my gluten free yummy thing

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

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

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

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.

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

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.