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Topics - Siren

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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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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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Recipe Book Recipe Reviews / Full Steam Ahead: Blue Cheese Flan page 42
« on: August 11, 2014, 04:19:04 pm »
I made the Blue Cheese Flan (page 42) at the weekend, and it was very good -- although I think the result was a bit heavier than it should have been, possibly because my whisked egg whites separated in the fridge.  My husband said he would like to have it again sometime, and I think it could easily be modified to incorporate other sorts of cheese or other ingredients.  They came out almost like a very light dumpling, rather than the soufflé-like outcome that I had hoped for from reading the method, but they were mild-tasting and pleasant.

I'm not happy with the egg-white beating instructions, or maybe I'm just not happy with what the Thermomix does to my egg whites, since they separate into a light foam and a watery puddle if you set them aside for a few minutes.  But I have since read some recommendations to apply heat while whisking egg whites, and I will try that next time.

I'm also not convinced by the sauce-making instructions in the recipe, and would prefer to make my sauce base at speed 4 so that it doesn't stick around the central spindle.  After following the recipe instructions, I had to scrape everything about a bit and blitz it on a higher speed to get rid of the blob.

But steaming a soufflé mix is an interesting technique, and I will definitely make this recipe again (with those two technical modifications).  I would suggest that a light cream sauce would go well with it, unless the texture changes radically after making the modifications above.  Although the recipe is presented in the book as a first course, serving four, I served two of the flans per person as a main course, alongside a dressed green salad, which worked well.  
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I have just posted this recipe in my intermittent and much-neglected blog, and thought I would share it here with you (with added ingredients listing).

Ingredients for dill sauce:
1 egg yolk (white used in fish element)
100 g extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
0.5 tbsp shallot vinegar
fresh dill (some also used in fish element)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
about 250 g fat-free natural yoghurt

Ingredients for sea bream stuffed with salmon mousse:
2 small fillets sea bream, skin removed
1 small fillet salmon, skin removed
1 egg white (yolk used in mayonnaise)
fresh dill (some also used in mayonnaise)
a couple of tablespoons of double cream
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for vegetables:
broad beans
fresh peas
a carrot

Method:
To start with, I made a one-egg-yolk batch of mayonnaise with 100g or thereabouts of extra virgin olive oil and some fresh dill.  The mayonnaise was a glossy, green-flecked success, and I set it aside in the fridge.

Then, without washing the Thermomix jug, I threw in a single-serving salmon fillet (de-skinned and cut into chunks), the egg white left over from the mayonnaise preparation, more dill, a glug of double cream and some salt and pepper, then blitzed it on Speed 4 until the mixture was like a not-quite-smooth salmon pâté (which took next to no time).

I laid some cling film on the kitchen counter, and put my two sea bream fillets (de-skinned) on top, arranging them to form a shape as close to a rectangle as I could manage, and patting them down to flatten them a bit.  Then I spread the salmon mousse mixture all over the sea bream.  Using the cling film to lift and roll the fish layers, I rolled it carefully into a fat sausage, wrapped it tightly in cling film and set it in the fridge to chill for a few hours.  I rinsed out the Thermomix and its lid at this stage, ready for steaming later.

Half an hour before eating, I put 500g water in the jug, popped the fish package into the base of the Varoma, put the lid on top, and cooked at Varoma temperature, Speed 1, for 30 minutes (next time, I would reduce this to 25 minutes).

Meanwhile, I podded some broad beans (also removing the inner skins) and some fresh peas, and cut a peeled carrot into tiny cubes the same size as the peas.

Ten minutes before the end of the cooking time, I spread all of the prepared vegetables on the Varoma tray, lifted the lid, popped the tray in and put the lid back on, to cook the vegetables on top of the fish.   Stirring half of the mayonnaise into two or three times that quantity of fat-free yoghurt made a quick dill sauce to spoon over the fish and vegetables.

At the end of cooking, I cut away the cling film, sliced the stuffed fish and served it with the beautifully al dente vegetables and the dill sauce.

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Introduce Yourself / Hi from East Anglia, in the UK
« on: August 06, 2014, 05:21:38 pm »
Thought I'd pop in and introduce myself, since I felt a sudden urge to post a recipe in the recipe-sharing section.

I'm in East Anglia, in the UK, and I have had my Thermomix for two and a quarter years (browsing this forum sporadically throughout that time). Although I use the Thermomix often, it has tended to be for mundane things such as chopping or soup-making, so I'm currently on a mission to use more of the Thermomix's capabilities than I have been doing.  Initially, I'm planning to try lots of dishes cooked in the Varoma.

What a great forum you have here! I found the contents lists for recipe books particularly useful when ordering new books a couple of days ago.

It's a pleasure to meet you all.  ;)

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