not just cake

whisks' red stock concentrate

2012-01-19T23:12:00.001+11:00

everyone always asks me for this recipe, so i'm putting it down in writing. i find this one is very complimentary when added to those warmer coloured dishes, you know, like pumpkin risotto or tomato soup. don't be put off by the chilli - it only adds some warmth if it is at all detectable.

1 clove garlic
1 red onion
1 red capsicum
1 red chilli
1 carrot
1 tomato
1 swede
1 parsnip
1 rib celery, including leaves
a bay leaf
rosemary, sage and parsley
100 g olive oil
150 g sea salt

place the vegetables and herbs into the TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 6.

add oil and salt and cook at 100C for 10 minutes on speed 2.

blend for 1 minute at speed 10.

continue cooking at 100C for 10 minutes on speed 2.

blend for 1 minute at speed 10.

pour into sterilised jars and store in the refrigerator when cool. this will keep for up to six months in the refrigerator.

whisks' favourite gingerbread cookies

2011-12-18T10:49:00.001+11:00

when my best friend from high school told me she liked gingerbread cookies, i set upon a journey to find a recipe for gingerbread cookies, and this is what i came up with. generally, i like to bake them slowly so they don't burn, yet come out firm. they do soften nicely and the flavours develop beautifully. once rested, this is a beautiful dough to work with and smells divine.

1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
125 grams butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup golden syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
a few strips lemon rind (optional)

place flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and lemon rind in the thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10 until well blended. set aside.
place butter, brown sugar, egg, golden syrup and vanilla into the thermomix bowl and combine for 10 seconds on speed 5. scrape down bowl and combine again for 5 seconds on speed 5.
add the flour mixture which was set aside earlier to the thermomix bowl and combine for 10 seconds on speed 6.
set dial to closed lid position and knead for 40 seconds on interval speed.
divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. this dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. return to room temp before using.
preheat oven to 170°C.
line cookie sheets with baking paper.
place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
roll dough to a scant 2mm thick.
use additional flour to avoid sticking.
cut out cookies with desired cutter.
space cookies 3cm apart.
bake 1 sheet at a time for 10-15 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!).
remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
after cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like - they look wonderful decorated with royal icing.

whisks' orange coconut custard

2011-12-16T08:57:00.002+11:00

this is my answer to making a dairy, egg and gluten free pouring custard to serve with christmas pudding, or any cake, or anything (or nothing) for that matter.

the rind an orange
60 grams sugar
10 grams maize cornflour
500 grams coconut milk
orange liqueur, optional, but nice to add for something festive

place the orange rind, sugar and cornflour into the thermomix bowl and grind on speed 10 for 10 seconds. take a good long sniff of this mixture - it smells so good.
add the coconut milk and cook for 8 minutes at 90 degrees at speed 4.
if you're adding some orange liqueur, now's the time to add it...at your discretion, and give it a stir in the thermomix on speed 4 for about 5 seconds.
pour this into a jug and serve. just a warning, this is hot, so if you want to have a taste, spoon some out to let it cool, then have a taste. very delicious. as with all custards, this one will form a skin. if you like the skin, you don't have to doo anything. if you don't want a skin to form, place a piece of baking paper on the surface of the custard and remove it before serving.

hair by whisks

2011-11-05T23:06:00.001+11:00

yes, you read correctly. hair by moi. miss k had a formal to go to (her own), and i did her hair. it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing. she was trying to do her hair herself, and i couldn't help myself and took over. then, when ohno offered her the corsage, what did i do? i put it in her hair...of course. this worked out to be quite a practical way of wearing the corsage as opposed to wearing it on the wrist where it often would get bashed around.

just a little taste...

2011-10-26T10:01:00.001+11:00

blutsie picked this little booklet up for me from kinokuniya last week, and it's a gem:

so often, being time poor and all, wanting to have a little browse at cookbooks can be a luxury, which makes places online like amazon useful, but i'm old fashioned and i like having a hard copy sometimes and this is the next best thing. there are recipes from rowie dillon, of rowie's cakes fame - the clever lady who has found a niche market for gluten free cakes, adriano "does he need a last name" zumbo with his self named publication, zumbo, and seven other delightful books of varying levels of sophistication; in other words, there's something to suit everyone. there's a recipe from each book which provides a nice introduction to what to expect.

good on kinokuniya for doing this and taking cookbook catelogues to the next level.

cast iron cookware

2011-10-25T01:46:00.000+11:00

on saturday, blutsie and i headed off to an organic cooking class where they were promoting cast iron cookware and there was some discussion on how to season the cookware. people have their own favourite method, but i quite liked the method they suggested. the way they seasoned their cookware was to lightly saute vegetables in a vegetable oil, so, today, i tried it, and the vegetable i used was some cut up red onion, and the oil of choice was rice bran oil. i set my induction hotplate to the lowest setting, poured my oil in generously and tossed in the onion and left it there to cook away slowly. not exactly saute, but i chose to do it slowly so the oil would have a chance to seep into the pores. i'm sure some of the onioniness will seep in, but that's fine. it will make for interesting buckwheat pancakes, won't it? just have to make sure that they're savoury pancakes.

another interesting fact i learnt at the class about the cookware was that not all cookware which a magnet will stick to is induction friendly. for example, cookware which has a copper base encapsulated in stainless steel is not as efficient on an induction hob as one which is totally steel, as a cast iron pan is. i have wondered in the past why some pots heated up faster than some others, and now i know! this has never stopped me from enjoying my induction stove, but it has answered a few questions. and it's a good excuse to get new pots and pans...sigh...

chocolate brownies for tn

2011-10-09T01:30:00.001+11:00

this is an oldie, but a goodie which i first made in 1991 when i was expecting miss c. never to do things by halves, i made a double or triple quantity batch in my large pan. i have since shown much more restraint and have been making single quantity batches of this. yesterday, tn and his family came over for a visit - they were in town from perth, and i had to make this because tn likes it...actually, i remember him liking chocolate truffles, as well, which i will save for the next time they come over for a visit.

125g butter, cubed
150g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
250 grams brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
75 grams plain flour
25 grams self raising flour
125 grams chocolate chips

line a square 19 cm pan with baking paper. preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.

place the chocolate and butter into the thermomix bowl and melt for 6 minutes at 50 degrees on speed 1. add the sugar. eggs and vanilla and combine for 10 seconds on speed 5. add the flour and combine for 10 seconds. scrape the nowl down and combine for another 5 seconds. add the chocolate chips and pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it out the best you can. you don't have to mix the chocolate chips through the thick batter because they'll get mixed in when you pour this mixture out and spread it out. bake for 30 minutes. whatever you do, don't over bake the brownies. they should be cooked through, yet somewhat fudgey in the middle.

these brownies are supposed to have good keeping qualities, but i wouldn't know because they always get eaten up...even the triple quantity batches...

hints on making sorbet

2011-10-04T00:09:00.000+11:00

my hints on making sorbet in the thermomix.

more ice makes for a firmer sorbet. useful to know if using a fruit which gives a slacker mixture. alternatively, you can chill the fruit until firm.

homemade ice is far superior to using ice bought from the servo or supermarket. bought ice makes the sorbet very slack because it is too wet; homemade ice straight out of the freezer is dryer. the cubes of ice i use are actually very big, but they make a good sorbet.

if you want to make watermelon sorbet, freeze the watermelon...in fact you could use all watermelon and omit or use less sugar. on the subject of melon, rockmelon sorbet is divine. blutsie and i don't tolerate rockmelon well, but we find it quite irresistable, worst luck.

fibrous fruits, such as pineapple, give the sorbet a really lovely texture.

no need to peel pears for sorbet - can't tell the skin's there.

fruity dream is to fruit as is the stock concentrate is to veggies. waste not, want not.

oh, and this one is important, so you should commit it to memory. the addition of alcohol greatly improves the sorbet's keeping qualities (or non keeping qualities, depending on circumstances).

i can't believe all the fibre's there

2011-09-30T00:48:00.001+10:00

i know. it doesn't have the same ring to it as i can't believe it's not butter, but that's the incredible thing about juicing in the thermomix. being the fibre sook i am, i was juicing the likes of oranges, pears, berries...nothing too tough, but on a trip to bankstown a couple of months ago, i bought some huge bethonga pineapples and decided to give pineapple juice a go, and boy am i glad i did - it's amazing. to me, bethonga pineapples seem really fibrous, but when juiced up in the thermomix, you'd never know it.

about half a large pinapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
a little sugar, to taste (or not)
about 400 grams ice cubes

pop all this into the thermomix bowl and blitz away on speed 10 for a minute or so. pour into a jug.
pour about 500 grams of water into the thermomix bowl and blitz to self clean and add this to the jug of juice, if desired. can you tell i don't like to waste a thing?

you can't tell that there's any fibre in the juice at all - the juice isn't thick, and it's very clean tasting - quite different from the juice from a juice extractor...and all the fibre's still there - isn't that wonderful? you might think there's a lot of water in the juice, but that's not a bad thing - we need to drink more water, and this is a easy way to have it - don't want to overwork our pancreas, do we?

20 ways to get good karma

2011-09-29T08:17:00.001+10:00

this is by the dalai lama and i thought it would be something i'd like to have in the blog.

1.take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2.when you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3.follow the three R’s:
- respect for self,
- respect for others and
- responsibility for all your actions.
4.remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5.learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6.don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7.when you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8.spend some time alone every day.
9.open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10.remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11.live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and
think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12.a loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13.in disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14.share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15.be gentle with the earth.
16.once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17.remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18.judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19.if you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
20.if you want to be happy, practice compassion.

priorities

2011-09-28T08:17:00.000+10:00

recently, i was asked about which cookbook was my favourite. my all out favourite is probably not the sensible person's choice, but i have a soft spot for the AWW quick mix cakes cookbook. baking a cake was one of those things i had always wanted to do well. whether it had anything to do with my mother not being able to bake, i don't know, but it was important to me. i wanted to be able to bake something for my children. you'd think that knowing how to cook a proper meal would be way ahead on the list, but no, cakes were by far, more important. i know i have my priorities right - i'm right there with marie antoinette when she said "let them eat cake"...now, there's a woman who had her priorities straight! imagine the ball the two of us would have had on baking day!

vanilla custard, just like grandma's

2011-08-30T18:53:00.005+10:00

on saturday, i got together with a few friends who were longing for some old fashioned comfort...old fashioned comfort food. so after having a nice comforting risotto, i made vanilla custard from scratch. no custard powder, and the yellow in the custard came from the eggs. yolks to be specific.

the verdict? one of the guys sighed and proclaimed it to be just like gran's and breathed in all the vanilla-iness. and everyone nodded in agreement and continued eating their custard. lol.

2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons maize cornflour
3 egg yolks
1/2 litre milk
vanilla bean paste to taste

pop it all into the thermomix bowl and set the thermomix to cook at 80 degrees for 7 minutes on speed 4. so good. so easy. no comparison could be made with the bought stuff.

whisks' eggplant chutney

2011-05-29T13:43:00.004+10:00

having just run out of my favourite indian wedding pickles, i decided to whip up a batch of my favourite eggplant chutney so i'd have something on hand to liven up my sandwiches and cheese platters. add salt and sugar at your discretion, but remember that you want it to be well flavoured.

1/2 cup salt
1 kilo skinny eggplants
water
2 large onions
1/4 cup crystalised ginger, chopped
5 red chillies, chopped
5 cloved garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons madras curry powder (or a mixture of ground cumin, coriander, fennel)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup your choice of dried fruit

cut the eggplant into 1 cm cubes, combine with the salt and cover with water. leave overnight. next day, drain and rinse the eggplant, squeezing out as much water as possible.
place the eggplant, onion, ginger, chillies, garlic, salt and oil in a large stockpot stir to coat ingredients with oil and place on a low to medium flame. stir frequently to avoid the relish from sticking to the base of the pot. once the onions and eggplant are soft,sprinkle in the curry powder, sugar, vinegar and dried fruit. cook a further 10-15 minutes. pour into sterelised jars and seal whilst hot.

