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Messages - Paul
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31
« on: November 09, 2009, 10:11:04 am »
Thanks Paul - you can always learn something - never heard of the butter-soaked muslin - thinking. 
Actually, the only way I've really found to keep the breast moist is to cook it into a Weber Bullet which sort of steams and BBQs at the same time
32
« on: November 09, 2009, 08:12:12 am »
The turkey stuffing:
100g couscous
350ml water
2 bunches basil
2 bunches mint
2 cloves garlic
8 spring onions chopped
10 tinned water chestnuts
10 sundried tomatoes chopped
1 red chilli chopped
salt and pepper
6 tbsp EVOO
Add water to couscous for 15 minutes with 2 tbsp EVOO and mix. Then break up with your hand, add all the other ingredients and mix. Stuff turkey, inside, and in that space where the neck used to be, and under the breast. Remember to do this just before you cook it, not ages before, otherwise you'll get food poisoning! The stuffing swells quite and bit so not too tight.
The original recipe says to serve with homemade mayonnaise. One year I made the mayonnaise, added the rind of an orange and a little of the juice, and glazed the turkey with it for the final 10 minutes. Yum. This will be the 14th year in a row I've done the turkey this way. You can also used cracked wheat instead of couscous - 100g soaked in water for half and hour before use. I think the couscous is better.
Tip for a turkey so the breast doesn't dry out. Get a large sheet of muslin, and soak it in lots of melted butter. Leave on top of breast, take off for last 10-15 minutes to brown. When you baste the turkey the muslin retains the fatty juices better.
33
« on: November 09, 2009, 03:07:04 am »
The truffle oils can be a bit OTT - I have some black truffle salsa that i was given as a gift and I generally put oil over it and store it in the fridge and only need small amounts of the oil and some truffle to really flavour the dish.
I love truffles, but the first time that I had the real thing (fresh) was in a provincial 3-star French restaurant about 20 years ago. Truffles were in just about every course - and generally lots. I didn't mind, but my ex just loathed them after about the third dish.
You are very right about some restaurants and the oil - you can smell your dish before it leaves the kitchen. A drop goes a long way.
I think they're at they're best flavouring some fresh good quality (but) bland ingredients like eggs and pasta
34
« on: November 09, 2009, 02:30:33 am »
Thanks Paul, Would it be possible for the turkey recipe also?
Trudy
Trudy I will put in the turkey recipe ronight
35
« on: November 09, 2009, 02:29:25 am »
I think the secret is good chocolate and doubling the grog. I keep meaning to make one to put in the Cairns show, but I eat it all.
36
« on: November 08, 2009, 09:38:21 pm »
OK 2 recipes
Chocolate fruit cake from AWW cookbook
500g sultanas
250g raisins
125g currants
250g glace fruit (whatever you like, I HATE cherries) chopped
30 dried apricots chopped
90g mixed peel
1 cup brandy
250g butter
1.5 cups brown sugar
1tsp each grated organe and lemon rind
1tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp marmalade
125g good dark chocolate
4 eggs
2.5 cups plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
Put fruit on bowl with brandy and leave for as long as possible, at least 2 days.
Cream butter and sugar, add fruit rind, vanilla, marmalade and melted chocolate
Add eggs one at a time and mix well each time
Fold in sifted dry ingredients alternating with fruits, mix well each time
Add to prepared and lined tin and bake for 4 hours on 130 C - test with a skewer, and cover top with foil if it looks like burning
Topping for brussells sprouts - from Jane Grigson's English Food
500g chestnuts (tinned are fine)
1 large onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
60g butter
60 g bacon chopped
2 apples (recipe says Cox but I used granny smith) peeled and diced
Salt and pepper
Roughly chop the chestnuts. Gently cook garlic and onion in butter until soft and golden. Add bacon and cook gently until bacon fat looks translucent. Add the apple, fry a few more minutes until it starts to smell fantastic. Add the chestnuts and cook until pan juice almost disappear. Season well. Add to cooked sprouts. I have also used this to stuff a chicken.
37
« on: November 08, 2009, 11:12:34 am »
Paul - how about posting those recipes for all of us to try?
Shaula in Cape Town
I could, although they're not thermomix recipes. Which one would you like first Shaula?
38
« on: November 08, 2009, 08:57:47 am »
Well I have already started.
Christmas cake - I use the Women's Weekly cookbook chocolate christmas cake. Never fails (unless you're learning to use a new oven, but the less said about this the better). I think this is the best recipe ever - I have never tasted a nicer Christmas cake. I do double the alcohol and leave it soaking for longer than recommended - the dried fruit swells up and looks like plump jewels. We made it today and it's looking good. I have made it in the past and it has been too dry - I got a needle and syringe from work and injected it with cognac.
The rest of the menu:
Turkey stuffed with cous cous, mint, water chestnuts, chilli, basil, spring onions, SDT's and smothered with mayonnaise - a fantastic recipe from Diane Holuige in "The Australian" weekend mag many years ago. Truly droolworthy.
