This quiche is absolutely delicious.  Served with a salad dressed with Cyndi O'Meara's Citrus Dressing, it made a lovely meal and got the thumbs up all round.  I used the EDC shortcrust pastry recipe which I'd not used before (I normally make Maggie Beer's sour cream pastry) and I was really happy with it.  It was pretty stiff after it came out of the fridge but a few bashes with the rolling pin and I was able to roll it out successfully.

Roasted Pumpkin Quiche

Ingredients

• 1 quantity Shortcrust Pastry, (EDC, cream cheese or sour cream)
• Filling
• 300 grams pumpkin
• 1 red onion, sliced into thin wedges
• 2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 100 grams baby spinach
• 100 grams tasty cheddar cheese
• 40 grams parmesan cheese
• olive oil, to drizzle
• 4 eggs
• 200 grams milk
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Make the shortcrust pastry according to directions, roll it out to line pie dish and place in the fridge to rest.

2. Cut the pumpkin into 2 cm cubes and place on a baking tray. Cut the onion into thin wedges and place on the same oven tray. Add the unpeeled garlic and spray the lot with olive oil spray. Toss the vegetables to coat. Place in a 200ºC oven and roast until tender (approximately 30 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Turn the oven down to 180ºC.

3. Steam the spinach until tender, drain and chop finely. Set aside.

4. Meanwhile, remove the pastry from the fridge, line with baking paper and fill with rice or baking weights. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven.

5. Cut the tasty cheese into cubes and place in the TM bowl and grate for 10 seconds on speed 8. Remove and set aside. Cut the parmesan cheese into cubes and grate for 20 seconds on speed 10. Remove and set aside.

6. Place the butterfly in the TM bowl and add the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze each clove into the egg mixture, add the chopped spinach and half of the parmesan and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4.

7. Scatter the tasty cheese over the base of the pastry. Place the pumpkin and onion evenly on top of the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese on the top. Add a sprinkle of paprika if desired. Cook in the oven at 180ºC for 40 minutes or until the centre is set.

Happy Autumn Days :)

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Now that I make my own yoghurt (using the Thermomix and Thermoserver), I have been looking for different ways to use it.  This morning, I wanted to make scones for morning tea.  I didn't have cream, and although I could have gotten "busy with the fizzy" and made myself some lemonade, I decided to try a recipe using baking powder.  Traditionally scones need a very light hand when mixing so that they stay light and fluffy, and if there's anything the Thermomix is not, is lighthanded.  There are a number of ways I've seen different Thermomixers attempt to mix things lightly; from kneading on reverse for a few seconds; using speed 1; to using Turbo a couple times.  I'm not sure which one is best, to be honest.  Different strokes for different folks I guess.

If you have a Thermomix, how do you mix things lightly?

Anyway, this recipe seemed to be a little more forgiving in the mixing department, even requiring a little kneading before pressing out, so I thought it might be a good one to try.  I was pretty happy with the results (the taste and texture was great) although not all of the scones rose as well as I'd hoped.  I still don't think I've got the light mixing thing down pat yet either, so if I come up with a better method, I'll be sure to update you.  In the meantime, here's the recipe for the yummy scones.

Yoghurt Scones

Ingredients

• 225 grams plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 25 grams granulated sugar
• 50 grams butter, cut into small pieces
• 75 grams sultanas, (optional)
• 125-150 ml natural yoghurt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

2. Place the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in the TM bowl, set the dial to lid closed and press the Turbo button 2-3 times to "sift" and mix the dry ingredients together. Add the butter and mix for approximately 5 seconds on speed 8 until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add the yoghurt and mix together for 5 seconds on speed 5. Add the sultanas, set the dial to lid closed and knead for 20 seconds to form a soft but not sticky dough. Roll out the dough to 1-2 cm thick and cut it into 10-12 rounds with a pastry-cutter.

4. Place the scones on the baking sheet and brush with a little additional yoghurt. Scatter with sugar and bake for 12-15 minutes, until they begin to brown on the top.

