Sweet & Spicy Pork
Converted from an AWW cookbook

Ingredients:
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic
10ml oil
1 red capsicum, deseeded and sliced
1 green capsicum, deseeded and sliced (I used yellow)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
400-500g pork fillet, diced (the original recipe says to slice them but I was worried they would get wrapped around the blades)
440g tin tomato soup (I used plain tinned tomatoes and added extra seasoning)
1 tbsp mango chutney (I used sweet chilli sauce)
cornflour mixed with water, to thicken if desired

Method:
1. Chop onion and garlic for 2 seconds/speed 5.
2. Add oil, capsicums and spices. Cook for 7 minutes/90 degrees/reverse + soft speed.
3. Add pork, tomato soup and chutney. Cook for 8 minutes/90 degrees/reverse + soft speed.
4. Add cornflour slurry, if using, and cook for a further 2 minutes/90 degrees/reverse + soft speed.
5. Too easy!

I transferred the pork to the thermoserver while I steamed rice and vegetables. It was delicious

members' comments

Aussie Brenda - Thanks for this Amy, I had some pork ( a leg that I steamed in the Varoma)  left over so I have made sweet and sour sauce to go over it, yummy has it for lunch with some rice. 

JD -  It works well with cooked meat as AB has already said.  It's a great recipe, thanks Amy.  I used some home made tomato soup I had in the freezer.

Crumbly Apricot and Apple Dessert Slice
Converted from the Diabetes Cookbook. The recipe actually calls them bars rather than a slice, but I've made it several times now and find it way to crumbly to eat with fingers. Much better in a bowl with icecream or custard Not too much for a diabetic though!

Ingredients:
180g dried apricots
2 Granny Smiths, peeled, cored and chopped (I cut my apple into quarters, and then sliced widthways)
150ml apple juice
Zest of 1 orange, grated (can do in TMX before starting recipe)
250g reduced-fat margarine (or other butter alternative), softened
75g brown sugar
180g plain wholemeal flour (or white if you prefer)
1 tsp baking powder
200g rolled oats
60g chopped nuts, optional (I used macadamias and chop by hand)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a slice pan.
2. Put apricots, apples, juice and zest into TMX bowl. Cook for 10 minutes/80 degrees/reverse + speed 1.
3. Holding a teatowel over the MC, gradually turn dial to speed 8 and puree for 10-20 seconds. Set aside to cool.
4. Without washing TMX bowl, beat margarine and sugar for 10 seconds/speed 4. (Make sure you have turned the reverse function off!) Scrape sides of bowl and beat for a further 10 seconds/speed 4, or until light and fluffy.
5. Add flour, baking powder, oats and nuts to bowl. Briefly incorporate using spatula and then knead for 1 minute/reverse + interval speed.
6. Press about 2/3 of the mixture into base of prepared pan. Spread apricot and apple puree over the top. Break remaining mixture into little pieces and sprinkle over the top to give a "crumbly" look.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Cut into pieces while still warm and leave in pan to cool completely (unless you're serving it hot with ice cream or something else delicious like that ).

I leave my slice in the pan and keep it covered in plastic wrap in the fridge. When I want to serve it, I just put a piece in a bowl, zap it in the microwave and then add the extras

Pumpkin Fruit Cake or Muffins
Converted from Sweet Food, with some changes

Ingredients:
240g pumpkin, peeled and cut into small dice
120g butter, softened
120g brown sugar
25g golden syrup
2 eggs
250g SR flour
1 tsp each mixed spice and ground ginger
200g mixed dried fruit (I used sultanas and raisins, and I also added some almonds)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Grease and line desired cake pan (20cm round, muffin, or loaf).
2. Steam diced pumpkin until tender. I just used the microwave and steamed it for 6 minutes, but you could use the TMX if preferred.
3. Cream butter and sugar for 10 seconds/speed 4, scrape sides of bowl and mix again. Continue until light and fluffy. (I used butter straight from the fridge so it took a few mixes.)
4. Add golden syrup and steamed pumpkin. Mix for 20 seconds/speed 4.
5. With TMX running on speed 3, add eggs through hole in lid. Replace MC and increase to speed 4 for 30 seconds.
6. Add flour and spices. Mix for 10 seconds/speed 4, scrape sides of bowl and mix again.
7. Add dried fruit and mix for 20 seconds/reverse + speed 5.
8. Pour mixture into prepared pans and bake:

• 20cm round - 1 hour and 40 minutes
• Muffins - 1 hour
• Loaf - 1 hour and 10 minutes

Or until a skewer inserted into cakes comes out clean.

