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.

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

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

Pritikin Survivor

As a child of the 80s who grew up in a conservative protestant home I was scared of many things… ACDC, Dungeons and Dragons, Madonna (and more)… I laugh now, but nearly as frightening as the devil and “his music” was the cholesterol injected food that tasted so good such as white flour, rice and bread (not a fan of the taste and empty calories these days) and the Ohhhh so evil butter, egg yolk and cheese (unless it was the revolting stuff like fat-free cottage). It was maybe 2ish years that we lived on that food, but it felt like forever. To this day; I hate diets and all the fat I lose tends to find me again and bring its friends that is why I am a huge fan of lifestyle changes and making healthier eating and exercise choices fun. Yes we had the Pritikin diet shoved down our throats and lived to tell the story, but in my 20s I had a lot of “unlearning” to do.

I’m not really angry at my parents, they were worried about the junk we ate and Dad needed support when he had to lower his cholesterol so the whole family had to partake of the diet restrictions. Some of the food was not that bad, but we were certainly the weird family in our circles- and that was not a good feeling when all you want to do was blend, in my 30s I don’t mind being outstanding and I look at music a lot differently to the way I did when I was a child.

GF Focaccia

Herbs

I tried the herbs and cheese focaccia bread this week which I took to a party. It was very well received. I made a quarter of my artisan dough into small dough balls and sprinkled herbs and cheese on top. For next time, I will knead some herbs into the bread first, to give it a little more flavour.

Bacon and Cheese

I wizzed some frozen chunks of shortcut bacon in the TB1, 2x Turbo for 2-3 seconds. Scraped some tomato paste onto the dough (1/4 divided into 6 ball shapes)  then dipped each dough ball into the bacon pieces carefully placing them into the slow cooker and sprinkled parmesan cheese on top.

Dairy free custard

I made some DF custard this week and tried it out on some friends who agreed to be guinea pigs, it was a hit, though I added a little too much GF corn flour so it was a bit thick. As you can see by my picture; I still think Passata jars are excellent for storage, but I don’t have much luck getting rid of the macro label.

Recipe 1

500mL coconut milk, 25g Corn flour, 2 egg yolks (I can hear Nathan Pritikin tsking), 20g sugar (or to taste), cocoa pdr or vanilla essence (I made vanilla). 100c, 10 mins, sp 4 or 3 for GSM machine… this was a little too long I noticed it was cooked with about 2-3 mins to go. So you can back off the time a bit. I had very +ive feedback, and my friends were surprised that it was DF… requesting a bounty flavour next time using chocolate flavour.

JuiceBlendz ThermoBlend style

I am not sure how long it takes to blend a juice in the TM31, what I do know is that you can fill the jug with orange halves, wizz it and add coconut milk by drizzling through the space in the lid around the MC… then wizz some cinnamon in and you are done… a crowd pleaser. I can now tell you that it works pretty much the same with the TB1 as with a GSM machine.

Dairy Free(Cheese-less) Pizza… before it was cool 

As you may know, I have been experimenting with some DF along with my GF foods, mostly so I know if I have a DF guest what I could serve that tastes nice. I was thinking about alternatives to dairy this week, my sister went through a vegan phase and bought soy cheese which was very nice (but expensive) and some people are uncomfortable with soy these days. Then I remembered…

I will never to this day forget the look on the youth leader’s daughter’s face when I mentioned at youth group that actually pizza without cheese tastes ok… she looked at me like I was a martian. For some reason the topic came up that pizza without cheese is ‘without’ I am not sure of the context or what we were supposed to learn that day… I learnt that I was weird and not in a good way.

But Mr Pritikin did get something right decades ago that could help people today. I remember Mum telling us that she read that he made a pizza for his kids filled it with heaps of toping held together with egg white (keep the yolk for authenticity in appearance, it’s really not evil food) and they didn’t notice that the cheese is missing (and nor did we).

This would be a problem for your child if they cannot do dairy or egg, but if you are out of nut cheese and lack time to make it, this could work for you.

