recipe from A Taste of Asia , thermomix cookbook P 79

Char siew pow – steamed pork buns

January 6, 2015September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

I have always wanted to make steamed pork buns. The recipe in the ” A Taste of Asia” p79 looks so simple, no rising needed, so had to give this recipe a go. Probably considered sacrilegious to substitute lamb for pork but I made up the filling with leftover lamb finely diced and using the oyster sauce hoisin base. The result is not what I expected most likely because the buns did not require proving. The buns, of course, are the same size as I put in the Varoma even though there was yeast and baking powder in the recipe. Kids loved them and they were demolished in seconds but not the fluffy steamed buns we are used to. I will search for a recipe from the community next. What I do like about having the thermomix is the inspiration it gives us to try new recipes. Internet has been down and so haven’t had access to the recipe community website. Can’t wait to look now.

Note Just this minute my daughters have just requested I make these again, they think they’re better than the normal buns that require rising and funnily enough I may even agree! So we may be onto another lunch box winner.

Mushroom risotto

January 6, 2015September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

A year ago after seeing the earlier model thermomix Tm31 at a demo and feeling I couldn’t justify the expense, I bought a pressure cooker as a consolation purchase. At a fraction of the cost, it has served us well making risotto, soups and stews super fast. The Breville fast slow cooker also had a sauté function so it was one pot cooking and also had the prep and walk away factor. Accuracy with measurements were not an issue, I could within reason add more ingredients or meat or rice and the end result more forgiving because the high pressure ensured it’s all fully cooked. So the thermomix had a lot to live up to in comparison with regard to risottos, stews, and soups.

The risotto I made in the thermomix using the guided touchscreen recipe, was slightly undercooked but once left in the thermoserver for a few minutes it completed cooking. On reflection this was most likely because I added more mushrooms and slightly more rice accidentally than the recipe required. The onions could have been sautéed longer than the recipe stated. The kids noticed the onions in the risotto made in TM. I definately saute longer in pressure cooker until onions are browned and softened. All things considered, the Tm5 did a good job with risotto but with a little more expermentation ie sauté longer and cooking slightly longer this will perfect the recipe. I stirred through cooked corgettes after to add another serve of vegetables. Lovely meal and will definately try again.

Pita bread wraps

December 31, 2014September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/breads-rolls-recipes/pita-bread-wraps/128146

My kids love pita bread so this one was a must have recipe. And it’s so simple, add the ingredients knead a couple minutes proving only 15 minutes then ready to pan fry. I hardly had time to take to take a pic because the scavengers were circling, even the hummus didn’t last before I could click the button. Comments were “these are better than the ones we buy”, ” so tasty” and moreish! . Recipe made about a dozen. Can see I will be making these often.

Thermomix Strawberry Icecream

December 31, 2014September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

Second time around the strawberry icrecream still just as good as the first time. Absolutely divine, so creamy, and you can really taste the fresh strawberries and just as good as the expensive deli ice creams except the best thing is it’s homemade. Usd the egg yolks leftover from meringue recipe. Notes: I reduced sugar from 150g to 100g and used a ratio of 2/3 cream to milk rather than just cream. Once frozen just a few seconds on speed 9 and it’s perfectly ready to eat right away or re freeze for later.

http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/strawberry-ice-cream/126476

Recipe by Captain Janeway on the recipe community website link above.

Tuna dip

December 29, 2014September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

With croutons made had to find a healthy dip to accompany them. And via my travels on the web and came across this little gem by thermomon, another thermomix owner posting great tips and recipes on her blog. I substituted half sour cream because I ran out of cream cheese but the dip was a big hit with the family and excellent picnic food.

Breadcrumbs using old bread

December 29, 2014September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

The one thing we have been more inclined to do since owning the thermomix is find ways to use up leftover food. We had two hard as rock French sticks left in pantry and after using one for croutons. I blitzed up half of the other in the thermomix for a few seconds to make fine crumb. Baked in the oven for 5 minutes at 180c and crumbs done.

Thermomix Meringues

December 29, 2014September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

Must admit I’ve not made meringues before but my daughter has and I’ve been told the thermomix produces a great meringues. Found the recipe on the recipe community and had to give it a go. Three egg whites were whipped in two minutes and then slowly added the sugar.

They looked like meringues before they were baked so crossed my fingers and we were not disappointed. They came out lovely after three hours at low heat. There was some crystalized sugar on the bottom of each meringue but my kids loved this. Googling the reasons for this, apparently could have been because I added the sugar too fast. So I put this down to ‘operator error’ and still give the TM5 a big tick. Meringues done! Crispy, light and with a good crunch factor. And still lovely and crisp next day for picnic lunch at the beach.

The leftover egg yolks were used to make strawberry icecream which is in the freezer right now. Pics to come tomorrow.

Mushroom soup

December 27, 2014September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

Today I discovered a packet of mushrooms in fridge that needed to be used sooner rather than later so… Out comes the thermomix to rescue the old mushrooms.

Using the guided recipe called for 200g of mushrooms. I had about 400g leftover in fridge and used it all. The result is a slightly darker looking soup. The soup only took about 10 minutes and all we had to do was pop in mushrooms, water, milk, homemade (tmx) vegetable stock and cream. Delicious and so simple. Miss 8 loves mushroom soup and the recipe made about 1.5ltrs enough to freeze for later . Probably 6 large bowls. Fabulous!

Christmas with our Thermomix

December 26, 2014September 9, 2015 ~ nzthermomixmum

Catering Christmas lunch for 25., the thermomix saved so much time, and stress. From chopping onion and garlic, making 3 lots of bechamel sauce, boiling eggs, making salads, grating cheese, making sauces, making caster sugar and icing sugar and whipping cream. To be able to ‘prep’ and walk away from it while you carry on with some other task is it’s best feature. It’s like having an extra pair of hands in the kitchen

Great, three apples peeled and popped into the thermomix, minutes later, perfect apple sauce for the ham.

Boiling eggs, the ones on left are out of thermomix, the ones on the right from pot on stove

I boiled eggs for hot potato salad on stove but got distracted and left them too long, the bowl on the right shows my exploded eggs from the stovetop. Boiling a few extra in the thermomix, I could leave and a few minutes later perfect boiled eggs.