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Topics - Delightful Den

Pages: 1 2 [3]
31
Chit Chat / Have had better weeks
« on: March 16, 2012, 03:32:12 pm »
I had to come up to Perth this week for work meetings from Wed to Friday.  Tuesday was a long Tuesday was a long day at work and then I had to travel to Perth. My car overheated 20 kms from home. By the time I got it cooled down and got underway again I didn't arrive in Perth until about 10 pm.

Wednesday my DW (who was also in Perth for an appt) ran over something and blew a tyre on a busy rode. She doesn't change tyres so I had to cut short a retirement function for a colleague and rescue her.

Thursday DW took the car that I drove up from Perth (the one that over heated and had spent the previous day in the mechanics) and headed home.  She never made it to Armadale before it overheated again.  I left my meeting and drove to her to swap cars. I then spent the next several hours trying to get the car on the road and eventually calling the RAC.

My poor little MG is now back at the mechanics and awaiting a part from the eastern states. The dealer tells me that the part alone is going to cost $600 not including labour.

I am spending the next couple of days in Perth so I can compete in a triathlon on Sunday and look at a house with DD who is looking at entering the world of home ownership. I think I am going to be doing some cooking to relieve my stress and so that I know DD eats well for a few days at least.

I am looking forward to a better week next week.


32
Recipe Book Recipe Reviews / Black Bean and Beef Nachos from Dinner Spinner
« on: February 12, 2012, 01:17:48 pm »
I followed this recipe as closely as possible to give it an accurate review. However I did reduce the amount of Cayenne Pepper to one teaspoon.  I also reduced the amount of corn by 1/2 as DW doesn't like corn. I used dried black beans so I had to soak and cook them which complicated the recipe. I will have to keep an eye out for some canned black beans

I am glad that I did reduce the cayenne as this dish was quite spicy. DW response upon her first taste was "OMG ow ow" and then she grabbed her drink.

On the other hand I thoroughly enjoyed this.  it was spicy but not to much for me and the flavors really complimented each other.  I will make a few changes the next time I make it. I found the mix to be a bit too runny so I will drain any excess liquid after cooking the beef mince. I will also reduce the amount tomato puree.  I like black beans so I will probably double the amount next time.

All in all I liked this and will make it again when DW is away or we are having company that likes spicy food.

33
Main Dishes / Beef Diane
« on: February 03, 2012, 03:07:58 pm »
Name of Recipe: Beef Diane
Number of People: 4
Ingredients:
1 kg stewing beef or chuck steak
1 tbs EVOO
4 cloves garlic
1 medium onion peeled and quartered
425g tin chopped or crushed tomatoes
125 gm beef stock
30g Worcestershire sauce
125g cream
2 tbs coarsely chopped fresh parsley plus extra for garnish
15 g brandy

Preparation:
1 Cut beef into 3 cm pieces place half beef and EVOO in  *: saute veroma 5 minutes  :-: speed 1, set aside when done and saute remainder of beef, set aside.
2 Add garlic and onion to  *: chop 2 sec speed 7 then add splash EVOO saute veroma 3 min speed 1
3 Add beef, tomatoes stock and sauce cook 100 60 min  :-: speed 1
4 Add remaining ingredients, simmer a further 5 minute MC out 100  :-: speed 1

Photos:

Tips/Hints:
Serve with pasta and sprinkled with extra chopped parsley, if desired.

Even using reverse the meat breaks down a bit so it is better to cut the meat larger than smaller. I drained any water accumulated in the bowl at the end of each batch of meat.

members' comments

Rogizoja - Cook your meat with the butterfly in place - stops the meat getting under the blades and so reduces break-up.

JD -  I sort of did half of the recipe but not exactly. Used 350 g beef, a full can of tomatoes but no liquid beef stock, only beef stock powder and half of everything else.  As I expected, it was quite runny so I thickened it with 4 tspns cornflour at the end.  It was still too runny to serve with what I had intended (mashed potatoes) so I added 200 g cooked frozen pasta which had the desired effect of thickening it up.  I also used the butterfly as Rogizoja suggested, it kept the meat a perfect cube shaped. Enjoyed your recipe Dashingden.