Judie

Varomas and Teeny Slow Cookers

You may know that Sand Cake is pretty much my favourite go to recipe. Once I tasted it I decided I was never going back to a packet mix. I always make it Gluten free and have turned it into golden syrup pudding, caramel flavour, cupcakes, lamingtons and strawberry short cake. It is so versatile and this week I turned it Dairy Free chocolate flavour, which I think would also be ok for diabetics too. Served with GF custard, this was a lovely treat.

I had told Honey a while back how delish my mums orange meringue used to be and was delighted when she made some one evening for our relatives that were visiting. Yeek she used fake sugar, it totally did not do the dessert justice. So I wanted a dessert up my sleave for “next time” that also was handy for people who cannot do dairy.

My green grocer ages ago told me about a trick for replacing eggs and fat with apple sauce in cakes and how nice they turn out. I needed to use up egg whites so I just replaced the butter this time, making a 1/2 batch in case it did not work out, so I also wanted to steam them in the varoma so I didn’t have to turn the oven on… To my delight it worked, very well. The batter divided evenly between 2 ramekins and I used the TB1 on 120c for 15 mins. It probably could have gone for a shorter time. If you decide to make this for yourself, please keep an eye on them.




Mini Slow-cooker bread

At last I was able to test my smallest slow cooker (1.5L) with bread baking. It worked rather well, though it did get rather humid on the lid, so the crust was a little moist. This may improve with a tea-towel under the lid which I plan to try in the near future. when the bread cooled however the crust was normal and the slices a lovely shape. If I had not had access to my new GF toaster or the sandwich loaf pan this would have been more of a fantastic thing for me, as the slices were quite well-suited to sandwiches… for GF bread that is. Finding that the yeast bread can be made in the slow cooker without a 2nd rise has taken a lot of the headache out of bread-making for me.  I like that the dough can be left in the fridge until needed for up to a week and popped into the slow cooker. I have also frozen some slices in pairs for the forthcoming crazy weeks ahead with TAFE. Once again recipe here

Larger Slow-Cooker Artisan Bread

Artisan bread is simply a miracle I think and the Healthy Bread in 5 minutes recipe writers are geniuses. I thought I was the first person to cook their bread in my slow cooker… Obviously not after reading this today. Which was very timely as I had already put my bread on for a second rise 60 minutes before finding out that it can go straight into the crock pot. This is beyond handy to know, as the 4x with yeast mix can be made up to a week in advance (it’s better tasting the first few days). Depending on your Slow Cooker  you would then just take out a ball pop it in the machine and have fresh bread 90ish minutes later. You could also have the dough ready for pizza, calzones and focaccia.

I have been asked “Will the artisan bread work in a larger slow cooker?” the answer is yes. I took advantage of the Big W 5.5L for $20.00 deal this week. Honey thinks it was because he wanted Pea and Ham soup cooked with a ham bone… we know it was really bought to check out if it was good for cooking bread. While I was at it, I grabbed a cute little slow cooker to test from Woolworths, also $20. As we speak I have 2 yeast cobs in the slow cooker and earlier this week I did a yeast free loaf, which took closer to 2 hours than the 1.5 in the 5.5L slow cooker, but it got there and the results were just as delish.

I also have cooking away in my camping oven a small tin loaf using yeast this time. I think last time I over-did the water and didn’t put in quite enough this time, the crust is looking a little dry. Worried for nothing, it was perfect.

My multi-cooker also arrived this week. I have only cooked brown rice in it so far (high pressure, ready in 14 mins), my toddler nephew was here this weekend he saw the cooker and asked for rice, so we gave it a go. The “keep warm” function kept the rice at the perfect temperature till dinner time when we made sushi with it. I also saved some rice for the next evening when we had tuna mornay (warming it in the varoma as the sauce cooked).

Good news, our Conversion Chart for making smaller Artisan loaves has been uploaded.

