Pizza Sauce

-1kg tomatoes
- handful of basil
- 2 cloves garlic
- one small onion
- teaspoon of dried oregano
-salt n pepper for taste
- teaspoon of sugar

Method:
1.Place onion, garlic and basil in TM bowl and chop for 5 sec on speed 7
2. Saute on Varoma tempreature for 4 minutes on speed 1
3. Place remaining ingredients and cook on Varoma for 20 minutes until sauce thickens
4. Blitz to smooth sauce slowly to Speed 9 for a few second. Enough for 8 large pizzas.

Stir Fry Pork and Snow Peas

Another one of those quick dinner stir fries.

Ingredients:

- 500gms of thinly sliced pork strips

- 2 packets of snow peas, remember to pull off the tough strings that run along the pods

- one carrot sliced

- 1 small onion

Seasoning:

- 1 tbsp of oyster sauce

- 2 tbsp of soy sauce

- 1 tbsp of chinese rice wine

- Salt and pepper

- 3 garlic cloves

- 1 tsp grated ginger

Method:

1. Seasoned the pork strips with the seasoning for 15-20 minutes

2. Heat oil in a large wok and start cooking the seasoned pork after the oil is well heated.

3. Stir through the meat until they are 80% cook (partial pink)

4. Remove from wok and continue to cook vegetables

5. Add in more oil and cook the onions till soft

6. Add in snow peas and carrot and cook till vegetables are cooked.

7. Throw in the meat and add some water if you like your dish with sauce. Cover and cook for next 5-10 minutes until meat is all cooked and no longer pink. 

8. Serve with white rice

Chicken Sausage Rolls with Vegetables

Adapted from:
http://foodforlittlesouls.com/2013/06/18/chicken-pumpkin-leek-sausage-rolls/

 Ingredients:
- 1 kg of chicken thighs (minced)
- 1/4 butternut pumpkin
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 large leek
- 3 small apples cored and grated
- 2 cloves garlic
- 25gm butter
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2.5 cups of breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs (1 for egg wash)
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon vegetable stock
- sesame oil
- sesame seeds (garnish)

Method:
1. I used the thermomix to do all the mincing. First goes the pumpkin. After mixing at Speed 5 for 2-3 seconds, remove and set aside. Then place the apple and zucchini together and mix on Speed 4-5 for a few seconds
2. I sliced the leek manually into small pieces and set aside
3. First cook all the vegetables. I wanted to make sure the vegetables juice are dried off before mixing into the sausage mix. I have been having issues with very soggy homemade sausage rolls, so trying out a different method this time as compared to mixing them raw into the meat mixture.
4. In a non stick frying pan add butter and oil. Over a low-medium heat, saute the leeks for 10 minutes or until they are soft and golden. Add the zucchini, pumpkin and apple. Cook for a further 10-20 minutes until all the moisture has evaporated out of the pan and the vegetables have collapsed. Set aside and cool completely.
5. Once cool, add the chicken minced, breadcrumbs, thyme egg,vegetable stock, dash of sesame oil and seasoning. Add the egg as well and mix with hands till well combined. I used a hand glove to get them all well mixed up.
6. Defrost frozen puff pastry sheets. Cut each square of pastry in half to make two rectangles. Using a clean spoon, place mince mixture along the middle of each rectangle. roll them up nice and tight, seal the ends by pressing with a fork. Then brush the bottom and top of the rolls with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and then place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes at 180C. Remember to pre heat the oven first and line up baking trays with baking paper. I tried the first batch with the cooking raw as i wanted to make sure all the moisture drips to the bottom of the tray and pastry stays dry and flaky but it did not turn out well as the pastry got stuck in between the racks. So lining them flat is a better idea

7. I used up 10 pastry sheets for this volume of meat/mix. The pastry were not soggy due to the egg wash and because i have rolled them tight. Finally a good recipe for getting nice crispy sausage rolls.

8. those sausage rolls were very yummy and moist, too much herbs and must cut down on them next time.

Chicken Nugget with CornFlake crumbs

This is the easiest chicken nuggets I have prepared and taste just as yummy. I omit the flour and egg step and the less mess makes a happier me.