Let me introduce myself

2011-05-04T09:26:00.002+10:00

Hello!

What can I say about myself? I have a ton of cookbooks and I'm working my way through them and I thought it might be fun to post a cookbook recipe each time as I go along, or you have any recommendations or requests, please let me know.

I do have a tendency to dislike typing as a general rule, so unless there's a good reason to post a long recipe, I'll be posting short and sweet recipes.

See you around!

dorothy floate's secret of success cookery book

2011-05-02T13:19:00.004+10:00

i actually have three copies of the dorothy floate's secret of sucess cookbook - one for me and one for each miss c and miss k, but have realised i really only need 2 because they will only need one each when i'm dead and gone. i guess the spare will be up for grabs.

that aside, it is an excellent read and dot takes her cooking very seriously, explaining everything sooo very carefully.

dot was never shy in letting her readers know which of her recipes won prizes, and good on her. and good on her for sharing her tips on achieving the finest results from each recipe. after all, why waste good ingredients with a bad recipe?

i was looking at an article about old or new recipes and decided that i, too, should share one of dot's gems - in fact, her (prize) gem scones, no less. i'm copying her recipe just as she wrote it - i think there's a certain charm about it. ask me if you need help with conversions - can't have anyone wasting good ingredients.

(prize) gem scones

1/2 lb s.r. flour
2 eggs
3 ozs butter
4 level tablespoons castor sugar
9 tablespoons milk

cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat a litte, then add a little sifted flour and beat well. then a little milk and flour alternatively until all milk and flour has been used. add a few drops of essence of lemon. bake in gem irons. put irons into oven and get them very hot while you are mixing the scones. gem irons should be so hot that when greased the butter will sizzle. it is a good idea to have butter melted and use a glazing brush for greasing irons. have your mixture ready before taking irons out of oven, grease and put about a teaspoon of the mixture into
each iron, bake in moderate oven 10 to 15 mins.

my little bread rolls

2011-04-15T09:26:00.001+10:00

i had such a big response to these rolls, so i thought i had better respond better post the recipe quick smart for everyone to try.

300 grams water
2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
a good slurp of extra virgin olive oil
500 grams strong bakers' flour

extra olive oil
cornmeal for dusting
sprigs of rosemary
extra sea salt

place the water, yeast, salt and oil into the thermomix bowl and set the thermomix to 37 degrees, soft stir for 1 minute.
add the flour and mix to combine - 10 seconds on speed 6.
set the dial to closed lid position and knead for 4 minutes.
tip the dough out onto the thermomat, wrap up and go and have a shower or do the dishes in the sink...or maybe some laundry is your thing...or sit and relax a bit...only 15-20 minutes, mind you. you could always prepare the trays for the rolls if you wanted to...line a couple of trays with baking paper, drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with some cornmeal.

open up the thermomat and cut the dough into 4 or 5 lengths with the spatula (not the knife, unless you want to cut up your thermomat). position one length of dough on the mat so it is easy to cut, and cut it as if you were slicing a roll into little slices. each of these little lengths of dough will form the little finger length rolls.

place rolls as you make them on the prepared trays. when these are all done, go back to the first tray and drizzle a little oil on each roll, stud it with a little rosemary and sprinkle on a little sea salt.

start up the oven and heat it to 220 degrees celcius. when it's at temperature, it's time to pop the rolls in for 10 minutes or until golden.

that's it. and they are so easy to eat...

a dip with sundried tomatoes and capsicum

2011-04-12T09:01:00.002+10:00

my friend, bez, has just opened up her own studio for alternate therapies and invited me to the opening, and i couldn't resist asking if i could bring food. that's me, i can't help it. so from the title you're thinking i brought a dip...but i brought more - little rolls. little rolls about 7 centimetres long and 2 centmetres wide, if you must know. up until the day, i was toying with making pizzettes, passionfruit curd tarts ... anything and everything. it finally dawned on me that unless i make something less fiddly (yet delicious), the party would be over before i even got there. so i made these little rolls, for the first time, and definitely not the last. when the rolls were done, it all looked a bit boring, so to spice things up, i went with a dip. this dip .... because it was so fast (and yummy)!

100 grams sundried tomatoes
1 red capsicum, seeded and cored, cut into chunks
100 grams roasted cashews
50 grams verjuice
50 grams extra virgin olive oil

pop everything into the thermomix bowl and set the dial to close lid position. pulse the turbo button 2-3 times for a second each, or until the dip is the consistency you like.

did you know contribution disappeared even before the party had started? and i made a mountain of rolls and dip...

the reason why i go with the flow...

2011-04-06T09:23:00.001+10:00

the early bird gets the worm...but the second mouse gets the cheese.

cheese sticks

2011-04-05T10:05:00.003+10:00

these are seriously very good, and they beat the bought stuff hands down - no contest. to make life simple, i slice my cheese rather than grate it - it falls off too easily otherwise.

300 grams water
2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
50 grams extra virgin olive oil
500 grams strong bakers' flour
cheese slices

line 2 baking trays with baking paper and sprinkle cornmeal over them.

place the water, yeast, salt and olive oil into the tm bowl and mix at 37 degrees for 2 minutes on speed 1.

add the flour and mix for 10 seconds on speed 6.
turn the dial to closed lid position, knead the mixture for 4 minutes on interval speed.

turn the dough out onto your lightly floured work surface and cut the dough into about 20 strips. stretch these strips as you place them onto the prepared baking trays. place slices of cheese onto the dough and set aside in a warm place to proof.

heat the oven to 220 degrees and when it comes to temperature, place the first tray of cheese sticks in the oven for 15-20 minute - they will be golden when they are done. repeat with the second tray.

enjoy these however you like...they leave the store bought ones for dead...

i love sly

2011-04-05T08:14:00.003+10:00

sly's my nephew. he's in primary school, and i love him. he's soft and smooth, and a really wonderful person to give a mushy cuddle to. it's even better when he doesn't really want to return the cuddle and i can see it on his face. nothing worse than getting a smooch and cuddle from a smelly old aunt. i don't regard myself as smelly and old, but i'm sure i am in his eyes (and nose). i just gotta get me some of that lavender soap and talcum powder.

a couple of weeks ago, he and his classmates had to tell the teacher something special about themselves...you know, something like i'm sporty, i'm a maths nerd, i'm good at jumping...that type of thing. well sly...did i tell you i love sly? well sly told his teacher he's smooth!!!! and indeed he is. he has the smoothest, softest skin, but when i heard this little morsel of delight, only one thing came to mind - sade's song - smooth operator.

i love sly. he's smooth.

converting recipes for the thermomix

2011-04-01T10:58:00.003+11:00

take a photocopy of the recipe, enlarged it - it will make it easier to work with. if there are cup or scooped quantities, after scooping each thing, write down the weighs - that way, the next time go to make this recipe, you won't have to use your measuring cups. look at which method to follow by looking at the edc - find something in the edc which is similar and go from there. write the timings down as you go being careful not to overmix or overchop or overcook, whatever the case may be. err on the side of caution - you can't go back, but you can always chop/mix/cook more. take note of the timings - this will simplify and add precision to your results.

portuguese custard tarts filling

2011-03-22T01:06:00.001+11:00

200ml. fresh milk
20g. corn flour
1 pinch cinnamon
4 large egg yolk
100ml. water, extra
200g. sugar

boil the sugar and water for 2 minutes then set aside.

dissolve the corn flour in a bowl with a little cold water. bring the milk to the boil then pour over the cornflour, whisking thoroughly to mix. add the boiled sugar/water mixture and egg yolks and whisk thoroughly.

pour the custard mixture into the tart cases, almost to the top. bake the tarts in a very hot oven of 250°c. for about 15-20 minutes or until golden. sprinkle with a hint of cinnamon and serve warm

shortcrust pastry

2011-01-10T00:55:00.005+11:00

this pastry makes a beautifully short and delicate pastry ideal for tartlet cases. miss k made a pile of the pastry cases yesterday which she filled with passionfruit butter...and me? i brought a jar of passionfruit butter and a box of the pastry cases to the concert i went to at the domain. very, very yummy. the concert wasn't bad, either.

500g plain flour
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
250g butter
1 tablespoon water

preheat oven to 150ºC. lightly grease a nonstick tart tin and set aside.
place all ingredients into thermomix bowl and mix for 30-60 seconds on speed 7. pinch off small portions of dough and roll into balls about the size of a unshelled macadamia nut. use the (floured) measuring cup to press the dough flat into discs. place these discs to line each tart cavity.
bake until golden.

passionfruit butter

2011-01-06T00:19:00.002+11:00

citrus and fruit butters and curds were something i had always avoided making. i just didn't want to know about them because if they were delicious, i knew i was going to eat them, but when i bought 3 boxes of passionfruit, i knew i had to try this. because i'm me, i made a triple batch and made 3 jars. one to give away (to dear em, if you must know), one for miss k and her friends to...do you want to know? no...maybe not. and a jar as a spare. here's a tamer quantity.

pulp of 2 passionfruit
80 grams butter
100 grams sugar
2 eggs

place everything in the thermomix bowl for 8 minutes at 80 degrees on speed 3. you will have a smooth and rich mixture which will pour into sterilised jars easily.

this is wonderful in short little tart cases...or a spoon if you don't have any tart cases handy.

congee

2011-01-06T00:01:00.002+11:00

congee is a rice porridge commonly eaten for breakfast in asia, but i love it any time of the day for its comforting qualities. it is basically rice cooked in lots of water until the rice is soft; the amount of water used depends upon one's preferences and the region where one comes from. while i'm not cantonese, this is a cantonese version.

2 cloves garlic
a small knob of peeled ginger
a generous slurp of sesame oil
a generous slurp of rice bran oil
100 grams jasmine rice, rinsed
1 teaspoon salt
a splash or chinese rice wine
1750 grams water

place the ginger and garlic into the thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7.

add the sesame and ricebran oil to the thermomix bowl and saute the ginger and garlic for 3 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 2.

add the rice, salt and rice wine and saute for 3 minutes at 100 degrees on reverse speed 2.

add the water. bring to the boil at 100 degrees, reverse speed 2, and reduce the temperature to 90 degrees. cook for 25 minutes. raise the temperature to 100 degrees and allow to come to the boil. add your choice of meat and vegetables and allow to cook for a few moments before serving.

my favourite addition is chicken...i also like preserved bean curd with it...sigh...

soft bread rolls

2011-01-03T19:40:00.003+11:00

i've been making these rolls for months now and everybody loves them. they are so soft, light and fluffy...very versatile as well.

more recently, i made them on new year's eve and for breakfast for new year's day (they were THAT popular) for the wigs and miss k and her friends, who stayed over after watching the fireworks with us over the harbour. i have to say the fireworks this year were especially spectacular.

roux

120g water
25g strong bakers' flour

remaining dough

500 grams strong bakers' flour
200 grams water
2 tsp yeast
1 tbsp powdered milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
30 grams sugar
20 grams butter

place the water and flour for the roux into thermomix bowl and cook for 3 minutes at 70ºC on speed 3.

place the remaining ingredients into the thermomix bowl. mix for several seconds on speed 6 until a dough forms. it is a slightly sticky dough. with dial set to closed lid position, knead for 4 minutes on interval setting.

remove dough from thermomix bowl and throw several times onto a lightly floured surface (this will improve the texture). thwack it onto bench and consider it exercise or therapy. that said, i must admit that i have on 2 occasions forgotten this step and can't say the bread suffered too much - still delicious and eaten to the last crumb

divide the dough into 16 portions and form into rolls and arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper. allow to rest for 1 or 2 hours (time permitting) before baking for 20 minutes at 180ºC. i find the rolls are really fluffy with the longer resting time. i rest my dough in a cold oven to get it out of the way and prevent them from drying out too much.

