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Topics - RoxyS

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1
During our spell of hot weather last week. I had more chicken than the recipe asked for and cooked it all, increasing the cooking time accordingly. Unfortunately, I found the chicken a bit dry but other than that it was a lovely salad which I would have again.  I would possibly try chicken thighs next time in the hope of them being more tender. I think that if you wanted to you could substitute the chicken for prawns and it would taste very nice too. 4/5

2
Have just been looking at the reviews for the Meat on the Menu Cookbook and discovered that no one has reviewed this salad. It was probably one of the first things I tried in this cookbook when I got it last year.

I love this salad. It is so easy to make. I often steam a few chicken breasts and pop some in the freezer to make prep next time easier. I use craisins rather than the seedless grapes. Did make it with the grapes once and they were okay I just prefer the craisins. It is a nice moist salad and I give it a 5/5. Must say though that my teenagers don't like it as much as a chicken caesar salad. I have used it on wraps too and as long as you don't put too much dressing on it it is fine.

Am going to be trying a few more of the salads from the cookbook in the next week or so, so will endeavour to post some more reviews as not many of the salads have been reviewed.

3
I made these as chicken patties the other night and must say they tasted very nice and got the thumbs up from all the family. Unfortunately, I didn't have a red chilli so substituted a little ground chilli instead but it did miss something from not having the red chilli which I would use next time. I love the lime and coriander flavours that come through. These would be great done on the bbq and are ideal to make up ahead of time. I used chicken mince which my 19yr old DS had bought home from his housesitting. It is important to leave the mixture for at least 30 mins as the recipe says.
5/5 from me.

4
Hi,

I have made these two treats from the Rawlicious Cookbook to have for Christmas time at my DS's farm.

My trial run on the Cinnamon Bars got taken to work by my DH and consumed in one trip - with the thumbs up. He very much liked the taste of the craisins that comes through nicely. I have made a double batch & am going to make another double batch. One lot will be dipped in melted chocolate - so the kids are more likely to eat them -DH's suggestion. They certainly don't need the chocolate but it will hide what is in them.

I ended up rolling my Cinnamon Bars into a log shape in the cling wrap and putting in the fridge that way. Once they harden you can then slice them into rounds to serve. The recipe said to use a vanilla bean which I didn't have so used a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste. The first time it came out a bit too oily so learnt from that and used less coconut oil. Can't remember how much less. Will check when I make another double batch today.

The Heavenly Coconut Balls are just three ingredients and really simple to make. Honey, coconut and cashews. I roll mine into balls and it is like having hand cream - the honey and nut oil feels really good on the hands and I reckon the recipe could somehow be adapted to make a hand cream or facial scrub - if anyone is so inclined. As a treat they are yummy and got the thumbs up from my fussy 6 yr old DD.

Highly recommend both recipes - healthy treats for this time of year.

5
Am seeking to try a whole lot of new salads this summer and had my eye on this one as my family enjoy wraps and it makes great picnic food too.

I attempted to make the TM mayonnaise which was not a great success but I used it in the recipe anyway. I omitted the pecans as my DC are a bit fussy with nuts. I used 900g of chicken thighs as my parents were supposed to be having tea with us. Instead of the grapes I used cranberries but otherwise followed the recipe. Taste-wise it was great and got the thumbs up from the family and a friend who had dropped in and stayed for tea as my folks didn't end up coming. There was plenty left over for my DH to take with him to work today.

Tweaks - where it says to shred the chicken on  :-: speed 3,  I ended up doing it without the reverse. When you had to put all ingredients except dressing and chicken in the bowl and blitz, I found I ended up with some larger pieces of celery & red onion than I should have so may have needed to blitz longer or to have stirred after first blitz and blitz again. Wasn't a major thing but if serving to guests would be better without the larger pieces. Other thing I should say, was that I didn't add all the dressing to the salad as my mayo had turned out so runny that the salad would have been swimming in the dressing if I'd added it all. So, if your mayo is thicker you would probably add all the dressing.

So, 5/5 and will definitely make again. I served at room temp as soon as it came out of the TM but would definitely chill it next time and it would be even better. Am going to give it a try as a quiche base in cooler weather as the book suggests.

With the cranberries & red onion in it, it is perfectly coloured  to have as a Christmas salad - lovely red & green colours.

Sorry, forgot to take a photo. Will try and remember next time I make it unless someone else beats me to it.