Ingredients:

Minced:

1kg chicken thigh fillet (minced up in the Thermomix till resembles mince)

1 large zuchinni

1 bunch of kale leaves

Garlic Salt -a few shakes of this and to suit taste

Dried parsley- another few shakes

Salt and pepper

Crumbs coating:

3 cups of smashed up corn flakes. I use the Thermomix for half of the cornflakes and found it disintegrated into powder form, so for the other half i manually squashed them to give it that crunchy texture when i coat the chicken.

at least 1 cup of breadcrumbs- i used all my leftover breadcrumbs

Onion powder- just a dash

Garlic powder- another dash

Method:

prepare the bed for coating your chicken first. I mixed all the coating together and place it in a large baking tray

Prepare all trays for baking and line with baking paper

Next prepare the mince. I minced all the vegetables in the Thermomix for a good Speed5-6 for couple of seconds. Then in another bowl goes the chicken, Speed 10 and longer as the chicken was hard to get into a nice minced texture. 

Then mix them all up with the seasoning. The mixture should be wet so you do not need to coat with flour and egg and crumbs.

 The mixture goes straight into the coating. I rolled them up in ball sized and dip them in the coating.

make sure they are nicely coated

Bake for first 10 minutes at 200C and the next 10 or until cooked at 180C.

My kids gobbled them up despite seeing all the green vegetables in them. They are truly yummy with the crunchy cornflakes. 

 

Quinoa Banana Choc Chip Muffin

 

Adapted from: http://www.onecooktwokitchens.com/gluten-free-banana-quinoa-muffins-and-the-grains-giveaway-continues/

Ingredients (modified to my tastebud):

3 cups quinoa flour 

1 cup almond meal

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon if you have fresh)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

 1 cup walnuts broken into pieces

2 large egg

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

6 large mashed ripe bananas (approximately 1 1/2 - 2 cups)

12 tablespoons canola oil

2 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

1. prepare the dry ingredients first. I used the Thermomix to made my quinoa flour and almond meal.
I measured 3 cups of quinoa grains and blend in Thermomix on Speed 10 for 1 minute. Pour mixture into large bowl
2. Next place raw almonds into Thermomix bowl (I used the same bowl from the quinoa flour). Blend for 40 seconds on Speed 10. I turn the dial slowly up to Speed 10 as the almonds are quite hard and can cause quite a fright in the house.
3. Pour the almond meal into the bowl and whisk them together.
4. Add in baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Whisk them and blend them together. Add in the chocolate chips and the nuts and mix them slowly.
5. In another Thermomix bowl, I add in all the wet ingredients. eggs, brown sugar, bananas (make sure the are really ripe, mine was really brown all over), oil and vanilla. Blend on Speed 4 for 10-15 seconds.
6. Preheat oven to 180C
7. Mix the dry and the wet ingredients. DO NOT over mix. Muffins just need to be barely combined. I stir from bottom up and big folds.
8. I managed to get 24 muffins out of this batter. I used an ice cream scoop to get them into muffin cups.
9. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Use the toothpick to check if it is cooked. Toothpick will come out clean when it is cooked.
10. These muffins are really good. They are soft, moist and not tough. So this time the mixing is right.

My batter ready to be bake

 large scoops for a good wholesome snacks for my kid's lunch box.

after baking them. Nice straight out from the oven.

They are healthy, packed full of good stuff. Please do try it

Aussie Meat Pies



Adapted from:
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/recipes/aussie-meat-pies/69279

I did not make my own pastry but I promise I will when I am given more time in the future.

Ingredients for Pie Filling:

2 garlic cloves minced
1 brown onion minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cornflour
500 g minced beef
3 stalks of celery minced
1 large carrot minced
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 small teaspoon of Thermomix vegetable stock diluted with 1/2cup water (can omit and replace with salt)
1 tbsp Vegemite
1 tbsp. of mix dried herbs of choice (I used dried parsley)
100 g button mushrooms, , thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
a squeeze of tomato ketchup

Method:
1. Sautee the garlic and onions until fragrant
2. Add in the beef, season with pepper, soy, Worcestershire sauce and vegemite
3. Next add in the mushroom and continue to cook the mixture down
4. Add in the vegetables together with vegetable stock and cornflour. Add in pepper and continue to add seasoning until taste suits.
5. I let the filling cool in the fridge overnight
6. To bake the pies, I used store bought shortcrust and puff pastry. Shortcrust goes to the button and puff is to line at the top of the pie.
7. I used the 12 muffin tray to make the pies. I cut a large circle to ensure I am able to fill the muffin hole with the shortcrust pastry. Fill them up with the filling and cut a smaller circle to cover the top. Use some water to seal the sides
8. Mine pies exploded as I did not seal them properly. Also the shortcrust pastry is really hard to handle.
9. Bake for 20 minutes at 175C

