My Yogurt Adventure

It all started with way more left-over milk than we could drink. I noticed on the internet a way I could make 2L of yoghurt at a time, which was much more convenient than using the 1L method in the “everyday cook book”.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM3h-tFsg4U

This made use of my Thermo-server which was much more convenient to use than the yogurt maker.

I separated some of the yoghurt out when it had reached “Greek-Style” consistency. I used it to make beef stroganoff and guacamole. I try to use Greek-Style yoghurt whenever I can in lieu of sour-cream. Honey loved it. I also popped some on a plate and drizzled honey and almonds over it for dessert and Honey enjoyed that too.

 

I also made yogurt cheese which we used on toast with salami, tomatoes and olives and I added Italian herbs to make a cracker dip.  

 

This got me thinking…

Maybe I should try this with goat’s milk. Honey wants to get some goats “one-day”. We wanted to see if we even like goat’s products. From what I red on the internet you could not do goats yoghurt from pasteurised milk. I had made it from the Every-day cook book recipe, which called for adding powdered milk but was not sure how it would go without it.

 

The friend I mentioned in the yeast-free bread, cannot do cow’s milk either; I wanted to see if I could make a yoghurt she could eat. I plan on using a “granddaughter” yogurt to begin the yogurt I make for her.

 

Expense wise, you are much better sticking to cow’s milk unless you know someone with a goat.

 

The first batch I made, I used the only natural yogurt that I thought existed in CQ- Pauls brand. The yogurt was ok, but I could never eat it straight. Honey loved it in guacamole- I had to add more seasoning to disguise the “goaty after-taste”.

I did find that I enjoyed the yogurt,  if I added it to Greek-style breakfast yogurt and washed away the taste in my mouth or used it in juice shakes.

 

The goat’s milk made more whey than the cow’s milk and consequently there was less yogurt and less yogurt-cheese.

I noticed when I was shopping, 3 other brands that I could try too… so I will try them and blog about the results.

Yogurt 2 made a much pleasant tasting yogurt. It was only available in low fat, when compared to the Pauls yogurt; it was less sour and had a slightly powdery texture and was lacking in creaminess.

I used some as a starter, froze some more in case I needed a starter again for the future and drained the rest and ate it with my breakfast yogurt.

 

In case the yogurt did not turn out, I made custard from goat’s milk in the Thermomix. Some for Honey, some for my friend. I was not keen to try it, but tasted the spatula… Mmm this is delicious- and later Honey and my friend agreed.

 

 

 

Ways to use Whey

All this yogurt making has made more whey than I know what to do with. I have tried it successfully in making yeast-free bread and as we speak I am proving some regular artisan dough.

 

I also tried it in pancakes- last time I made a yummy treat during the day (Fake KFC) Honey read my blog and asked where his was… so Honey if you are reading this your pancake is in the fridge.

 

I usually use yogurt in my pancakes, and when I make them for my family they like them as much as I do. Honey is not convinced I make good pancakes because the one time I made pancakes for him some “helpful” person at my place had put salt beside the sugar, I was too tired to realise before I put the little grains into the Thermomix “hey this is white!!!” I always buy raw sugar and use pink salt in my cooking. The unhealthy white stuff is purely for first-aid purposes. I tried to get as much of it out as I could but you know salt… less is more I had more so it was way less… kudos to Honey for eating one. 

 

Judie

Yeast Free Bread

I have a friend who is allergic to many things and I wanted to make her some bread to try. I found she not only could not have gluten but yeast and honey too. I wanted to try making the bread but was a little concerned at how it would turn out. The yummiest Gluten Free bread recipe is here

On checking the Quirky Cooking website, Jo said that you could try baking powder but she had never tried it with this recipe. I decided to give it a go, telling my friend that I would try it first and find some chooks if I didn’t like it.

I used a ¼ recipe- which was nice as I could use Thermie to knead it. I then halved the dough to make two even balls and popped them out to rise. I gave it about 40 minutes to rise and then 40 minutes in the oven. I was making spaghetti bolognaise for Honey and his work-mate (just in case they hated the bread).

When they were cooked you will see from the picture that one loaf of bread is much more cracked than the other. The boys got the cracked loaf, which was perfect as a pull-apart damper type bread (they did not have any knives in the office). The other loaf was better for making slices, which delighted my friend.

I wanted to put the yeast free bread to a few more tests so made some again, 1 big loaf and some small rolls. I also tried some whey instead of water, but forgot to add the xanthum gum.

Compared to the yeast bread that I was used to, I found the bread crumbled more easily, this may have been because the xanthum gum was left out. I froze a bun and microwaved it the next day, it was perfect and did not need to be toasted.

Imagine my surprise this week when I was making a snack and popped out one of the rice bread buns defrosted ready to toast and found it to be perfect without needing the toaster. I was keen to see if the yeast free bread could cut it too.

Oh just so you know… how did I get the whey to the right temperature- warmish? I popped it in the Thermomix for a few minutes on 37c. When the 37 light stopped flashing I began to add the other liquid ingredients such as eggs, honey and oil. Even though it was a very wet day not at all conducive to proving dough, it still felt warm when I popped the dough into the fridge.

