Yellow Prawn Curry over Rice Noodles

Time for a new blog post!!!  After our time in America, then having a baby girl (now 7 weeks old), I'm finally getting back into it!  And, of course back into doing in home demonstrations as a Consultant.

This is a recipe that came about because of a favourite dish at a Thai restaurant where we lived in California.  I'm not sure that it's even authentic in any way (I found a lot of Thai restaurants seemed to have slightly different versions of the Thai that we have in Australia typically), but I do think it is very tasty!!  Obviously, a yellow curry would usually use yellow chillies but I have not found them here.  So it's basically a green curry with other non-Thai-ish spices added!  And I think it's nice served with the rice noodles as a change from rice.  Here it is, I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

1 packet of Rice Noodles (whichever size)
1 lemongrass stalk cut into pieces
3 cloves garlic
2 spring onions
3 Kaffir lime leaves
2 yellow or green chillies, deseeded (or not if you want very spicy)
400g Can Coconut Milk
10g Olive Oil
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp rapadura or sugar
150g broccoli florets
150g mixed veg (e.g., zucchini, peas, capsicum)
400g prawns (I usually just have frozen ones in freezer, so have based cooking time on that)


Method:

Prepare boiling water for rice noodles, and add as many rice noodles as your family will eat.

1.  Chop lemongrass, garlic, spring onions, Kaffir lime leaves, and chillies 6 seconds, Speed 6.

2.  Add a dash of oil, sauté 3 mins, 100C, Speed Soft.

3.  Add 100g Coconut milk, cumin, coriander, turmeric and rapadura, Cook 2 mins, 100C, Speed 1.

4.  Add rest of coconut milk, blend 1 min, Speed 9.

5.  Add veg, broccoli and prawns, cook 7-8 mins, 100C, Reverse + Speed Soft.

6.  Add 2 tbsp fish sauce, cook 3 mins, 100C, Reverse + Speed Soft, making sure the prawns are fully cooked.

Serve over Rice Noodles!

Spaghetti Bolognaise... or not?

I quickly made up this recipe tonight.  I have never actually made the bolognaise out of the Everyday Cookbook (shame on me), I guess I'm just not typically a bolognaise girl.  I have heard some say they don't LOVE the version in the EDC... but tonight I had planned to make Shepherd's Pie but realised my cookbook with the recipe in it was in hubby's car.  SO!  I decided to make an easy, tasty and filling merge of bolognaise and Shepherd's pie mince!  And I think it was really tasty!  It is definitely NOT traditional bolognaise, it really is just a mish-mash of everything.  Here 'tis:


Ingredients
350g lamb (I found the stirfry strips on special)
300g beef, cut into 2cm pieces (rump, casserole, chuck, whatever preferred for mincing)
400g Organic tin diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon TM Vege Stock
2 cloves garlic
1 onion 
1 carrot
20g oil
150g frozen peas and corn (optional, or more if wanted!)
60-70g water (if adding frozen veggies... just add what you think it needs!) 

1.  Make mince from lamb pieces (Press Turbo button 3 or 4 times, 1 second each, checking texture - don't "over mince"! Set aside  

2.  Make mince from beef pieces and set aside

3.  Chop onion, carrot and garlic, 4 seconds Speed 6. Add oil, saute 3 minutes, 100C, Speed Soft

4.  Add mince. Saute 6 minutes, 100C, Reverse + Speed Soft.

5.  Add tomatoes, paste, and stock. Cook 15 minutes, Varoma Temp,  Reverse + Speed Soft. 




Add frozen veggies and water with 5 minutes remaining. 

Serve with spaghetti (or whatever pasta you have left in the pantry! As I said, not a true bolognaise this one!)




I hope you like it!!






And topped with a very hurried iphone pic - hey, I'm doing this for the info, not the photography (that's what I'm sticking with!).

Fast Chicken Curry and Larger families

I am often asked about the Thermomix catering for larger families. Some of the recipes in the Thermomix are based around a 4 adult serve size. But that doesn't have to be all you get out of it. Sometimes you can just add more quantity, sometimes you might serve a 3 course meal instead of 2, eg soup with bread rolls, a main and dessert. Sometimes just adding a side dish is enough. But I cook plenty of meals that easily serve 6 adults, some with leftovers too. Dishes like the Tomato Pasta with Vegetables and Feta (a dish often seen at the cooking classes and can be found in the Taste of Vegetarian cookbook), you cook the tomato sauce, add pasta (and I add a bit of extra) and steam 2 layers of veggies in the Varoma at the same time. A really super cheap, easy, nutritious filling meal that can feed a lot!

Whenever I do a rice dish, I will steam about 650g of cubed chicken in the top layer of the Varoma and veggies in the bottom. I automatically did that when I got my Thermomix because that was how chicken I used to add to my dishes, so I knew it was enough to feed us. The rice basket is deceiving also - when it is filled with cooked rice it is more than enough - up to 400g of rice is how much you can add to the basket.