Salted Caramel Brownies

Adapted from
http://tenina.com/2010/05/salted-caramel-brownies/

I changed the recipe to suit our taste
Ingredients:
280g rapadura sugar
90g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp sea salt plus extra for topping
4 large eggs
1 large yolk
60g cacao powder
150g Plain flour
200g each macadamia and pecan or pistachio kernels, Almonds or any desired nuts
Extra nuts for topping

DO:
Preheat oven to fan forced 180°C and line a 22cm square pan with baking paper that comes up over the edges for easy removal.
Place sugar, butter and vanilla into Thermomix bowl and chop together for 5 seconds on speed 6. Cook for 15 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 2. Let it cool before the next step.
Add salt and incorporate for 20 seconds on speed 4.
Add eggs, yolk and cacao to Thermomix bowl and mix for 15 seconds on speed 5.
Scrape down sides of bowl and add flour and nuts and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.
Spread into prepared pan, stud with additional nuts, sprinkle generously with additional sea salt and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and bang on bench quite firmly to prevent rise from continuing. Return to oven for a further 20 minutes or until just wobbly in centre. I reduced the heat to 160 for a longer slow bake. Keep checking every 10 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly in tin before cutting into enormous pieces and wolfing down immediately

 Before baking

 After baking. I will reduce the cooking time next time as it over baked it and the insides were more like cake texture instead of the fudgy brownie feel.

 All sliced up

It tasted very nice with the salt and it was not too sweet as I have reduced the sugar. Perfect with a cup of coffee.. Happy Australia Day!

Pineapple Tart Pastry- Must Keep Recipe

My dear friend from UK shared this recipe for pineapple tart pastry. It is the best I had tried so far after testing 3 recipes in total. I love my pastry soft and crumbly and this recipe nailed it. I tweaked it a little to make it even softer by incorporating cake flour. Results are perfect!

Ingredients:
250gm butter diced into small cubes
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cup of cake flour
2 1/2 cup of white flour
3 tbs corn flour
6tbs icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt

this makes enough for my previous pineapple tart jam with extra jam to spare. Next time I will make extra one more batch of this recipe.

Method.
Sieve all dry ingredients together. I double sieved them
I mix butter and sugar together first in the Thermomix bowl just until nicely incorporated. The I add the yolk one by one and then the dry ingredient
I use the turbo button to mix them up into crumbly texture
Pour the mixture out and use your fingers to bring them together
I separate my dough into 3 large disc and freeze them as I am only using them a week later.
To use, bring them to soften at room temperature and roll them into 1/2 cm.
Use a cookie cutter or pineapple tart cutter to cut the shapes.
Place rolled jam into the cut dough and bake at 180C for 12 minutes or until golden brown at the edges
you can use the egg wash to have a nicer golden look but I was too lazy to go through that step. \

Pineapple Tart Jam

 

This is the season of pineapple tart making and I never find more love for the Thermomix than this time.

Pineapple tarts are laborious and tiring via the traditional method as it requires hours of cooking the jam down to a nice thick jam-like consistency. I have been making pineapple tarts using the Thermomix for 2 years now and it has never been easier.

This time I did it in bulk as I am very familiar with the process. We bought 4 medium size fresh pineapple and cut down into rough sizes. I added a tin of store bought pineapple slices just to increase the volume.

Ingredients:
- 2.5 kg of pineapple flesh. Cut and cored (~ 4 medium size pineapples)
- 1 tin of pineapple slices (optional)
- 500gms of sugar
- 8 cloves

Method:
1. Chop the pineapple via Thermomix Speed 6 for a few seconds. You want a puree consistency
2. I did this is batches and then I sieve the pineapple through a strainer to get rid of as much juice possible
3. Save the juice for consumption or cooking
4. After sieving all the pineapple, it will easily fit into the Thermomix. I cooked this for 30 minutes, Varoma, Speed 1. I need to place the Varoma tray on top to get most of the steam out and to avoid a messy splatter
5. Look out for a nice jam-like consistency and a lightly brown colour. I like my jam abit soft so it just melts into your mouth.

