Fried Rice... Thermofied

There are several recipes out there on the internet for thermo-fried rice. Any way you go, the absolutes are that there will be a lot of rice it will be a cheap meal or bulker. I went with the 4 Blades recipe, which is available in their Budget edition. I made some changes to the recipe and method. I have no intention of being an elitist (or breaking copyright) with this recipe... If you have done year 8 home-economics or googled "fried Rice recipes" you will have an idea of what to add. If you are time poor and prefer the rice to taste more "fried"... this could be the method for you.

As a uni student fried rice was something I liked but rarely had the time to make. Really... it involves cooking rice, making sure it is not over cooked and cooling it without it turning to mush. I would get distracted and the rice would be ruined. Mum had a handy hint for it the rice was too watery... drain and leave uncovered in fridge overnight. My house-mates Mum told me about "Lazy Fried Rice"... I was not convinced it could be "that easy" and never had all the ingredients in my pantry at the same time so by the time I tried it we had lost contact. If you ever read this, Mrs Mack thanks; you changed my life and I should have listened to you sooner.

Mrs Mack said that you save heaps of time by frying up the rice before you cook it. Heat oil in a pan, chuck in the rice let some grains turn brown then add sautéed onion and bacon, liquid, veggies then cover and simmer for 15 - 20 mins stirring occasionally and you are done. Sprinkle with soy sauce and enjoy. I have applied the essence of this to our method.

 

Essentials when finding a fried rice recipe to thermofy: 

• The amount of rice that you can do in your machine is important... No more than 2 cups of rice will fit in your rice basket
• Use about 1L of liquid... some recipes suggest straight water, others suggest coconut milk too, non-thermo recipes often go with chicken stock which is what I went for. 
• Rice a long grain white rice is usually the preferred... I have six types of rice in our house and that was not among them. We used basmatti as it's the most forgiving and if you are watching your GI its a great choice as is long grain brown rice (just cook for longer).
• If you are using frozen or par-frozen chicken stock add more time to your cooking time

 Thermofied Fried Rice MyCook method

1. Heat 20g olive oil in jar sauté, 120c 1 minute
2. Add a large quartered onion sauté, 120c 5 minutes
3. Chop carrot and bacon and to jar add as you go
4. Slice chicken (for a really cheap option, use filleted drumstick meat and turn bones into bone broth)
5. Add to jar cook Sp 1, 120c 3 minutes for breast (go a little longer to brown for leg meat)
6. Remove from jar and pop into rice basket in a bowl to drain then put into thermoserver
7. Heat 20g olive oil in jar sauté, 120c 1 minute
8. Add rice and juice from meat/onion Sp1, 120c 2 minutes
9. Place water and 2 cups chicken stock (about a litre of liquid altogether) into jar with a tbs Veggie stock paste sp 1, 120c 20 minutes (for white rice) If using brown rice, 35 mins and add egg and veggies at 15 mins
10. Wet and scrunch a square of baking paper, pop it in the steaming attachment pour in whisked eggs (seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper) 
11. Move the paper so that steam can flow to the top tray by bringing the corners of paper together... if you are using more than 2 eggs cook them on the top tray and veggies on the bottom.
12. When each part is done add to theroserver and mix through. Finally adding soy sauce to taste.

     
 Thermofied Fried Rice GSM/TM type machine method

1. Chop onion sp 7 for a few seconds, remove from jug 
2. Heat 20g olive oil in jar steam, 1 minute, Sp 1/Soft
3. Add onion sauté, 120c 5 minutes
4. With a knife, chop carrot and bacon and to jug add as you go
5. Slice chicken (for a really cheap option, use filleted drumstick meat and turn bones into bone broth)
6. Add to jug cook Sp 1, 120c 3 minutes for breast (go a little longer to brown for leg meat)
7. Remove from jug and pop into rice basket in a kitchen bowl to drain then put into thermoserver
8. Heat 20g olive oil in jug sauté, 120c 1 minute
9. Add rice and juice from meat/onion Sp1, 120c 2 minutes
10. Place water and 2 cups chicken stock (about a litre of liquid altogether) into jug with a tbs Veggie stock paste sp 1, 120c 20 minutes (for white rice) If using brown rice, 35 mins and add egg and veggies at 15 mins
11. Wet and scrunch a square of baking paper, pop it in the steaming attachment pour in whisked eggs (seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper) 
12. Move the paper so that steam can flow to the top tray by bringing the corners of paper together... if you are using more than 2 eggs cook them on the top tray and veggies on the bottom.
13. When each part is done add to theroserver and mix through. Finally adding soy sauce to taste.