Alternative bread baking part 2

Everything I have made in my Thermomix or any of the clones and blogged about, has now been added to a new category which I created recently called “ThermoMachines”… I had not remembered that I enjoyed the Quirky loaf, but having a bread tin (as opposed to a rectangle cake tin… small one for GF bread) has made a huge difference to my enjoyment of the bread as it fits better in my GF toaster ($8 from wollies and I can keep it as hot as I like without Honey burning his toast or contaminating mine). It has a huge purple nail-polish Gf on each side… So far I have made artisan bread into a loaf 2x, Tania Hubbard’s nut bread (expensive but nice) recipe here, we changed 2 eggs for apple sauce in one lot and 1/2 a mashed banana in another lot… I liked both, Honey preferred apple sauce recipe… and date muffins as a loaf recipe here also switching some ingredients to make a savoury loaf too.

Would you like to know more about our thermo-experiments? Join my ThermoScience and MixinFun group on Facebook for up-to-date information on all the tests we do, you can even make requests… here

I had not realised I made my first ever yeast free dough rise for 40 mins… who has time for that, 10 is pushing the limit these days… time is of the essence and it appears to be a much better loaf. I found another gluten free bogger, here; very interesting information yet I cannot understand the fascination with cutting the top of the loaf before cooking… they all do it; it’s a pain to remember and I think it makes the shape of finished product a bit annoying and have noticed no great benefit to the cuts. The absolute best way I have found to cook an artesian loaf is in the slow cooker (I have a round base which is perfect for the small loaf), does not heat up the kitchen in Summer and saves electricity…

Todays experiment is in response to a query I had regarding school lunches. I can little imagine the frustration as a child with even more limited options for a yummy lunch than it can be for an adult. At least at TAFE, we had sandwich toasters and microwaves available. Pizza is awesome for lunch but finding a good base that is nice cold is a challenge. On holidays there is little to complain about with polenta bases and yoghurt dough fresh from the oven, but the next day when they are cold… can be rather chewy. I grin and bear it, but if I was a school kid missing out I think I would be pretty ticked off (and they wonder why there is a high incidence of depression among the GF population)…

Usually when I make pizza it is with the 5mins/Quirky dough, 1/4 rolled out between 2 sheets of baking paper with oil between, transfer it to the cast-iron skillet which is on a heated element, begin adding topping and cover for about 10 mins then transfer to hot oven… this is delicious, wood-fired would slightly top the experience. But not every one has a cast-iron skillet and I don’t think I have ever attempted pizza with the yeast free bread dough. So tonight 2x quarters are cooking in a loaf tin in the toaster oven, 1x quarter is in the slow cooker and the other quarter is busy in the oven on a normal pizza tray with leftovers from our ridge/freezer… chorizo, chicken, avocado, tomatoes a few herbs and cheese. I will try not to eat it all so I can try a piece tomorrow for lunch.

Straight out of the oven, it was good… we were hungry so I didn’t get a shot first… but it looked like pizza should. Snuffy our fury 5yo took my last piece of pizza when I got up to check on the bread… fortunately I had a small sliver in the fridge for tomorrow.

Bread smells like honey, and is slightly darker than usual but the crust is quite soft to touch and I am looking forward to breakfast in the morning.

Day 2

Once again the bread was perfect the next day, however there is the slight taste of bicarb soda in the bread, so next time I will back it off a bit. For each cup of flour I added to the mixing bowl; 1 tsp of Bicarb soda was added, perhaps that ratio was a little too high;, or perhaps the bread dough needed more time to relax before being popped into the oven.

New recipes with Thermie

I love Chicken Tonight Honey Mustard sauce, but I am not keen on the additives. This week I found on the recipe community a recipe that is how I remember it tasting, but looks slightly brighter in colour. Recipe here. Honey was not as excited as I was but he ate it without too much complaining. I also decided to try “filleting” chicken legs. there were a few bones that made it in, but I liked that I saved some money on the chicken meat, and our fury child had a huge treat he would otherwise have missed out on. It didn’t take that much longer to dice the chicken and it helped to have it slightly frozen still. If we didn’t have a huge Meremma that would be offended if we didn’t share our yummy food with him, keeping the bones would be invaluable for a delicious chicken stock. I now regularly offend our fury son by keeping our bones aside to make stock.