 Weighing the pineapples with the Thermomix.

 The amount of juice extracted from the pineapples.

 The flesh that will be cooking in the Thermomix

the final product.

Now to get a spot on shortcrust pastry to go with it

Mini Cheesecake with Pistachio Crust

Adapted from: http://rachelsrecipebook.com/?p=302

I found this recipe using pistachio nuts in the cheesecake base online and just needed to try it out. I love recipes that uses nuts in making yummy tasty crust.

I tweak the recipe as I needed to make this for a party of 18 pax. I also decided against using green tea as it is a very much acquired taste for many, including myself.

For the crust

1. 1/2 cup roasted, shelled, unsalted pistachios (roasted at 170C for 9 minutes)
2. half a packet of digestive biscuits (this will vary depending on the desired texture)
3. 2 Tbsp sugar
4. 70gms of melted butter(this will vary depending on the desired texture)

For the cheesecake

1. 3 packages of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
2. 1/2 cup of sugar
3. 1 tsp vanilla
4. 3 eggs (break one egg, beat, and use half)
5. 1 Tbsp lemon juice
6. 1tsp grated lemon skin

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 150C  and line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease well.
2. In the Thermomix, pulse the pistachios and graham crackers until fine. Add butter and sugar and continue pulsing until crumbly. If too dry, add more butter. If too wet, add more digestive biscuits.
3. Press the crumbly crust into the bottoms of the liners. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool.
4. In the meantime, mix togther cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar. Add the eggs and lemon juice and grated lemon skin and mix until just combined and smooth. Pour over crusts. I used Speed 5 for close to a minute to get a nice fine smooth mixture
5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until the centers are almost set. Cool and then place in refrigerator for 2 hours.
6. I topped my mini cheesecake with raspberries for a nice refreshing taste.

The cookie base after being pressed into individual muffin case and getting ready to be bake.

I used a spoon to slowly pour in the cream cheese mixture after the base has cooled down.

This is how the mini cheesecake look like right after coming out from the oven.

After it has cooled, it has reduced in height and has a nice flat surface.

nice lovely mix of cheese and biscuit. I like them with a thick base.

Garnished with fresh raspberries and ready to go.

Greentea Cheesecake Tart

Adapted from :http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/matcha-cheesecake-tart.html

Ingredients (makes a 22cm tart and extra dough for 3 small tarts):

for the tart crust:
150g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, softened at room temperature
80g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten (about 55g without shell, use room temperature egg)
250g cake flour
60g ground almond (almond powder)


for the filling:
 2 teaspoon gelatine powder
30 ml water
250g cream cheese, leave to soften at room temperature
80g caster sugar
80g plain yogurt
4 teaspoon lemon juice
320g whipping cream (I used non dairy whipping cream)
 4 teaspoons matcha/green tea powder

Method:

to make the tart crust:

• Lightly grease an 22cm tart pan (with removable base) with butter, set aside. 
• Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool.
• I used the thermomix to beat sugar and butter on Speed 4 for 15-20 seconds. The mixture should look pale. I then add in the eggs and the ground almond and give it a good mix.
• Sieve the  flour into the bowl and then use the Turbo function to mix it up till it resembles crumbly breadcrumbs.
• Gather the mixture into a bowl and start to bring them together into a ball. After it is nicely combined, flattened the ball into a flat disc and use plastic cling to wrap the disc.
• Store in freezer for 15 minutes.
• Remove dough and roll it between 2 sheets of baking paper. I rolled it into a big sheet and gently put it over the tart tin..
• Use the dough that is broken off to mend parts of the tart tin that is broken.
• Prick the dough surface with a fork (this helps to prevent the pastry from puffing up when baking). Cover and chill the tart crust in the fridge for 20mins (this helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking too much after baking.) 
• Line a sheet of parchment paper over the tart base. Place baking beads/weights on the parchment paper (I used rice as baking weights), enough to cover the tart base. 
• Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 20 mins. Remove the baking beads and parchment paper. Put it back into the oven and continue to bake for another 15~20mins until the crust is golden browned. Let cool completely. Leave the crust inside the tart pan, do not unmould.