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Ginger Pork Dumplings with Thai Chilli Dipping Sauce

I love that the Thermomix is capable of mincing meat.  I scored a cheap, boneless pork leg roast earlier in the week, but the only way we can eat pork in this house is to have it minced and cooked with plenty of other flavours.

Dumplings I decided.  Hmmm, no wrappers.  Google, google, google me a recipe...easy peasy.

I based the filling on a recipe found on Forum Thermomix from jerjill, but I included more ginger to give it more of a Thai style flavour and some oyster sauce.

Then it's just a matter of placing some filling on a wonton wrapper, moistening the edges with some water which has added cornflour and sealing them up any fancy way you choose.  I went with easy rather than fancy.

Then, layer them in the Varoma dish and tray, put 500g of water in the TM bowl, program Varoma temp for 10 minutes (once the water gets to Varoma temp, I used hot-ish water so in total my cooking time was 12 minutes).

I saw a Thai Dipping Sauce on the forum that I wanted to try so I quickly mixed that up in a bowl, and ta-da!  Dinner is served.

Wonton Wrappers

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ cup water

Directions

1. Place egg, salt and most of the water in TM bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4. Add the flour and combine for 15 seconds on speed 6. Add more water if needed and knead for 3 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and cover. Let rest for 30 minutes.

2. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out very thinly, or use a pasta machine to roll out to the thinnest setting. Cut into squares.  Makes 24.

Ginger Pork Dumplings

Ingredients

• 250 grams pork mince
• 90 grams cabbage
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 35 grams ginger
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 3 teaspoons cornflour

Directions

1. Place ginger, garlic and onion in TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5. Check consistency and scrape down and repeat if required. Add cabbage and with the dial set to lid closed, press Turbo 2-3 times, until chopped evenly.  Add mince, sauces and cornflour and mix for 15 seconds on speed 2 + reverse.

2. Place a tablespoon of mixture onto the centre of a wonton wrapper. Moisten the edges of the wrapper with mix of cornflour and water (or use a beaten egg yolk). Fold up and seal as desired.

3. Place dumplings in the Varoma. Place 500 grams of water in the TM bowl and cook at Varoma temp for 16 minutes.

4. Serve with Thai Chilli Dipping Sauce.

Thai Dipping Sauce

Source: Forum Thermomix (originally from Good Taste)

Ingredients

• 60 grams fresh lime juice
• 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

Directions

Whisk all together and pour into small serving bowls.

Happy Dumpling Days :-)

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Making Sweetened Condensed Milk

My husband loves icecream.

A meal is not complete unless there is an icecream course.

Therefore, I make a lot of icecream...and not a variety of flavours and colours...just one...vanilla.

I have been experimenting with a few different versions, including one with a custard base.  You know the one, real icecream.  But apparently that's not what he's after.  He quite prefers icecream made from sweetened condensed milk, cream and vanilla extract...full stop.  No skin off my nose really because it couldn't be easier.  A tin of condensed milk, a 600ml carton of cream and a splash of vanilla extract, whizzed up in the Thermomix with the butterfly in place for 40 seconds, straight into the icecream machine and 60 minutes later, delicious vanilla icecream.

I was pretty happy with where we were with this until recently.  I have read that a few people boycott Nestle products on the grounds of their appalling treatment of women and babies in many third world countries, and by their reckless use of advertising elsewhere.  I hadn't gone so far as to boycott them because, to be honest, I don't buy many of their products anyway...except condensed milk.  Secondly, I am looking to reduce the amount of sugar we are eating.  I have noticed that unless I make something myself, it's easy not to realise, or to have a full understanding, of the amount of sugar in it.  Condensed milk is a classic example.  We all know that it's sweet, right, but dear oh dear, I really had no idea!!