Notes:
As you can see in the photo, I made 12 muffins and 1 low loaf. If you only cook a loaf and therefore use more mixture then it will need longer to cook.

If you weigh the pumpkin after cooking, you will notice it is lighter. That doesn't matter. My raw pumpkin weighed 240g and my cooked pumpkin weighed 180g, and the cakes turned out fine

One of our wonderful members had a photo of their kitchen published in a magazine, so we decided it would be fun for everyone to have a guess whose kitchen it is!

So, thoughts anyone?

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 brown onion, peeled and halved
1 zucchini, roughly chopped
1 red capsicum, deseeded and roughly chopped
20ml olive oil
1 tsp chilli powder, or to taste
400g tinned tomatoes
2.5 cups cooked chicken, shredded (I baked mine earlier in the day)
250g corn kernels (tinned or fresh)
8 tortillas
Grated mozzarella cheese, to sprinkle on top

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Spray a medium sized baking dish with olive oil (whatever you can fit 8 enchiladas in )
2. Add onion, zucchini and capsicum to TMX bowl. Chop for 1 second bursts on speed 5, mixing with spatula occasionally until everything is evenly chopped to your liking.
3. Add oil and chilli powder. Cook for 5 minutes/100 degrees/reverse + speed 1 + MC off.
4. Add tinned tomatoes and any desired seasoning. Cook for 10 minutes/100 degrees/reverse + speed 1 + MC off. You will need to cover the lid with the simmering basket.
5. Remove 1 cup of tomato mixture and set aside. Add chicken and corn to TM bowl and mix through remaining tomato mixture. It may appear watery but that's okay.
6. Warm tortillas in a pan or the microwave. Put a couple of heaped tablespoons of chicken mixture into the middle of a tortilla and wrap quickly. Transfer to baking dish, fold side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
7. Pour reserved tomato mixture over enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes.
8. Serve with salad and homemade potato wedges! YUM!

I forgot to put cheese on my enchiladas before I baked them, so I grated some parmesan over the top

members' comments

MEP - I substituted beef mince for the chicken. The corn is a great sweet addition.  It's a really lovely recipe that was enjoyed by all. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing.

Katie's DH said -  I made your enchilladas tonight and they were delicious. Very tasty and so easy to make. I cheated and used a BBQ chicken but apart from that as per the recipe. Used multi grain tortillas which were a nice healthier option as well. Thanks muchly!!

Banana Biscuits
Makes 18-20

This recipe was given to me by a friend quite a while ago, I'm afraid I don't know the original source.

Ingredients:
100g caster sugar
60g butter, softened
85g (1 small/medium) ripe banana
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg
115g plain flour

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees and line a couple of baking trays with baking paper.
2. Beat sugar, butter and banana for 10 seconds/speed 5. Scrape sides of bowl and beat again if necessary.
3. Add egg, vanilla, nutmeg and flour. Mix for 10 seconds/speed 5, scrape down sides of bowl and mix for a further 10 seconds/speed 5.
4. Put teaspoons of mixture on trays, leaving room for spreading. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light brown around the edges.
5. Cool for a few minutes on trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These biscuits are quite soft, not at all crunchy.
Thanks to Thermominoux for experimenting with the recipe

Members' comments
Thermominoux - Made it in two steps instead of 3. Kept step 2. Then for step 3 and 4 I did it in one step : I've mixed all ingredients for 10 sec speed 5 then scrape down sides of bowl and mixed again 10 sec speed 5. Then cooked as described.
Had soft tasty biscuits. Thanks Amy for the recipe.

Kulsha -  am so impressed with this recipe, thank you!! I searched for banana biscuits and they mostly have oats and dried fruit and seem quite heavy but these are light and exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to follow the recipe exactly but didn't have all ingredients. I used coconut oil instead of butter and coconut sugar (speed 9 for a few seconds beforehand to make it fine) instead of castor sugar. With my darker sugar the result was a bit more caramel in colour but these taste great!

kmw - I made these last night to go with coffee as we had a friend over, they were quick & easy to make. Looking at the pictures I think I need to make mine bigger and get the temperature right for my oven as the bottom tray cooked to quickly. Verdict yum 😄 and told I can make them anytime!