 The picture on the top left is the dough after bringing all the mixture together. It should come together nicely without being too dry or wet.
The next picture is the weights on the pie for blind baking.
Bottom left are the ingredients ready for making the filling.
Last pic is how the crust looks like after baking. Mine was abit over brown on the edges so might want to reduce baking time in the future

to make the filling:

• Dissolve the gelatine in water and set aside for 10min. 
• Combine the sugar and yogurt in a pot over medium heat to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the gelatine solution until it’s dissolved. Remove from heat.
• Place cream cheese and mix on Speed 5 for 10-20 seconds till it is nice and smooth. Add in the cooled yoghurt-gelatin mixture and then mix it again for 5 second. 
• Add in lemon juice and mix on Speed 4 for 3 second
• Whipped the cream till soft peaks form. With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the whipping cream to the cream cheese mixture. Fold in the remaining whipping cream to the cream cheese mixture. **I tried to use the thermomix for this but somehow it did not turn out nice. I think i may have my cream on the bench for too long as it needs to be really cold before whipping. My turned into large clumps and in the end i had to add to the cream cheese and use the Thermomix to blend the entire mixture up.
• Add in the matcha powder and mix until blended. 
• Pour the mixture into the tart pan until it is full.
• Chill the tart for at least 2 hours until it is firm. Unmould before serving  

 This is the tart after chilling for more than 2 hours. it was nice and firm, abit tricky to cut as pastry is hard. I used a steak knife with jagged end to slowly dissect the tart.

 the pastry was slightly crumbly but the taste is good. I will definitely incorporate almond meal in my shortcrust pastry next time.

I did not do the motive as per the original recipe as i was so tired. This recipe has alot of steps and planning to do before getting to the final outcome. The pastry needs to be chilled and baked and cooled. The filling itself has so many sub steps too.

I will definitely not attempt this with green tea but will definitely do another version of cheesecake with this crust.

Christmas Bark

I love reading Karen Cheng's blog and especially love it when she post simple and creative recipes on her blog. This christmas bark is adapted from her blog: http://www.karencheng.com.au/2013/11/27/amazing-chocolate-bark/

I like to call it Christmas bark as it has all the nice bright colors to match the festive season and also, it was part of a lazy attempt to get easy dessert out for our Christmas lunch.

Ingredients:

- 1 packet of Malt and Milk biscuits from Arnotts.

- Pretzels

- Oreos cookies

- Lollies

- Pistachio nuts, lightly pounded into small pieces

- Chocolate chips

- M & M

- 1 bar of baking chocolate (melted)

Method:

1. Melt chocolate bar in microwave in 30 seconds interval. I manage to melt my chocolate within 60 seconds

2. Line a rectangle tray with foil and arrange the biscuits nicely on the tray

3. Pour the melted chocolate over the biscuits and then start decorating

4. You can put any yummy goodies you like in this bark. I just make used of all our leftover candies, biscuits and nuts. The more salty items the better it tastes.

5. After decorating, place in the fridge overnight for it to set.

6. Just break it into pieces to eat. The kids will enjoy this colorful, fun dish.

These are the stuff I used for my Christmas bark. You do not need alot, just small bowls of each treat as the bark can get really heavy with all the toppings.

 2 trays of biscuits

 

All done. Easy peasy

M & M Birthday Cake

Another milestone for the family. Cake recipe adapted from:
http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/best-chocolate-cake-ever/

Butter cream recipe also adapted from the same site:
http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/buttercream-cupcake-frosting-recipes/

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
200g (7.05 ounces) 70% cocoa dark chocolate, I used Plainstowe Chocolate bars.
320gms Butter
8 eggs
2 1/4 cups caster sugar
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, I used Plainstowe dutch processed cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:
1. Melt chocolate bar and butter in microwave. Check every 30 seconds to ensure all ingredients are melted nicely. Place aside for it to cool

2. Whisk egg and sugar together. Thermomix Speed 4, 5 seconds
 
3. Combined egg and chocolate mixture from Step 1. I used Speed 4 for 10-15 seconds. 
4. Sift the dry ingredients, Flour, Cocoa powder and baking powder

5. Mix in the dry ingredients in the wet ones. I used the same Thermomix settings and just stop when all ingredients are nicely incorporated.
6. I distribute the mixture between 2 round 9 inch baking tins. Baked this for 20 minutes at 160C



Butter cream Ingredients:

120g (4.23 ounces) butter
1 1/3 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder, i used the same Plainstowe powder as the cake.
1-2 tsp milk

Iced the cake when it is cooled.