Poor Man's Dulce de Leche: immediately after cooking (very pourable)

There are two tricks with this recipe.  One is how long to cook it for, and the other is the speed.  Me, I cooked it too long today and have ended up with "Poor Man's Dulce de Leche".  Not a bad outcome in my opinion ;-), but not what I was aiming for.  I cooked it for 20 minutes initially and then kept cooking it in 10 minute increments until I had cooked it for a total of 50 minutes.  I think when I checked it at 40 minutes, I didn't give due consideration to the fact that this mixture thickens on cooling.  As it turns out, 40 minutes was probably enough, although I'll need to do it again to confirm.  Good thing there will be another time!

Poor Man's Dulce de Leche: 10 minutes after cooking (still really hot)

The speed is also important as it needs to be cooked without the MC in place to allow maximum evaporation, but if the speed is too low, the mixture will boil over and you'll have a sticky, sugary mess all over your precious Thermomix and bench.  You must set the speed dial to either 4.5 or 5.  Speed 4 is too slow.

Taste-wise, what I have now in my fridge has a slight taste of the raw sugar that I used, so I certainly wouldn't be using this mixture for say, a banoffee pie, but I have tasted the icecream I made with it, and I think it's pretty good (I only used 200g of this mix instead of 400g that I normally use with "proper" condensed milk).  I definitely can't taste the raw sugar.

Poor Man's Dulce de Leche: after refrigeration (sticky, gooey, caramelly yumminess)

My ultimate aim with this project is to find other sweeteners that I can use with this method instead of sugar.  My next test will be with ground Rapadura (when I get my hands on some), which I know has a stronger taste than raw sugar.  I only hope that when it goes into the icecream mix the taste of it is reduced.  Some fun experimentation to come...

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Source: based on a recipe provided on Forum Thermomix

Ingredients

• 1 litre milk
• 750 grams sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Place all ingredients in TM bowl and cook at Varoma temp for 40-45 minutes at speed 4.5-5 with MC off.

Happy days, my friends :)

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Tonight we had the most delicious, simple and satisfying meal.  We ate outside because the weather is superb in Sydney at the moment.

Earlier in the day I had experimented with my new perforated baguette pan and made three par-baked baguettes to be frozen for use another day. 

Yeah, a bit wonky I know.  A work in progress...

When I decided that tomato soup would be the order of the day, I quickly reassigned one of the baguettes for garlic bread.  I sliced the bread stick part way through and spread the insides with garlic butter (made in the TMX of course, using one of the roasted garlic cloves from the soup - see below).  I spread the top of the baguette with more butter and wrapped it in foil ready for baking while the soup was cooking.

I had a kilo of Roma tomatoes waiting in the freezer for just such an occasion, so I whipped them out, straight onto an oven tray and into the oven.  Of course, this isn't exactly what the recipe calls for, however, it worked in a pinch.  They leached a lot of liquid, which I just ended up using as part of the "water" as called for in the recipe.  Absolutely satisfied with the result.  So was my son...

Can you tell he likes soup?  I think some went INTO his mouth as well!

Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup

Ingredients

• 1 kg Roma tomatoes
• 1 head garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, halved
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons TM vege stock concentrate
• 500 grams water
• 1 cup basil, finely shredded

Directions

1. Halve tomatoes lengthwise and place cut side up on an oven tray. Separate cloves from head of garlic (don't peel) and scatter them around the tray. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in a hot oven (200ºC) for 40 minutes or until tender.

2. Place the onion in the TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5. Add the olive oil and saute for 3 minutes at 100ºC, speed 1. Add the tomato paste and cook for an additional minute at 100ºC, speed 1.

3. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves from their skins into the TM bowl. Add the roasted tomatoes and half the shredded basil together with the vege stock concentrate and water. Blend briefly for 15 seconds, speed 9.

4. Cook for 8 minutes at 100ºC speed 1. Blend again for 30 seconds bringing the speed up slowly to speed 9.

5. Serve sprinkled with the reserved shredded basil and some crusty (garlic) bread on the side.

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"Real Food" Evangelism?

I feel like I'm at the edge of a shark infested ocean, just dipping my toes in, in the hopes that I can make it through the danger on all sides to reach a tropical island paradise (read: banana lounges, palm trees, good books, cocktails, fabulous finger food and all my family and friends).  If I look back over my shoulder, everything is hazy and fading out of view.  How did I get here?  And more importantly, how do I react should I make it to said paradise?

