Going grain free, sugar free, dairy free, meat free..... Banana Blueberry Bread!

So I haven't been cooking the usual foods lately... I am doing a bit of a detox and am not allowed grains, meat, dairy, sugar, hydrogenated oils..... I don't find too much of it a challenge.. except no grains!  And no meat or chicken leaves me quite hungry all the time!  I am allowed SOME eggs, as I am not supposed to lose weight, and they help bulk up a meal a little.

Thermomix boiled eggs and steamed some potato wedges at the same time.
Do you still use a frypan? I then browned the potatoes in the oven
and sauteed chopped mushrooms, onion, zucchini, capsicum
for about 9 minutes, 100C Reverse + Speed Soft, adding some
semi-dried tomatoes near the end... was yummo! (even though it might
not look it by the pic!)

But a week in, I am starting to look for cheats way out!!  I came across a completely fruit and nut based treat here: http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/node/17448 and they are good to just have a little snack here and there.

CADA has also been good (Coconuts, Almonds, Dates and a Green Apple all turbo-ed a couple of times in the Thermomix), as well as lots of soup with the Thermomix Vege Stock!

But having a look through the Gluten Free Wheat Free Cookbook, I came across the Banana Blueberry bread.  Seeing as it was made on buckwheat flour (which is technically NOT a grain!) and mostly banana and blueberries with raw honey or pure maple syrup, and macadamia nut oil, I decided I could treat myself to this.

I found that it had a few too many blueberries in it - I would usually add less.  But the rest was good, and I ground the buckwheat myself seeing as there was some in the cupboard.

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!

Pull aparts and pizza breads

I'm going to set aside my dairy free and low gluten efforts for the sake of this post for those that don't need dairy or gluten free! Just a quick post about pull apart breads and how handy it is to be able to throw together an amazing side dish for guests or just a tasty snack or easy lunch for the kids!

I had these posted in an old post, but thought I would update with other options...

Pullapart ready for baking!

This pull apart was done using the 1.5 times bread dough quantity using the recipe found here: http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/recipes/herb-and-garlic-pull-apart-bread/26180 .  I used the same instructions for the herb and garlic, however for half of the bread, I made it into a cheese and bacon pullapart. Delicious straight out of the oven and the whole thing cost a few dollars!  You could do pesto (just make sure it is in the folded strips so you don't dry it out too much), sun dried tomatoes etc etc.

Hubby was hungry the other day and made a thick pizza bread using the basic bread recipe (replacing the grain with an extra 100g bakers flour) in the Everyday cookbook, let rise for approx 25 mins, kneaded a little, pressed the dough out relatively flat (about 2cm thick) then sprinkled chopped bacon and a generous serving of cheese over the top.  Put it in the oven as it was still heating to 220 degrees.   It turned out beautifully, like a cross between a pizza and a cheese and bacon bread... Just like you would buy from the bakery!

Yummy vegie pizza bread - pineapple, olives,
mushrooms, capsicum and cheese

Another option is to make thin and crispy pizza breads. Make a batch of pizza dough, rise for 30 mins, punch out and knead a couple of times, roll very thin, brush with chopped garlic covered in olive oil, sprinkle a small amount of salt over the top and bake in a preheated oven approx 215 - 220 degrees for around 15 minutes (depending how hot your oven is). Another option is to add Sundried tomatoes and olives (but watch how hot the oven is, maybe decrease if you find they are browning quickly). These breads are beautiful with soups.

Crispy garlic pizza crust ready for baking 

Use these ideas and be as creative as you like with fillings or toppings adding mushrooms, pineapple, different cheeses, turn into scrolls, pizza pockets etc etc!!

Torta Caprese

I just tried the Everyday Cookbook recipe for the Torta Caprese but made it dairy free... Yum!! Even hubby said it was good and he can usually tell if I have made something gluten and dairy free and is a little.... Hesitant!!

Here is the recipe:
250 grams almonds
250 grams dark chocolate broken in pieces(use a Lindt dark chocolate with no milk solids for total dairy free)
210 grams sugar (I lessened it from 250 as in original recipe)
100 grams coconut oil (use a good quality non refined oil - generally found at good health food shops)
1 tablespoon cacao powder (or cocoa)
1 tablespoon of baking powder (make your own Witt the Thermomix)
6 eggs

 Preheat oven to 180c

 Grate chocolate for 10 seconds Speed 8. Set aside

Chop almonds for 6 seconds speed 6 (add a bit longer if chunks of almonds are too big). Add to chocolate

Place eggs, sugar, baking powder, cacao and oil into bowl, mix 20 seconds Speed 7.