The mashed potato recipe makes heaps - we don't normally eat 1kg of mashed potato so I usually lessen that for us. But here is an example for you of how you can just alter a recipe to suit a larger crowd.

Do 2 batches of something that is quick, and have all your food prepped together so you just pop the first batch in the Thermoserver while you cook the second batch.

For entertaining a larger crowd, have a couple of different dishes to serve with rice for variation and choice.  Eg, I do a Thai theme, or Indian dishes, so just 2 of each to serve with rice.  Again, the Thermoserver is ideal!

If you have kids coming, make up some homemade pizzas for them - if you use toppings that don't need cooking in advance, you can have your dough rising earlier, have all the topping chopped and ready to pop on and put in the oven 20-30 minutes before the guests arrive.  Eg, ham and pineapple, corn kernels, capsicum, mushrooms, olives, even green prawns, and just use some tomato paste for the base and a generous sprinkling of cheese.

We almost always just add more quantities than the recipes whenever they ask for meat, chicken, prawns etc etc.  Just make sure if it is mincing, that you do 2 batches to stay under the processing weight suggestions in the front of your Everyday cookbook so you don't overload the blades.

This is based on the Fast Chicken Curry recipe from the Everyday cookbook, made for a larger quantity, and less curry paste to make it very mildly spicy rather than quite spicy.

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and quartered
20g oil
50g red curry paste
2 x 270ml cans of coconut milk (Ayam brand is good and comes in 270ml cans
4 potatoes cut into bite size pieces
650g chicken (I use organic thigh pieces) diced in 2-3cm cubes
200g mixed veggies of choice (cut into small pieces - eg small broccoli florets, sliced carrots, peas whatever you like)
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves (optional)

1. Chop garlic and onions 4 seconds speed 5
2. Add oil and curry paste, sauté 3 minutes, 100C on Speed 1
3. Add coconut milk and potatoes and cook for 10 minutes at 100C Reverse + Speed Soft
4. Add chicken and veggies, cook for 17 minutes at 100C Reverse + Speed 1 (add longer if need to cook through a bit more)

Can add coriander with 3 minutes remaining.

Pour into Thermoserver (you could add a small amount of baby peas into Thermoserver also and stir through curry)

Cook rice as in Everyday Cookbook

More than you would normally add, but it cooked down
into the sauce and was fine - see notes 1 and 2

Notes about this recipe:
1. I pushed the Thermomix to it's max - the veggies when first added, sat above the max line in the bowl. By the time it was all cooked, it was sitting a tiny bit over the line.

2. Because I put so much more food in, I increased the speed to speed 1 rather than speed soft because it was struggling to stir it consistently at speed soft.

3. Add more curry paste if you like spicy!

4. If you want even more food, why not steam extra veggies while your rice is cooking?

Single layer of peas defrosting in Varoma while chicken
is cooking - see note 5

5. Just to add a bit extra, I put a single layer of peas in the bottom of the Varoma to defrost during the last 17 minute cook time. This didn't cook them, it just defrosted them (because it is only cooking at 100C not Varoma temp). I then added those peas into the Thermoserver with the rest of the curry while the rice is cooking, and that is enough to cook them gently.

I really have resorted to quick and easy pics on the iPhone
and I know they aren't great, but better than nothing!
Curry doesn't look appetising, but was yummy, easy and healthy!

So this is just an example of a yummy, quick and easy curry to feed a larger family!

Caesar Salad - Thermomix style!!!

To celebrate what I am sure is the last of our warm days, and the fact that this month incentive for purchasing a Thermomix is a free "Travelling with Thermomix" cookbook, I chose a recipe to try out of the cookbook.  This cookbook is not usually available for sale, so I didn't have a copy until the other night.  Flicking through, there are quite a few I would like to try and it is a really nice looking cookbook!  It features recipes from all over the world, some standard favourites.

I did make a few adjustments to the recipe as I was making it for the whole family as our dinner, so I added the chicken and bacon and cooked more eggs than the recipe asked for.

So here is the run down:

Place some eggs in the rice basket, put 500g water in the Thermomix bowl.  Steam for 13 minutes at Varoma temperature.

As soon as I put the eggs on, I started chopping my chicken.  If I had thought bit more, I would have chopped the bacon in the Thermomix for a few seconds before I started the eggs, but hence I did not.  So I quickly chopped the chicken (630g) and spread it evenly on the Varoma tray.  I then just put a few rashers in the Varoma bowl to steam.

So I probably took about 4 minutes to cut the chicken get it into the Varoma, so for the remaining time of the of the time, I started assembling the rest of my ingredients for the dressing.  Oil, anchovies, fresh lime juice, egg yolks etc etc.  I got out a salad bowl and broke up the cos lettuce to arrange in the bottom.  I also chopped some slices of bread into crouton cubes and put them under the grill for a minute or so each side (watch carefully!!!! They burn quickly)

Once the timer went off, I took the eggs out, ran them under cold water then put the chicken on for another 3-4 minutes - I actually think it was cooked already, but I am paranoid about chicken so always give it longer incase!!!  So while the chicken had another few minutes, I peeled the eggs (I did 4) and cleaned up some mess!

