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Messages - Siren

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Tips and Tricks / Re: Thermomix apps
« on: October 04, 2014, 08:55:49 am »
I have the official Thermomix app for iPhone, which is basically a really cost-effective way of buying Vorwerk's "My Way of Cooking" recipe book.  The description in iTunes says that it has 145 recipes, but when I count them up, it seems to be 174.  I have made a few things from it, with great success.  And the app is nicely designed, with a shopping trolley feature as well as the recipes themselves.

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I've just made this (substituting a carrot for the red/green pepper, and cornflour for the regular flour, adding a little extra), and it was excellent.  Much deeper in flavour than I expected, and with a slightly different texture to the lentil sauce, owing to pre-soaking the lentils.

The sauce didn't stick at all for me -- indeed, I had no problems of any sort with the recipe, which worked really well.  My recipe requests 400g tomatoes, not the 300g mentioned by another poster, and my two aubergines came to 450g in total which I reckoned was close enough.  I love the method of steaming sliced aubergines in the Varoma while cooking sauce in the bowl-jug-thing, and will use this idea when cooking other dishes.

Definitely one I will make again -- so much less washing up than when I make the various moussaka elements on the hob!

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News about Thermomix / Recipe chips for TM5
« on: September 11, 2014, 07:45:09 pm »
Browsing a number of Vorwerk's international stores, it appears that there are already five Recipe Chips available for the TM5 in German-language form!  I didn't want a TM5 at all, but now I'm wavering.  (Well, I will be, if a similar number of Recipe Chips appears in English or French.  My German is a bit too rudimentary to be useful in the heat of a kitchen!)

http://shop.vorwerk.de/thermomix/rezept-chips.html

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Recipe Book Recipe Reviews / Fast and Easy Cooking (UK): Pesto, p.50
« on: September 10, 2014, 04:01:03 pm »
What can I say?  I made the all-Parmesan version, rather than using a mixture of Parmesan and Pecorino, and it was perfect in every way.  It even freezes well.
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Thank you for a great recipe.  It's much more like a ganache or a truffle than a fudge, but all the better for that!  I made it exactly as in the recipe, for guests coming, and it was a huge hit.  I'm going to have to put the leftovers into the freezer to stop me eating them all from the fridge!

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This seemed an unusual recipe in a number of ways.  Kiwi fruit and banana together in a jam?  Agar agar as a setting agent?  But I happened to have seven unloved kiwi fruit in the fruit bowl, and a couple of over-ripe bananas, so I thought there was nothing to lose by trying.

The recipe was very easy indeed, but I had trouble getting the jam to a setting point.  In the end, I had to cook the mixture for longer and add more agar agar (about another teaspoonful).  But the jam did eventually set, and it tastes very good.
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Recipe Book Recipe Reviews / Full Steam Ahead: Dumpling variation, p.130
« on: September 10, 2014, 03:30:28 pm »
This recipe is for three different flavours of bread-based dumpling, served with a mushroom sauce.  I made just two of the flavours, and didn't bother with the sauce, so this is really just a partial review.

I wonder whether there is a mistake in the recipe, because adding 200g milk made something more like a sludge than a mixture capable of being formed into dumpling shapes.  It took lots more breadcrumbs to unslacken the mixture to a suitable state.

The spinach form of the dumplings is very like something we have eaten in the Trentino region of Italy, called "strangolapreti".  In fact, that is how we served them, in a puddle of melted butter with grated Parmesan on top.  Tasty, but sadly over-processed, gluey and stodgy by the time I remedied the consistency problem and got the dumplings into a fit state to steam in the Varoma.

The mushroom version is very tasty, and suffered less from the too-liquid consistency than the spinach version did.

I have since made the spinach version again, but omitting the milk, and the consistency and texture were much improved.  There is enough moisture in the spinach and eggs to bind the mixture without needing to add milk.