Another Aussie Zote soap altermative

In this post; I mentioned an alternative to Zote soap available in Australia that I was excited about called Australian Botanical. Today I discovered another alternative called Velvet soap, found in the hygiene section of Woolworths supermarket. 

I am going to be honest; I love science... but in this case I am not sure of the why  behind what I am finding just the what. It seems to me that certain soaps when made into washing powder will more readily dissolve day to day stains than others without having to rely on pre-wash soaks or stain removers. TBH after it is dry is when I usually notice the stain. The soaps that tend to be great are Knights Castile soap and Australian Botanical. They tend to bubble a little more as you wet the soap and recently I found that Australian Botanical and Velvet soap will also foam when heated in the microwave the way that Zote soap does on the internet. When heated and mixed with water the solution does not separate the way that other soaps do.    

This soap is not suited to front loader machines, which require low suds powders.

I have tested it as the soap ingredient in Peta's recipe and a recipe uploaded to the Lawn to Lunch facebook group files (and now listed below). I will keep you posted over the next few weeks as to how I like them in my washing.  

Mycook Method

As for Peta's recommendations; however 15 seconds is plenty for grinding and mixing. If you go for longer it sticks in the bottom of the jar and is a bit more time-consuming to remove.  

No thermo-machine no worries

Method 1

1. Use 1 cup of Lux flakes instead of grating a bar of soap for each batch you make.
2. Add other ingredients in a large plastic container, pop the lid on and shake ingredients or stir with wooden spoon. 

Method 2

1. Chop Velvet soap or 125g Australian Botanical soap into dice sized squares. Pop on a clean plate and place in microwave for 90 seconds. You should have puffy little clouds on our plate. If not pop in for a little while longer. 
2. Allow to cool, place in a plastic bag and squeeze the soap clouds into crumbs
3. Add other ingredients in a large plastic container, pop the lid on and shake ingredients or stir with wooden spoon. 

Cara's Recipe
 

1 cup lux flakes
1/2 cup washing soda
2 litres of boiling water
Dissolve in saucepan on stove top.
Fill laundry tub with war water. Pour in solution and mix quickly to combine without lumps.

If you find it's still has too much soapy residue but you need that much to wash your clothes. I use vinegar as a fabric softener. If I hand wash anything I rinse it in vinegar water and all the soap is dispelled. Good luck.

**Cara recommends 1/2 cup of liquid in the wash and filling the dispenser with Vinegar

If you want to try this recipe but do not want to buy lux flakes (as you have heaps of bars of soap, or cannot find it at the shopping centre)... I recommend that you grind them in the machine then go about it the stove top way. Trying to thermo-fy this recipe just makes a huge mess.

Velvet Liquid washing detergent - A week or so on

The liquid separated into 2 parts, one big fluffy, slimy, white cloud on a watery base. When shaken the 2 liquids mix again well enough and seem to clean the clothes as well as any other home-made soap mix.  

Sunight type Liquid washing detergent  - A few weeks on

The liquid separated into 2 parts a very watery base and a yellow mat floating on top. Not nearly as exciting as the Velvet type but cleans laundry pretty much the same. I actually used woolies generic brand laundry soap in this recipe which made it somewhat cheaper.  

Homemade liquid Soap/Bathwash

I love liquid soap, especially when it is liquid Castile. It gets used it for everything at our house... body-wash, shampoo, hand-wash,  washing up, washing liquid, stain remover and more. My problem is well the price... yes it is totally possible to get it for cheaper if you can buy it in bulk from places like Melrose here or Aussie soap supplies here. 

For the moment that is not an option for us; but reducing the things I need it for certainly is. I absolutely love The Road To Loving My Thermomixer blog and recipe here. I love Peta's laundry powder, I love the food recipes I have tried of hers... but I must admit I had trepidations about trying the hand-soap/body-wash recipe. The reason: way back in my uni days. a fellow student told me she makes liquid soap by mixing regular soap in the stove with water. I decided to give it a go and my family refused to use it... it went gluggy and smelly. 