So once the chicken was finished, I took it off to cool for a couple of minutes while I cleaned out the bowl, then made the dressing - this took about 2 minutes, maybe a few seconds more ;)  I then sliced the eggs, pulled apart the bacon and added all of the ingredients to the salad bowl.  A drizzle of dressing and all done!

All in all, that is about what I did (I may have gotten some of the steps mismatched, but it is all about you and the Thermomix multi-tasking!!!)  But I did actually put the timer on and it took 38 minutes from getting out the first ingredients from the fridge (starting with eggs into the basket) to photographing the salad.  How great to serve a filling yummy dinner salad with freshly made dressing from scratch, including homemade bread croutons!!!

The kids and hubby all loved it, much tastier than our old bought dressing version, and usually I wouldn't have bothered with the eggs because I always lost track of time doing things on the stove, resulting in mismatched finishing times.  Hate that.  And using one appliance to cook all of the food at once (energy saving), then the dressing!  I would have usually spent the same amount of time, but nearly always burnt the bacon due to some distraction along the way (I know, I really don't sell myself as a great cook....)  I could have added a bit more bacon, another egg and more lettuce to make it go a bit further, but as it was, it was perfectly polished off with everyone satisfied!

Non-fried "Fried Rice"

I love to do this quick and easy dinner when there is just absolute bare minimum food left, at the end of the fortnight and you are in a hurry to get dinner on!  This recipe comes again from Quirky Cooking so visit for a more detailed explanation!!! (thank you again!).

It's great because you can usually really on the fact that you will at least have some rice, some eggs and then whatever fresh/frozen veggies you have left and whatever meat/prawns you have (or just have it vegetarian!)

I had 1 carrot, half a broccoli, frozen peas and 3 cobs of fresh corn!!!  And some frozen green prawns that needed to be defrosted and peeled before cooking.  See, really scraping the bottom of the barrel there!

So I started the rice cooking, a large batch for 20 minutes at Varoma temp, then chopped the carrot and broccoli and threw them in the bottom of the Varoma (they were going to take the longest, so get them in first).  Then I cut the corn off the cob and added that, then the frozen peas when there was just under 10 minutes left on the timer.  I then started peeling the prawns which had been sitting in some water to defrost - this is what took the most amount of time!!

you can add more veggies than I had
- time for the grocery shopping!

When there was about 5 minutes left on the timer, I gave the veggies a quick stir around so they cooked evenly, then I lined the top tray of the Varoma with wet baking paper, whisked 4 eggs together quickly, then poured the eggs onto the paper for a steamed omelette.  When the timer was finished, I tipped the rice in with the veggies, rinsed out the bowl, added 1 glove of garlic, chopped for 3 seconds, added some oil and the prawns and sautéed on 100 degree, Reverse + Speed soft for about 4 minutes (depending on how fresh or frozen the prawns are will depend on time - just make sure the garlic has enough time to cook out a bit!)

While the prawns are cooking, just slice up the omelette with your spatula and add that to the rest!  If I hadn't spent so long peeling the prawns, I could have just added them in the Varoma also!!  Prawns are super quick to cook, even from frozen.

I just "chopped" the omelette
so it looks messy, that is my time saving!!

Add the garlic prawns and sprinkle a good dose of soy sauce over the mixture!!  Can even add some honey too, if desired.  But we just have soy and it is very nice.  Easy, very healthy and a great use of the leftover bits and pieces you have!!!  You can add as many veggies as you have - as I was down to the very last, this isn't as big a serving as you could make - it easily feed a crowd!!! Even serve with some marinated chicken pieces etc.

There you go, easy Monday night dinner on the run, and very cheap!!! And we still have leftovers, so can serve as a side dish tomorrow night!

Thermomix Chilli Con Carne

We used to like chilli con carne as an easy tasty meal.  We used to use a packet flavouring and fry up some supermarket bought mince.  Hmmmmm... I really don't think I could bear to eat it like that again!

Have you tried the chilli con carne in the Everyday Cookbook?  It is versatile also - add corn chips (find a colour free variety!!), cheese and sour cream for nachos or just serve with pasta or make some tortillas and serve with tomato, lettuce, cheese etc, or even on top of jacket potatoes etc... you get the idea!  It's really tasty, but you do need to use your homemade vege stock and you need to mince your own meat - this is what gives it a lot more flavour.  When mincing your own meat, it is very simple.  You just need to have the meat cut into managable chunks and press the turbo button a few times until you have the desired consistency.  Don't "over mince"!!!  The chilli con carne uses fresh chilli, onion, garlic and herbs (if you like them), chops it all first, then add meat, mince it all together, saute for 2 minutes, then add tomatoes (can use fresh or canned - if fresh, then chop those earlier in thermomix), kidney beans, cook for 15 minutes and there you have it!!  A delicious base that can be used lots of different ways!

As always with cooking, do feel free to add or detract from recipes depending on your taste - don't be afraid to experiment!!