after baking, if you prefer a soft crust, cover the rolls with a clean teatowel as they come out of the oven.

if you're feeling adventurous, you can fill the rolls prior to forming and baking - some suggestions - cheese, ham, chocolate (uhuh...chocolate), custard (make sure the custard is nice and firm; alternatively, you could pipe it in).

new year's eve 2010

2010-12-31T22:38:00.002+11:00

this year, i let karlyn invite her friends. five friends, and of the five, there was a vegetarian, a gluten intolerant, one who didn't eat pork and another who didn't eat junk food...and karlyn didn't tell me what was happening until the day before. they were all invited up to rosie's in newcastle for NYE, and karlyn just went up for 2 days because she wanted to come back to spend NYE with me. she rings to say emma, the girl who drove her up, would drive her down on the 31st and could emma come along...sure... mum, emma doesn't eat pork...that's okay.
next phone call...can alex come, too? sure... btw, mum, alex is vegetarian, you remember, don't you, mum?....that's okay.
next phone call...can rosie and claire come, too? sure, but i thought rosie was the one having the NYE party...yes, mum, but they thought they'd like to come down and see in the new year with us...okay...btw, mum, rosie doesn't eat junk food ...fine, karlyn...talk about hijacking parties...
another phone call...mum, lindsay can come now (i didn't know lindsay was at rosie's or that there was any suggestion of her at all)...that's nice....mum, you remember that lindsay is gluten free, don't you?....thanks for reminding me, karlyn, i almost forgot. (lost you yet?)
after all that, it was still fine, but i wouldn't mind just being the invitee for a change. we see the fireworks every year, so maybe missing one year might not be that bad...have to be invited first, though...

happy new year!

a stick of celery and 4 tomatoes...

2010-10-24T13:45:00.003+11:00

what does one do with 4 tomatoes and a stick of celery?

this is what i did...and it was yum.

1 stick celery, cut into chunks
4 small/medium tomatoes
1 litre water
2 tablespoons vegetable stock concentrate
300 grams ditali pasta

place the celery and tomatoes into the tm bowl and blend for 5 seconds on speed 7. add the water and concentrate. cook for 8 minutes on speed 2 at 100 degrees.

add the pasta and cook on reverse, speed 1 1/2 at 100 degrees until the pasta is al dente, usually about 10 minutes - this depends on your pasta. the pasta thickens the liquid as it cooks, making it quite hearty.

there's a lot of hype about cooking with just a few ingredients these days, and so often those ingredients are preprepared, processed or both. the only thing preprepared about this dish was the stock concentrate, and that was homemade from scratch. it was delicious, and you should have been there to smell it.

strawberry mousse...thermomixed!

2010-10-09T20:11:00.004+11:00

need i say that this is so easy? the most fiddly thing about this is sprinkling the gelatine over the water...

1 1/2 teaspoons gelatine
1/3 cup water
100 grams sugar
250 grams strawberries
300 ml cream

place the water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over the water. place the bowl over hot water to allow the gelatine to swell. stir to dissolve the gelatine and set aside.

place the sugar, strawberries and cream into the thermomix bowl and blend together on speed 8 for 15 seconds. add the gelatine mixture and mix for 5 seconds at speed 5.

pour the mixture into your favourite glasses, ramekins or bowls and refrigerate until set.

tomato and red lentil soup

2010-10-04T10:35:00.001+11:00

i have always waxed lyrical about how quick and easy making soup in the thermomix is to all and sundry...and finally came the day i had to whip something up at someone's place. i've started putting a bag of pantry items in the boot of my car now, where ever i go so i can just whip up something to eat on arrival. so i arrive at this person's place and all the fresh vegetable she has is 2 tomatoes...

my bag to the rescue. i had a can of chickpeas, so it could have been tomato and chickpea soup, but i also found the red lentils, so it was tomato and red lentil soup. endless possiblities.

the soup appears quite thin prior to blending, but thickens up beautifully once blended.

2 tomatoes
100 grams red lentils
1 litre stock (or water with stock concentrate to taste)

core the tomatoes and put them in the thermomix bowl with the lentils and blitz on speed 7 for 4 seconds.
add the stock or water and concentrate.
cook at 100 degrees celcius for 10 minutes on speed 2 with the MC on.
blend for one minute on speed 9.
cook a further minute on 100 degrees on speed 4.
check for seasoning and serve.

banana fritters

2010-08-29T10:06:00.003+10:00

i couldn't resist buying a box of bananas, but i knew i couldn't make another banana cake or five, so i needed a way to use them up deliciously. banana fritters. my fritter batter of preference is self raising flour mixed with cornflour and soda water - it's crisp and light. i use about equal parts of each flour and enough soda to make a batter similar to cream in consistency. i don't bother flouring the bananas and just dunk them in the batter and gently lower them into hot rice bran oil to deep fry. i have my oil not too hot, but hot enough to make sure the bananas bubble away - about 180 degrees celcius. i like cooking my bananas slowly for a longer length of time so they are nice and soft; you do yours the way you like to have them. if you want a sugar hit, sprinkle with castor or icing sugar!

sorrell from the garden and bread from the oven

2010-08-09T22:05:00.001+10:00

just lately, i've been eating a fair bit of sorrell, which i have growing in a trough on the balcony. it's been going for about a year now and it's nice to have something salady at hand.

the sandwich of the moment for me is prawns, mayonnaise, sorrel and continental parsley with my homemade bread rolls. i buy just a few big prawns (easier to peel) which are already cooked, spread on the mayo, shred the sorrell and parsley roughly and grind on some pepper. very easy and fresh, and a lovely gourmet treat. i never find a bought prawn sandwich as satisying because there tends to be a lack of prawn flavour.

szechuan noodles

2010-08-06T08:45:00.001+10:00

this is a favourite from ina garten, the barefoot contessa. i started making this way back in 2000 and found the sauce very versatile. it makes a generous quantity which i keep in the fridge for cold cuts and as a salad and vegetable dressing.

converted for the thermomix from the barefoot contessa cookbook

6 garlic cloves,
60 grams fresh ginger, peeled
70 grams extra virgin olive oil
100 grams sesame paste (from asian grocery stores)
100 grams smooth peanut butter
100 soy sauce
60 grams dry sherry
60 grams sherry vinegar
60 grams honey
1/2 teaspoon hot chili oil
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
500 grams spaghetti
1 red capsicum, julienned
1 yellow capsicum, julienned
4 spring onions, sliced diagonally

place the garlic and ginger in the thermomix bowl and chop on speed 9 for 10 seconds. add the vegetable oil, sesame paste, peanut butter, soy sauce, sherry, sherry vinegar, honey, chili oil, sesame oil, and ground peppers. mix for 20 seconds on speed 4.

cook the spaghetti al dente in boiling salted water. drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. whilst still warm, toss with some of the sauce. add the red and yellow capsicums and spring onions; toss well. serve warm or at room temperature. the remaining sauce may be added, as needed, to moisten the pasta.

keep any leftover sauce in the fridge for later use.

cauliflower au gratin

2010-08-05T10:38:00.003+10:00

this is one of my favourite versions of cauliflower cheese. i think it's the addition of horseradish, shallot and garlic - it makes it just that little bit exciting.

this is all perfectly do-able without a thermomix, but when i was converting it to a thermomix friendly recipe, i decided i didn't want to make this without a thermomix anymore - the thermomix makes it all too easy...such is my dependence...oh, woe is me (not really)...i'm a junkie...

1 cauliflower
2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
250 grams water
1 teaspoon stock concentrate
250 grams cream
1 to 2 tablespoons horseradish, to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)
60 grams gruyere cheese

preheat the oven to 220°C. cut the cauliflower into small florets. reserve the stems. place the florets in varoma and set aside.

place the reserved cauliflower stems, shallot, and garlic into the thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. add the butter and saute for 3 minutes at 100°C on speed 1. pour in the water and stock concentrate. set the cauliflower filled varoma on the thermomix bowl. cook on varoma temperature for 10 minutes on speed 4. most of the liquid will have evaporated.

remove the varoma and set aside.

add the cream, horseradish, salt, and pepper to the thermomix bowl, and puree the contents on speed 8 for 15 seconds.

gently coat the cauliflower florets with the cream mixture in an ovenproof terrine or casserole.

place the cheese into the cleaned thermomix bowl and grate on speed 8 for 10 seconds.

top the cauliflower with the cheese and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

pink lemonade...naturally...

2010-08-02T08:40:00.002+10:00

a few weeks ago, tenina came to sydney to promote the thermomix in sydney with cyndi o'meara. we were treated to a lovely pink lemonade as part of the healthy repertoire. essentially, it is the lemonade recipe from the thermomix everyday cookbook with a tamarillo in it.

i made mine this morning a bit differently.

100g sugar
1 lemon (i plucked mine off the tree just moments before making)
1 tamarillo
1 tray ice cubes
1000g still or sparkling water

place the sugar and quartered fruit into the thermomix bowl and blitz for 10 seconds on speed 10.

add the ice cubes and blitz for 5 seconds on speed 10.

pour into serving jug and dilute with water.

if you don't like the bits in your lemonade, pour the water into the thermomix bowl and strain before pouring the lemonade into the jug, but think of the fibre you're missing out on.

one pot rice cooker meal

2010-05-18T22:28:00.005+10:00

tonight, when miss c called, i suggested another easy meal option. this is something easy to make if you have a rice cooker.

measure the rice and water into the rice pot as usual. season some chicken or pork (or your preferred meat...or no meat at all) with salt and pepper (and whatever other seasonings you fancy - herbs...or you can use asian seasonings - sesame oil, xiao xing wine, ginger...) and place this on top of the rice. top this with some vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, peas, asian greens) and set the rice cooker to cook the rice.

there you go - an easy pot pot rice cooker meal. if you have leftovers, make a soup with the leftovers by adding some stock or water to the pot the next day. the rice will thicken the liquid, and if you want the soup to be more substantial, add an egg (or some eggs) to poach in the soup.

what to do with care package 1: southern fried chicken

2010-05-17T15:46:00.000+10:00

southern fried chicken is easy with seasoned flour.

dredge chicken with the flour and shallow fry the chicken until done. try and have the pan over a medium low heat so the coating becomes golden evenly. this will also ensure the chicken cooks through.

if you have time, soak the chicken in buttermilk for an hour before dredging to tenderise the meat.

after frying the chicken, the flour at the bottom of the pan can be used to make gravy. drain off any excess oil and add stock or milk to the pan stirring the whole time until the consistency of the gravy is to your liking. this has no nutritional value whatsoever, but my brother in law, the golden one, loves it.

by the way, if chicken fried steak takes your fancy, replace the chicken with beef schitzel steaks....

care package 1: seasoned flour

2010-05-16T09:37:00.005+10:00

miss c, having finished school, has left home and is now living in canberra. and while i miss her, i know she has to leave home at some stage. miss c never learnt how to cook before she went on her merry way, but now, a few months down the track, is bulding up a respectable repertoire, and quite a healthy one at that. to junky things up, on one trip back to canberra, i gave her a bag of my homemade seasoned flour so she could have southern fried chicken or chicken fried steak (shock horror)! i figured if she felt like something junky, it would be better homemade.

