Almond Rosemary Crackers

A boring title methinks…but I have been studying good blogging habits and to my horror found I have comitted the cardinal recipe blogging sin; not naming my post correctly…being silly, in other words! This means all you search engine recipe junkies cannot find my recipes because, ‘Going Crackers’ does not come up in google when ‘Crackers’ is the search term!

So in an effort to help more readers find my recipes, I have taken the Oath of Truthful Titles, (yes that would be OTT)…no more crazy lady rants…well in the title at least.

I am sitting at present in Alice Springs airport waiting for my flight home to Perth after a whirlwind trip to cook with Cyndi O’Meara. What a beautiful place this is and I must say, unexpectedly so from my perspective. I think I thought I was flying into a flat desert, but quite the contrary. Stunning scenery and iconic Australian landscape that needs further investigation with the family…but I digress.

This recipe is one I whipped up last weekend in a cooking frenzy to feed my family in my absence (do they appreciate it?? NO!)

It is adapted from a recipe on Elana’s Pantry, a fantastic Gluten Free site that I frequent, though there are ingredients used that are unavailable in Australia. As usual, I knew there was an easier Thermomix version and so this; fantastic Almond and Rosemary crackers. I must say I have gone down this path before, but always added flour to make more of a shortbread. I now have a whole gamut of other ideas based on this method, so hold on to your Thermomixes…here we go!

Almond and Rosemary Crackers

NEED:

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, foliage only

270g blanched almonds

Celtic Sea salt to taste

1tbsp EVOO

1 egg

DO:

Preheat oven to 150°C.

Place rosemary, almonds and salt into Thermomix bowl and mill for 5 seconds on speed 8.

Add EVOO and egg and mix for 10 seconds on speed 6 to form a dough.

Roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper as thinly as possible and score with a pizza cutter into desired shapes. Sprinkle with additional salt grains if desired and press into the dough with a piece of baking paper.

Bake for 15 minutes until crisp. To complete ‘crisping’ process, break crackers apart and turn over and return to turned off oven to dry out.

Serve with cheese platter.

TASTE:

Add different herbs of choice according to what you have growing in your garden. Other good matches would be basil, oregano, paprika, or add garlic and 40g of good Parmesan to the nut mix before milling together.

So there you have it kids, not as boring as one may think…and all as I sit in an airport, gotta love it…

Salted Caramel Brownies

Well after a flying visit to the South West, I came home to a day off…heaven wouldn’t you think? Except I spent half of it waiting in a doctors surgery for kid #5 to see doctor, and the other half waiting at dental surgeon for kid #3 to see dentist! Them’s the breaks with a bunch ‘o’ kids! So having made this earlier, and half written this blog post, it seemed the easiest thing to put up…but not without trying it again…which I happily did…all for the sake of the blog! The things I sacrifice for you guys…really…

Salted Caramel Brownies

NEED:

300g rapadura sugar

70g unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 tsp sea salt plus extra for topping

4 large eggs

1 large yolk

60g cacao powder

150g SR flour

100g each macadamia and pecan or pistachio kernels

Extra nuts for topping

DO:

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 23cm square pan with baking paper that comes up over the edges for easy removal.

Place sugar, butter and vanilla into Thermomix bowl and chop together for 5 seconds on speed 6. Cook for 15 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 2.

Add salt and incorporate for 30 seconds on speed 4.

Add eggs, yolk and cacao to Thermomix bowl and mix for 15 seconds on speed 5.

Scrape down sides of bowl and add flour and nuts and mix for 3 seconds on speed 5.

Spread into prepared pan, stud with additional nuts, sprinkle generously with additional sea salt and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and bang on bench quite firmly to prevent rise from continuing. Return to oven for a further 10 minutes or until just wobbly in centre.

Allow to cool slightly in tin before cutting into enormous pieces and wolfing down immediately!

Persian Power Bars

I have been twiddling around with the idea of power bars for sometime as the ones you can buy are;

• A) nasty tasting
• B) bad for you in that they have masses of additives and
• C) because I have a Thermomix and that is what I do!

Of course due to the masses of spare time at my disposal, until now there has been no need for such a thing on here, but dear reader, I recieved my usual subscription email from my friends over at Duo Dishes this week…and inspirationally there was a lovely recipe for something along the lines I had been thinking of, but far more romantically named and of Persian origin, who could not be charmed by that idea? Anyhoo…it catapulted me into action and here we have it! I guess the thing I loved most about their recipe was the no baking bit, and of course with Thermomix in your kitchen, the cooking plus stirring part could not be easier!