What was somewhat disappointing in Honey’s reaction to the fist recipe, was completely restored in his reaction to the next one I tried this week, Chicken Satay also on the recipe community here. There were many to choose from, I did not have all the ingredients so made some substitutions… Fish sauce for oyster sauce, soy sauce for tamrai, sweet chilli sauce for a chilli, masala for fennel. Also honey is anti-mixed food, so I kept the veggies separate, steamed in the varoma.

The first batch of Satay I made, I added mushrooms to, as we had some and it was nice too. Our visitors enjoyed the food, and we enjoyed their company. Probably the next best part of having so many people love the food I made, was making some peanut butter. Honey turned me off buying some once by mentioning the “rats per tonnage” thing… We had lots of fun making it in under a minute with a Zero RPT.

Tonight I made this recipe. If you are not a member of the group you may not be able to see the  I used mostly fresh herbs- ginger, garlic, onion, chives (from our garden) and corriander. I made the sauce in Thermie and poured it over some chicken wings (minus the “finger” parts, Snuffy enjoyed them) in the slow cooker and went off to work (I got this idea from a TM consultant who is in the group, she used drumsticks). When I returned home I cooked the rice and veggies in the TM bowl and varoma. It was very nice. However I think I will add some sweet potato next time to the curry. If you have any type Thermomixer machine, or even want one; I absolutely recommend joining this group on FB. Also worth a look is Thermobextas and Thermostruck.

Chicken Madras - HCG P2 Compliant, Paleo, Grain Free, Dairy Free

By Nikalene Riddle (Skinnymixers FB group)
I used Sweet chilli sauce instead of chilli flakes,  Omitted 2 handfuls of baby spinach and served with brown rice in lieu of cauliflower rice

Italian Soup- Thermie Style

This week I made Italian Soup in the TMX. I halved the recipe on the packet and there was still not much room in the TM bowl. I do not make it exactly the way the packet says I should. I swap the cabbage for potato and add the ingredients at different times. The result from these timings was the the lentils and veggies were not quite soft enough but still nice. I like the method for making Maltese soup which I shared before, and I have applied that to the Italian soup. It means that all parts of the soup are soft and comforting to eat. Trying a new method for the recipe. I have popped the ingredients in bold so you can easily see what you need.

I chopped the ham from the bone, leaving some pieces with skin on and a little ham fat. I then popped it in the TM bowl with some butter on Varoma reverse speed soft/speed 1. I left it cooking for about 10 minutes. Then removed the ham and wizzed the onion, and popped the ham back in and continued to cook as above for another 6 minutes.

I had the lentils (I used the Italian soup mix) soaking on the side while I was preparing beforehand. I popped them into the basket with the potato (about the size of a bar of soap, cubed) ham and onions. The basket was pretty full. I popped in some water, veggie stock and tomato paste and set that to cook on Varoma speed 4. I had to turn it down to 90 after about 10 minutes as the soup started bubbling over.  When it was time to add the carrot (diced) and a 1/4 cup brown rice, they would not fit in the basket, so I took it out and had everything in the TM bowl cooking at 90 degrees on reverse speed soft for half an hour.

I then repeated the step above with the celery (diced, reverse speed soft 90 degrees for 30 mins). Then add a handful of pasta to a casserole dish and pour hot soup over and stand for 30 minutes. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice, and a slice of bread.

Cooking with less ingredients, say 1/3 of the lentils mix and a little less ham (leaving enough room for the carrot and celery) would mean that I could cook it on a higher temperature without the mixture bubbling. If I was making it in the Kogan TB, I would keep the lentils, veggies and ham in the basket, so they were away from the blades.

Certainly making it this way means that there was not a whole heap of soup that I was eating for days on end. There was enough for dinner for 2, lunch for 1 and breakfast for 1. If More food was the desire, than cooking it for longer on lower heat would work too. If using a TB you might have to sacrifice a little in appearance… but then again its soup, is it meant to be pretty?