1 cup plain flour
1 cup maize cornflour
2 teaspoons seasoned salt (yes...seasoned salt)

mix this throughly and store in an airtight jar until needed.

i'll give instructions on what to do with this in my next post.

thermomix focaccia

2010-05-13T10:54:00.003+10:00

last night i made the focaccia from the thermomix everyday cookbook, and it ain't half bad. the dough has a higher proportion of water compared to the basic bread recipe, so the dough is stickier, but it makes for a lighter bread. the outside is crisp, and the inside is light and fluffy. the next day, it's chewier, but still good (i quite like some of my breads chewy).

my tip when making this dough would be to make sure the thermomix bread mat is floured before tipping the dough onto it, and a little more flour sprinkled over the dough so as to prevent it from sticking. after proving, just tip the dough onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. you'll find the dough very easy to press out to cover the baking sheet. once that's done, scatter the salt and herbs over the top and drizzle with olive oil. if you chose to bake the focaccia immediately, the bread will be denser, and to my taste, more traditional italian in texture. left for a longer prove, lighter and fluffier!

i can see this dough would make lovely, light grissini and bacon and cheese rolls not unlike those from bakers' delight.

inspiration from masterchef

2010-05-12T11:04:00.002+10:00

this season's masterchef seems to be using the sous vide technique a bit more than the last season.....george's meatloaf burger, peter gilmore's poached chicken and truffles...while the thermomix hasn't got the capacity of a commercial immersion water bath (it is a domestic machine after all), one can enjoy restaurant quality sous vide with a bit of imagination. i figured that i'm going to try george's meatloaf burger, but mine will be more like scotch eggs, and i'll make peter's chicken much the same way - they'll be chicken balls. there's a definite plus there - the chicken skin won't have to be so big because my parcels will be smaller.
i remember when i got my thermomix, i really wanted it because it could cook and stir. little did i know i was going to get so many bonus appliances.....and that i would use it so many times a day....much better to get bonuses rather than be dissappointed.

vegetable medley

2010-05-05T09:03:00.002+10:00

one of my favourite ways of cooking vegetables is to "steam" them in the pot. rather then boil them in a large pot of water, i prepare the vegetables, place them in a saucepan, add half a cup of salted water and a knob of butter. let the vegetables half poach and half steam on full boil.

to serve, add some freshly chopped herbs. use any combination of vegetables you like - i like carrots, zuchinni, squash, asparagus, beans, brocolli, cauliflower.....and a knob of butter, if you like!

morrocan carrot salad....my way....revisited....

2010-04-26T12:10:00.000+10:00

bb invited me over for dinner a few nights ago and asked me to make a few things; one was salad. after some thought, i decided to refine it - i'm not mad about the one i posted earlier. to me, it was a bit boring and i wanted something with more ooomph. so this is my new version.

the leaves of half a bunch of parsley
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 spanish onion, peeled and quartered
1 red apple, quartered and cored
1 green apple, quartered and cored
1 rib celery, cut into 5cm lengths
1 teaspoon ground corriander
1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
a few drops orange flower water
a good few sploshes of extra virgin olive oil
the juice of a lemon
3 tablespoons hommus (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons currants
toasted slivered almonds

place everything except the currants into the thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 5. add the currants and almonds and reverse stir the salad on speed 3 for 10 seconds.

thank you for anzacs

2010-04-25T06:05:00.000+10:00

i'd like to say thank you for the anzacs; without them, where would we be today?

a big, heartfelt thank you.

we will remeber them today with our favourite anzac biscuits.

almond chews

2010-04-24T16:38:00.005+10:00

miss k was needing something to take to school for her tutor group's morning tea, and i decided that i wanted to try a new recipe. if it worked, well and good, and if it didn't, it was going to be cut into little pieces and i doubt any of the girls would knock it back, so it would at least get eaten. miss k oroginally wanted to do the mini cupcake thing but got lazy, hence my opportunity to make this, if you must know....i seize opportunities as they present themselves.

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups (310g) sugar
1/4 cup (45g) brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
160g butter, softened
250g self raising flour
150g white chocolate bits
200g flaked almonds

preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.

line a 20cm x 30cm shallow baking tin with baking paper, leaving the papr hanging over the sides to assist in lifting the cooked slice out of the tin.

whisk the eggs, sugars and vanilla until thick. add the butter and beat until well combined. fold in the flour, white chocolate and 75g the almonds.

sprinkle 35g of the almonds over the base of the tin and spoon the mixture into the tin. sprinkle the remaining almonds over the top of the batter and press gently to spread the batter out evenly.

bake for 30 minutes or until golden. the slice, whilst cooked, will be soft and chewy in the centre.

allow the slice to cool in the tin. lift out of the tin and cut as desired.

hokey pokey

2010-04-12T16:02:00.002+10:00

the first time i ever had hokey pokey icecream was when i went to new zealand....north island....pokono....i think that's how it's spelt. this was quite a long time ago. a tiny little place, but famous (well, it was back when i was there) for their icecream. their icecream was the same as everyone elses', but it was the way they scooped it. they were big scoops of icecream which supported other big scoops of icecream. from memory, the double cone had 2 scoops of icecream, one in each cavity, then another scoop on top.

today, i sit here chomping on my cornetto hokey poke cone. typical cornetto size and should be greatful it doesn't contain the calories a pokono icecream cone has, but still reminiscing about the pokono icecream.......

minty things

2010-04-07T22:13:00.001+10:00

let me tell you how anal i was when i was in primary school (that was in the seventies)...remember perkin's paste (you really have to be my vintage to appreciate this)? in the magenta coloured container? the paste was all nice and smooth on top, and when i used it, i never disturbed the nice smoothness, and would just carefully use the paste next to the paddle thing so as not to mess it up.....i'm the only person i know who kept their paste like that....it was so traumatic when someone borrowed it and messed it up, and you know what? it still is. i lent my copy of bridget jones' diary to someone once and it came back so battered (it was like new - the spine didn't even have a crease....)....sad...i know....i really have to lighten up...i am much better these days.

morrocan carrot salad....my way

2010-04-04T08:40:00.002+10:00

this is the thermomix morrocan carrot salad (a taste of vegetarian, page 56), but done my way. instead of three process steps in the themomix, i've chosen to condense it to two, partly because i'm a lazy sorta girl, and partly because i like how it looks - the herbs are less pastey looking, and look like they're more part of the salad when it's done my way. naturally, if anyone is allergic to almonds or pistachios, omit them, but they add such a nice crunch to the salad.

mint
italian parsley
3 large carrots, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon ground corriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
a few drops orange flower water
30 grams extra virgin olive oil
the juice of one lemon
salt, pepper, sugar to taste
2 tablespoons currants
2 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds or pistachios

place the herbs, carrots, spices, orange flower water, oil, juice and seasonings into the thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 5. add the currants and nuts and combine on reverse speed 3 for 5 seconds.

another reason why i like my thermomix...

2010-03-29T14:05:00.003+11:00

not only is it fast, but flour doesn't fly all over the place when i use the thermomix when i make cake. this is actually a big plus for me when i make cake.

nutty pumpkin salad

2010-03-27T08:38:00.003+11:00

i love this salad. the original came from the austalian womens' weekly's great barbeque cookbook, but as with so many things, i can't leave them well enough alone.

1 kilogram pumpkin, cubed (i like jap/kent pumpkins best)
2 bacon rashers, chopped
3/4 cup pepitas
1 apple, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teasoopn ground nutmeg

microwave the pumpkin until just tender. cool.
cook bacon until crisp. drain and cool.
gently combine the pumpkin, apple, celery, mayonnaise, sour cream and nutmeg together. place in serving bowl and sprinkle the pepitas and bacon over before serving.

to thermomix or not to thermomix

2010-03-25T10:55:00.001+11:00

tomi expressed to me that all the recipes i've posted requiring the thermomix don't apply to her...well....yes and no. most of them can be made without a thermomix except for the sous vide cooking. the thermomix just makes things easy - one doesn't have to cook the stock concentrate in a saucepan, then blend it with a food processor or blender and have all the washing up to do. the same applies for making soup...then it comes into its own where sauces and risottos are concerned.

then, there was someone i met whose friend bought one. the friend said she had to use it everyday to justify having purchased it, so is always wondering what to make with it. i simply said i don't do things with that mind set - i was more of a person who thinks about what i want to make and then thinking the thermomix can do it. the thermomix has to fit in with me, and not the other way round....and so far it has.

poached chicken revisited

2010-03-23T10:23:00.005+11:00

miss c went to canberra earlier this year and off she went not knowing how to cook. i had no reservations about her going, after all, i knew she wouldn't starve - in this day and age, there are so many places to procure food - take away joints, supermarkets have preprepared meals etc...so i knew she wouldn't starve. however, whether she would be eating well would be up to her. enter the odd recipe here and there, and this is one of them. tomi drew my attention to the fact that i hadn't posted this ...and she came here just to try and find it (she must have found other things).

1 whole chicken breast
water
vegetable stock concentrate

get yourself a saucepan which your chicken breast will fit in comfortably. fill it half way with water and set it on the stove and bring the water to the boil. you should aim to have sufficient water in your saucepan to cover your chicken once you place it into the pot.

while you are waiting for the water to boil, give your piece of chicken a rinse. place a spoonful or two of stock concentrate into the water, and once the liquid boils, gently place (you don't want the liquid to splash) the chicken into the liquid and simmer gently for 5 minutes*. switch off the heat and leave the chicken in the liquid to finish cooking. once the liquid has cooled, your chicken should be cooked through and nice and moist. now you have some chicken to add to sandwiches, salads, pie fillings...and you also have a well flavoured stock with which you can make soup.

*if you have an electric stove which takes time for the element to cool, switch the power off after adding the chicken as there will be plenty of stored heat in the element - you don't want to overcook your chicken - overcooking chicken breast dries the meat out and makes it less palatable.

irony number 3974

2010-03-21T18:33:00.000+11:00

i'm overweight, but not fat enough for liposuction....

call me lazy....

2010-03-19T16:48:00.000+11:00

i find that i am always making stock concentrate whenever i can just so i have it on hand...so i made some today. not one to waste anything, i usually make a soup in the thermomix bowl after bottling the concentrate. it serves a dual purpose - the little bit of concentrate in the bowl isn't wasted, and the bowl gets a washed out with soup.

today, i changed things a little and made bread/pizza dough. it's slightly pale green, but i'm sure it's going to be flavoursome. because the dough is kneaded so well in the thermomix, the bowl is virtually cleaned of concentrate so i can clean as usual. i do it my favourite way and heat about a litre of water up in the thermomix and let it clean itself on full speed when the water is hot. nothing could be simpler.

eggs...cooked sous vide...sort of....

2010-03-17T18:48:00.002+11:00

a couple of weeks ago, wenty took me sean's kitchen to have tapas. the most delicious dish was the simplest..sort of....it was called eggs and chips. the chips were slices of parcooked potatoes fried, and the eggs were "cooked at 60 degrees celcius for an hour". i asked the waitress about it and she said the eggs were cooked very soft and formed the sauce for the chips. i ventured further to ask if the eggs had been cooked in the thermomix....she said they were cooked in a thermo something.....

well, today, i tried cooking my eggs like that, and they were the best soft boiled eggs i have ever had. the egg white was all opaque, but soft, runny soft. i then tried cooking the eggs a bit more at 70. these were also very good. i set the thermomix on for an hour and left it to go and ice some cupcakes. i think this is really the way to go if you want to do lots of reliable soft boiled eggs, and i don't think i'd mind doing them this way in future - by the time i finished mucking around doing things in the morning, the eggs would be done to my liking.

fruit and nut pretend truffles

2010-03-15T21:36:00.001+11:00

last week at jan's, we decided to go through her cupboard and use up all the scraps of dried fruit, nuts and seeds...we even used up all the honey making these.