I love my up-cycled funnel

But I also thought; what have I got to loose? If it works what have I gained? This recipe did not use the whole bar of soap. I cubed it and weighed it before adding to the MyCook jar. I used the MyCook to mill the soap and mix it with water. In under 2 minutes the mixture had dried out (I may have used about a cups worth, in future I will increase it to 500mL to start with.

I made it in the evening and allowed it to sit overnight so the mixture got about 2 stirs. I woke up to this, but popping it back into the machine just as Peta said, caused it to flow freely again. 

I popped the residual into an empty vinegar bottle. This blog will be a *living* document. I fully intend to keep testing the liquid to see how long it stays good for. 

Zote Soap - Australian alternative


If you have been looking for home-made cleaning products, it won't take too long to come across Zote soap.

It is and ingredient in many American recipes such as this one; but is not available in Australia (has anyone else felt the disappointment?). This fascinating soap features the ability to grow into a foam like substance when placed into a microwave (don't try this with sunlight, it just goes into brown lumps and is quite disappointing). When the foam cools it easily turns to a fine powder in your hands and it then mixed with other ingredients to make wonderful laundry liquids and powders.

I used Australian Botanicals soap to make the liquid soap. As stated above, it is slightly larger than a regular bar of soap. If you have watched the youtube clip... I am sorry but it is not a dollar either, but you are helping a worthy cause... saving orang-utans by using sustainable palm oil and giving people options to earn money without damaging their forests.

Again I had a few small cubes left and wondered if this soap would work... I popped it in the microwave for one minute... fed the cat who thought that the soap looked like a good meal (he had dine)... returned to this. It was very hot to touch but once it cooled down went to powder in my hands.

2-3 weeks on

I found one more pump bottle and decided to fill it with the liquid soap and top up the other pump bottles while I was at it. The liquid in the storage bottle had hardened to "not readily pourable" so I popped it back into the machine (kogan today) water spilled out first then the rest of the liquid came out in a snake like fashion. SEP and ECE parents/teachers this would be very cool slime for your kids to play with... particularly if they like sensory things. 

I use the body wash and hand wash daily. It still squirts with no hassles however I have noticed that the liquid has also hardened a little. In the beginning I was shaking the bottle fairly regularly to keep the liquid flowing... that has not happened in a while.

Quality MyCook thermalcooker... for a bargain in February

Are you tossing up about buying a thermal-cooker? The decisions between the quality you prefer and what your wallet can survive are huge. For some lucky customers, quality has never been more affordable. 

This beautiful machine has quite a following in France and Spain. Designed in France; manufactured in Spain, this little beauty is the reason that other Thermo-machines did not enjoy quite the same success in Spain that they have in other countries.

You may be sick of hearing me say it but I love my MyCook. If you are planning to buy a quality thermal cooker, with a powerful motor, high quality stainless steel, one button knead function and more... now could be the time to buy. For the month of February, a MyCook Premium could be yours for under 1K if you go here to te OzCook website.

I am not denying that there are other quality thermal cookers out there, and sometimes it can feel like its a "my cooker is better than your cooker" type world. 

Having a thermo-mixer keeps my sane on my gluten-free lifestyle. It means that I can enjoy fantastic food without the gluten or reactions my body has to eating glutenous food.  It is that simple.

Pros

• No reverse... that does not sound like a pro I hear you say. I didn't think so myself, at first. However the softest speed actually goes so soft that I have not missed a reverse function (even making creamy risotto and corn relish). In fact mince sauce stays nice (not over-fine) without having to cook it in the rice basket (which is stainless steel, not plastic).
• When chopping herbs; the shape of the jug (jar) ensures that the herbs stay closer to the blades. Which is perfect for making dips
• It can mill 500g of rice in one go
• It goes up to 120c and a one-touch sauté button that chops the onions and garlic as it cooks them at the temperature you determine. 
• One touch knead button
• One touch turbo/pusle button
• Well designed lid that ensures that less splash-backs and spitting from food
• In-built safety features such as lid can only be removed and put on when jar is in unlocked position, warm/hot food can only be cooked at speed 5 or below, to purée, press the turbo button while on sp 5 - perfect
• Inbuilt scales
• No electronic parts on the jar, safer in the dishwasher
• Fantastic easy-to-use recipe book with lots of great recipes
• Stainless steel steamer (tray and lid are plastic) which grips the jar for safety
• Induction heating cooks food faster
• Helpful facebook community here called Mycook Groupies.