Potatoes roasted with goose fat
Parsnips roasted with Parmagiano-Reggiano
Brussels sprouts (which I normally hate) topped with a Jane Grigson mix of sauteed bacon, chopped chestnuts, apple and onion (enough to make anyone love Brussels sprouts)
Dessert - maybe a mango trifle,not sure yet
39
« on: November 08, 2009, 08:40:08 am »
Welcome back - work has been keeping me busy - double-edged sword. We had white bean puree last night !! Not with tomatoes so will have to try Stephanie's recipe. I added some black truffle salsa and it was divine, it was a Donovam Cooke recipe from years ago and I just felt like something simple (and quick) afer work.
I think I'm a bit over truffles. The oil/extracts are too intense for my liking, too overpowering. A lot of restaurants seem to think they have hit culinary heights by overusing truffle oil. I did once buy a tiny white truffle at the Florence markets. It was 40 euro, and the size of a large pea. I kept it in a bowl overnight with eggs, and we had beautifully scented scrambled eggs the next morning. I shaved the rest into a fresh porcini pasta that night. The next day I put the rind inside a chicken (which had a head and feet) and roasted it. After this, I never wanted to see, smell or taste another truffle for a long time!
40
« on: November 07, 2009, 10:11:59 am »
Not too sure where to put this one, but this was a recipe I found on the net. I have a 14 year old dog called Max, he loves a biscuit in the morning. Sometimes his breath gets a bit over the top, so these parsley biscuits seem to have helped. I might try a hard cheese like cheddar next time to make it tastier. The flat leaf parsley is the one I use, tastes better and grows like a weed up here in Cairns. 3 cups Minced fresh parsley ¼ cup Finely chopped carrot ¼ cup Grated Mozzarella cheese 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil 2¾ cup Wholemeal flour 2 tablespoons Unprocessed bran flakes 2 teaspoons Baking powder ½ to 1 cup water Mince the parsley, carrot and cheese together until fine, on 6. Add flour, oil, bran and baking powder. Add half a cup of water, more if needed. The dough needs to be quite dry. Mix on  for 2 minutes until you get a stiff dough. Add more wholemeal flour if you've overdone the water. Roll it out using a rolling pin, dues with more flour. Use a bone shaped biscuit cutter to cut into the right shapes, and place on a baking tray for 30-60 minutes at 200 until brown. Mine took quite a while to go brown. Max likes them - sort of. I think a tastier cheese, maybe even parmesan rinds, might make them more to his liking.
41
« on: November 07, 2009, 09:07:44 am »
Sorry I haven't been around much lately. Work sucks.
Today we slow cooked a leg of lamb for 7 hours, with 5(!) garlic heads. A delicious recipe from Paula Wolfert. I'm serving it with a white bean puree, which is delicious and perfect for the thermomix. You can soak dried beans overnight, but I forgot so I used a tin. If you remember to soak the beans overnight, use 1 cup and simmer for 2 hours with 3 cups water and the tomato paste, but the tin method seems to work. This is a modification of a Stephanie Alexander recipe.
400g tin white (cannellini) beans rinsed and drained
1 tbsp tomato paste
salt and pepper
1-2 garlic gloves
1 tsp fresh rosemary
EVOO
200ml chicken stock
1/2 lemon juiced
Chop the garlic and rosemary finely. Scrape down. Add 2 tbsp EVOO and saute on Varoma temp 2 mins speed 1. Add the beans, tomato paste and puree on 7-8. Add stock, bit by bit, until you get the right consistency - I like it not too runny, like firm mashed potatoes. Cook on speed 4 at 100 for 8 minutes. Add lemon juice, more oil, salt and pepper and blend on 8 for a few seconds.
It's a great alternative to mashed potato or polenta, and looks very professional. If anyone wants the lamb dish let me know, but it's not TMX.
Tomorrow I'm going to take out my work frustrations on making the Christmas cake and a loaf of bread for a friend. I also need to order a turkey for Christmas. Last year we ordered a 'free range' turkey, but when it arrived it had those holes in the skin which meant it had been injected with some hideous fake substances. Gee I hate fake food!
42
« on: October 04, 2009, 03:50:44 am »
Hi Paul, welcome back - missed your postings. Get any ideas/recipes from the old country you can post? How lovely for your dear Mum to have a trip back home - got to love a son that will do that with you. Bet you are surprised at how much the forum has grown since you were last on here.
I'm even more surprised at how much I have grown. Not much in the way of new recipes, but it was nice eating beautiful tasting fruit and veges
43
« on: October 04, 2009, 01:37:01 am »
Wonder how the holiday is going?
Hi, I'm back. And catching up on all the work, so not much time for anything else. Cyprus was very interesting and emotional, found 2 of my Mum's long lost first cousins, saw where my grandfather lived, had some great food (esp olive oil, lamb, sheep's yoghurt, carob syrup,) but I must say I was sick of eating afterwards. Looking forward to a weekend off and playing with the thermomix
44
« on: August 14, 2009, 10:55:55 am »
I can imagine it must be very thick. Maybe just some milk or milk/cream mix to make it a custard consistency? Also sounds like you would need to eat it the same day you made it. It might get icy after more than a day in the freezer. Worth an experiment though!
45
« on: August 14, 2009, 04:58:51 am »
Hi Paul, would you know how to convert left-over white chocolate risotto into an ice-cream. Bron hasn't been on for a few days and we all have some in our fridge after last night's effort. You seem to be a bit of an ice-cream lover. Cookie1 also loves to make her own ice-cream but she also hasn't been on for a few days. Would appreciate your thoughs.
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Judy, what are the ingredients in the risotto?
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