Judie 

Honey bought me some Sorghum

I am very excited to tell you that we have sorghum. So I can finally taste the bread as it was originally intended... Recipe here. It was a dilemma as to which sorghum to buy as there is white and red available at Lola’s wheat free world. So we ordered some of each. It was very exciting to see it on the door-step. In fact, Lola’s package arrived before our brown-basmati rice which we ordered a few days earlier… maybe today it will come.

 

Kitchen malfunctions:

You will notice I have a different bowl today; yes I took cake in my “Bread bowl” to work and forgot to bring it back. Honey’s Mum makes fantastic pottery bowls though- but this one is slightly on the small size, for what I need it to do. Shoulda woulda coulda made a smaller batch but chose not to.

I have half the amount of xamtham gum that is required, with my success of going without it in the last recipe; I decided to try my luck...

So I have not blogged in a few days, but this is to catch you up.

Thursday I missed toasted focaccia rolls, so I attempted to make one with the focaccia I made earlier in the week. I put left-over things from the fridge such as ricotta, salami, prosciutto, bacon and olives with a bit of salad. Toasted in the sandwich press- result delicious. 

Friday GF “KFC” was calling me, I milled some Tuscan seasoning, paprika, Italian herbs and casian pepper in the Thermomix. Then I added about a teaspoon to a few table spoons of bread crumbs.

Rolled the chicken pieces (I used wings cut into 3 parts and tossed the tips to the cats) in corn flour, then dipped in egg and rolled in the crumbs. I was hungry so was not waiting for the oven to cook them. I fried them up in a frying pan on the stove.

The white bread-crumbs were easy bakers GF bread, frozen and crumbed. The brown bread crumbs used were from the first batch of bread I made with chia to replace the sorghum.  

 

The brown crumbs “behaved” more the way I wanted them to, but it’s been a while since I have fried chicken and I am more than a little out of practise. They tasted “healthier” and I did not add spice to that one piece. The white crumbs fell off but were slightly sweeter in flavour. I think they would have fared better in the oven. There are other recipes out there for GF “KFC” which use flour I intend trying them “one day”, but it was nice to have a chicken “fix”. I chose wings as they are cheap and if I messed it up well it would not hurt my wallet as much.

So on the weekend it was Honey’s birthday. We had a party and we had another GF party member coming. I made burger buns for us. As the buckwheat recipe had a softer crust I decided to try it out.

I bought little cake tins but found I probably did not need them as the dough has the ability to be shaped as the cob loaf does. But I had bought the tins so I was testing them…

I used baking paper on 2 lots and just some oil on the other 2 lots. I found the baking paper to be superfluous. The bread once again came right away from the sides of the baking dish.

The buns did not break as I was eating. I think they could have been a little thinner as they were perhaps a little chewy. Also the bread was the same colour as the cooked steak which made them appear a tiny bit boring to look at but the taste was great. 

I also had one the next day and it was also fine and did not need to be toasted.

Party day I was never more thankful to be a  Thermomix owner. I cooked regular spaghetti bolognaise sauce (chopped everything in Thermie) and dumped it in the slow cooker. I like to make about double the sauce at t a time and it does not all fit in the Thermomix at once… no worries I had plenty more work for “him” to do … I also prefer the texture that the slow cooker gives the bolognaise sauce.

I found a fantastic recipe for lentil bolognaise here but did not have time to be standing by a stove for 20 minutes. I added a few essential bolognaise veggies such as mushrooms and capsicum, extra canned tomatoes set the timer and let Thermie do the rest while I fixed up some other pre-party jobs.

I also used Italian herbs and Tuscan seasoning in leiu of oregano.

Let me tell you I was surprised at how good they tasted, Honey liked them too. I was also pleasantly surprised at how much cheaper they are to make than beef bolognaise sauce and how much easier to clean the TM bowl was. Definitely will be using it again and is very well suited to being a recipe for “a meal in a hurry”.

I cleaned the TM bowl and made French onion dip, garlic and herb dip, then looked for the sweet chilli sauce to top the last cream cheese with (I was sure I had some in the fridge). Turns out I didn’t. What I did have was a red capsicum, coriander, parsley and some dried herbs. I zapped the capsicum in the thermomix, then zapped the fresh herbs, added some Italian herbs mix and Tuscan seasoning, whipped in the cream cheese… and I had people asking for the recipe.

Judie

Breadcrumbs

If you like me, have found that you just cannot face eating store-bought bread now that you have made the real thing, experimented with recipes and found the one you love… then you spy in the freezer the bread you first made and a stash of store-bought GF bread and you gag at the thought of eating it…

Do not despair, breadcrumb it. Honey makes delicious rissoles, breadcrumbs are a key ingredient. I wanted to feel like I had done something in the kitchen today between shifts so; breadcrumbs it was. As I was tossing the frozen bread slices into Thermie (an Australian nickname for Thermomix) and pulsing the turbo button, I was reminded of other things I miss since removing gluten from my diet.