Cons

• There really are not that many; Scales go up in 10g increments, however I was surprised to note that this has not really made any difference to the outcome of my cooking. For times that really precise measures as with my TM, I always use a kitchen scale, otherwise volume measures are handy such as Metric Cups, Tablespoons and Teaspoons etc. 
• Temperature measures the heat of the element rather than the heat of the food, so for rare recipes (such as yoghurt) when food temp is required, a food thermometer is handy 
• Not suited to raw-food preparation, if that is how you eat, as the minimum temperature is 40c not 37c

Happy shopping, no matter which machine you drool after and which one ends up in your kitchen all are welcome and will continue to be welcome on this blog site and in my facebook group Thermo-Science and Mixin-Fun here.

Cheats Bread... Round 2

A few weeks back, I blogged my fantastic experience with Cheats bread by Me and My Thermie blogger, recipe here. I liked it so much I made it again... This time a double batch MyCook/Kogan cook off. I had plans for one to be another sandwich loaf and the other to be a cob... Hoping that my friend who I call the "cob-loaf" queen could fill it with delish cob filling and we could pretend we were not Gluten-Free for a few minutes. I aimed to get it round by cooking it in the 3L slow cooker. 

It was a shockingly hot day; the beginning for many for CQ and the bread rose very fast. In future I will use less yeast on days like today. The loaf dough melted all over the edges in the slow cooker. This possibly would have been ok if I had popped it in the oven as it would have cooked faster.

The second loaf looked like an extinct volcano. Very disappointing. Possibly the problem here was that I had lifted the lid too early to check how it was going. Not to worry, breadcrumbs I hoped... Then the ants found both loaves as they were cooling... at least the chooks were happy. So fresh bread loaves go pretty-much straight in the fridge. 

If I try for a cob shape again I will cook for the first hour without the kitchen towel between the ceramic bowl and lid, so that I can see how it is all going.  

Results

MyCook got the job done faster, the kneading was done in 1.5 minutes. Kogan took about 3 minutes. But the doughs were pretty-much identical by the time they were done.

Kogan had the option to heat to 30c or 40c I chose 40c as that is the one the MyCook recipes use for bread. I was not sure that 30c would be warm enough.

Home-made Washing Liquid

This recipe is fantastic as it uses just 3 ingredients (other than water) and each ingredient is useful for many other things around the house.

This week on my FaceBook feed appeared a how-to for making washing liquid. I'm so excited to tell you about it as it has made a huge difference to my laundry.

I wanted to make it as soon as I saw it as I had all the ingredients just laying around the house... but did I have a tub? Check Honey's shed... Yes, we are on the money. He has a few re-purposed ex-food buckets with a fantastic seal.

If you are wondering, the recipe is by Bush Flour Herbals and the link is here.

Pros

Price, it works out about 13c per load (and that is not with buying castile soap in bulk... you could possibly nearly halve the price again with the right deal). If you don't have a thermo-type machine no worries the original recipe does not use one. It is fantastic as a pre-wash soaker.

Just remember; it is really not a "brightener" it is good for soaking out periferal stains and should be soaked for no longer than about a day-ish; I'm not sure on exact times, however, I can tell you from experience this week that three days is too long. I popped some in to soak on Wednesday and it smelled revolting by Friday night... like a swamp. I was used to soaking things in store-bought  nappy-soak which can be right for up to a week (when I was a nanny we used to do chux and socks for up to a week... not together). That is not for this solution.  Keep the soaks brief.  

Cons

Castile soap can be quite expensive to buy, if you are short on cash. However one $20L should last about 3.25 lots at about 50 loads per bucket. It is rather bulky, I stick it in my tubs so I don't have to bend down much, and the bucket takes up most of the tub room. If you don't have a Thermo-machine, you will need a stick blender  ;may not be a problem for you) or a whisk and some elbow grease.