For decorations, i used Cadbury chocolate fingers ( 3 packets), 4 packets of M & Ms. Just lined the chocolate fingers around the cake and then decorate as you like for the top of the cake.

Meat Balls and Pasta

Another one of my experiments with minced and pasta.

The last time i made spinach meat balls, it tasted quite dry. This time i tried with different ingredients and cooking method. The outcome is moist meatballs but need to cut down on the amount of bread crumbs next time.

Ingredients (meatballs):
- 500gms on minced. I used pork this time
- Half a zuchinni
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- Salt and Pepper for seasoning
- 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs soaked in milk
- 2 eggs (lightly beaten)

Ingredients (pasta sauce)
- 4 large ripen fresh tomatoes
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 bottle of Domios Pasta sauce (optional, i only added this cause i cooked in large batches and needed more sauce)
- 1 carrot
- half zucchini ( leftover from meatballs ingredient)
- 1 Onion
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- handful of fresh herbs ( i used basil)
- handful of dried herbs( i used oregano)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- Olive oil to cook

Pasta
- 700gms of elbows
- pot of water (add olive oil and salt)

Method:
1. Prepare the meatballs first
2. I used the Thermomix to blend the vegetables and mix all the ingredients. Speed 5 and check for desired consistency. A food processor will work just fine for this.
3. Minced the zucchinni, onion and garlic. Add the minced meat, egg, soaked breadcrumbs and seasoning
4. Roll the balls and placed them on a lined baking tray
5. Baked them on 175C for 20 minutes. You don't need them cooked as they will cook again in the pasta sauce

6. While the meatballs are baking, continue with the pasta sauce.
7. Heat a large saucepan with olive oil
8. Placed all minced ingredients and cook till they are tender
9. Pour in diced tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, herbs seasoning, sugar and just cook till sauce thickens
10. I cooked this for a good 20-30 minutes and kept on adding seasoning till the right taste is achieved.

11. While the sauce is cooking, start with cooking the pasta. I used elbows. Follow packet instructions to cook.

The final dish. Meatballs had way too much breadcrumbs cause i accidentally pour more than a cupful of them. A reminder to not repeat that.

There a more steps in preparing this dish but it provides a good balance for the family and it is also an enjoyable meal. I have freeze some meatballs and plenty of leftovers for everyone the next day.

Stir Fry Chicken and Kale

Ingredients:
500gms of chicken strips
8 ounces kale (peeled only the leaves and leave the branch)
Handful of Shitake Mushrooms (soaked till soften)

Sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sesame oil
pinch black pepper
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
 
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil for stir-frying

Method:
1. Combine the sauce ingredients

2. marinade the chicken pieces in the sauce for around 15-20 minutes
3. Heat a large non-stick skillet or wok over high heat with a tablespoon of the canola or vegetable oil. Add the chicken pieces and stir fry until they are no longer pink, 2 - 3 minutes. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.

4.Add the kale, mushrooms and the remaining sauce. Continue to stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through and the kale and mushrooms are softened, 4 - 5 minutes. Serve hot on top of rice or with a separate bowl of rice. I added a few tablespoon of the water used to soak the mushroom as i wanted more sauce in my dish.

Apple Crumble

I love tart desserts and love anything with apples and nuts.

We had some friends over on Melbourne Cup Day and i wanted to make something refreshing. I put together this recipe from the internet and just modified it to suit my taste. It was abit too tart but i love it that way. Not such a hit with the kids but the adults like it. Healthy, refreshing and in my opinion yummy. Please do try it.

Ingredients (crumble):

- 75gms walnuts

-100gms almonds (with skin on)

- 100gms flour

- 85gms butter

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 40gms raw sugar (adjust to suit taste)

Ingredients (fillings):

- 3 large green apples (skin peeled and cored)

- 2 large pears (skin peeled and cored)

- 1 bunch of Rhubarb (pick the nice red parts and chopped to 2 cm sizes)

- grated ginger (just a small piece)

- good squeeze of lemon juice (half a lemon)

- 35gms honey

- 10 gms of brown sugar

Method:

- I cooked the filling first. Chopped and core all the fruits. I squeeze a whole lemon in which is why it is so tart. I think half a lemon will be good enough for this recipe.