6
Desserts / Frozen Mango Bars
« on: November 20, 2010, 12:01:45 pm »
Frozen Mango Bars

I adapted this recipe from a recipe on Best Recipes.com submitted by debrakay56.
Made 36 pieces

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups sugar (260g)
1 1/4 cups water (300g)
3 x 425g cans sliced mangoes, drained. (I used about 700g fresh mango flesh - 4 decent sized mangoes)
1 tbspn lemon juice
1 x 300ml thickened cream (I used 2 x  200ml cartons of long life cream)


Preparation:

Line 2 20cm x 30cm lamington trays with alfoil or get some silicon muffin pans ready.
Mill the sugar on Speed  for 10 secs. Add the water and cook at 60º for 5 mins to dissolve sugar.
Cool to room temperature.
Add mangoes, and lemon juice and turn speed dial slowly to 9 to puree. Allow to puree for about 3 secs on 9 to ensure smooth consistency.
In a bowl combine two cups of mango mixture with the cream and stir.
Pour this mixture into silicon muffin pans or a couple of lamington trays lined with baking paper (20cm x 30cm) and freeze until firm.
Pour remaining mango mixture over frozen mango cream in pan or muffin trays. Freeze for several hours or until firm.
Cut into slices if using pan or remove from silicon muffin molds and store in freezer.

Tips/Hints:

I am not a big fruit eater so had to get my children to sample these and got the thumbs up. They are very easy to make and I thought that using my silicon muffin molds they look more presentable for desserts when one has company. Would be interested to know if others think that you could substitute coconut cream for the thickened cream and if that would taste okay. Am thinking about whether a similar concoction of strawberries or mixed berries could be made. Would love to hear from others as to what they think. Feedback on the Best Recipes site suggested adding macadamia nuts to the cream mix and a few had done this and enjoyed it.

Members' comments
Kym - I made a half batch yesterday and I agree that they do taste fairly similar to the Weiss bars.

mel81q - These are just like the weiss bar from the supermarket, probably even better, as these are heaps cheaper to make, and you get plenty out of one batch. DH rated them a 20/10 so must be onto a good thing here. He might just have a new favourite thermomix dessert now. Ta for a great recipe.

Trudy - These went down a treat with my Granddaughters and Sons-in-Law.  I found the mixture was just right for only ONE lamington pan and slices very easily.  Thank-you for the recipe.

Obbie - I made these yesterday, and used silicon muffin trays for them. My daughter loves them. I used up 7 fresh mangoes.

Uni - I made them a few weeks ago and omg soooooo good.  I don’t own silicon muffin trays I just lined mine with foil. Making more this week this will try with canned mangoes.

opi2kenopi - Oh yeah, I made these a few weeks ago and forgot to post my thanks for the recipe.  So thanks.  It's lovely!  And I only found out after I made them that my DH is not a fan of mango.  How did I not know that by now? I included macadamias and coconut cream (or was it milk? I can't remember) in the creamy bit, and next time I think I might churn that part in my ice-cream maker for a while because I find that part a little solid to get the spoon through (maybe because I used coconut milk?).  I did mine in silicone muffin tins so need to be eaten with a spoon.  If done as bars or in ice-cream moulds with a stick I don't think the churning is necessary. I think canned mangoes would work a treat.  Would you use the juice as well?

chookie - Roxy,  this recipe is unreal.  I made the basic Mango,  although I doubled the recipe as I knew it was going to be hot today and I had run out of Ice-cream.  I set some in icy-pop containers, and the rest in a flat dish.   For lunch today,  I sliced the set mango and served it in between wafers.   Beautiful.   For afternoon tea,  I put about a cup of Ice blocks, 1 cup of milk and a chunk of Frozen Mango Bars in the TMX and zapped on 10 for 1 min.  A beautiful frozen mango thick shake.  Thanks again.   I think I will make a berry version.

Leej - We use just the mango 'sorbet' base for icy-poles (we're dairy free), DS absolutely loves them. We aren't mango fans, but my sister tells me they are like the weiss bars too.  I did freeze and re-blend the mix at once stage to see if it would be a bit more 'sorbetish', but it really is nicer without it! Today we used 2 cans of mango's and 2 frozen cheeks, worked a charm. It makes enough for 12 icy-poles here.

Uni - make sure you take them out of the freezer 15  mins before you are going to eat them. Once frozen slice it then use go betweens then store back in the freezer. Or do individual ones. If making these with berries, I would use 700g of berries.