It all started with a chance comment about Arnott's Milk Arrowroot biscuits (a favourite with the younglings in my mother's group) having fewer additives in the list of ingredients than the no brand version.  Who knew?  Who cared?  Apparently the comment maker did, particularly with reference to her child eating the snack, and so therefore, being a curious type, I decided to investigate. 

Coincidentally and completely independently at about the same time, my bestie asked me if I'd heard of a cooking machine which had a name that started with Thermo or Thermie?  No, not a clue what you're talking about, love, but I love the challenge of finding out what it is.

I googled many variations on the theme; "thermo cooking machine"; "therm blender" etc, until I came across http://www.thermomix.com.au and I was sure I'd found what I was looking for.  During the search, I came across numerous blogs (to many of which I now subscribe) espousing the virtues of the machine for preparing and cooking "from scratch" and "without additives and preservatives".

If I could describe the sound of a light bulb turning on, I would insert it <here>.

The more I read, the more I found.  When information isn't necessarily presented on one platter right under our noses, it encourages us (well, me at least) to look further and to look harder.  Unfortunately, when it comes to food (and many other things, let's be honest), the information that is served to us on a platter on a daily basis is that which is ultimately designed to gain money for Big Business and through their taxes, the Government.

I found Forum Thermomix, an absolute gold mine for all things Thermomix (and also many things non-Thermomix).  This forum gathers together thousands of people who use a Thermomix, or yearn to do so, and reading some of the posts provides a wealth of information related to food and health.  This reading and researching led me to Cyndi O'Meara (Changing Habits, Changing Lives) and ultimately to the Weston A. Price Foundation.  I read and pondered and read and pondered some more.  Many things Cyndi and the Foundation are on about resonate completely with me.

In the context of this blog post, eating a Weston A. Price diet would be my island paradise, and I'm currently dabbling my toes in it by making most things at home from scratch.  The major parts of this picture that I'm still currently missing are:

• soaking grains/legumes
• starting a sourdough culture and making sourdough bread (my favourite style of bread so it's just starting that is the hold up here - I do make most of our bread and occasionally buy a loaf of sourdough)
• drinking raw milk (I will be able to obtain this when our family moves home to Adelaide in about 6 months time.  Until then I am buying organic unhomogenised full cream milk for myself and my oldest son.  Youngest son is still breastfeeding and hubby, well, prefers lite milk.)
• eating organic fruits and vegetables (when we move, I hope to start growing some of our fruits & vegies)
• eating organ meat (enough said...for now)
• fermented foods

The sharks that are circling are:

• my husband's reticence to change (a common theme I'm discovering in cyberspace), and is related to
• my ability to transfer the knowledge of what I am learning without preaching
• cost of organic fruit and vegetables in a monetary sense (although I'm really yet to do all the sums)
• my attitude, and that of my friends and family
• time management, budgeting and resource management (lol...but it's true!)

Looking back over my shoulder from the edge of the ocean, the picture behind me is hazy because I hardly remember what it was like to be ignorant of this stuff.  I don't remember the last time I picked up something from a supermarket shelf and didn't read the fine print on the label.  And therein lies a bit of a problem.  I think I'm becoming a bit of a Real Food Evangelist or perhaps even a Born Again Real Foodie.  I'm not sure I like it, I'm not sure my friends like it and I'm not sure if you will like it.

I have never enjoyed being told that there is only one "right" way to be, and only one "right" way to get to where you're going.  I hate being preached to.  I don't want to be doing that to my family or my friends, and yet, I find myself:

• making comments about how "item 'x' is so much better for your health than item 'y'"
• emailing various informative links to friends to help them "understand".