Add chocolate and almonds, mix 30 seconds Speed 6.

Pour mixture into 22-24 tin lined with baking paper on bottom (I just put the whole lot in because I wasn't worried about the edges - speed and less washing supersedes neat edges for me!!).

Bake in preheated oven for approximately 1 hour. (I made 4 muffin size cakes as well - they were in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. But don't do both at the same time if you don't want you cake to flop in the middle when you take the cupcakes out!

My cake was a bit fudgey in the middle which I loved but could have cooked a little longer or maybe a tiny bit less oil. Can serve with a dairy free custard (use normal everyday cookbook recipe with rice-almond milk or other dairy free milk) either vanilla or chocolate flavor, or some strawberries!

Meat and 3 veg families with Thermomix!

I have seen it written before that the Thermomix is not for those who just want meat and veg. Well I tend to disagree! The Thermomix just suits so many different people and you just have to adjust how you use it to suit your needs! The fact that a domestic cook can produce restaurant quality dishes so simply and with confidence, or that it can allow people that cannot cook at all, the ability to cook is amazing!! To indulge in creativity or just save time! For your health or for savings!!! It can suit everyone!

As an aside, I saw a sneaky camera shot of the Thermomix on Masterchef Australia again a couple of nights ago - it was a cooking challenge against a chef and the chef was using it!! I would guess either the lemon curd or lemon granita that he served for dessert - or both!! How great is that!!

But back to the point of this post!! Some think that you have to use the Thermomix for everything if you spend that amount of money on it. It simply isn't true- there are so many different elements you can prepare with the Thermomix, but you are still ALLOWED to use traditional methods if you choose for certain dishes!! You will still use the Thermomix everyday for something... And say for example a dishwasher... You don't think too much about spending $1000 -$2000 for a dishwasher. Yet mine only gets used once or twice a week. It doesn't improve my health, save me time on food prep or save money on my grocery bill!! And I definitely don't use it multiple times a day like I use the Thermomix.  Some people might see it as an extra appliance that is unnecessary - but I think more and more, it will become just another staple in your kitchen, like your dishwasher, fridge and microwave.  And you can sell the rest of your small appliance! So there's a little comparison for you on cost of appliances and use and benefits!

Anyway, back to the point again.. take the other night for example... One of the few nights I didn't use the Thermomix for our whole dinner. I felt like a "surf and turf"!!! We don't usually eat whole steak that much, we usually mince it. So I used the frypan to cook our steak and prawns, while the Thermomix was busy preparing our perfectly smooth mashed potato and steaming our vegies at the same time! Energy saving and I didn't even pay attention to it once I set the timer - it was taking care of it all for me!! I also did not have to get out a colander or a masher and mash it by hand - 45 seconds and the thermomix does the work for you. Apart from that, we also used the thermomix to make us a yummy mushroom sauce from scratch... Something I wouldn't have ever bothered to do before.

Yes they are frozen veggies..
Yes, the mushrooms are too chopped - hubby was in charge
of the mushroom sauce!!

Oh my goodness - did I use frozen veggies - YES!!! It was a Saturday night, we were late home and I was doing minimal food prep - you are allowed sometimes LOL!!  Hey, if it's saving you from buying takeaway, it's a good thing right!!

There you have it! A quick easy meat and veg dinner that still saves time, energy (yours and the power company's!!) and dishes!!!  And seriously delicious.... Again, a pleasure to work with the Thermomix in the kitchen!

PS.  I had already made breakfast in Thermomix, fresh wholegrain bread rolls for lunch in Thermomix (just before we went out for a big walk), juice, smoothies, and dessert that day as well.... and we had a busy weekend day!

TIPS!
Mashed Potato -
1. If you want to steam veggies at the same time, you need to cook your mashed potato at Varoma temperature instead of 100 degrees as stated in your cookbook.  If you use all full cream milk, you will burn the milk because of the fat content and it will stick to the bottom of the bowl - you must use at least half water to prevent this.  If you are using a rice milk etc, it should be fine anyway.  Varoma Temp for 20 - 25 will also break down the potatoes altogether.  I don't mind because once I whip it, there's no difference - it simply gives the convenience of being able to steam your veggies at the same time.
2.  I don't bother adding parmesan cheese, some people find it too "gluey".  So just add some salt.
3.  You can easily use a little oil to make it dairy free (with rice milk/alternate milk) instead of butter, and just make sure you add a little salt for flavour.
4.  If you find it too runny for your liking, just lessen the liquid content a little - I don't even measure now, I just use the amount of potatoes I would usually use for our family and then go by "eye" as to how much milk I add - somehow I get it right!