300 grams nut and seeds (we used a combination of brazils, almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds)
150 grams dried fruit (we used cranberries, apricots and pears)
100 grams honey
extra sesame seeds to roll the truffles in

pop everything into the thermomix bowl and blitz on speed 7 until the desired consistency is acheived.

form into balls, roll in the extra sesame seeds and refrigerate until firm before serving.

chef laurent vancam's cooking tips

2010-03-10T10:42:00.004+11:00

last night, i went to chef laurent vancam's cooking class, and these were a few words of wisdom:

mayonnaise lasts 3-6 months...did you know that? i always would only keep my mayonnaise a week, max. laurent used the thermomix to make the mayonnaise, and it was really thick.

pesto should be made with half basil and half parsley - that way it stays nice and green; if it's made with just basil, it goes black.

if you whip cream in the thermomix and it starts to turn to butter, throw in an ice cube to return it to cream

when making mousse, don't whip the cream stiff, just a light whip is good - it stops the mousse from becoming grainy - mixing the cream with the egg and chocolate mixture whips the cream more and gives it a grainy texture if the cream was whipped too stiff before folding through.

the healthiest way to prepare chicken is to poach it and have it when it is just done - the worst thing to do is to overcook it. he even said that chicken could be cooked at 80 degrees in the thermomix! he said people tended to overcook chicken, which dries it out - the trick is to stop cooking once it is done.

when using herbs, use the asparagus test - if the herb stalk snaps easily, you can use it; stalks contain lots of flavour, and if the final product is pureed (eg, pesto), it will be fine.

despite what all the books and experts tell us, it isn't necessary to brown meat when cooking a casserole. chef laurent said he did a side by side taste test with his cheffy pals and they couldn't tell the difference.

whisks' chicken and sweetcorn soup

2010-02-25T21:50:00.004+11:00

since there was sweetcorn and chicken in the fridge i thought it might be nice to have some chicken and sweetcorn soup made from scratch. obvious choice, eh?

the potatoes thicken the soup nicely and whilst the soup looks and tastes nice and creamy, there isn't any cream. very comforting.

3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 cobs sweetcorn, shucked
vegetable stock concentrate to taste
1 litre water
1 double breat of chicken, cut in small cubes

place the potatoes and sweetcorn kernels in the thermomix bowl and blitz on speed 10 for 10 seconds. add the stock concentrate and water and cook the soup on speed 3 at 100 degrees for 17 minutes. add the chicken and continue cooking for another 2 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 3.

vegetable stock concentrate revisited.

2010-02-17T10:24:00.002+11:00

i feel like i've been making this by the bucketload. everyone wants it even though i give them the recipe. it's all a matter of proportions. i use a kilo of aromatic vegetables and herbs. the combination is endless. vegetables i like using are onions, garlic, celery, swedes, parsnips, leeks. the herbs i use are whatever i can get from the garden: parsley, rosemary, basil, sage, tarragon, marjoram, thyme and bay leaves. to this, i add 200 grams of sea salt and a really generous amount of oil. i whack it all into the thermomix and blitz until chopped. cook it for 20-30 minutes at 100 degrees celcius on speed 3, blitz until smooth and pour into clean containers. this keeps in the fridge for 6 months as the salt acts as a preservative (this is what i've been told, but i wouldn't know because mine gets all used up before i get to the expiry date).

it's so much better than a stock cube because you know what goes into it and there isn't any msg, but mind you, it give such a kick to the things you cook you'd think it was.

su-lynn's lime cheesecakes

2010-01-29T16:38:00.001+11:00

this is a great recipe of su-lynn's. you can make them ahead, in fact, you have to, and the are make nice, neat servings.

su-lynn's lime cheesecakes

500 grams cream cheese
1 cup castor sugar
1 cup cream
rind and juice of 1 1/2 limes
butternut cookies

place the butternut cookies at the base of the serving 12 cups.
beat the sugar and lime rind together. this releases the lime oil.
add the cream cheese and beat to combine.
add the cream and beat until smooth.
add the lime juice and beat again.
spoon into the mixture over the butternut cookies.
refrigerate for several hours. this softens the cookies.

goat milk soap with honey

2010-01-08T11:20:00.003+11:00

since i started making soap, i've been on a quest to find an easy, fail proof method way of making it. to date, my favourite way is to make room temperature cold process soap. it is cold process soap without all the temperature checking and can be done in stages. there are 2 types of room temperature cold process methods. i've tried both and like both; each has their own application. one method uses the heat of lye mixture to melt the solid oils and the other needs the solids to be melted on the stove. the one i find more reliable is the one where the solid oils are melted independantly of the lye, especially when i use something like palm kernel oil.

i've received recipe requests for this soap, and have decided to post it here for everyone.

before soaping, prepare your work surface and protect it with newspaper. wear suitable protective clothing, including goggles and rubber gloves. lye (sodium hydroxide is highly caustic and can cause damage to work surfaces, and serious burns to skin and other bodily parts).

100 grams purified water
2 tablespoons honey
132 grams sodium hydroxide (caustic soda)
280 grams goat milk
250 grams coconut oil
750 grams olive oil

get your moulds ready. you can use empty milk containers, plastic containers, lined cardboard boxes....just don't use anything aluminium or of an unknown metal. lye doesn't react well with any metal other than stainless steel.

place the water in a heatproof glass or stainless steel container. add the honey and dissolve completely. add the sodium hydroxide very slowly to the honey water and stir to dissolve. this mixture will be very hot. set aside to cool. add the goat milk (straight from the fridge is fine) to the cold lye mixture slowly.

melt the coconut oil gently in a stainless steel stockpot, remove from the heat, and add the olive oil.

when both mixtures are no longer warm, pour the lye into the oil and stir to combine. i have an old handheld mixer i use solely for soapmaking to do this. i stop the mixer every so often and use it to stir the mixture around while switched off. the mixture will thicken and once it does so, your soap is nearly ready to pour. i tend to like to pour at what they call light trace. trace is the stage where the oils and lye are combining and thickening and if you lift the beaters from the batter, it will leave a trail behind.

pour the soap into the prepared containers once you have reached trace and set aside to solidify. because this soap contains honey and goat milk, it is best to set it aside somewhere cool and not to wrap the soap to insulate. you may find the soap might generate some heat on its own and it's best not to let it overheat.

leave the soap a day or two and cut it with a sharp knife or wire, if necessary, once it has set. place your soap pieces on a rack or box lined with some paper towel and leave to cure for 4-6 weeks.

all in the soap pot

2010-01-03T22:27:00.004+11:00

having not made any soap for nearly 2 months, i got back into it a few days ago and made 2 batches. in the 2 months break, i didn't stop reading about soaping, and didn't stop getting things for soap making either.

a very nice person in victoria sent me some clay to try in the soap (supposed to give it better "slip", a creamy lather and act as a fragrance fixative) and another lovely person in queensland sent me some silk to use (to lend the soap a silky texture). in addition to the silk and clay, i had read that salt and sugar are supposed to have value in soaping as well.....so i added all 4 new things to my soap. i know i should do a batch of soap to test each variable, but i didn't know which one i wanted to try first, so threw it all in. i can't help myself.

i then fragranced them. both batches smell so nice, and if i didn't know better, i'd say they were the best fragrances i've used thus far. i swirled lilac ultramarine and a plain base for the red currant, and used green clay and a plain base for the vera wang signature frangrance. the green also had imbedding, and rather than a swirl, i just blobbed it all in. what is really nice is that both fragrances are not overpowering, but just strong enough. i'm hoping they don't morph into something unpleasant. at the moment, i really like the way they look and smell, but only time will tell whether they are good soaps. i hope they are.

creamy salmon soup

2009-12-03T20:23:00.003+11:00

whilst this isn't really soup weather, i wanted to try this soup out. it's delicious and almost a meal in itself. quick and easy, i made this in the thermomix, and as such, it would be really good for those times when i really didn't feel like cooking.

500 grams milk
200 grams cream
150 grams water (or part wine, part water)
20 grams tomato paste
1 large potato, cubed
1 tablespoon vegetable stock concentrate
200 grams fresh salmon, cut in 1 centimetre cubes
finely diced tomatoes and dill, to garnish

place the milk, cream, water, wine (if using), tomato paste, potato and stock concentrate in the thermomix bowl.
blend on speed 9 for 15 seconds.
cook for 10 minutes at 100 degrees celcius on speed 3.
add the salmon and combine for 30 seconds on reverse speed 1. there is sufficient retained heat to cook the salmon through and not over cook it.

chocolate sorbet

2009-12-02T22:23:00.001+11:00

i though i should post this since lulu asked for it especially.

100 grams sugar
50 grams glucose syrup
50 grams cocoa
80 grams water
1 small tin coconut cream
2x350 grams ice cubes
1 egg white (optional)

place the sugar, syrup, cocoa and water into the thermomix bowl and combine for 3 minutes at 50 degrees celcius on speed 3.
add coconut cream and the first lot of ice and blend for 10 seconds on speed 10.
add the remaining ice and egg white and blend for 1 minute on speed 9, using the spatula to assist the ice cubes combine with the mixture.
serve immediately.

pistachio and craisin shortbread

2009-12-02T14:17:00.004+11:00

i had this a week ago and it was delicious. this recipe comes from the thermomix festive season 2008 cookbook.

40 grams white rice
60 grams sugar
300 grams plain flour
250 grams butter
100 grams pistachio kernels
100 grams craisins (dried cranberries)
150 grams white chocolate melts

line a baking tray with baking paper.
preheat oven to 150° celcius.
place the rice and sugar into the bowl and pulverise 1 minute on speed 10. don’t be tempted to shortcut this, you need 1 minute for the texture of the shortbread.
add the flour and the butter (chopped) into the bowl, mix for 5 seconds on Speed 5.
knead the mixture for 40 seconds on interval setting.
add nuts and cranberries and with lid in closed position, pulse with the turbo button 4-5 times. this will chop the fruit and nuts a little, but that is fine.
if the mixture is crumbly, bring the dough together using reverse on speed 1 for about 30 seconds.
roll the mix into a log shape with baking paper. slice into oval shapes and lay on lined tray. place into a preheated oven and bake for approximately 20-30 minutes.
once baked allow the shortbread to sit for 10 minutes before moving.
melt white chocolate in TM bowl at 50˚ celcius for 5 minutes on speed 1.
dip one end of each cooled shortbread into the melted chocolate and place on baking paper to set.

my gluten free yummy thing

2009-11-27T08:31:00.001+11:00

originally, my intention was to make a salad, along the lines of a waldorf salad....

juice of one orange
rind of one orange
30 mls rice bran oil

blitz together on speed 10 until emulsified.

throw the following into the thermomix bowl

1 apple, cored and quartered
200 grams red seedles grapes
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pistachio nuts

and i blitzed on speed 7.....for just a bit too long (like 3 seconds) and i ended up with something that looked somewhat like bircher muesli, but gluten free.... i wondered what i was going to do...use it as a dressing for a still to be made salad? no...i ate it instead as it was, and it was very nice.......

champagne cocktails

2009-11-26T11:02:00.004+11:00

last night, salli and i went out, and the evening started with a champagne cocktail....and it was good.....

using the thermomix, pulverise 60 grams of sugar on speed 9 until the sound changes, about 7 seconds. add 500 grams of berries (strawberries or raspberries would be perfect for the upcoming christmas). place a little in each champagne flute and top up with very well chilled champagne. you can use frozen fruit if you like, this will keep the cocktail nice and cold.

so easy to drink and get drunk on.....

vanilla icecream

2009-11-25T12:19:00.002+11:00

after making 3 sorbets yesterday, i was faced with 3 egg yolks....what to do? make icecream, what else? i guess i could have made custard, but that's better when the weather is a bit cooler - it's hot now, isn't it boys and girls?? (not you guys not in sydney....i'm not talking to you....)