Denzelmum - We got a tray of mango for $10 and made this.  DD and DS love this!  Made some on tupperware popsicle thingy and some one silicone loaf.  Looks exactly like Weis Bar.  Yummy summer treat.

Marina - I froze the juice from the tinned mangos I used when I made this and will use them in sorbets and smoothies, etc. during the summer.

Kulsha - These taste awesome, I made them into small bars by freezing in a square silicone cake tin - then sliced when both layers frozen. They have a definite 2 colour layer like the commercial ones you buy. Next time I will try coconut cream and I like the idea of the icy pole moulds too. The recipe made about 20 pieces which I cut up and store in plastic container separated with baking paper. They are easy to eat in a small bowl with a small fork (spoon might bounce around a bit until they melt a bit). Yummy - thanks for the recipe !!

Brumington - They are heaven on earth and just like the real thing.

MF - Absolutely delicious. A great recipe and they taste just like the weis bars at a fraction of the cost.

Chookie - Made this again.  Love it.  Cooked some white peaches, no sugar.  Used the peach liquid instead of water,  but followed the recipe replacing mangos with peaches.  Froze some in tray, rest frozen in plastic container. They were delicious.  Served between wafer biscuits.

ES - I had two very ripe mangoes in the fruit bowl and 825g jar of sliced mangoes in the cupboard. I made this up and poured into silicon cup cake moulds.. So easy and soo delicious. Everyone in the family loves these.

MEP - I made these for the first time the other day and they were absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe. The recipe reviews and comments found on this forum really are invaluable and priceless in saving you $$ and effort.

Kimmyh - Made half recipe and put into Popsicle moulds. Just need to get layers a bit more even. Really yummy recipe and easier for the children to eat them when on sticks.




















7
Chit Chat / Confusion with posting of threads.
« on: November 09, 2010, 09:59:25 am »
I have noticed that there be may some confusion with our newer members (and some of us longer standing members) with regard to where to post threads and about posting recipes found in recipe books. My understanding is that recipes contained in the various TMX books should not be put on the forum for copyright reasons. Is that the case? I am not wanting to upset anyone in asking for clarification on these points. Naz had mentioned to me that she had reviewed the Roulade of Spinach in the Recipe Reviews and Tweaking and when I logged in this didn't come up as an unread topic since my last visit. I have since added to an old post with a question which came up with a warning saying that I might want to start a new topic as there hadn't been any activity on that topic for a year. So, I'm wondering whether my question will be seen by anyone or will just be tacked on to the topic but because it is so old will not come up when people try to view unread posts since their last visit. Surely with starting new posts for some of these subjects we end up with a few posts on the same subject and then there can be confusion in where to look for something. (I don't feel like I am doing a very good job of explaining what I mean so I hope someone can understand me.)

8
Chit Chat / Almond Oil ?
« on: November 06, 2010, 01:12:22 am »
Hi, I was going to try the Bath Fizzes from the Vegetarian Cookbook to get organised for Christmas presents but don't know where to source Almond Oil from. Can anyone suggest where I might do that? I was unable to get to our Asian food shop or Health food shop to see if they had any so will have to try on Monday.

9
Main Dishes / Honey Glazed Chicken TMX Style
« on: July 12, 2010, 02:26:56 pm »
I had pulled some chicken thighs from the freezer earlier today and left them on the bench but when it came time to prepare tea they weren't defrosted. I was about to rush out to the supermarket before it closed as I had no potatoes and thought I'd grab some and maybe something else to prepare for tea. I got into the car and then thought better of it and decided to put some rice into the rice cooker and just chop up the frozen lump of chicken breasts and do something with it.

A few years ago my eldest DS was given the task of deciding the night's menu and helping to prepare it and he had chosen Honey Glazed Chicken from one of my favourite cookbooks - the Port Hedland School of the Air's A Taste of the Outback cookbook. It is done in the oven and when served with potato bake, carrots and broccoli is a wonderful meal that soon became a family favourite that we often served to guests. When we first started to make this we used Sundried Tomato Mustard as we had received some in a Christmas hamper and this made the dish very special. Coles no longer carry it.

Anyway, tonight I decided to try a quick version of the dish in the TMX and how I did it is outlined below.