Dani Valent "In The Mix" Cooking Class

Dani Valent came to Newcastle today and did a cooking class based on some of her recipes from "In The Mix".

Have you downloaded the App?  It has some great videos and a selection of recipes for free!  How to temper chocolate perfectly, Grissini and more!

So today she ran through so many different aspects, I left the class so excited!  Excited that I, a simple stay at home mum - basic cook, could reproduce these stunning dishes and elements of dishes of a gourmet standard quickly, simply and easily with a Thermomix.

Making Chlorophyll paste

She did some things out of the cookbook I had not even really looked at long enough to realise what I could do with them.  For example, the Chlorophyll Paste - what a fantastic addition to your Green Smoothie (also in the cookbook) that just packs a stack of nutrients into a concentrated paste!

Beef Stir fry - Yum!  And so quick and easy and the beef was steamed while the rice was cooking for 20 minutes.  People often ask about steamed steak, well this was beautiful!  And then add your stir-fried veggies (takes around 6 minutes to cook in the bowl).

Beef Stirfy to feed a crowd! From marinade to rice, omelette and
stir-fried veggies, everything was done in the Thermomix

Kuzu Gnocchi with Parsley oil and Pea Soup.

Making the Kuzu Gnocchi in an ice bath

And lots more - in just 2 hours!!

I just came away continually amazed at the absolute variety of things you can do with a Thermomix.  It doesn't matter whether you love it for Health, Sweet Treats, Gourmet Cooking, Saving Time, or because you want to avoid cooking, the Thermomix really does fit for all of those categories!!

Don't forget if you would like to take advantage of hosting a Varoma demonstration this month and the bonus offers that go along with that, please let me know.

But also, 12 Months Interest Free is a great opportunity for people who prefer to have a payment plan rather than an upfront payment.  If you have questions about this, please contact me also.

For those who already own a Thermomix and are interested in purchasing "In the Mix", you can purchase through your consultant or online at www.thermomix.com.au.

So go and continue discovering the potential of what the Thermomix can do!!!

Thermomix Homemade Lemonade

I absolutely love that when I entertain guests, it is so quick, easy and simple to provide them with all elements of a meal/afternoon tea that are homemade.

Even just for ourselves, if we want something not quite as healthy as a freshly made juice, but a "treat"that still uses whole fresh ingredients!

Make Icing Sugar, Grind Ice, add whole lemons
with ends chopped off and cut in quarters

 Homemade lemonade.  It is awesome.  If you have a tray of ice cubes, 1 litre of water (or sparkling water, which I like because it makes it more like a real "soft drink"!!!), 100grams of raw sugar and 2 lemons, then in a couple of mins, you have freshly homemade lemonade and have also cleaned up!

Add half the water, Press turbo button a few times

First, you make icing sugar from raw sugar - you see this at the home demonstration.  The great thing about being about to do this is: 

1. You only buy 1 type of sugar instead of caster, icing sugar and normal sugar - if you run out, you just make some!

2.  Lots of icing sugars actually have anti-caking agents in them - e.g. a problem for people with things like Coeliac

3.  You actually get at least a tiny bit of nutritional value from raw sugar as it has some molasses still in it and it has been less processed than white sugar.  (If you want to go better again, I use Rapadura in a lot of things which hasn't been high heat treated or refined at all - I wouldn't use it for lemonade though the molasses flavour is a little overpowering.)

4.  You can use an Organic Raw Sugar and not pay the price for Organic Caster Sugars or Icing Sugars!

Add remaining water and strain through your rice basket!!!

I love that you actually use fresh lemons and don't even peel them!  Once strained through the rice basket, just discard the peels in the bottom and rinse bowl.  It's as quick and easy as that!

Freshly served Homemade Lemonade!

The end result is sooooo refreshing and yummy!

Tips!!!
1.  Unless you are serving straight away, remove the pips - I just poke them out with a knife.  This will stop the lemonade from turning very tart within a couple of hours.  I sometimes make some for dinner and if it isn't all used, I can save it for the next day and it's fine.  If the pips are left in, even though it is strained, they still seem to release the bitterness into it.
2.  Make a lemon/lime-ade by adding a lime as well!
3.  Make the most fresh Lemon Lime and Bitters your guests have ever had by adding your bitters into each glass!!

PS.  Sorry for iPhone pics!!