Thermomachine method

1. Take your Thermo-device jar and pour about 2 cups of of lukewarm water in, it should reach the 500mL mark
2. Add the bicarbonate soda and washing soda.
3. Add more water to cover the sodas (about 1.5L altogether is good)
4. Set the timer for 2 minutes, speed 5 and blend the mixture until it is fully smooth.
5. Pop your mixture into the bucket 
6. Using your jar to measure (3x 2L of tap water into the bucket), fill your bucket up to the 7.5L mark with tap water (any temperature is fine).
7. Add the castile soap, and stir with a long-handled spoon.
8. Using the funnel, pour into your containers. (I kept it in the bucket)
9. Add your essential oil of choice. (I used eucalyptus)

I used my Kogan thermoblend 1 to make this recipe. The residue would have washed out with water and  cloth, however I was doing a load of dishes in the dishwasher and chose to pop it in with the rest. It came out sparkling clean.

 

3 ingredients toothpaste

I ran out f toothpaste a while ago and was a bit lazy about making more. Basically finding the peppermint and or clove bud oil was the obstacle... then I started thinking... why do I need clovebud oil? Why not just grind some cloves? I used a small mortar and pestle for this recipe and put the mix Into a spice jar.

1/4 tsp Himalayan salt... Celtic would work too

 4-5 cloves

1/4 cup coconut oil.

 It's runny mix. Stir sediment into oil. Carefully pour a little of mix on to tooth brush.

 Method

Half fill small jar with coconut oil

grind salt and add to oil.

Grind cloves and add to mix. Stir. 

If your not In the middle of a very hot summer and your coconut oil is not runny... melt oil over low heat and stir through ground salt and spice. Add to small jar. Dip tooth brush into mix to use.

Aunty Thels Df Gf Ef pastry.

I am so thankful for my BFFs Aunty Thel: the clever lady who made a recipe for biscuit pastry and her lovely family who allowed me to share her recipe. This pastry has changed my life. Today we found that not only can this recipe be made gf and df but also egg free to  this makes a huge difference for parents trying to make lunches for kids with allergies (their own and classmates). If you don't put meat sauce inside the pie it's also perfect for vegans too

Gf Df Ef Aunty Thels Biscuit pastry.

2 *chia eggs* (2x 1 tbs chia seed, 1/4 cup boiling water, stir and leave to sit til cool)

2-3 tbs coconut oil

1 cup gf self raising flour

1/4 cup corn flour

Measure flours and oil into MyCook jar

Mix 5 seconds sp 5 till combined

Add 1.5 chia eggs and press knead button (This dough did not come together the way an egg type does but when you take 2-3 small dough balls, they squish together it's ready allow dough to rest)

Half hour in fridge is good.

Roll dough out.

Cut to size pop in pie maker add filling and lid.

Cook.

You can use any thermo-cooker to make this pastry, or even a food processor. I have chosen the MyCook terminology as it is a little less confusing... Jar is called TM bowl or jug in Thermomix world).

** Results

Dough was easy to roll, a tiny bit chewier than the egg kind but still delish.It dod not brown as the butter and egg type. If doing again and not feeling so lazy in the morning; I would grind the seeds before adding hot water.

*** Fridge dough was made into pies on day 3. Both doughs were a little stiff, but chia dough stiffer. I added some water and worked the dough and it rolled very well. Each dough gave me 1.5 more pies and a small biscuit. I used the base of the chia and lid of the egg dough to make the 3rd pie.

What to do if you have too any pies... You can keep in the fridge for as long as the meat will allow ie if you have fresh meat 3 days, if you are using 3 day old meat obviously it will not last in the fridge. The pies also freeze well too. I have microwaved pies and eaten them cold. You can also reheat them in your pie maker (if that's what you cooked it in). I would also venture to say that they can be warmed in the oven as you would a store-bought frozen pie. 

Meat sauce - MyCook method

4-5 steaks, cubed (stewing meat)

1-2 onions (can use 1 onion and add onion flakes

2-3 carrots

1 zucchini

2 MB's wine (200g)

1 MB water (It was slightly too much liquid so it may pay to add 50g water instead of 100g or less wine)

heaped tbs corn flour (I would add more next time, 1.5-2tbs heaped)

heaped tsp gf *vegemite* (whatever passes for vegemite at your place)

1 tbs tomato paste

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs tomato paste

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

pinch salt and pepper to taste

good shake of paprika

Dash of olive oil

Handful fresh basil

Grate zucchini and basil, remove from jar.