Sure Cedar Park makes delicious GF fish and chips. But what I very much miss is KFC… mmm hot and spicy. Ok I can feel the pillows you are tossing at me and hear the groans and the “SHUT-UPS”… but I have a point to this. Mum used to make chicken in the oven with breadcrumbs… if I mill up some Tuscan seasoning or Portuguese chicken seasoning with some eggs and GF crumbs, I might have a little healthier slice of heaven.  When chicken is on special… it would be cheaper too.

Don’t have a Thermomix?

You don’t need a Thermomix (type machine) to make the gluten free bread I have been making. In fact the original recipe inventors don't use one. I can say it does sure help, as being able to mill some of your own grain such as popcorn, rice and even tapioca pearls/seeds will save you money, nutrients, shelf-life etc. Breadcrumbs were a breeze, however, visiting the health food store and the health food section of your supermarket will get you rice flour, tapioca flour, (Rice, corn and potato flour can also be found with the wheat flour section- cheaper) and arrowroot flour can be found in the cake decorating section. Coles sells a generic brand GF cornflour too. I have not seen cornmeal, however and found I needed to mill my own you should know, I have not tried to look for besan either.  

Friends with Thermomixes (and other machines that can mill) may even let you use their machine to grind a few grains. You can get an idea if this is the thing for you… Even the cheapest knock-off is a lot of money to spend on something that you decide you don’t want to use.

Here is the website that Jo (the blogger/chef I got my recipe from) adapted her bread recipe from specifically with Thermomix users in mind. This could be helpful if you prefer not to weigh your ingredients as you cook.If you are time poor, or lack energy, the knead function is certainly helpful for making the GF egg free bread I made yesterday. Btw Honey liked it too; the texture reminded him of cake and he thought it might be nice to add some bananas to make banana bread. I think banana on top would also be delicious.

Sandwich loaf bread

I found this other fantastic recipe for bread that I am very keen to try today… but I am out of quinoa (we are looking online for Australian quinoa) and wonder if something else might work instead. I am very excited to make a sandwich loaf from scratch. Recipe here. It has no eggs, and I have just bought plenty of eggs, so I might do some experimenting later.

I’m not sure how many readers I have, and how many have a Thermomix or similar machine. I am very interested to hear how the Vitamix, Thermochef, Bellini, Kogan, Maxi and other similar products work out too.  I don’t sell Thermomixes, but if you want one, I can put you in contact with my other sister friend - who I call the Thermomix Queen. For all the options available I have only seen the Thermomix “In person” the Bellini in a box (at Target), and a friend has a Vitamix, but I have not seen it either.

I have found this page essential for flour conversions here

Quinoa is a bodifier; I see that I can swap with cornmeal, besan or rice flour. I am very keen for another cooking adventure. I have also seen sites that divide the flours by other ways, but this way works… so I use it. 
 

Kitchen malfunctions: I think I am making up for yesterday. I had just one (a burn from the oven, which I covered with a wet Anion wrapped in a tea-towel. Five minutes later, the pain was gone, I removed the stuff and my hand was great. It’s kind of nice to not waste 20 mins of cool water running over my hand, and not being stuck to the sink while things are cooking around me.

My dough was in the TM and the kneading function was “Not working”, I had it on stir, I needed it in the “closed lid position”. I hit reverse a few times to “facilitate the knead process.” 

There was a glob of dough under the blades, which I noticed after I had skimmed the top of the dough with a wet spoon (a process that would have been easier if the tin was the correct size for the amount of dough. I removed the dough using by putting the speed on 10. I added it to the loaf by working it in with wet fingers to the top of the dough.

Thanks to Simone at

Thermomix essentials

I realised I didn’t need to call my TM Queen and ask how to get it fixed… So I will know for next time I try.

The chickpeas- I looked for them but they were “hiding” somewhere in the pantry, so I made the dough with cornmeal instead.

“Someone” used a knife in my loaf tin; it now has rusty stripes on it. I covered them with some alfoil.

My TM looked “Funny” when I was weighing… I had not “seated” the TM bowl correctly, so more chia seeds were added than was needed. I had been able to rescue the “extra” buckwheat though. Not that I am that concerned about the few additional chia seeds as I forgot to add the xanthan gum.

I think this one will be a “re-submit”. But it is happily resting ready to be baked in about an hour.

This dough does not rise very much at all. Next time I think I will use a smaller tin.

The bread was cooked in 50 minutes. Probably as the tin was a little on the large side for the loaf, I will let it cool and tell you what I think of the taste. So far I have noticed it is quite springy straight out of the oven. The cob loaf was like a rock. It also shrunk away from the sides of the pan so was very easy to remove to check the bottom was brown.

As if to mock me, on kitchen malfunctions day… the dishwasher is also refusing to turn on, so I will wash the dishes and allow the bread to cool.

Ok this bread is brilliant. It’s my favourite yet… now I just need an appropriate tin. I would go for probably one half the size lengthways so you make a shorter loaf but the bread slices are right.

It may be possible to make a 1.5 size dough ball or double batch to fill the loaf tin, assuming you had enough people who would eat the bread in the required time. I am not sure if extra dough would fit in the Thermomix.