Honey Glazed Chicken TMX Style
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
2 dessertspns honey
1 dessertspn dijon mustard
a couple of sundried or semi-dried tomatoes
lge tspn curry paste (I used red curry paste)
approx 40g butter
1 kg chicken thighs, cubed
rice or cornflour to thicken (if desired or needed)

Preparation:
Put butter, honey, mustard, sundried tomatoes and curry paste into TMX bowl and program 3 mins, Varoma temp, speed 4 for 5 secs and then drop speed back to 1 for remainder of the 3 mins.
Scrape down sides of bowl and add chicken. I used the spatula to move the chicken around to coat with the ingredients in the bowl, and then, because the chicken was frozen I programmed it for 15 mins on Varoma temp, Reverse + speed 1. For defrosted chicken I imagine that 100C would be sufficient.
As the chicken created quite a bit of liquid as it defrosted I mixed some rice flour with a bit of water and added it to the bowl, programmed it for 1 min, Varoma temp, Reverse speed + soft.

I served it with rice, carrots and peas and it served 6 adults and my 5 yr old DD.

members' comments

CP - it was delicious, chucked in a few more sundried tomatoes. As my chicken was not frozen the 15 mins on 100 was fine. Steamed some vegies in the varoma and as they reqquired a bit longer just put the chicken in the Thermoserver and boiling water in the TM and gave the vegies another 10 mins. Thank you Roxy for posting this tasty recipe of yours.

JD - Made this with pork fillet.  Used a 380g fillet for the 2 of us but made all the sauce.  Steamed the vegies and potato cubes whilst I was preparing the meat and measuring out the sauce ingredients then popped the vegies into the thermosaver whilst I cooked the meat for 7 mins /100o/reverse/ speed 1.  During this cooking I browned the potato cubes on the stove top and it all came together in around 30 minutes.  The large cubes of pork were well and truly cooked in 7 minutes, will check at 5 minutes next time.  The sauce is delicious and there wasn't too much for the smaller quantity of meat. Thanks RoxyS.

10
Cakes / Auntie Ellie's Tea Biscuits (with photo)
« on: May 29, 2010, 01:07:40 pm »
This is a recipe adapted from Food That Really Schmecks: Mennonite Country Cooking by Edna Staebler that I bought when I was nannying in Canada many years ago. It is a recipe I have made many times before Ted arrived and when I adapted it this afternoon I was most happy with the results - they were nice and fluffy and light. Warning though: don't go over the specified measurements as they fill the TMX bowl pretty much to capacity and I don't think you'd fit any more in.

Not a recipe for anyone trying to lose weight - this is comfort food at it's best.

Auntie Ellie's Tea Biscuits

Ingredients

600g flour
1 tspn bicarb soda
1 tbspn baking powder
200g sugar
1 tspn salt
250g lard
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup currants (or sultanas) optional

Method

Put all dry ingredients into the TM bowl and add half the lard (chopped). Use closed lid position and turbo a few times to begin cutting in the lard. Remove lid and add the remainder of the lard. Again, use closed lid position and turbo a few more times to incorporate the lard. Add the buttermilk and turbo about 5 times, then add currants or sultanas and turbo once or twice to mix them in. You may find the top still looks crumbly. Check with a spatula to see if the rest of the dough is sticky underneath. If it is, then use the spatula to combine in the top crumbs. If not continue to turbo till it is.  I use two dessertspoon and drop spoonfuls onto a baking paper lined baking tray.  Sprinkle with a little sugar and bake in a 200/400 deg oven for 15 mins, watching till they are golden brown on the edges. Serve them warm. I made 24 reasonable sized "cakes"

(Can be frozen and zapped in the microwave to defrost and warm slightly, but they are better served fresh from the oven).

11
Recipe Book Recipe Reviews / Stir Fry Chinese Vegetables
« on: May 23, 2010, 08:58:14 am »
I notice that Mama Bel reviewed this last year but it was in amongst a whole lot of recipes she was reviewing. I made it last night after recommendations from a friend who said she had made it a few times last week.
It is definitely a 5/5 - only change I'd make would be to increase the amount of vegies and thus the cooking time. Thought about adding some lemon grass too as I love lemon grass.

As I had cut up more vegies than I needed, I decided to make a soup inspired by the flavours of the stir fry with the remainder that I didn't use last night. So just put into the bowl about 500 - 660g of chopped vegies, 800g water with 1 tbspn stock concentrate some ginger, garlic and lemongrass and set the timer for 15 mins at 100c on Speed 1. Added some oyster sauce after 10 mins. At the end of the 15 mins I tasted the soup and decided to add some sweet chilli sauce & more oyster sauce. Next time I would saute the ginger, garlic and lemongrass first and instead of the second lot of oyster sauce I would add some soy sauce as the end result of what I did today was a bit on the sweet side.