Wash out.

Add oil, set timer for 1 minute 120c, Sauté

Add onion 5 mins, 120c, sauté

at 4 min mark add carrots, 1 min mark add vege stock paste.

Add cubed stewing meat, cook 120c 10 mins sp 1.

Add rest of ingredients cook 100c 60 mins; MB on.

When done check if meat is tender if yes give it 10 mins MB off and allow to reduce. If not do this step with MB on until soft then reduce sauce.

  

Meat sauce - GSM/TM type machine method

Grate zucchini and basil, remove from jug.

Wash out.

Chop onions and carrot, sp 5 few seconds. You want them chopped but not mushy 

Add oil, set timer for 1 minute 120c/Varoma/Steam

 at 1 min mark add vege stock paste.

Add cubed stewing meat, cook 120c/Steam/Varoma 10 mins sp 1/soft...  use blade cover, blunt blades or reverse if available.

Add rest of ingredients cook 100c 60 mins; MC on.

When done check if meat is tender if yes give it 10 mins MC off and allow to reduce. If not do this step with MC on until soft then reduce sauce.

Mini pie method

Find a big glass and a smaller one. The big glass should be about 8.5-9cm in diameter and a nutino glass is perfect for the smaller. It should fit snuggly into the top of your muffin tray.

Roll dough out, use large glass to cut the dough into pie bases

Place pie bases into muffin trays

Add about 2 tbs of pie meat

Carefully pick up smaller dough disk. Run some water around the edge with your finger to help it stick to the base. Add lid.

Cook in moderate oven 10-15 mins

** small pieces of chopped apple are also nice in small pies. If you use pink lady apples no extra sugar is needed. For extra flavour try a little allspice, cinnamon,or Chinese 5 spice.

   

Cooking with MyCook and Kids

Pie News

First some bad news my estimates completely out as I measured out the mince sauce with a 1/3 cup but the recommended size is 1/2 cup. This resulted in a rather disappointing set of pies with overcooked bases and undercooked lids.

My neice was visiting over-night and I was keen to divert her from the devices today... the easiest way I have found to do this is to offer cooking... so we made more pastry and made some more pies today and added peas (not mushy) and stirred them through the mince before cooking.Everyone was happy except mr Fussy (who does not like peas in his pies).

Gluten Free Bread (Egg and Dairy free too)

We decided to make pies and Gluten Free bread... a new recipe I found here. You do not need a thermo-machine for this recipe. A mix master should work or even mix by hand. I love it, if I didn't prefer whole meal for health, this would be my go-to bread. Basically I needed fresh bread crumbs and thought that if it didn't taste nice it would be an easy way to get some... fyi if wondering, yoghurt bread works out more expensive and goes funny in the freezer. 

Me being well me... I made a few changes...

Orgran for Freefrom gluten flour (I measured 500g)
Oven for slow cookers
Thermomix for MyCook

TBH I was concerned that the lowest setting for MyCook was 40c and I wondered if it was too high. However when browsing actual MC yeast recipes I found that 40c was recommended so I proceeded.

I was surprised that there was no sugar included in the recipe but the yeast did its thing quite well.  Miss J commented that the mixture looked like chocolate chip ice-cream... She was not so impressed with the taste raw, but enjoyed it warm with butter and mighty-mite.

After a quick safety lesson, Miss J was also proficient in using the MyCook lid and found no difficulty getting it on or off.

The bread was lovely and moist with a soft crust. It did not brown as the artisan bread does, but straight out of the oven it was delish. This bread was as easy to make as the "easy bakers" bread from a packet but is nowhere near as salty.

Judie

Australia Day Food... Meat Pies

Meat pies, what can I say... they are yummy and they are Aussie, but if you a gluten free they are frozen, expensive, hard to find and/or disappointing. The really great pies are usually found in small country bakeries... I have fond memories of Bernies (in Rocky), Gracemere, Emu Park, Yeppoon and Mt Morgan (in that order) pies with mushy peas and several flavours to choose from. The decisions - this pie has the better filling; but the base on that one is divine... its all part of the pie-eating culture the ranking of personal favourites then discussing it with your mates... Upon reflection; BP had a nice gourmet pie and so did the chain of bakeries - in Shopping Fair (who calls it Stockland???) and Allenstown plaza. Bakers Delight is on the tip of my tongue but its the other one.