I have tried this recipe in the Kogan withoth the blade cover but it shredded the ham, so I made cabonara instead.

Soups…

You might remember that I wanted to try making some Maltese soup in the TM, It worked but the timings were wrong and as a result I had chewy chicken, nutty rice, not quite done potato, carrots and celery. It was still a better lunch than the food they serve at the canteen.

Maltese soup (and I have found this also with Italian soup) is best served hot with a squeeze of lemon juice. When I was nanny for the Maltese family I learnt to make the soup from, the lemon juice was always fresh… when I moved on the squeeze bottles worked quite well (lemon and lime worked). Squeeze bottles do not work so well for me these days as “someone” puts the open ones back in the cupboard not the fridge and they go black by the time I need them again.

Lucky for me my Mother in law has some grapefruit trees that are going insane at the moment and she gave me a bag to try. I have been testing them to see if they can be used instead of lemons and in this case it’s a huge YES. I have played with this recipe and come up with this one. I have also found that small chicken legs will fit in the rice basket and can even be placed around the butterfly or you can "fillet" them with a knife and use the bones for stock. I have not tried this recipe with my MyCook and do not recommend the butterfly method for GSM machines as it is outside of what it was designed for.

I came across a “4 ingredients” recipe for chicken soup when I was unwell and tweaked it as I am not keen on canned foods and neither of us like hot roast chicken breast much either.

I used vegie stock, 1/2 chicken breast, Frozen corn, Onion and carrots

Wizz onion and carrots, sauté with a dob of butter

add cubed chicken breast, stock and corn, cook on varoma temp about 15 mins.

Enjoy your Yummy chicken soup.

I later tried this recipe with raw chicken, I cooked it in the basket for about half hour and cooked everything together for another half hour.

Chicken wings fit better into the steam basket than chicken legs, but both work. Wings are handy in that you can buy a kilo for about the same price as 1/2 a kg of legs. Chop the top of the wing (that looks like a little drumstick) and pop it in the pot. Save the middle part for hors d’oeuvres and treat the cats to the tips.

This is the Pea and ham soup I made with Thermie this week. I used fresh peas as I have a lot of them doing nothing in my freezer. I found that cutting the ham chunkier helped too.
2 thick chunks of Ham off the bone
1 onion
2 carrots
Peas
Vegie stock and water
Chop onions and carrots in thermie speed 5ish add ham and sauté 10 mins.
Add the rest of the ingredients, make the water/stock go to the top mark. Varoma 1 hour, speed slow, reverse. Improve consistency by slowly turning the dial midway for about 10-20 seconds when the soup is cooked.

Spaghetti Bolognese Ragu

Dairy free, Egg free, Gluten free Bolognase and Lasagne/Moussaka

I have not made Spaghetti sauce exactly the way the EDC book suggested I make it in the entire time I have owned a TM until yesterday. I learnt to make salsa (as my friend Gladdys calls it) when I lived in Sydney and I have never used a jar of dolmio since. Gladdys is an exceptional cook and she would make this with gnocchi (from scratch) to go with it. I am not been able to enjoy instant gnocchi now either... fortunately the TM also makes fantastic fresh gnocchi and it is easy... it was one of the first things I made with my sister's TM waaay before purchasing my own.

It used to take a lot of chopping to make the salsa but for the longest time I have chopped everything in the TM and transferred all ingredients to the slow cooker to finish off... it certainly saved my wrists, elbows and feet from RSI. Before TM; it was not uncommon to find a hair in the salsa which was completely embarrassing but it was a lot of stirring to get it right. My family forgave me because it was yummy.

The first time I tried cooking the salsa in the TM; I changed the recipe around, I just did not see how it would work “dumping it all in together”. It certainly was not cooked for long enough in my opinion; and when it came out of the TM, the sauce was very fine and I liked mine chunky.