12
Yummo.

Love the taste of the fruit that comes through.

Where the recipe says "smoky paprika" that would improve the flavour to be a truer BBQ sauce. I haven't seen smoky paprika in the shops so used regular paprika. Also could possibly have reduced the amount of sugar in it.

My 14 yr old DS said it tastes like chutney which is probably because of the fruit flavours coming through.

Does have a bite as it goes down though and my DH gave it the definite thumbs up. My 5 yr old DD liked it so that is a positive and again it is great to know what is in what we are serving up.




13
From page 57 of Meat on the Menu Cookbook.

Made this for 8 people yesterday for lunch and served it with some cheese & bacon bread I'd made. It was a satisfying meal.

I only used 30g of parmesan as I felt that to use the 50g the recipe said would have overpowered the chicken flavour.

Where the recipe says cook for 15 mins at 100C on speed 4, I believe it should read Reverse + speed 4 as my TMX started bench walking until I switched to Reverse + speed 4.

I have to confess to not having any cream but didn't feel that was too much of a problem to the end result. That may have been because I had substituted 250g of the 500g of milk for 250g of coconut milk which I had in the fridge and which needed using up.

Overall a recipe I will use again. Of the 8 people who had it only 2 weren't keen on it.

14
Cakes / Melt & Mix Chocolate Chunk Mud Cake
« on: May 10, 2010, 01:32:39 pm »
This is a recipe I found in a magazine - I think it was a Food Ideas one but not sure.

Ingredients

200g butter
300g cooking chocolate - good quality & split into 200g & 100g lots
1/4 cup hot water
20g cocoa
1 tspn vanilla extract
200g castor sugar
3 eggs - at room temperature
120g SR flour

Method

Preheat oven to 160C. Grease a 20 cm round cake pan and line it with baking paper.

Place butter, 200g of chopped chocolate and hot water into TM bowl. Melt for 5 mins at 37C on Speed 1.
Add cocoa to warm chocolate mixture and stir for 5 secs on Speed 4. Add vanilla, castor sugar and eggs. Mix for 10 secs on Speed 4.
Sift in flour and stir on for 1.30 mins on Speed 2.
Pour half the mixture into prepared cake pan. Chop remaining chocolate and sprinkle half over the batter. Top with rest of the batter
and chopped chocolate.
Bake cake for 55 to 60 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre has moist crumbs clinging.

I have always made this cake with a mix of either peppermint or caramel chocolate mixed with the cooking chocolate (approx 200g of flavoured chocolate to 100g cooking chocolate) and this gives a lovely muddy cake and my family love it. This is the one we often use for birthday cakes as everyone loves it.

Will aim to post a photo. Realised I made the cake tonight without adding baking powder to the plain flour I always cook with. Doesn't look much different to what it normally does.

members' comments

Denzelmum - Made this with 200g Cadbury cararamello.  Turn out yum...
I took it out from the tin within 10 min and some  bit still stuck on the baking paper.  Collapsed a bit in the middle, but so moist and yummy.

Seezora - I have made this a few times, and mine seems to always collapse in the middle but that's probably my oven not being on a low enough heat. This is great with Betty Crocker Chocolate Frosting.  Leave in the fridge overnight so that the cake can 'set'.  Serve with fresh strawberries. ...or you can eat the batter as is?? (guilty as charged)

Amy - I made this for the farewell morning tea for a (chocoholic) friend who was leaving to have her first baby. I actually found this conversion on the forum after I had already converted and made it myself!
I must admit I made it extra decadent... I did a layer of cake batter, a layer of Cadbury's Snack flavoured chocolate, another layer of cake batter, another layer of Snack, and then spread the last little bit of cake batter over the top. I used the rest of the block of Snack chocolate to decorate the top.



15
A very interesting recipe. When I made the mixture and tasted it I thought it was going to be fabulous. It made all four of my Tupperware ice cube trays full so I was happy with the amount the recipe yielded.

I think I made a mistake when I took the ice cubes out to blitz them to serve. I only blitzed one tray of the ice cream ice cubes and did it for the full 40 secs that the recipe said. The result was that the mixture came out like nut meal and tasted way too nutty for my liking. All my DC didn't like it and I added a little port to my DH & mine which improved it somewhat.

So, if anyone else has had experience with this ice cream I would be interested in hearing about how they went. I think it is a learning curve and I will simply blitz the next lot of ice cubes for a lot less time and see if that make a difference. The mixture before I put it in the ice cube trays was delicious and I could have eaten it straight away.

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