The secret to getting someone to pay $4 - $6 for a pie when they could just get a pack of them for $6 - $8 is making it unique, something they could not make at home, and leaves the eater thinking... I want another one. I cannot say that I am there yet with my pies but they are better than frozen and some gluten-eater bakery pies I have tasted and certainly better than the majority of frozen GF pies I have eaten. Moreover they are much more cost effective, can be eaten cold and are easy to make. 

I have shared with you Aunty Thel's biscuit pastry recipe, on this blog and here but did you know that if you remove the sugar it makes an awesome savoury crust. 

Each brand of GF flour is slightly different. If dough is too sticky just add more flour when rolling it out. If it is too dry add a little water.

• 160 grams Self Raising Flour, I use Gluten Free (1 Cup)
• 60 grams Butter
• 1 egg + a spare yolk or white (whichever you prefer parting with)... if making a double batch just use 3 eggs.
• Corn Flour, (1/4 cup)

MyCook method (works for TB1 type machine too)

Put dry ingredients into the MyCook jar, close lid

Press turbo for 2 seconds to sieve the dry ingredients.

Weigh in the butter- 60g = 3 tbs, use speed 5, 5-10 seconds until mix looks like breadcrumbs

Add egg, turn dial to closed lid position, press the knead button (Looks like a dough roller)

If making a double batch wizz on sp 5 for 20 seconds first. 

Dough is ready when it looks like a ball of playdough, if it has trouble coming together pop some water in half an egg shell and tip in.  

If it is too sticky just add a little more flour when rolling dough out for cooking. 

GSM method (TM, TC etc)

Put dry ingredients into the jug, close lid

Press pulse for 2 seconds to sieve the dry ingredients.

Weigh in the butter- 60g = 3 tbs, use speed 5, 5-10 seconds until mix looks like breadcrumbs

Add egg

Wizz on speed 6, 10 seconds then speed 1 for 1 - 2 mins. (If using a machine that has a knead button press it and knead till its done)

Dough is ready when it looks like a ball of playdough, if it has trouble coming together pop some water in half an egg shell and tip in.  

If it is too sticky just add a little more flour when rolling dough out for cooking.

 

Meat Sauce (MyCook)

Heat oil in MyCook jar for 1 minute 120c on Sauté 

Add onion (quartered) some pepper, paprika and any seasoning you like... I added onion flakes as my onion was a little small. 5 mins, sauté 

** if adding Tomatoes or Carrots you will want to add them here**

Towards the end of the 5 mins, add a tbs Veggie stock paste

Set timer for 10 mins sp 1 - 2 (If using a TB1 type machine, add bade cover here)

While blades are moving add mince in large chunks through the beaker hole in lid. Then add 1 tbs corn flour and another of tomato paste; 1 measuring beaker each full of water and wine, a very heaped tsp of whatever passes for Vegemite in your house, any veggies you want to add.

Keep an eye on the mince. When it is cooked turn it off and pop into a casserole dish/thermal dish 

Meat Sauce (GSM, TM, TC etc)

Chop onion sp 7 add oil to jug for 5 minutes, sp 1, ST, Varoma etc (higher than 100c) to Sauté 

** if adding Carrots you will want to add them here, "grated" with onions** 

Add some pepper, paprika and any seasoning you like... I added onion flakes as my onion was a little small. 5 mins, sauté 

** if adding Tomatoes you will want to add them here**

Towards the end of the 5 mins, add a tbs Veggie stock paste

Set timer for 10 mins sp 1 - 2 / spoon + reverse (If using sharp blade swap to blunt)

While blades are moving add mince in large chunks through the beaker hole in lid. Then add 1 tbs corn flour, and another of tomato paste, 1 measuring cup (100mL) each full of water and wine, a very heaped tsp of whatever passes for Vegemite in your house, any veggies you want to add.

Keep an eye on the mince. When it is cooked turn it off and pop into a casserole dish/thermal dish

I have not tried this yet but it may work to steam the meat in the rice basket with some salt and the wine and add to veggies in the last minute of cooking.