I needed to use up some Crio grounds today so I made up this cake. Mum and SD really enjoyed it so I thought I would post my recipe

Amy's Crio Cake
Ingredients:
60g dates
50g honey
100g Crio Bru grounds (I used Cavalla)
60ml boiling water
50g almond meal
200g SR flour
100g brown sugar
2 eggs
Coarse sugar, to sprinkle over cake

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a loaf tin.
2. Put dates, honey, Crio and water into TMX bowl and mix for 3 minutes/100 degrees/speed 1.
3. Puree for 15 seconds, slowly turning the dial up to speed 6.
4. With TMX running on speed 3, add eggs through hole in lid and mix until combined.
5. Add sugar, flour and almond meal. Mix for 20 seconds/speed 4, scrape down sides of bowl and mix again.
6. Pour mixture into loaf tin and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Notes:
This is not an overly sweet cake. The chocolate flavour of the Crio really stands out.

Crio could be replaced with cocoa, but I'm not sure how much you would use.

Next time, I think I'll leave the sugar off the top and instead, prick holes in the cake straight after cooking and drizzle some runny honey over the top

Almond and Fruit Tart

PASTRY
This mixture makes 2 x 380g discs of pastry. You only need one of these for this recipe. The other can be wrapped in glad wrap and frozen for up to 2 months.

125g icing sugar
220g cold butter
375g plain flour
2 egg yolks, cold

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees and grease a tart tin (preferably one with a loose bottom, but I didn't have one so I used a flan pan).
2. Add sugar, butter and flour to TMX bowl. Pulse the Turbo button 4-5 times. Scrape down sides of bowl and pulse another 5 times or until mixture is coarse.
3. Add egg yolks and pulse the Turbo button again, more quickly this time. Keep pulsing until mixture is smooth and comes together in your fingertips.
4. Divide pastry into two 380g discs. Roll out one disc on a lightly floured surface. Gently place into tart tin, press into edges and trim any excess. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5. After the 20 minutes, line the pastry with baking paper and weigh down with pastry weights, dried beans or lentils. Blind bake for 10 minutes and then remove from oven, take out pastry weights and paper, prick pastry with a fork, and bake for a further 5-7 minutes until golden brown.
6. Set pastry aside to cool to room temperature.

FILLING
250g butter, softened
250g caster sugar (I used brown sugar to give a caramel flavour. This went nicely with the almonds and apple)
4 eggs
250g almond meal
50g plain flour
Fruit of choice, at room temperature (I used stewed apple and defrosted blueberries)
50g flaked almonds

1. Beat butter and sugar for 10 seconds/speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat again until combined and light and fluffy.
2. With TMX running on speed 4, add eggs one at a time through hole in lid. Allow to mix for a few seconds between each, and then leave to mix for 20-30 seconds after the last egg, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary.
3. Add almond meal and flour. Beat for 20 seconds/speed 4, scrape down sides of bowl and beat again until combined.
4. Pour mixture into cooled pastry case. (I spooned all of my mixture in but it started to ooze over the edges of my flan pan as I pushed the fruit on top, so I spooned some out again.)
5. Press fruit into top of mixture and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake for about 1 hour or until firm in the centre.

NOTES
You can use any type of fruit for this recipe. Some of Rosa's suggestions are peaches, mulberries, pears, blood plums, sour cherries, or prunes soaked in Vincotto. I stewed a full kilo of apples but, as you can see from the photo, I didn't use anywhere near that many. I'd say you only need 1-2 cups of fruit, unless you want to leave some of the mixture out and use more fruit.

The first 4 photos are pre-baking. I'll post some more of the baked product soon.

Members' comments
Tam - Well, just have this flan in the oven now and I can't wait to try it. I cheated though. I was actually making mini quiches and had a sheet and a half of frozen shortcrust pastry left over and  a glut of apples in the fridge so I thought Apple Flan!!!! The almond mixture took about 2 mins to make and I just peeled and cored the apples and didn't bother about stewing them so all in all it was super quick.