Hally - its lovely. My meat chunks were about 4 cms, cut by butcher, so just left & I used the butterfly. Perfect chunks still. Served on a bed of spaghetti, on the side carrots & broccolini.  600g was enough for the 3 of us, no leftovers which I am always happy about.
I have also made this today wth 500g meat as that was all I had. Added zucchini & carrot, approx 400g. Cooked meat for 30 mins, then added carrot, cooked for 20 min then added zucchini cooked for 5 mins then added rest of ingredients & cooked per recipe. Perfect.

RoxyS - this was much enjoyed. Did slip with the worcestershire sauce so a little spicier than it should have been but will definitely make it again. Thank you.

Cookie - We loved this. I made a couple of changes to suit the 3 of us. I did a half quantity but when it came to the tomatoes I didn't want half a tin sitting round so I left the stock out and used all the tomatoes. But I did put some vegie stock paste in for flavour. Great recipe.

KerrynN - This was delicious! The whole family gave this a 10/10! We had no brandy and I didn't replace it with anything. I had no beef stock so just used 2 tbls vegie stock, kept the juice from the meat and then later accidentally added 160g cream. I hadn't read the suggestion to use the butterfly in time but the meat stayed in shape and it was fantastically tender. This will most definitely be on our regulars list!

thermo 18 - This is the second time I have made this dish, so lovely thank you dashingden.

snappy - I made this dish and I found the sauce was really runny.  I added a few tablespoons of flour in the bowl in the end and cooked for another 5 mins hoping to thicken it up but it was still really soupy.  Taste wise it was ok but it was just the wrong consistency - I also used the TMX vegetable stock but no additional water, so I even cut down on the liquids.

charlieboy - I made this tonight. So good, thanks!


34
Chit Chat / Thermomix in the news
« on: January 18, 2012, 12:59:00 am »
There is an article about Thermomix Australia and Grace Mazur in this morning's (Wed 18/1) West Australian. According the the artivcle Australia is number 6 in the world for sales with WA buyin more machines than the other states. 

It is interesting considering a thread I wa reading on anohter forum comparing the Thermochef to the Thermomix yesterday where and awful lot of Thermomix bashing was going on primarily becuase of the price.

35
Vegetarian / Lentil Pie
« on: January 17, 2012, 01:51:14 pm »
Lentil Pie
4-6 people

Pastry:
200g Whole meal flour
100g chilled butter cubed
1/4tsp salt
50-60g chilled water

Filling:
200g brown lentils
1000g water
1 onion quartered
2 cloves garlic
1 carrot roughly chopped
1 stick celery roughly chopped
30g EVOO
30g tamari (or soy sauce)
1 egg seperated
100g cheese, grated

Preparation:
Place cheese into  *: and grate on speed 5-6 for 6-8 seconds set aside.

Prepare pastry by placing cubed chilled butter, salt and flour into bowl and mix speed 6 for 10-20 seconds until crumbs are formed
Add 50g chilled water, set speed dial to lid locked position and  :: 20 seconds add 5g more water if needed to bring dough together.
tip dough onto floured board and kneed gently for a few minute wrap in themomat or cling film and place in fridge while preparing filling.

Place water into  *: and insert steaming basket. Weight lentils into steaming basket. Cook 100 degrees 25 minutes speed 2
Rinse lentils and set aside in basket. place garlic in  *: and chop add carrot, celery and onion chop 3-5 seconds speed 6. Add EVOO and cook Veroma temp 4 minutes speed 1. Add cooked lentils egg yolk and tamari mix  :-: speed 3 for 10 seconds.

Roll out half pastry and line 23cm greased pie dish. Brush pastry with egg white. Pour half lentil mixture int pie shell and topwith grated cheese then top with remaining lentil mixture. Roll out remaining pastry and top pie sealing edges with a fork. Pierce top crust in several places with fork. Brush top of pie with egg white.

Bake for 35 minutes in oven preheated to 200 degrees.

Photos:

Tips/Hints:
I used soy sauce instead of tamari
The pastry recipe is the EDC rough puff pastry substituting wholemeal flour for plain flour


Lisel: Made this last night, very pleased with how it turned out, and everyone enjoyed it, always a tricky thing with lentils!  Thanks for posting it!