However, it did became a bit of a ‘schlep’ (as Marketing Manager Mandy would say…MMM from here on in!) I have 4 Thermomix bowls at home which naturally makes life a little easier in recipes like this, but I resolutely persisted and did this in one bowl, just so I knew it could be done…and yes kids, it can!

Persian Power Bars (with a little Duo input!)

NEED:

100g walnut pieces

40g organic shredded coconut

100g almonds

100g rapadura sugar

zest 1 orange

400g pitted Medjool dates

100g shelled pistachios

1tsp vanilla bean paste

240g unsalted butter

40g raw honey

300g SR flour

2tsp ground cinnamon

2tsp ground cardamom

1tsp Celtic sea salt

DO:

Toast walnuts for 10 minutes by placing into cold oven and setting temperature to 200C. Cool. (May I just mention, do not skip this step as the difference between toasted and untoasted walnuts is a revelation in flavour!)

Place coconut, almonds, raw sugar and orange zest into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 9. Set aside.

Place dates, pistachios, vanilla and toasted walnuts into Thermomix bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.

Place butter, honey, flour and ground spices into Thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5.

Cook for 20 minutes at 100C on speed 2. Ensure that mixture does not stick to centre of blade by pressing Reverse button a couple of times and also by stopping timer to scrape down sides of bowl during cooking time.

Add 220g of coconut almond mix and salt to Thermomix bowl and blend for 20 seconds on speed 5. Press half that mixture into large square spring form pan lined with baking paper. (Or use square pan of choice but for easy removal bring baking paper up on two sides, above the top of the pan.)

Push date mixture on top of base, press remaining cooked mix on top of that and then press (using a piece of baking paper) the remaining coconut almond mix on top of that again! Allow to cool completely before placing in fridge for at least 4 hours before cutting into bars.

Wrap separately, freeze and on a busy day (who has those??) you have a fantastic breakfast on the go, a mid morning snack for the energised or dare I say it, an extremely high calorie tidbit to have any time of the day or night! So, MMM, I’m hoping you’ll be making these now now.

You know I love a good bread recipe, and never short on food ideas, I am happy to say that I found a couple of fellow bloggers on the same wave length for these ones; Pink Parsley did an excellent recipe adapted from the now extinct Gourmet Magazine and added Jalepeno Mustard…terrific idea! But my first discovery of like minded plan was by cruising Tastespotting, a site that should you happen across, you will immediately gain 3 kilos and lose all sense of time…well maybe I exaggerate, 2 kilos max. Pennies on a Platter showed up on Tastespotting with these beauties and so the deed was done. They say there are no new stories in the world, and similarly, no new recipes, and sorry folks, have to agree, though I couldn’t resist adding a sweet version of course. What else is there if not adding chocolate to bread? Well theres always lime…so I’m giving you (and me!) a day off the chocolate, and defaulting to my other sweet fave. Enjoy!

NEED:

1 batch Pretzel Dough divided in half

1 recipe Lime Butter (Lemon Butter using lime zest and juice…)

100g tasty or aged cheese cubed

200g chorizo sausage

DO:

Make pretzel dough and allow to prove.

Make Lime Butter and refrigerate.

(I pre made the Lime Butter a day ahead and therefore it was completely cold, which helps.)

Preheat oven to 220C and line 2 baking trays with paper and set aside.

Place cheese into clean, dry, Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10. Set aside.

Place Chorizo into Thermomix bowl and chop or mince for 8-10 seconds on speed 8.

Roll half dough out into large rectangle and spread first with cheese, then chorizo. Carefully roll over onto itself along long side of rectangle to make a large sausage shape, tucking the dough underneath itself and pinching together to close. Cut into pieces and lay onto prepared tray. Brush with mixture of  50g Baking soda (bicarb) that has been dissolved in a little water before baking for approximately 10-12 minutes. Serve hot.

To make Lime Butter Pretzels, repeat rolling out process with remaining dough, spread with cold Lime Butter, roll, cut into bite sized pieces and place on prepared tray. Brush with Bicarb mixture before baking at same temperature. These will cook a little quicker, so check them at around 8 minutes. Dollop with additional Lime Butter as they cool. Serve immediately.

After a weekend of eating, I have almost decided this blog (and bloggess) needs to go on a diet, (or at least stay away from Tastespotting!) and yet I can’t help but notice the first three letters of diet are die! AND I made another tart with pineapple and passionfruit that, yes, will undoubtedly show up on here soon. So what do you think readers? Are you ready for a few weeks of spartan? It’s just not as much fun dreaming up a bowl of lentils, that’s all….comments please!

