Advice for REALLY basic Varoma meal

[LauraTO]

Hi everyone,
I am chugging through Day 2 with my themomix (I may be trying to set a record for most cooking done in 2 days) and tomorrow I'm going to take the plunge and try an all-in-one-shot meal in the Varoma.  I have tried to formulate a basic "recipe" from the cooking times and amounts in the cookbook, but would really appreciate if you TM veterans could take a quick look and see if I'm on the right track.

Plan:  salmon, green beans and rice with some sort of lemony dilly sauce

My plan is to put a 1/2 liter of water in the bowl, then 200 g of rice in the basket (in the ballpark for 2
people?) , then 2 or 3 salmon filets in the varoma container with some
fresh dill and lemon slices and salt and pepper.  Finally, fresh green beans on the
varoma tray.

Then I will cook on varoma temperature speed 1 (or 2?) for 20 minutes.

Then I will take the trays and baskets away and keep them warm.

I want to make a little sauce too, does this sound ok?

I'm going to put a few teaspoons of homemade mayo (made today!) and mix it with some lemon
juice and fresh dill, maybe speed 5?  Should I heat it?

I hope I'm on the right track here.  I know it's a pretty simple "recipe"
but I think once I do one full meal my confidence will increase

[CreamPuff63]

welcome to the forum Laura. You may find a similar recipe here. Can understand your excitement at wanting to get stuck into converting your recipes, but you could make it easier on yourself by starting with a recipe that has already been converted.

[cookie1]

Laura your recipe sounds pretty good, but as CP says I would start with something already done for you.
200g rice will maker a fair bit of cooked rice. When I use varoma for cooking I usually use speed 3 or 4. For your sauce would you really need to mix it in the tmx?  If it is just mayonnaise, lemon juice and dill I'd just do it in a small bowl.

Your planning is a credit to you having only owned the tmx for a few days. Well done.

[fundj&e]

Good advice from cookie&CP

[LauraTO]

Thank you guys for your advice. I've been trying to stick to already made recipes, like you said, until I really get the hang of it.

What Id like to make is almost too simple to even be called a recipe lol. I just needed another set of eyes to look and make sure I'm not way off track, so thank you!

And lol yes. Of course I could just use a bowl to make the sauce. Why did that not occur to me? I think I'm developing TM double vision! Thanks cookie, and for the varoma speed and rice input too!

[LauraTO]

Well, the salmon and beans and sauce (made in a good old fashioned BOWL with a nice simple teaspoon) were totally perfect. But the rice was a big giant massive fail. after 20 min it was crunchy. I gave it a bit of a stir but after a few more turns of 3-4 minutes it was still not cooked. I abandoned the rice.

[Halex]

Did you have the Varoma temp on? What speed did you use?

[judydawn]

Check this recipe out Laura, 1 litre of water and speed 3.

[cookie1]

I've been thinking about this too Laura. I think you tried to steam your rice and when it is cooked the water actually bubbles through it. Not enough water may have been the problem.

[LauraTO]

I had it on varoma speed 2, but then for the last 10 min I put it up to 3 (I took the salmon and beans off because they were done).

I seems like my problem was not enough water. I had about half a liter. The bottom of the rice seemed To be glue, and the top was crunchy.

I will try again tonight. Thanks ladies. I was feeling pretty defeated there!

[judydawn]

Here's another way to cook rice Laura, Chookie's version.

http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=9059.0

[LauraTO]

Thanks again Judy-card-catalogue-brain! I wish I had a thermoserver since I want to be able to do everything at once, set it and then go walk my dog. Where do you buy thermoservers?
Otherwise I'll try again with 1l of water.

[Cornish Cream]

Laura you can't buy a Thermosaver.They are only available through Thermomix Australia at certain times for people in Australia who purchase a Thermomix.
There are alternatives which are discussed here:
Alternative to a Thermosaver.
Thermo server where to buy locally ( test result)

[LauraTO]

Great CC, thanks for those links. There is an abundance of Indian housewares stores in Toronto, so that seems like a good place to start.

[LauraTO]

Well, I had a second try with the rice tonight, this time with jerk chicken and kale. Yum! I never would have imagined steamed chicken could be so good, but it turned out really tender and juicy.

The rice though, was another fail. Sigh. This time in the opposite direction. I used about 1L of water (maybe a smidge more) which actually completely covered the rice in the basket, and it was quite mushy and over cooked by the 20 min mark. Did I do too much water? Too much time?  I don't want to abandon making rice in the TM.