3 egg yolks
600 mls full cream milk
120 grams sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
a tablespoon or 2 or vanilla

pop everything into your trusty thermomix bowl and let it do its thing for 8 minutes at 80 degrees on speed 4.

pour this custard into a container which will fit into your freezer (i don't know what your freezer is like, but that's how i have to do it because mine is chockers) and freeze. you can stir it around a bit to break up the crystals. when it's frozen (i just leave mine overnight), scrape it all into the thermomix bowl and blitz on speed 10 until smooth. scrape this all out of the bowl to serve or put back in the freezer. this is seriously good.....if you like sara lee/connossieur icecream, you will like this.

pretend truffles

2009-11-15T13:59:00.001+11:00

these are pretend truffles, and purists will scoff and say worse, but i think they aren't half bad considering they have pretty healthy ingredients. again, i made these with the thermomix...it was there, and when it's there, it's easy to use.

250 grams almonds, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds.....whatever nut/seed you have on hand
75 grams sesame seeds
100 grams honey
40 grams cocoa

place everything in the thermomix bowl and blitz on speed 10 for 5-10 seconds, depending on the texture you like. form the mixture into balls, roll in coconut and refrigerate to firm up before serving.

on a hot day, all i think of is sorbet.

2009-11-14T13:36:00.004+11:00

it's quite hot in sydney today and miss c's friend hik asked if i could help with the food for her birthday party. after some thought, that sorbet might be fun thing to bring to the party. people don't usually bring iced confections along, so this can be the novelty. since i only have 2 thermoserves, that would be the limiting factor; i would be able to bring close to 5 litres of sorbet and that would have to be enough.

i decided that i would make the sorbet with what i had to save myself a trip to the supermarket unnecessarily, so i went with 3 flavours - lemon, orange and apple. i made them separately so the flavours could remain pure or mixed if desired.

i used my thermomix to make them, and it didn't take much time at all.

150 grams raw sugar
2 lemons/oranges/apples (peeled and cored)
1 egg white
700 grams ice

pulverise the citrus rinds (if using) with the sugar on speed 9 until you hear a change in the sound of the thermomix (this takes several seconds).

add the fruit, egg white and half the ice and slowly turn the speed dial up to 10 and process until there is another change in sound. use the spatula to help any ice cubes into the mixture to grind up. add the remaining cubes gradually and again use the the spatula to help any ice cubes into the mixture so they can be ground. continueon speed 10 until all the ice cubes have been ground. serve immediately or place into the thermoserve for later.

tomato and cashew dip

2009-11-01T21:05:00.002+11:00

this is a really easy dip which takes next to no time in the thermomix. this is one of a medley of dips i have been making; they make a really good snack without too much effort.

1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic
a good slurp of olive oil (or the oil from the sundried tomatoes
1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
50 grams sundried tomatoes
2 medium tomatoes, quartered
pepper to taste

place the onion and garlic into the thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 6.
add the oil and cook for 3 minutes at varoma temperature on speed 1.
add the nuts, tomatoes and pepper and blitz for 20 seconds on speed 6.
cook for 5 minute at 80 degrees celcius on speed 4.

this thickens as it cools and spreads nicely on a nice sturdy slice of bread. this recipe makes enough to fill 2 dip bowls, so i usually pop one in the fridge or pass it onto my neighbour or the next person who comes over.

what's in a name?

2009-10-19T09:07:00.002+11:00

just recently, a friend from highschool found me on facebook. jj is a psychologist and as far as i know, i know four psychologists. of those four, three of them have sons named jack, or variations of jack. the other psychologist i know who hasn't got a son called jack hasn't got any children.

jj reckons it's a coincidence. i know four psychologists....how many psychologists do you know, and do they have sons called jack?

whisks' housekeeping tip #89365

2009-10-15T12:01:00.004+11:00

with christmas fast approaching, take advantage of all the help you can get - be like snow white and let your little friends help you. if spiders decide to leave their signature webs on your window sills, use them to decorate your windows for christmas and sprinkle with a little white pretend snow - it will stick, and when you finally decide to clean your windows, the stuff will wipe off effortlessly.

you probably wonder how i come upon my little nuggets of wisdom, well, you only have to thank my very gorgeous friend, lulu, who hails from down near geelong. last night, i sent her an urgent message to go and quickly watch something on telly, which was important to her, and she missed my message...why??? because she was cleaning her windows because guests were coming for dinner. next time, she should tell them she is getting ready for christmas.

for those of you in the northern hemisphere who don't know what i'm yabbering about, i live in sydney, as if you need reminding, and as such, we don't have snow, and our christmas is usually swelteringly hot or unpredictable, but never snow....

he's so smart

2009-10-14T08:19:00.003+11:00

i mentioned in an earlier post that salli's son harry is developmentally delayed. i don't know what his mental age is, but he never ceases to amaze me with how clever he really is. several weeks ago, when i went over to visit, sal was carrying on about how harry came home from care with someone else's cardigan - i don't know whose daggy cardigan he's come home with, but it isn't his. he must've been cold, so he just found something to put on. after a split second of thought, i simply told sal that he's a lot smarter than a lot of other people who are supposedly not mentally challenged. i can think of lots of people who may feel the cold yet refuse to put something on. so who's smater? i know miss k refuses to carry more clothes than what she might think she needs and come home with chills.
yesterday when salli and i were on out way to woollahra, her phone rang. it was the man who sold trampolines. salli has a trampoline for harry - one of those old fashioned rectangle ones which doesn't have a barrier around them to stop anyone from falling off the trampoline; she trying to find a replacement something or other for harry's trampoline and do you think she can find one? not on your life because these days, there are no rectangular trampolines to be found. this sent salli off on a tirade of how sick she was of how children these days are so wrapped in cotton wool because they are so protected, which is very true. harry, who is developmentally delayed...did i tell you that?..... has had a trampoline since he's been 5 (he's 22 now, i think) and has only ever fallen off it once; he fell off once and was smart enough to know not to fall off it again. it's really uplifting knowing harry and knowing he's so smart....but worrying that there are some others out there who aren't.

prudence

2009-10-10T08:11:00.003+11:00

just lately, i've had a few blasts from the past, and after reading through my post on singing at the top of my lungs with anonymity, i suddenly remembered a girl i went to school with....prudence. a couple of years ago, i was minding my own business, doing my grocery shop at woollies, when i heard someone singing....opera style; it wasn't exactly opera, but that la la la style associated with opera. when i walk over to the deli section, isaw who it was...it was someone i knew.... i realised that it was prudence. not straight away, it had been some 20 years since i last saw her. now you have to give prudence credit - she was singing, in public, and in a recognisable mode. i couldn't do that....i'm too self conscience...besides, i wouldn't want everyone to think i was some mad woman....

moral support

2009-10-09T07:41:00.001+11:00

james bond gives me moral support...well, his theme does. having only discovered the joys of snowploughing late in life, i have utilised little devices to help me along. one is singing the james bond theme as i slide down a slope. it distracts me enough to not think about going downhill and lets me relax a bit so i go with the flow; if things get a bit hairy, i sing a bit louder. the beauty of going to the snow and singing at the top of my lungs in a public place is that with all the gear on, no one recognises me or knows who i am. the snow's good like that - i can look as dishevelled as i like and not have to worry about it - it is so liberating. i can look like a slob and sing at the top of my lungs; where else can anyone do something like that?

snowploughing

2009-10-08T07:31:00.002+11:00

i had to fill in a form the other day which required me to list my interests/activities. i listed the usual, and added skiing. since i only came to skiing realtively late in life, i claim no proficiency in it and thought it perhaps presumptuous on my part to say skiing was one of my interests, since i couldn't really ski. then i realised i should say that i snowploughed - far more accurate.

something worthwhile

2009-10-04T18:08:00.005+11:00

last night while we were watching television, i noticed miss k's zit situation had improved and i told her so.
it's because i'm using your soap.
really?
yes.
i suggested that miss k tried my soap on her face because i was using it and noticed my face wasn't tight after using it like with regular soap. i never liked using soap on my face because of this tight feeling, but i do use the soap i make myself because i like how it feels. while making soap involves dangerous procedures, is messy and requires patience, i think it has been worthwhile; anything which helps one's child to clear up a teenage hiccup has to be worthwhile.

a new beginning

2009-10-03T11:18:00.002+10:00

miss c had her valedictory dinner on wednesday night and it was lovely to see all the girls in her year looking all grown up and beautiful. parents and teachers caught up with each other and i even gave miss c's biology teacher a chemistry lesson. i explained soap making for him. as a scientist, it's interesting that he knew the theory, but not the practical. i guess there's so much in the science course they have to absorb when studying that not all experiments can be given justice.
there were the usual speeches and the head girl from 2004 came along to give her speech. her speech, for me, was memorable. there were 10 points she went through with the girls. i will mention a few.
never wear uncomfortable shoes; if they are uncomfortable at the shop, be assured that they will hurt even more when you wear them where you are going. i would have added that you can't take them off if they hurt - once they come off, your feet will hurt even more and you will never get the shoes back on. keeping the shoes on just keeps the feet numb; once the blood rushes back to them is when you will regret it. i speak from experience.
travel. i never understood fully the importance of travelling when i was younger, but really appreciate it now. travel give you an opportunity to broaden your mind. it doesn't matter where you go - it can be within your own city, state or country - you will see something different and get a new perspective on things. our lives, for the most part are comfortable and it's good to see how other people live.
listen to what your mother says. that goes without saying. i have to say i'm lucky in that miss c and i can discuss things, but mostly because i very rarely advise miss c, it counts for something when i do...i hope....
don't fear a broken heart. don't stay with someone who doesn't appeciate how wonderful you are. as a parent, that to me was such a wise thing to say to teenage girls who are just starting out into adulthood.

ulterior motives

2009-09-26T21:34:00.003+10:00

miss k asked me about new year's eve tonight. she/we like to plan early. she had ulterior motives. she wanted to know if we would do new year's eve this year in lavender bay...and who we would have join us. i figured i'd let miss c and miss k decide on who they wanted to join us. no doubt, their core group of friends would be there - ohno, beanstalk, tomi......can osh kosh come?....aha - ulterior motive uncovered within seconds. yes, yes...you can ask him, but will he be in sydney then? yes, he's not going away. okay. i suspect miss k has probably already mentioned this to osh kosh.....and she's probably already asked him....
i actually thought i might let their friends stay a couple of nights this time. the last time, they just stayed overnight, but i think they'd have lots to do if they stayed a few days. they'd be able to go on walks around the harbour, and if beanstalk brought a boat, he could use the jetty, and that would be fun for them. another thing i just realised - they're going to be able to toast in the new year with champagne this year - how about that?
so...you already know miss k's motives...what about mine? i have a whole pile of things i want to cook...what else? what could be better than a group of teenagers to do some serious eating?

mint

2009-09-25T21:13:00.001+10:00

at last i have a mint plant, and it's growing really well. my mint in the past never seemed to do that well. i put it down to planting it in the wrong place. i remember being told to plant it under a leaky tap, but that didn't work. i have it under a tap again this time, but in a bucket, and the soil is saturated. it's sitting in an artificial bog, of sorts. it's right next to the house against a hot wall (my backyard is north facing) and gets full sun. i guess it's still a bit premature yet, but i'm going to have to have a look around and see if i can find myself some great recipes which use mint.....

now that i have the mint going, i'm going to have to work on getting some waterdress going - after all, i have a pretend bog going.

internet chicken

2009-09-24T13:36:00.001+10:00

this is one of the first dishes i cooked from the internet. it was a novelty for me. i wasn't a can of this and that cook....i cooked things from scratch....i made cake from distinguishable ingredients....this was a first for me. mind you, i have never been able to leave well enough alone with recipes and like to add my own touch, so this is now a bit different to the original which had chipped beef in it. no quantities - i just roll with what i have at the time. simple as.

chicken
bacon
mushrooms
1 carton sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup

lay the chicken in casserole dish and strew the sliced mushrooms and bacon over the chicken. combine the sour cream and soup together and pour over everything in the dish. bake at 180 degrees celcius for 45 minutes to an hour. serve with noodles or rice.

homemade granola

2009-09-23T09:15:00.001+10:00

a couple of years ago, miss c went camping with a group of friends and they had to rough it (read: bring their own food and cook it). by chance, i made a batch of this truly delicious concoction and insisted that she bring a couple of snaplock bags of it along. she wasn't keen to bring it, not because it wasn't yum, but because she felt it might have defeated the purpose of the camp, but brought 2 packets along.
on her return to civilisation, she expressed her regret. everyone wanted some of her precious snack, and not only that, they wanted the recipe!!!!
take this recipe as a base and add to and subtract, so you can customise it to your own liking - i like adding my fruits and nuts to the granola just before serving so i can vary it to what i'm feeling like having on the day. if you like your nuts toasted, add them while the granola is being toasted.
no need to say, this also makes a fine snack and a good trail mix substitute.