A tasty and interesting recipe, but one which needs to be tweaked if it is to be a success, I think.
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Recipe Book Recipe Reviews / Fast and Easy Cooking (UK): Tuna tapenade, p.39
« on: September 10, 2014, 03:20:29 pm »
This is essentially a mixture of tuna, anchovies and olives, with olive oil and flavourings.  I made this recipe exactly as written, with no variation, to serve with a selection of other pâté/terrine-like dishes.  It worked well, the flavours were balanced, and it was popular with our guests.
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This recipe is an absolute winner!  In essence, it is an egg custard, poured hot over frozen raspberries (still in their frozen state), then served a few minutes later, by which time the raspberries have defrosted and the custard has cooled to room temperature.

To our taste, the recipe as written is a little too sweet, but this was easily fixed the second time we made it, by using 35 to 40g sugar instead of the 50g stated in the recipe.  I used the variation with whole eggs rather than egg yolks, with the seeds of a vanilla pod instead of vanilla extract.

As a trial run, I made up a batch with 1/3 quantities (that is, two eggs), serving it over mixed frozen berries including blackberries, strawberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants.  That was when we discovered that it was too sweet for us, but it showed that the basic method worked well.

My plan was to serve the raspberry version for pudding at a family get-together.  Just before we sat down at the table, I made the full quantity, reducing the sugar as indicated above. I left the custard to cook while we ate our starter, then just before serving the main course I whizzed it up again quickly with a little cold milk (following the tip in the recipe), as it seemed to look a bit scrambled.  I was left with the most gloriously smooth custard, so I spooned most of it into six ramekins over frozen raspberries before we ate the main course, leaving it to stand until we were ready for pudding.  The dish was a big success with everyone -- not least because our guests were impressed that I managed to cook egg custard while sitting eating with them, in a different room!

Since I was serving only six people at the meal but the recipe serves eight, I put the unneeded custard into a bowl in the fridge.  My student son tells me that it is pretty good straight from the fridge the next day, without any fruit.

It strikes me that this recipe is a perfect example of how to show a Thermomix to its best advantage, demonstrating the ease with which you can create dishes which are a bit labour-intensive by hand, and showing how it helps you to save time and concentrate on having fun with your guests rather than slaving over a hot stove.
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Introduce Yourself / Re: Hi from East Anglia, in the UK
« on: September 07, 2014, 03:25:28 pm »
Thank you, Cornish Cream.  I'll do that.

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Introduce Yourself / Re: Hi from East Anglia, in the UK
« on: September 07, 2014, 03:01:38 pm »
Hello, all you experienced old-timers!  Could I please ask a quick question about using the forum?  If I have made a recipe from one of the Thermomix cookery books, or have made a variation of it, and if I feel like commenting on it but can't find that same recipe reviewed on the forum...  which subforum should I post in?  Should I create a new post in the "Swapping Recipes" section according to the type of recipe it is, or should I add a post to the corresponding thread for that book in the "Recipe Book Recipe Reviews" section?  Thank you.

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News about Thermomix / Re: New Model Thermomix, truth or rumour?
« on: September 05, 2014, 08:25:01 pm »
Thermomix UK has included details of the new model in a newsletter this evening, and a link to the product information is given on their Facebook page.  The link is http://new.thermomix.co.uk

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Chit Chat / Re: Missing my Thermie...
« on: August 22, 2014, 10:28:27 am »
My Thermomix is back.  When it left, the stress-fractured face plate had "Vorwerk" at the top, and "Thermomix" in the bottom left-hand area, underneath the hotter end of the temperature settings.  Now it has a different "Thermomix" logo at the top, and the Vorwerk logo is at the bottom.  Curious.

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Chit Chat / Re: Missing my Thermie...
« on: August 21, 2014, 04:58:30 pm »
Next-day delivery service in each direction, and (so they tell me) a very quick problem to fix!  My machine is out of warranty by two months (typical!), so even though Thermomix UK were very generous in waiving huge chunks of the servicing fee, the delivery charges and the cost of the replacement part mean that getting the front plate replaced hasn't been a cheap exercise.  But I'm definitely looking forward to getting it back again.

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Chit Chat / Re: Missing my Thermie...
« on: August 21, 2014, 11:53:58 am »
Yay!  Just had a phone call from Thermomix UK, and my machine will be back home where it belongs tomorrow!  So I'll have it back in time for the weekend.  Three cheers!

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