- All the fruits total to 1kg in the Thermomix and place all ingredients in the bowl

- Cooked it for 8 mins/100degress/Speed 1

- Place the cooked filling in the baking dish. I let it set for a while and baked it only when it is ready to be serve.

- while the filling is cooling down, i proceed with the crumble. 

- I pre toasted (7 mins at 175C) the walnuts and almonds to give it an extra crunch. I also saved some chopped walnuts to sprinkle on top of the crumble before the baking process.

- Place all the crumble ingredients in the bowl. I used the turbo button to slowly get the consistency i like. I prefer by crumble with a slight texture, if you like it really fine, then you can get it to mix longer in the processor.

- As my filling was too tart i had to add more sugar for the crumble. Feel free to adjust as you go.

- I set the crumble aside and just spread it on top of the filling when ready to bake. Remember to sprinkle with more nuts.

- Bake for 20 minutes or golden brown on a 180C oven.

- You can substitute with any nuts.

 The filling getting ready to be cooked in the Thermomix

Pre toasted nuts.

The beautiful colour of Rhubarb. I have never used them in any cooking but they taste delightful. Nice tart taste which combines nicely with the apples and pears. I serve the apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and yet it was still tasting way too tart. :) cool it on the lemon next time ..

I did not have a chance to take a picture of the final product as everyone was digging into it way too fast. But definitely a keeper for hot summer dessert.

Vegemite/ Ham & Cheese Scrolls

 

 Ingredients (Vegemite):

250 g white baker's flour
250 g wholemeal baker's flour
50 g chia
2 tsp dried yeast
40 g extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch sea salt
300 g lukewarm/tepid water
20 g butter, melted
2 tbsp Vegemite
200 g mixed cheeses grated

Ingredients (Ham and Cheese):

250 g white baker's flour
250 g wholemeal baker's flour
50 g chia
2 tsp dried yeast
40 g extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch sea salt
300 g lukewarm/tepid water
Pizza base sauce (2 sachets)
150gm shredded ham
200 g mixed cheeses grated

Method (same for both, just switch ingredients at Step 5):

1. Make dough by placing flours, seeds, yeast, olive oil, salt and water into TM bowl and mix for 6 seconds on speed 6. With dial set to closed position , knead dough for 2 minutes on interval speed .

2. Place dough in an oiled bowl and allow to prove in a warm place for 15-20 minutes. (You could cover the bowl with a clean, damp tea towel and place in oven set at 40 degrees C).
3. Meanwhile, place the cheeses into the TM bowl and grate for 8-10 seconds on speed 8.
4. When dough has risen, pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C. Use a little of the melted butter to grease a rectangular ovenproof dish.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a large rectangular shape. Brush with a little of the melted butter and all of the Vegemite. Next, sprinkle almost all of the cheese on the dough taking care to cover all the edges.
6. Carefully roll into a large sausage shape and use a serrated knife to cut into 10 x 5cm rounds. Turn filling side up and arrange in the baking dish next to each other so there are no gaps.
7. Brush the scrolls with a little butter, sprinkle with extra cheese and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. The Cheesy-mite scrolls are best eaten straight from the oven but can frozen and defrosted later for the school lunchbox

My dough ready to rise. It took me an hour to double its size. i made double the recipe as i want to make two different types of scrolls.

Flour the surface and get ready for rolling the dough. I cut it to a nicely shaped rectangle. It makes it easier to roll when the shape is consistent

Spreading the vegemite over the butter.

Roll them tight into a huge long sausage :)

 

 All done, getting ready to be bake in the oven. Just waiting for the ham n cheese counterpart.

 

 

Spread pizza sauce all over the dough for the ham and cheese

Sprinkle and go crazy with the ham and cheese. Ham then later cheese

Nicely rolled and waiting for the final touches.

I used up the remaining butter to spread on the scrolls and then sprinkle with a bit more cheese.

Ready to be baked. It took me 20 minutes to complete them
i rotate them between the shelves in the oven just to get an even bake.

 

Both look the same but the top is the vegemite and i the bottom is the hamd and cheese scrolls