4 cups rolled oats
2 cups shredded or dessicated coconut
2 cups sliced almonds
3/4 cup light olive oil
1/2 cup honey
6 cups of your favourite dried fruits and nuts - i like cherries, cranberries (craisins), apricots, pears, cashews, pepitas, raw almonds

preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl.
whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl and pour over the oat mixture and mix it around with a wooden spoon until well combined and all the oats and nuts are coated. pour onto the baking sheet and spread evenly and lightly - you don't want the clumps of granola to be dense because they'll be rock hard after baking. *
bake, stirring every now and then, until the mixture becomes golden and toasty, about 45 minutes. make sure your granola dries completely because any dampness will cause it to go stale quickly.
remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. if you wish, add your dried fruits and nuts of choice at this stage and combine well.
store the cooled granola in an airtight container.

*these days, i use my thermomix to do a lot of the work; i melt the honey and oil together in the thermomix and toss the oats, coconut and almonds into the bowl and let the machine do all the stirring before tipping everything out onto the baking sheets for baking.

getting better with age

2009-09-22T12:34:00.001+10:00

while i was up at the mountains, wenty and i watched food dvds after everyone had retired for the evening, and one of them was about preserved lemons and cumquats. the lemons and cumquats were salted like how we are told to do in those middle eastern recipes, but the person was saying that you keep them as long as you can (like decades) and they will darken and become very mellow. to illustrate her case in point, she had jars of cumquats of different ages - 1 year, 2 years, 10 years and 50 years (her grandmother pickled that one). she illustrated by taking one cumquat out of each jar, except the 50 year old one, and showed how each one was different and how much nicer the 10 year old one was compared to the 1 year old one.....so (have i lost you yet?)...i've started pickling my cumquats. i want to do the lemons too, but have to wait until i can get some home grown ones.
the 50 year old pickled cumquat, she says is so mellow and mature that not only the flesh melts, the seeds become indistinct, too....my cumquat pickle is less than a day old.....
what was funny about all of this was what wenty told me. after his grandmother died, he had to clean her apartment and her fridge.....there was a jar of something dark which looked like it was lemon slices in a past life. he threw it in the bin, naturally, as one does, but little did he know he was throwing away what could well have been part of his inheritance.

murky pinkness

2009-09-21T09:00:00.001+10:00

salli is a really good friend and i like to drop by her place every so often. it's actually more i drop by if i've been baking madly, and think she'd like something baked, or if harry would like some. harry's salli's son. he had a bad reaction to an injection when he was six months or so and is now developmentally delayed. i like to make harry the occasional treat. i'd spoil him more often, but salli does a good job as a mother and spoils him adequately. as she does her two daughters. she's a great mother.

when i see salli (or anyone else), i like giving them something, if i can. since my latest thing is soap, i gave her a piece of soap. the piece i gave her was from my second batch. my second batch of soap had the usual olive oil, coconut oil and goat's milk. my intention was to add some lavender oil to it, but it turned a caramel colour, so i put pomegranate oil in it. i also thought it would be good to sprinkle in some paprika to give it some warmth (that's what i'm told - paprika is warming, good for winter, i guess). salli's wonderful. she receives my soap with good grace and uses it straight away and declares her hands feel good. awww....

a few days later, i drop by with a tray of cupcakes and while she's happy to see the cupcakes, she raves about the soap and tells me she brought it into work to show her colleagues. bless her. salli took that opportunity and told me that she was partial to rose scented soap. that was a hint...a suggestion for the next time i made soap. i've already made three batches of soap, and had been thinking that i might just stick to unscented and uncoloured soap, but how could i refuse salli's request? i also figured that if i coloured it pink, i could send it to a friend who loves pink. my soap isn't pure white because i use olive oil, so the pink wasn't a really pure pink...it's murky looking; i guess it adds to its natural look. i hope it improves with age.

pretzels

2009-09-20T15:53:00.001+10:00

i was wondering if you have ever had pretzels? i love them, but find them quite pricey.....so i have made them.....next time you make some regular white bread, steal a little bit of dough to try it out. roll the bit you've taken out into a long sausage and twist it into a pretzel shape. get some hot water and dissolve some bicarb in it and dip the pretzel in the hot water, lift it out and put it on a tray lined with baking paper. sprinkle it with some salt flakes and bake until done/golden. voila! a pretzel. you can sprinkle them with sesame or poppy seeds, and if you like, they can be sprinkled with cheese, or left plain. if you want to have them sweet, they can be coated in sliced almonds or streusel and served with a dipping sauce (caramel sauce is really good).

soap couture

2009-09-18T18:18:00.002+10:00

all the bits and pieces i was able to read about soap making emphasised that all care had to be exercised when making soap. lye was a dangerous chemical and would burn on contact. rubber gloves, goggles, long sleeves and pants were highly recommended. i took this further and ensured i wore something i wouldn't worry about if ruined.

i wore my goggles and made sure i had my gloves on as i poured the lye in. having been prewarned that this action could be dangerous, i did what i was told and exercised all care. there wasn't any bubbling or any toil and trouble. in fact, it was very dull, much like pouring a cup of salt into a pot of water really, but i don't think i would never be blaise about pouring lye into a pot of anything - it does get really, really hot, and there are no reasons to take unnecessary risks. gloves and goggles are always on.

anyway, i've got all this gear one, even after i've cut the soap and all.....then the doorbell rings....sigh.....of course the doorbell rings; i'm dressed like a slob. i look like i'm a mad scientist...of course the doorbell rings.

chemical reactions

2009-09-17T11:43:00.004+10:00

golden one's dad is a plastic surgeon with beautiful skin. as such, i have always told blutsie to pay close attention if he should so much as reveal his beauty secrets (oh, lol, a man with beauty secrets). miss c had already found out that he used neutrogena moisturiser with spf 15....then more recently, blutsie found out that her father in law used goat's milk soap. he bought her a few bars of it and told her that it was very good and that she should use it.

now, i have possessed a desire to make soap for a very long time, and thought that this would provide the opportunity i have been waiting for. i looked at several recipes for soap and found that even though they expressedly tell you to weigh everything carefully because soapmaking was a very exact science, i found none of them to have an identical recipe....can't be that exacting then, i thought.

because i'm me, i thought i could easily replace the water needed with goat's milk and honey, after all, measurements looked approximate when comparing soap making recipes. measuring was not the issue here. it was the goat's milk and honey. i had to add sodium hydroxide to the liquid, and i did. i knew there would be a chemical reaction which would make the liquid very hot. what i didn't know was that it would be so hot that the sugars in the honey and goat's milk would burn. then there was the fat in the goat's milk i didn't consider. this fat would start the saponification process. but that didn't stop me....i persevered. i carried on as if there was nothing wrong. i heated the coconut and olive oils (i used extra virgin olive oil, no less - that was all i had) as instructed and combined the two liquids together. once the lye and fats have been combined, the mixture has to be stirred until "trace" is achieved. this is a state where the lye and fats have combined sufficiently for saponification to occur and develop the mixture into soap. the favoured method of mixing is to use a stick blender; this speeds thing up - mixing by hand using a spoon/stick would take anywhere in the vicinity of an hour or more, especially if olive oil is used; a stick blender would help the mix achieve trace within minutes. i used an old (i think about 40-50 years old) sunbeam mixmaster. my mixture achieved trace soon enough after mixing, but me being me thought that it would be better to keep beating. big mistake. the mixture separated. %##&*$!^%*%$..... i felt the bowl....ahhh....maybe it's not hot enough....so i stuck it into the microwave and beat it some more.....hmmmm..... heat it again......beat it again.....and keep beating. finally, i get this mixture that looks like thick, gluggy custard, but a caramel colour. oooh...better pour it into the moulds...now.....

i notice the soap is solid really quickly which wasn't what i expected. i thought i'd have to wait until the next day, but since it was so obliging, i went with it.....no problems there.....i'm impatient, and if the soap wants to set quickly, i'm good with that.

when i think it's solid enough (and this was only an hour or so after pouring it into the mould), i unmould it....and i cut it. soap is the loveliest thing to cut. it's so smooth and firm and the knife just glides through. nothing as smooth to cut.

i lay out all the bars of soap. it's rustic looking, and it looks like fudge. and it has a distinctive smell which i can't put my finger on. it's probably the mixture of olive oil and honey.

i've used it since, and it is lovely. i don't think i could go back to using regular bought soap anymore; there's no comparison.

spinach and salmon roulade

2009-09-16T10:39:00.002+10:00

a long, long time ago, there was a wonderful little cheese shop in eastwood. i forget the name...could it have been granny smith's? the granny smith who grew the apples called granny smith used to live in eastwood, did you know that? this little cheese shop also served very nice light meals. one memorable item on the menu was a spinach and salmon roulade. we'd go along and be faced with the difficult decision of what to choose for lunch. they also made a sublime pumpkin soup....then there were the sweet things.....but i digress. this spinach and salmon roulade was something i thought i would like to add to my repertoire. it looked nice, had to have some sort of keeping property and was pretty tasty.

i don't know about everyone else, but i used to like having collections of things, and cookbooks became something i liked collecting. so when the australian women's weekly started its home library of cookbooks, i collected those. and wasn't that a good thing? because if i hadn't, i wouldn't have found this recipe; it's from the barbeque cookbook.

60 grams butter
1/3 cup plain flour
1 cup milk
4 eggs, separated

filling
2 x 220 gram cans red salmon, drained
4 shallots
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped chives

place frozen spinach in pan, cook over moderate heat until all liquid has evaporated. melt butter in separate pan, add flour, stir 1 minute. add milk gradually, stir until mixture boils and thickens.
quickly stir in egg yolks and spinach, transfer mixture to a large bowl. beat egg whites until soft peaks form, fold lightly into spinach mixture. pour mixture into a swiss roll tin lined with baking paper. bake in a hot oven for 12-15 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. remove from oven, turn onto wire rack covered with tea towel. carefully remove lining paper, spread evenly with filling. holding tea towel with both hands, gently roll roulade.

filling
combine salmon, shallots, mayonnaise and chives, mix well.

i use fresh salmon, which i poach lightly, instead of canned and fresh spinach instead of frozen. that's just me. if you do, you'll have to check for seasoning. the other thing i do differently is to season it with freshly ground pepper.
i use the thermomix to cook the spinach and chop it, then continue on to make the white sauce in the thermomix; i just throw the butter, flour and milk into the bowl and let it do its thing while i prepare the filling.

pasta

2009-09-14T14:09:00.001+10:00

i went and got my pasta machine out of storage a couple of weeks ago because i thought it was about time to give it a whirl. it's over thirty years old and never seems to get much of a work out. i believe it was originally bought to make noodles, but my mother has never been much of a cook, it got used maybe once? she passed it onto her sister, but i don't think much happened there either. i thought that now i had the thermomix, there was really no excuse to at least try it out. the thermomix did a beautiful job of mixing the dough, and i believe cranking the dough through the rollers of the pasta machine several times.made the texture of the fettucine we made exceptional. i used continental sharps flour - i remember yuyah's mother saying she liked using a coarser flour for making fresh pasta and who better than an italian lady to advise on such a matter?

allow 100 grams of flour per person.