RosieB: Yumm.
I made the filling with a couple tweaks.
Left out the celery as I didn't have any and put in some fresh chilies and capsicum and a small piece of fresh ginger,
Poured it over steamed, lightly buttered potatoes.
Put into a dish,  Sprinkled with Cheese and just heated until lightly browned.
It was heavenly,  (with a little sweet soy sauce)

Zada: ade this tonight using Filo Pastry.Yum

Michele: Made this delicious pie for Good Friday dinner - DH was very impressed. great recipe Den. 

DM: We did shortcut - using puff pastry and tinned lentil.  Enjoyed by all.  Next time will follow the recipe and start from scratch.





36
Main Dishes / African quinoa stew
« on: November 28, 2011, 01:18:57 pm »
I had a version of this made in a slow cooker. I went looking for the recipe tonight to see if I could make this in the Thermomix but must have thrown it out when I was cleaning out my recipe book cupboard. I quick search of the internet found another recipe that I used as the basis for this one. I made this on the fly jotting everything as I went. My my DW liked it so it may need more chili and herbs for people with a more sophisticated pallet. For a more African flavour try swapping the zucchini for okra.

African Quinoa Stew
1 clove garlic peeled
1/2 onion peeled and halved
1 stick celery
1 carrot
1/2 hot chili
15gms EVOO
100 gms Sweet potato diced
1/2 cup quinoa rinsed and drained
1 400gm tin red kidney beans
1 tin diced tomatoes
100 gms peanut butter (made in Thermomix)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin (I used whole seed but ground will work)
2 Tbls vegi stock paste
650 - 700 gms water (enough to fill bowl to just below 2 litre mark)
1 small zucchini diced handful of peanuts

Method:
place garlic, onion, celery, chili and carrot into TM bowl chop speed 6 for 3 seconds. Scrape down, add EVOO and saute speed 1 100degrees 4 minutes.

Add all other ingredients except peanuts and zucchini. Cook reverse speed 1 100 degrees for 15 minutes. Add diced zucchini and peanuts and cook for a further 5 minute reverse speed 1 at 100 degrees.

Serve garnished with a few peanuts and maybe a few slices of chili.

Should serve 4

members' comments

megant - it was really really good. I used butternut pumpkin instead of sweet potato and it was great. I'll definitely be making again although I'd make a few slight adjustments:
I'd make my pumpkin/potato more chunky as I found it just mushed into nothing and I like more chunky stews - but that's just a personal preference. I'd also add another can of kidney beans as it made sooooo much I just think it needs more beany goodness.
I'd use a fraction less water and when cooking leave off the MC so it reduces and thickens a little bit.
I'm also going to try it with cashew paste instead of peanut butter just from a better health aspect. Mine was quite running when I made it, but I just added some corn flour to thicken it up.
But overall a great recipe. We served with crusty flat bread and it was amazing! DH loved it!

KerrynN - We had this with some red quinoa and some (cheap) lamb. I cooked the lamb in two batches with some EVOO on speed 1, reverse, 100 degrees for 7 minutes the first batch then 5 for the second batch and set it aside. I then added the lamb (including the juices in the bottom of the bowl) back in with the rest of the main ingredients. The amount of water was much less, not sure how much exactly but enough to get it up to just under the 2 litre mark as per the original instructions. I increased the cooking time to 20 minutes before the zucchini went in.

This was a delicious meal! The whole family really enjoyed it and I even had DH say that he would enjoy it without the meat or with chicken as well. This will go on our list of quick, easy and delicious dinners.

jkmt - I made this although I didn't have quite enough peanut paste and only had crushed nuts rather than whole peanuts, which actually gave a texture I liked. My husband and I really enjoyed it and thought it was something we could definitely play with and tweak further. The kids weren't so keen, so it probably won't make it onto the regular meal cycle for that reason.

Tasty - I thought I'd give this recipe a go and I have to say that it was really lovely. I'm definitely making this again as it's easy prep, easy clean up and good for you, as well as tasting great! Thanks for posting Dennis!

ElleG - Dashingden this was just lovely. I used a large tin of kidney beans and didn't add as much water. I just poured some in and stirred until it looked 'right' and added chopped roast lamb when I added the zucchini and some almonds. It ended up about half an inch from the top. Thanks for such a tasty recipe. My guest and husband really enjoyed it, and so did I.

Amy - I made this using only 400g water and after leaving it to stand for a while in a casserole dish, I ended up with a lovely, thick consistency. Mum said it was very tasty. Thanks for the recipe Den!