Yes, The Full Willy! As in Willy’s Wonky Chocolate…its a long story, but after watching the amazing Willy on SBS and being totally charmed by the romance of it all, I happened to visit my sister and found that her husband had gone ahead and ordered some of Willy’s amazing chocolate and whats more, he GAVE me some, bless his cotton socks! They cost a little more than the average chocolate bar (well a lot more actually) and in an effort to honour such a gift (and chocolate perfection) I pondered again and again what I should do with such a precious commodity! I felt like the proverbial kid in a candy factory and couldn’t quite decide between good and gooder…but here we go. A combo of several faves of mine, brioche, almonds and of course, good old Willies Wonky chocolate.

NEED:
1 batch Brioche dough

1 beaten egg for glaze

100g Willys 100% cacao bar (or unsweetened dark chocolate in the absence of excellence!)

150g caster sugar

150g almonds

150g clotted cream

2tsp vanilla essence

1tsp almond essence (optional)

DO:
Line 2 trays with baking paper and set aside. Make brioche as directed and rise overnight. Bring dough to room temperature before using as follows;

Roll dough out to large rectangular shape.

Spread filling on as evenly as possible. Fold half dough lengthways into centre of rectangle. Bring other half in to meet it in center. Fold those ‘pockets’ in on top of one another to make a long layered length of dough.

Cut across into equal widths (see pic) and place onto prepared trays. Brush with egg wash. Place into cold oven (to facilitate another rise) and bake for approximately 20 minutes until golden brown at 200-220C. Cool slightly before eating…though to burn ones tongue on molten chocolate inside fragrant brioche is akin to sadistic pleasure…not that I know about all that stuff!

To make filling;

To make filling place chocolate (in chunks) into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 9. Add sugar and almonds and mill a further 20 seconds until the fat is actually starting to be released from the cacao and almonds and the mixture starts to form a rough dough.

Add cream and essences and mix a further 10 seconds on speed 7. Spread this on dough and proceed as directed above.

So Willy, here’s hoping this meets your high standards! Amazing story, amazing chocolate,and now amazing Chocolate Brioche (at least I like to think so…thanks Stu!)

Well I have a work related injury, and it is impeding my typing, but never my cooking! I sliced my fore finger open like I was filleting a fish! OUCH…a roll of paper towel, nausea attack, visit to the Doc for super glue and butterfly tapes later, I am typing with great difficulty. With an enforced day off (strictly Doc’s orders)I had been thinking about going to the movies today, but the treat that I would have taken had I actually got there, took priority and here it is! A bit of a combo with a couple of processes, I was inspired by one of my fave Australian food bloggers, Not Quite Nigella’s post before Christmas for Salted Pretzel Chocolate Toffees, (which incidentally is probably the first recipe from another blogger I have actually  cooked in quite a while to rave reviews)!! I always have good intentions and an ever growing cooking list, but something else always comes up!

Nutty Caramel Popcorn with Pretzels and Chocolate

NEED:
125g raw macadamias

125g raw almonds

Couple of handfuls of salted pretzels

1pkg microwave popcorn

400g brown sugar

170g cream

100g unsalted butter

pinch sea salt

Dash of rum or other alcohol of choice

2tsp vanilla essence

125g whie chocolate buttons

125g dark chocolate buttons

2tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

DO:
Place nuts onto baking tray and place into cold oven set to 200C for 10 minutes. Remove and chop roughly (without slicing fingers if at all possible!) Set aside.

Spread pretzels on two large silicone mats (Silpat), divide nuts equally between them. Cook popcorn as directed on packaging, remove ‘old maids’ and divide between mats.

In heavy based saucepan, place sugar cream, butter, salt and rum if using. Cook on a low heat stirring occasionally (Induction level 6) until sugar has melted without any grainy residue. Increase heat to around 8 and bring to approximately 260F (Please use a Candy thermometer if you have one for an accurate result.) If you don’t have one, use the hard ball test.

Add vanilla and quickly stir into caramel, pour over popcorn and nut mix, spreading quickly to cover as much of the popcorn etc as possible. Allow to cool.

Place white chocolate buttons into clean pan with 1tbsp of coconut oil. Melt on Induction 2 until it melts completely. Drizzle over 1 tray of mixture.

Repeat with dark chocolate buttons and remaining coconut oil. Drizzle over the other tray and if you have enough, drizzle or flick on top of the white chocolate tray to add a little extra pizazz! Allow to set completely before breaking into pieces and storing in the fridge.

These are beautiful as gifts, wrap in clear cellophane bags and won’t you be the favourite friend, aunty, neighbour, blogger…? Go to, blogees and then come back on here and tell me about it!