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Topics - Cuilidh

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31
Bread / Naan bread question
« on: August 17, 2017, 09:54:39 am »
Because I am a bread learner, I am about to have a go at a vegan naan, but I have a query.

If the recipe says:

In a large mixing bowl, pour warm water and stir in the sugar. Sprinkle yeast on the water and let sit for 10 minutes or until frothy.

In another bowl, combine, the flour with salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Add 3.5 cups of the flour mixture, 3 Tbsp oil and ¾ cup yogurt to the yeast bowl. Mix well to combine. Add more flour a few Tablespoons at a time to make a soft smooth dough. Knead in the bowl or on a floured surface for 3 to 4 minutes.


Can I simply put the lot into the TMX at once and knead for the same time as above or do I change the kneading minutes?

Many thanks

32
Bread / Sourdough Ciabatta
« on: July 06, 2017, 09:03:23 pm »
This weekend DH is going to have a go at making sourdough ciabatta based on Yoke's recipe in her book.  He said he thinks it will be a very wet mixture and feels that, as it's a free form loaf, it will simply go 'splat' (my newest technical term) when he bakes it and we will end up with a very flat loaf instead of a more raised loaf.

We know ciabatta tends to be a flatter loaf anyway, but would like to hope for a bit of height.  Has anyone tried this loaf or have any suggestions on how to keep it from just spreading flat on the baking tray?

33
Chit Chat / ACCC
« on: June 30, 2017, 06:11:59 am »
I guess we all knew this anyway, but this was in this month's Choice magazine:

https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/kitchen/all-in-one-kitchen-machines/articles/thermomix-knew-tm31-was-unsafe-accc-220617?utm_source=et&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Thermomix+knew+TM31+was+unsafe+before+issuing+a+recall%3a+ACCC&utm_campaign=INSIDER_29June17

I really think Vorwerk needs to review it's Australian distributor unless it wants to lose all credibility.

34
Soups / Potato Peel Soup
« on: April 27, 2017, 08:40:55 am »
I just downloaded this recipe today.  I haven’t tried it yet, nor have I converted to TMX, but it sounds intriguing, and very frugal:
http://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/potato-peel-soup/78e1698c-9ffe-4464-8a0c-697af5141cf3?current_section=recipesPotato Peel Soup.   

20g oil
1 large or 2 medium onions, diced
1 bay leaf
About 200g potato peelings (about as much as you’d get from preparing a decent-sized tray of roast potatoes)
500ml whole milk
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
2 tbs finely chopped parsley leaves (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To garnish:
Fried sage leaves
Fried bacon
Make sure the potatoes are well scrubbed before you peel them so the peels are very clean.


Heat the butter or oil in a medium saucepan over a medium-low heat and add the onions, bay leaf and a good pinch of salt. Sauté gently, until the onions are soft but haven’t taken on much colour, about 10 minutes.
 
Add the potato peelings and give everything a very good stir for a minute.
 
Pour in the milk and stock, season well with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the peels are very tender – another 10 minutes or so.
 
Remove from the heat and cool slightly, then purée in a food processer, blender or using a stick blender until very smooth.
 
Return the soup to the pan and reheat gently. Season well with salt and pepper and stir in the chopped parsley, if using.
 
Serve in warmed bowls, topped with fried sage leaves and shards of crisp-grilled bacon, if you like. Finish with a generous grinding of pepper.

35
Chit Chat / Spiralizers
« on: March 11, 2017, 08:10:12 pm »
I recall reading about spiralizers on here some time ago and am now tossing up getting one myself. 

Can I ask, for those of you who have them, do you use them a lot or were they a short term craze?  Would you suggest it is a good idea to get one (that is, do you think they serve their purpose in your diet)?  If you had the choice, what would be a good type or model to get (not the 'pencil sharpener' type, though)? 

Thanks everyone.

36
Cakes / Pancakes
« on: February 21, 2017, 07:40:34 am »
I have just read that it is Shrove Tuesday ... so, here is a list of 30 odd pancakes which I picked up on today. 

37
Chit Chat / A glut of plums
« on: February 06, 2017, 05:03:54 am »
We got a good crop of delicious, although small, sweet plums this year so I stripped the tree yesterday before the birds took a fancy to them.

As I have been loading down everyone at work with plums over the past week or two, and everyone in Guildford also has loads of plums of their own (it was a particularly good season in Guildford this year) I can’t get rid of any more and now have approx. 2 kgs to try to do something with in the near future.  Can I ask if anyone has any ideas about how I can use them up?  Unfortunately I can’t do anything in the way of cooking with them as I am not near a decent kitchen for two weeks!  Do they freeze?  Does anyone know of an organisation in Melbourne who may like to take them off my hands?

There are also several more trees with late plums ripening on them.  If the birds leave them alone I will have this problem again in another couple of weeks!  As they say, it never rains but it pours.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

38
Chit Chat / Thinking up a new password
« on: January 20, 2017, 04:18:54 am »
This happens to me on a regular basis, either I decide it is time to change a few passwords or sometimes I am asked to change a password, i.e. with the bank.  Anyway, I always have a hard time trying to 'invent' a new password that is not easy for someone to guess, so I came up with a solution a couple of months ago.  For me it is an easy option because of where I work, but may not work for everyone (however a supermarket car park can come in handy!).