I try very hard not to...but I do...because at the heart of it, I just want people to be healthy, happy and hanging around with me for a long time to come.  And I want people to see through the marketing spin that we are fed on a platter every day of our lives that we often digest without question.  Being totally crass, I want to see many people giving Big Business a big middle finger.  Yay and thank goodness for The Gruen Transfer.  A great, entertaining TV program that shows us how marketing firms and their clients try to convince us that their product is necessary in our lives, and in many cases how it is better for our health.  Best of all, it's non-threatening and it is, truly, entertaining.

Most people display apathy towards food and health issues...it sparks an evangelistic, emotional and passionate response from those that are "enlightened" to try to snap them out of it, but I don't think that often works, especially in Australia.  Many people in Australia often react negatively to a passionate display about anything that is controversial.  We don't want to be seen to have a strong opinion.  We don't like tall poppies...as the saying goes.  How many of your friends display political party signs in their front yards when the elections are on?  How many people do you know who are openly supportive or otherwise about gay marriage?  Do you care about eating meat where the animal has been raised in a feedlot, never seeing sunlight?  Are you still reading this?  ;-)

My opinion is that most people don't want to know about these kinds of things because it might lead to change; the status quo could be disrupted.  Most people really are just fine with things the way they are.  Case in point: my dear, dear husband.  I know in his heart he agrees with eating natural foods as much as possible, but he is afraid that he'll "miss out on good things like Hungry Jacks"!.  He, too, is resistant to change and I know that it is because he is under a lot of stress at the moment.  When he is stressed at work, he just wants life at home to continue on as normal.  He is a creature of habit and needs stability and familiarity at home to recharge before heading back into the fray.  So, for the time being I'm working on providing some substitutes which I cook at home from scratch such as:

• Kerrie Farm Chicken Coating (a huge winner in this house as a sub for KFC)
• Pizza (again, a huge favourite and preferred over home delivered)
• Burgers (using homemade bread, beef mince patties and salad)
• Thai Red Chicken Curry (EDC recipe...we love it)
• Cottage Rolls (sub for sausage rolls)
• and others...

And, if after that he wants something from a takeaway, we have it.  And to be honest, it doesn't happen very often.

Overall, the key for us has to be BALANCE.  I've got my goals noted down, and I'll be working towards them.  I don't think this is something that can be achieved overnight, and I certainly don't expect that.  I also don't expect that we eat this way 100% of the time.  That is unrealistic and will only lead to stress.  As long as these changes are happening within my home, and that when we have guests over I feed them the same wholesome food, then that is sufficient for me.  When it comes to "real food", I'll be happy to be a worker bee and let others be the evangelical Queen bees.

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Happy Valentines Day

 I haven't cooked or baked anything of note recently until yesterday when I decided to try out an AWW golden oldie recipe for gingerbread biscuits.  This was inspired by some playdough "baking" with my 2 year old.
I offered them to my husband to take to work with him to share with the boys, but he wasn't keen.  Can't imagine why?!

Gingerbread Biscuits

Adapted from: AWW Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits

Ingredients

• 125 grams butter
• 100 grams brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 375 grams plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 3 teaspoons ground ginger
• 125 ml golden syrup
• Royal Icing
• 240 grams pure icing sugar
• 1 egg white

Directions

1. Place butter, sugar and egg yolk in TM bowl. Mix for 30 seconds, speed 5. Scrape down and repeat if necessary. Weigh in remaining ingredients and mix for 10 seconds, speed 5. Set dial to lid closed and knead for 30 seconds. Tip out onto lightly floured board or silicone mat and bring together with hands. Roll dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick.

2. Cut gingerbread shapes from dough.

3. Place gingerbread shapes about 3cm apart on greased oven trays. Bake in moderate oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on trays. Spoon icing into piping bag fitted with a small plain tube, decorate shapes as desired.

4. Royal Icing: Wash out TM bowl.  Place butterfly in TM bowl, and the egg white.  Whip on speed 4 for 30 seconds.  Still on speed 4, add the sifted icing sugar through the lid gradually until mixture is of a piping consistency.  I used the whole amount and took another 2 minutes to add it all.  Colour as desired. Keep royal icing covered with a damp cloth to prevent drying out.   Happy Valentines Day!

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