400 grams continental sharps flour
4 eggs
a splash of olive oil
a little water, if necessary

mix the flour, eggs and oil together until combined. if you are unable to press bits of the mixture to form a dough, just add a little water. knead the dough until smooth. cover it and set aside so it can rest. if you use the thermomix, knead the dough for 3 or 4 minutes on interval speed.
once rested, take off a handful of the dough and put it through the machine, rolling and folding it on the thickest setting until it becomes very smooth and strong. once you're happy with it, roll it thinner progressively and use it as you wish.

another awkward silence

2009-09-13T07:50:00.001+10:00

i was just reading about how to make labneh cheese and it reminded me of a lunch i went to at mingay and paul's place. i got a call from wenty saying that he was going to the markets with mingay and paul to buy lobster for lunch and if i wanted to join them.

can i bring a friend?

of course you can.

i rang salli.

salli had never met mingay and paul before, and for some strange reason, i told salli about mingay's yoghurt. the first time i encountered this yoghurt was on a hot summer's day. mingay excitedly showed me the yoghurt saying that they made their own yoghurt and had it for breakfast everyday with fruit. it smelt.....ummmm.....not very nice.....not a pleasant sour smell, but a vomitty smell (sorry....that's what it smelt like). then, not only that....it had fruit flies flying inside the jug; the jug was loosely covered with cling film that had seen better days. wenty, always blunt and rude said simply that he was surprised that mingay hadn't killed paul with food poisoning.

and so onto the lunch we go. they bought ten lobsters so we could have two each (they weren't big); one we had cold and one we had with mornay sauce. we had a fig and soft cheese starter, the lobsters and salad to finish off. when mingay brought out the salad, we eagerly looked into the bowl and he told us happily about what was in it. homegrown radishes, herbs, olives...a little of this and that. then he tells us about the dressing. a bit of oil, vinegar, seasonings and......his homemade yoghurt. dead silence.....then wenty breaks it by saying "and why is it suddenly so quiet after you say you put in your yoghurt?"

i can laugh about it now, but eating mingay's food is a bit like playing russian roulette.

ambrosia

2009-09-12T18:36:00.001+10:00

ambrosia is food of the gods or the heavens, depending on which definition you find.
in the food world, it's the name they give to a fancy fruit salad normally made with canned pineapple and canned mandains with sour cream and marshmallows. sometimes it's sprinkled with marachino cherries and or shredded coconut.
mine's a bit different. i like to put all the different fresh fruits i can lay my hands on in mine.

this is a list of fruits i'd put in:
apple
pear
banana
orange
lychees
grapes
peach
nectarine
pineapple
apricots
blueberries
strawberries
plums
cherries
mango
watermelon
rockmelon
and whatever other fruits you can think of.
sour cream
marshmallows

wash and prepare the fruit and cut into pieces. spoon over the sour cream and add the marshmallows. mix very lightly so as not to bruise the fruit.
chill in the refrigerator until required.

brioche

2009-09-11T10:57:00.000+10:00

while i'm waiting for my sourdough starter to mature, i thought i'd make brioche. and i'm glad i did. the dough was easy to use, silky smooth and nice and elastic. i use my thermomix to help with the kneading and only very roughly followed the recipe. i think it must be very forgiving.

3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 sachet yeast
1 teaspoon salt
100 grams butter
650 grams strong baker's flour
1 egg

warm the milk and add the rest of the ingredients. mix everything around and once it has combined, knead the dough until it becomes elastic and is no longer sticky.
shape as desired and bake for 30 minutes at 200 degress celcius.

this dough os also good for making smaller rolls, such as clover leaf rolls, and to be really indulgent, could be made into rhum babas with the simple addition of rum syrup! absolute yumness.

something wild

2009-09-10T23:49:00.002+10:00

my lovely friend julie is an inspiration and has inspired me to explore the world of wild yeast. julie shared a great recipe with me for a seeded bread, and i caught the bread making bug. while i'm enjoying her seeded bread, i wondered if i could take things a bit further and make my own sourdough. not content to just buy a bread mix for sourdough bread, i've decided to make a sourdough bread from scratch and make my own starter. this involves "capturing" the wild yeasts in the air .....
after a bit of reading, i decided to go with the simplest method which was to combine a cup of water with a cup of flour. technically, filtered water should be used, but i just used regular tap water. because i bought a 12.5 kilo bag of strong baker's flour, i went with that. other types of flour can be used such as spelt or rye. the mix is covered with a fine muslin cloth to allow the wild yeasts in and keep larger particles out. i admit that this went against the grain for me, but i'm going to go with it. it isn't as if i was making a mouldy cheese, and the bread will be cooked before eating.
so far, i'm onto day three, and have fed the starter twice. so that i don't end up with masses of starter, i've only fed the starter with quarter cups of flour and water, and yes....i am seeing some action. yesterday saw some bubbles and today, more bubbles. it isn't smelling off, so i hope things go well. from what i understand, i'm going to have to wait a week before i can use it....stay tuned.

anniversary

2009-09-09T22:31:00.004+10:00

today is blutsie and golden one's ninth anniversary.....yes....their ninth anniversary is on the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth year.....and what do they have to show for this time together? four boys....wiggy, sly, engine and ack dack. i'm baby sitting tonight so blutsie and golden one can go out. naturally, engine's was the one still up - he was put on this earth to make my life interesting...and he does...he does....

awkward silences

2009-09-08T10:32:00.003+10:00

wenty first started driving me around when i was in my first year at university. i had seen him before when i had been to his parent's holiday place in narrabeen, but had never acknowledged each other, until one day, my mother came home and told me wenty was going to drive me to uni. i was horrified. and mortified. it was awful.
the morning came around, soon enough; i got into the car and probably said hello and that it wasn't necessary to drive me. i remember him saying it wasn't any trouble...and that was it...silence.....for the rest of the trip..... to give you an idea of how long the silence was - it took a good hour to get to uni, that's how long our silence was. i was so shy, and i didn't know what to say or do, never mind wenty not having anything to say either.
i got out of the car, thanked him, slammed the car door and thought that that was that. no such luck.
somehow or rather, wenty was back the following week. the same thing happened. we were totally silent. i don't know how long this went on for, but somehow we got through it and ended up had lots to talk about. eventually, wenty drove me to and from uni every day we had in common.

amnesia

2009-09-07T22:24:00.003+10:00

people always ask wenty and me about our history together...always. i don't know how mingay and paul got together, but they know all about us. it was on one such delving occasion that i realised that i had an amenesia moment with wenty.
one of the first times we went to dinner together was to the double bay steak house in st leonards. wenty and i barely knew each other at the time, and i was terribly shy. because the place we were going to was called the double bay steak house, wenty automatically assumed that it was in double bay and suggested that we could go to the french riviera for ice cream after dinner. alas, it was in st leonards, but he had already committed himself to ice cream, as he kept his word on that count.
but i'm going off on a tangent....back to the amenesia. apparently there was some dancing involved with the dinner. while i remember a lot of what happened between the two of us back then, i didn't remember the dancing. wenty was telling our eager audience about how we were on the dance floor and he was spinning me around and then suddenly realised that everyone else was dancing much more slowly. that, he said was the one thing that has stuck in his mind after all these years. i don't remember it; i put it down to being so traumatised that i had temporary amnesia. yes, it was traumatic for me. wenty has traumatised me no end.

pumpkin soup

2009-09-06T22:08:00.001+10:00

as we were driving up to the mountains last week, wenty was telling me about how he made pumpkin soup every now and again, based on MY instructions. i asked what he meant, considering that i hadn't i hadn't made pumpkin soup for a very long time.
"you always told me to place everything into the pot in layers"
"i did?"
"you did. onion and garlic sauteed in oil, then topped with peeled and cubed pumpkin. then put the lid on and allow the pumpkin to steam over the sauteed onions and garlic until very soft before adding stock and blending. it gives the soup a depth of flavour."
that was probably over a decade ago. fancy wenty remembering after all these years. and he always tells me i have a good memory....i guess between the two of us, we can piece together our memories and missing pieces.

blue mountains

2009-09-05T22:59:00.003+10:00

i've just returned from a fews days away in the mountains. wenty rented his sister's holiday place in wentworth falls for jurgen's 80th birthday. the first night, there was just the six of us - jurgen, mingay, paul, tina (jurgen's neighbour), wenty and myself. the following day, alan and ross arrived and we went to dinner at lillianfels. it was one of the nicest dinners i have ever been to, not that the food was fantastic or anything, but because i had such a nice time with wenty. it was the first time i have realised that wenty has always spoilt me so much...and he's been spoiling me from the moment we met 30 years ago...fancy that.....
the following day, we sent five of them sightseeing and mingay, wenty and i hung around for most of the morning in the house, chatting and it was really pleasant....i have to admit that i was amazed at how pleasant it was; normally, the three of us fight, and if mingay isn't in the picture, wenty and i fight....we always fight, and always have done soon after we met, so if you do the maths, we have been fighting a mighty long time. anyway, in the late morning, wenty and i left mingay to the house and went into katoomba and checked out the shops along the main street. i think wenty must have got in touch with his feminine side or something because not once did he complain as i looked through all the shops...omg...this is sappy.....all i can say is that it's taken me three decades to realise that apart from our constant bickering, he's looked after me all the time; best not to let him know though - he's not the sentimental type.

cyber friends

2009-08-23T20:21:00.000+10:00

i've been using the internet for years, but it was only recently that i've become better acquainted with other cybernauts.
miss c and miss k have had cyber friends for years now and miss c actually arranged to meet some a few years ago. i went with her to ensure her safety, naturally. we met in the city and of all things, one girl actually lived a few streets away from us. miss c sees her occasionally and they have been quite friendly over the years.
miss k has wanted to meet her cyber friend in person as well, but has not, to date. they did try to arrange something, but her friend's mother exclaimed, "what if she's a dirty old man?". she's a sensible woman. i wouldn't be any different. this girl lives in a different part of sydney to us. if miss k and this girl ever cross paths, it will interesting for them.
me? much as i love the internet, i hadn't made any friends until now. just a couple. we email back and forth, and they're interesting people to chat to. i try to chat in the same style as i talk because when and if i ever meet them, i'd like to think that they would recognise me. my friend, poppelle, thinks i type just like i talk, and i think that's important - i don't want to sound like someone i'm not.

gula melaka

2009-08-22T08:01:00.004+10:00

this has been one of the best desserts i have ever unwittingly made. following on from the sago dessert i had in kowloon, i found this to be really versatile. how do i know this? i made it to take down to tze's place in bulli, and it was hugely popular, and not only that, it was allergy people friendly. richard's a coeliac, and christopher is allergic to dairy, peanuts and eggs (could be more, but i don't remember)....so everyone could eat it. it's super easy too.

4 litres water
1 cup sago

150 grams palm sugar, chopped
150 grams coconut sugar, chopped
1/2 cup water

200 ml coconut cream, to serve

bring the water to a rapid boil. while stirring the boiling water, slowly sprinkle the cup of sago into the water. make sure none of the sago sticks to the bottom of the pan by stirring. once you have poured in all of sago continue stirring and let it boil for 1 minute. turn off the heat and put the lid on and let it sit for 5 minutes. stir the sago and turn the heat back on full for 1 more minute then turn the heat off and let it sit until the pearls are translucent, about 10 minutes. don't worry if you have a few pearls that are still white in the middle. pour the sago into a sieve and rinse under runnng water until the pearls have cooled. scoop into either moulds or little ramekins. cover and set in the fridge.

to make the gula melaka, place the sugars and water in a small pot over a medium flame and stir until dissolved. bring to the boil and set aside to cool.

when ready to serve, unmould the sago, if necessary, and pour over the syrup and coconut cream to one's liking.

sago is usually best served within several hours of making.