Pie Peas

Honey does not agree, but what is more awesomely

Queenslander than peas in your pie... Add some frozen peas and water to your jar (we like McCains), cook 

If peas are cooked but not mushy pulse your turbo button for 1 - 2 seconds. Repeat if needed... Making your own mushy peas helps to avoid the additive tartrazine in your children's food.

 Judiet

  

Mayo Madness

I have probably mentioned before that I hosted my besties first ever Thermomix demonstration. She asked me if I could get a few friends together, supply a few ingredients and eat some yummy food so that she could practise on us. Out of that party, my friend sold one TM31 that night, another person at the party had bought a TM from her within 3 months and at the party of the first buyer yet another TM was sold. 

I will never forget how her confidence as a person soared becoming a demonstrator... and I will never forget one line "Thermomix consultants make their own mayonnaise"... I don't know how many times it took my bestie to get it right but here is what it looked like for me.

The first time I tried making mayo was with a TM31 and the Everyday Cookery book recipe (the original, I am not sure if it was updated in the newer book). Dismal fail. The 2nd time was with the 4 Blades magazine recipe using the Kogan TB1. Perhaps it was because it required a 37c but the Kogan goes has a 40c setting. I was tired of wasting precious ingredients and gave up entirely.   

This is a thing I had struggled with. I didn't like consuming all the "nasties" and finding a good brand that used free range eggs, no gluten and a decent enough oil was a nightmare. I found a supermarket brand we liked, and then it was discontinued. I played with a few organinc ones and we did like the S&W brand and Macro... but they just were not quite the same.

It was time to face the mayo dragon again. I decided that if it did not work this time, I was getting a stick blender... I saw this exciting method of making fool proof mayo a while back here.

So this is the recipe I tired first. I cannot thank this blogger (Rachel) enough because her demonstration of the MyCook recipe led to the first mayo that ever worked for me.  

If you have to buy eggs or your chooks are lazy/broody or you can get oil for a mad discount etc this is a good recipe. It is a little oily compared to bought brands but you can definitely play with it, and the potato salad I made with it was awesome. If I made it again I would add French mustard and herbs at the beginning. 

Last night we tried this recipe Honey liked it a lot better. The website photo does not do it justice. We added 1 tbs French mustard  at the beginning. I plan to experiment with some sugars and acids soon to get it just right for us.

The dregs of mayo left in the jar were used to make a yummy coleslaw. The next night I persevered with the silicone spatula. Most of the first batch went to making Potato salad. The rest (along with some of the 2nd batch) went to making pasta salad. 

We use the EDC coleslaw recipe but I never bother measuring anything...

Mr Fussy's clone of Mrs Crockets pasta salad

Mayo

1/4 onion

1 capsicum (use red for authenticity but what ever is cheaper works for taste)

Pasta

200g Cheese (use less if you want the sauce "runny" like Mrs Cs)

2 small carrots or 1 large

Optional Frozen corn

Boil some water and add some salt, olive oil and half a pk of good quality pasta... I used San Remo spirals (about 250g). 

When done strain and flush with cold water... allow to cool (if your family like corn, now is a good time to sir through some frozen corn) and grab your fave machine... 

Grate 1/4 smallish to medium onion, 2 skinny carrots or a large (peeled) and a capsicum. 

Wash out jar (if you are like me and had no grated cheese) Grate a 1kg pk of cheese save about 200g and pop the rest in the fridge for next time. 

Grab pasta, check that it has cooled. 

Add veggies and stir

Stir through most of a jar of mayo (if using a cheep one go half/half with some cream or sour cream) 

stir though cheese then add the last dreggs of mayo and give one final stir through.

I have been advised that a gluten Free version of this could be made with Barilla but I have not attempted it yet.   

Mr Fussy's Potato Salad

1.5-2kg Potatoes, peeled

Handful *eschallots

Bottle of Mayo

Salt and Pepper

 

Bite size potatoes boiled in water with a pinch of salt.

Wizz some eschallots add to potatoes and sir through.

Season with a little salt and pepper

Confession: I need spice jars - the big ones; so I am using Masterfoods Chives lately instead of eschallots. Buying chives is one of the cheapest ways to get the spice jars... cheaper is if someone gives them to you or you can get them from Vinnies.

Judie