JuliaC83 - This is the best!!! Yummo! I made some minor adjustments as I wanted to use up what I had in the fridge and pantry! I had no peanuts or peanut butter, so I made cashew nut butter with raw cashews and macadamia oil, I used 250g diced pumpkin instead of sweet potato, I increased quinoa to 3/4 cup, I used chickpeas instead of kidney beans and lastly I pan fried 400g diced beef and stirred through at the end. Definitely making again.
 

37
Starters and Snacks / Chilli con queso dip
« on: September 24, 2011, 06:34:01 am »
Chili con Queso

125gms cheddar or other strong cheese (aged cheddar is best) cut into cubes
250gms milk
25gms butter
30gms cornflour
pinch of salt
70gms salsa

Grate cheese speed 8 for 6 seconds set aside

Add milk, cornflour, salt and butter set 90 degrees speed 4 for 6 minutes

Add cheese mix speed 7 for 10 seconds then heat 90 degrees 1 minute speed 3

Add Salsa, heat 90 degrees speed 3 for 1 minute.


Serve warm with corn chips. I prefer the plain variety.  

The amount of salsa will vary depending on your taste and the heat of the salsa. I use Old Elpaso Thick and Chunky Salsa medium.  I haven't found a recipe for a home made salsa that I like for this recipe.  In America I would use half cheddar and half Monteray Jack cheese but I haven't found Monteray Jack in Australia.

I found that it needed 30 seconds in the microwave after I transferred it from the Thermomix bowl to a serving bowl. It does reheat without separating but the consistency changes. It tends to thin down when reheated so if you are making it ahead I would use a bit more cornflour.


Tips/hints from members

deltamushworn - I worked in Mexican restaurants for years, this was one of the best selling dips. I love it. Served warm always.
Also we used banana peppers in it, a mild yellow Pepper. It is Chilli con queso meaning Chilli  with cheese. It must have some kind of Chilli in it but I wanted to let you know is it was always made with kraft processed cheese block that we grated. No tasty cheese at all, a very mild smooth dip, flavours came from the peppers and onions.

sarah - Definitely tasted like chili con queso.  And I didn't use Monterey jack.  I used Bega So light Vintage cheddar because it's what I have here.  The classic chili con queso recipe that I remember from my youth in Texas was Velveeta (which is very similar to Kraft cheddar in a box) and a can of Rotel tomatoes.  Rotel tomatoes are tinned chopped tomatoes with green chilies. 

maddy - To keep it warm for parties/bbqs, put the dip in the small electric fondue pots that Kmart sell for$12, or on low in a small crock pot.

Scroll to find an alternative recipe from CP with a photo from maddy.



38
Desserts / Tried Tenina's Rhubarb & Strawberry soup
« on: September 19, 2011, 02:20:20 pm »
I have made this recipe twice now and it really is good.

http://tenina.com/2011/08/strawberry-and-rhubarb-dessert-soup/


39
Recipe Requests / Cream of chicken soup
« on: August 29, 2011, 02:14:29 pm »
Has anyone made cream of chicken soup in the thermomix?  I have a recipe that I usually make and DW (I think I've used this correctly) is quite fond of it but I have not quite figured out how to convert it yet.

40
Tips and Tricks / Lemnon custard issues
« on: August 04, 2011, 02:22:37 pm »
My wife and I love the lemon custard from the EDC book however it is grainy with pieces of lemon zest.  Am I doing something wrong or is it supposed to be this way?  ???

41
Recipe Requests / Any one know a recipe for corn tortillas?
« on: July 31, 2011, 02:08:46 am »
HI everyone,

I would like to make enchiladas and can't find corn tortillas in the supermarket without buying a dinner kit.  Does anyone have a recipe for making your own corn tortillas?

42
Introduce Yourself / Greetings from Narrogin WA
« on: July 31, 2011, 02:05:32 am »
Hi, I have had my machine for a bit over 2 weeks.  I first saw on last year when I went to a demo with my daughter and knew I had to have one.  I have used it pretty much everyday since I have gotten it and have even converted a few recipes.  Everytime I read a recipe I find my self thinkin "How would this work in the Thermomix?" 

So far it has proved to be a good investment.  My wife often works late and I always seem t o be training for some event so have little time for anything else. I do enjoy cooking (and eating which is one reason why I run, cycle and swim so much) and look forward to many happy years with my machine.

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