It took two things to make me try it exactly the way it is in the recipe... hearing my family member tell me how easy and nice it was (but I didn't really trust her... her old method of making SB was browning mince and tossing in a can of heinz spaghetti) and much more-so reading a blog and recipe by Iron Chef Shelly here. Hey if it was good enough for an Iron chef it was good enough for me I decided.

MyCook instructions

1. Heat oil in jar. 120c, 1 minute, sauté. Set timer again for 5 mins, 120c, sauté Add onion, garlic, carrot, oregano and basil into jar in that order. In the last few minutes add celery

2. Add minced beef and pork, bay leaf, salt and nutmeg and cook for 8 mins, 120c, sp 1

3. Add remaining ingredients and cook 15 mins, 120c, sp 1, MB on, take it off for last 5 minutes to allow sauce to reduce

Serve on a bed of cooked pasta. For Carb/egg free use zoodles or Carrot spaghetti.
 

Other Thermo-machine instructions 
 
1. Place celery, carrot, onion, garlic, oregano and basil into mixing jug and chop 5 sec/speed 7.

2. Add oil, minced beef and pork (to rice basket add salt and pepper and drizzle over wine), bay leaf, and nutmeg and cook for 10 min/steam temp/ measuring cup on

3. Add remaining ingredients and cook 20 min/100 C/Speed 1

Serve on a bed of cooked pasta. For Carb/egg free use zoodles or Carrot spaghetti.

Pasta Dough

300g Gluten Free flour (100 of which can be milled brown rice)
1 tbs EVOO (olive oil)
3 eggs (have a spare)

Add all ingredients to jar.

Press the knead button (looks like a rolling pin on MyCook, wheat symbol on TM)... If you do not have a knead button mix sp 6 for 10 seconds, then sp 1, 1-2 mins

Knead till it looks like playdough. If it is not coming together properly add half an egg shell of water to the mix.

Roll flat and put through pasta roller or scroll it up into a sausage shape and cut into similar size circles with a knife. Un-roll... looks a little wonky but is delish.

I still prefer chunky salsa, but I love that I can add heaps of veggies and Honey does not notice. I have to admit however I love the finer salsa for making lasagne. There is also one other slight tweak I did... I used entirely Beef mince, changed the oregano to Italian herbs and left out the nutmeg... I just couldn't make myself do it. I also make it with all wine and no water now, never use tinned tomatoes always passata.
 
 

So this morning I rolled out some pasta and assembled the lasagne, it made 3 layers (I usually get two)... or if I am completely lazy I just dump the salsa in then some small pasta like spirals (par-cooked) and top with TM cheese sauce. The benefit of this is you can use a round bowl (and my MIL potted me a special one to use- but for this time; I had not made enough sauce for it and my rolling pin would not cope with making a pasta layer that wide).

I used the scraps to make spaghetti and kind of risoni (You cannot buy GF risoni- I usually just swap it for rice in recipes) and popped them in the fridge for tomorrow.

My first attempt at fresh lasagne was using a lentil bolognese recipe here I of course just popped it all in the TM to cook.As I had also made cabonara that day for dinner, the vego lasagne was popped into the fridge for lunches. I ate some cold for breakfast the next day and the most incredible thing of all was that the cold pasta was not rubbery, so Honey and I had some for lunch and he commented that he preferred the beef one but the lentil lasagne was not too bad. Breakfast this morning was the last slice, reheated and it was nice that way too. Therefore I have a new favourite pasta... yea!

Our beef Lasagne was very yummy, we finished off the whole thing in one go. For df lasagne use coconut milk and oil to make bechamel sauce, add nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavour when sauce is finished cooking. For egg free use finely sliced potatoes or eggplant instead of pasta for a delicious moussaka. 

JUDIE

The taming of the Kogan - Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff

Davo has a middle name… Tyson, he keeps biting me. Tonight I made beef stroganoff Kogan style. The end result was pretty delicious. Says not just Honey but also an independent taste-tester. Recipe here

MyCook instructions

1. Place EVOO into jar and set 120c, 1 min, sauté. (If using butter cook on 100c)
2. Place the quartered onion into the jar. Set timer 120c, 5 min, sauté (if using butter 100c 4 mins)
3. Place remaining ingredients, except parsley into TM bowl and cook 120c, 15 min, sauté
4. Garnish with parsley and serve with fettuccine (Recipe here) for DF and mashed potatoes for EF option.