Whenever I have to come up with a new password or change an existing one I just walk to the window of our shop, note down the rego of the vehicle parked closest to our shop and there you go, a totally random password that bears no relation to me, DH or our business.  If you need more letters than the vehicle has I add part of the brand - Toy for Toyota, etc., or else add car, van or whatever.  Saves a lot of hassle trying to dream up a suitably obscure password - I have used  the name of our phone system, our old answerphone, the name of the hand lotion on my desk, all sorts of weird and wonderful odds and ends in the past, but the rego system is the best yet!   ;D

39
Recipe Requests / 2 Minute Salad
« on: January 01, 2017, 09:15:14 pm »
Can anyone track down this salad?  I am sure it is called Two Minute Salad and we discussed it recently on here (perhaps in the last 1 - 2 months) but I am having no luck tracking it down.  I have only made it once but failed to note down where it is.  I have tried searching, but to no avail.  I found a 2 Second salad in the Salad thread, but it is not that one.  I seem to remember that one of the base ingredients was cabbage, but it is not a coleslaw.

Thanks

40
Chit Chat / Challenging Diet
« on: December 14, 2016, 03:24:45 am »
Do any of you remember that famous message from Apollo 13 … “Houston, we’ve got a problem”?

Well, my problem isn’t quite so dire as Apollo 13’s, but I do have a problem that I hope you can help me with.

We are having guests over the New Year break and one of them cannot eat grains or sugar!  Remembering that my DH is lactose intolerant and I am vegetarian … well, therein lies the problem.  To start with, we have rice or pasta with most of our meals and they are both ruled out.

Obviously, I have DH and I under control (well, generally, I think I have us both under control), but what can I make for our guest?  I don’t know yet whether she can eat fruit or not, so desserts are problematic as well.  Sugar of one sort or another is in just about everything. 

Meals wouldn’t be a problem in a normal household – you can always fall back on meat and two veges, but we cannot do this with me being a vegetarian (if pushed, DH could always cook some meat but, in all honesty, the smell of meat makes me gag).  A barbecue could work as it is cooked outside, but we have a solid fuel BBQ and it is the season of total fire bans – perhaps we should invest in a gas BBQ.

Anyway, before I ramble on and on and on …. any and all inspired inspiration or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

41
Questions? Technical Issues? The Survival Guide / Dumpling help in a hotpot
« on: November 02, 2016, 05:11:22 am »
I have a recipe for dumplings to be cooked in a hot pot.  I have never made dumplings before so just want a bit of advice.  The recipe reads:

Coarsely grate one-quarter of the copha into the flour. Toss the mixture to coat the copha lightly in the flour. Add the remaining copha in three more batches, grating and tossing it in the same way. This should prevent the dumpling dough from clumping and yield light, fluffy dumplings.

Then it says:  Stir in enough cold water to bring the mixture together as a soft, squidy dough

The recipe calls for frozen butter but I will be using copha which I am hoping will be a suitable substitution (alternative suggestions gratefully accepted).  The quantities are 200 g SR Flour and 75g copha. Would it work if I simply put the flour and copha into the jug and turboed it a couple of times?  Should I turbo the copha first then add the flour and mix at 4(?) for a couple of seconds?

42
Chit Chat / SA Weather
« on: September 28, 2016, 08:54:31 am »
Hope everyone in Adelaide and South Australia are safe and sheltered from the storm.  From the photos I have seen it looks vicious over there.

Take care everyone.

43
Non Thermomix Recipes / Sticky Red Onion & Sausage Bake with Gravy
« on: August 22, 2016, 10:34:07 pm »
I just discovered this recipe last week and it was an instant success.  You can simply add or subtract anything you like (or don't like!).  Drop out the potatoes and serve the bake with mash instead ... I cooked this as a vegan dish so the "gravy" was more tomato flavoured than this recipe.  You could also use meat sausages - it really is up to you what you add or don't add.

Rice bran oil, olive oil, coconut oil ... any oil, really.  I used Rice Bran.
12 frozen vegan sausages (separate them before you freeze them if possible)
5 red onions – more or less
4-5 potatoes, 1 cm cubed, peeling optional, quantity optional
Whole or lightly chopped garlic cloves – optional, quantity up to you
Gravy stock or granules*
2 vegetable stock cubes (I used 2 tsp Massell vegetable stock powder)
2 tsp cornflour for thickening (quantity may be variable depending on how you make your gravy)
500ml/2 cups boiling water – you may want to use more!
1 tsp dried thyme
a good grinding of black pepper

*For the gravy I used some spare passata sauce and the rinsing water from a tin of tomatoes.


Preheat the oven to 220c/200c fan/425f/Gas 7.

Peel and quarter the onions, then place them in a roasting tray with the garlic, sausages and potatoes.  Toss them in the oil to coat.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until starting to brown – check them after 15 or so minutes and stir if they are starting to get a bit too brown or burnt looking

Pour boiling water into a jug or bowl and add the *gravy, stock cubes, cornflour and thyme and stir until dissolved.

Pour the gravy over the sausages mix, then season with black pepper and pop back in the oven for another 20-25 minutes until the gravy has thickened.

NB:  This is easier to serve if you cut the sausages at this stage – if you cut them too soon they will probably dry out too much.

I got this recipe off one of my favourite blogs and adapted it somewhat :  www.tinnedtomatoes.com

44
Chit Chat / Tenina in Melbourne
« on: August 10, 2016, 11:04:31 am »
Is anyone going to Tenina's cooking class in Melbourne on Wednesday 7 Setpember at 6.00 pm?

45
Bread / Bread Proving Basket
« on: August 05, 2016, 03:27:50 am »
I just bought DH one of those round bread proving baskets (looks identical to a Banneton basket, but its from a company called Davis and Waddell, don’t know if that makes any difference – I can tell you that it was bl###y expensive regardless) for baking bread in.  Am I correct in assuming that these baskets can be put in the oven (with or without pre-soaking)?

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