Other Thermo-machine instructions

1. If using GSM machine, pop in blunt blades. Place the onion into the jug and chop for 5 seconds, speed 7.
2. Add butter and cook for 2 minutes, 100°C, speed 1.
3. Place remaining ingredients, except parsley into jug and cook for 20 minutes, 100°C, Speed 1 or 2
4. Garnish with parsley and serve with fettuccine (Recipe Here) for DF and mashed potatoes for EF option.

Mashed Potatoes

Honey is not a fan of TM mashed potatoes... I know right - grounds for divorce. So we end up doing them the old fashioned way. I even had to go buy a potato masher. So as penance he is the resident potato-masher. 

So in my attempts to get him to "like" TM mash I tried the Skinnymixers steamed mash (but do you think I could find it) when I am adding to this blog post?

Basically... peel and cube your potato (use one species of potato as they cook at different rates). Pop them on the Steaming trays with enough room to allow the steam through.

Add water to your machine's jug and steam for 15 minutes till soft.

Remove potatoes from steaming trays and pop the water into a cup.

Add potatoes to jug with some home-made mayo or a Dairy Free butter, salt and pepper to taste and wizz till smooth. Speed 5 to 7 is good.

Results for Kogan's performance...

So I tried making the “One bowl” style that I usually make which is weighing the mushrooms in the jug first (unless I forget then I put them in the steam basket on the TM lid) they weighed fine but stuck when I needed to remove the mushrooms to sauté the onions. The blade did not want to release his fungi prisoners and bit me during my attempts to help them to escape.

There are two possible styles of cooking for compensating for the lack of a reverse in the knock offs. One is to use the butterfly on the slowest setting and the other is to just put the setting on slow. If I had a Bellini we could switch out the blade for a blunt blade and continue cooking (now I have a Bellini, I know you can do the whole thing with the blunt blade) and I doubt "not using a blade cover on the Kogan" method will work for another family favourite of Riostto. It is tricky to attach and I have read that someone had theirs come off and the blades chopped it up and it was expensive to replace. So I was going to go with the slow speed forward tonight. Result very tasty Beef Stroganoff some of the mushrooms were chopped in half by the blade which made for a slightly lesser mark in presentation. Biting me made for a lower mark in ease of operation. Overall exceeds expectations +.

Burn marks again on the Kogan tonight when it was finished cooking, I have the dishwasher sorting that out as we speak. I have since found that heating water for about 10 minutes with bicarb soda in the Kogan jug is the most effective way to remove bun marks. They just wipe off.

Judie

Almond Milk Custard

Day 2, most of the water had drained down and when stirred looked like milk with a brownish tinge. I gave the bag full of the crushed almond mixture a squeeze; it would have been easier with something larger than a chux as bits of the paste like substance kept popping out into the almond milk. I had to rescue the blobs with a spoon. I’m not sure I will go to the bother of drying the paste to make almond-meal I will see if it works wet in something tomorrow. It seems like a bit of a waste of electricity to dry it in the oven.

With the problems I had yesterday I ended up with 400 mL of almond milk. With most of the almond meal strained out, the milk was much smoother and made a much better custard. I used a half recipe of custard and put the rest of the milk into some tiny plastic containers. Carrying them past teenagers to my friend, I was asked if I had shots in there… Ms T was very happy to receive her little treats and told me of this coconut ice cream that she had tried at the health food shop. I listened politely but really was not convinced (after all soy was not that great)… but I tried some and was surprised. Now I am busy looking for Coconut ice cream recipes on the internet and plan to shake the dust off my ice cream maker (actually it has never been out of its box)…

Honey if you are reading this and wondering where is your sample… unfortunately your favourite cat was hungry… I couldn't stop him in time. So sorry.

Judie