Baconnaise!

Well rather than go shopping for all those bits and pieces one runs out of periodically, I decided to clean out the fridge and do a bit of home made pantry inventory…so on a busy Saturday I not only managed to navigate an early start at the dentist with two (yes two at once!) kids getting their wisdom out, but I made Kulfi (post to come), whipped up a batch of my world famous granola, made Baconnaise, Corn and Cheese Crackers, a batch of Asian flavoured stock concentrate, as well as a Roasted Wheat and Honey loaf, and some dried veggie stock with Dulse…and then went and picked the poor round faced kiddies back up again, and came home to play nurse…

(Just call me super-MUM)

I have had plans for Baconnaise for a while, a heady mixture of rich, creamy egg mayo with the salty smoky flavour of bacon through it…I imagined the home fries I could dunk, the coleslaw I could slather, the straight up lickability of it many times before finding myself here: Done it! Made it! Blogged about it!

Baconnaise

NEED:

200-300g rendered bacon fat (discussed below)

2 egg yolks

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

cracked black pepper to taste

additional EVOO as needed

juice 1/2 lemon or to taste

DO:

Render the bacon fat by placing speck, streaky or relatively fatty bacon (500g approx) in medium heat pan and allow fat to ‘render’. Strain and remove all solids. Bacon will be crisp and could be chopped up finely and added to mayo if desired. Set fat aside and allow to cool without solidifying. The fat MUST BE COOL!

Place egg yolks, vinegar, mustard and pepper into TM bowl and mix for 1 minute at 37°C on speed 5.

Add bacon fat very slowly as you run the blade at speed 5. This process should take approximately 3-4 minutes.

Add extra oil as needed to make up volume if needed. (You can generally add up to 500g fat to 2 yolks as a ratio guide.)

Add lemon juice and stir through for 5 seconds on speed 5. Scrape from Thermomix bowl and serve in whatever way you imagined…

I can attribute this next idea to a Sydney Thermomix consultant who separates her ‘stock options’ (don’t you love it?) into Red, Green and Other…This is quite spicy but for a mild version, reduce or completely leave out the chillies.

Asian Base Stock Concentrate

Asian Base Stock Concentrate

NEED:

4 cloves garlic

3 dried or fresh red chillies

2-3 kaffir lime leaves

2 onions peeled and halved

50g oil

1 lemongrass stalk

handful coriander leaves

handful Italian parsley leaves

600g tomatoes chopped

1 red capsicum roughly chopped

180g Himaylan salt

few Dulse leaves (sea vegetable available at Health Food stores)

DO:

Place garlic, chillies, lime leaves, onion and oil into Thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 6. Saute for 5 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 2. Add remaining ingredinets and cook for 30 minutes at 100°C on speed 3. Remove lemon grass stalk before pureeing by bringing speed up slowly to speed 9 until well blended. This is quite liquid as opposed to being a paste. Store in sterilised jars in fridge until use. This should keep up to 6 months without any problem.

Veggie Stock Powder

Dried Veggie Stock Powder

NEED:

2 x 100g mixed dried vegetables (I used a peas and corn and a peas and carrot mix)

200g Himalayan Pink salt

5g Dulse sea vegetable

50g dried onion flakes or fried shallots (from Asian supermarket)

DO:

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blitz for 20 seconds on speed 10. Store in airtight jar. This is very salty, but that is the purpose of stock, and at least you know what is in it. One teaspoon equals one stock cube in conventional recipes.

Pantry replenished. I have plans for a pantry book…but it has taken a back seat to a lot of other projects. What Thermomix book would you like to see most and what elements would you include?

Roasted Wheat and Honey Loaf

Slice 'o' Roasted Wheat and Honey Loaf

I have been toying with the idea of roasting wheat for a while now, based on the reality that applying heat to most nuts and other grains puts their flavour into a whole new category!

SO, this is just a thought…really not a big deal, and did have a fantastic texture and crumb, but I think that was due to the steam first, bake after effect; We all decided it is best served slathered with homemade butter and lots more honey.

NEED:

85g whole wheat grain

15g linseed

300g milk

80g raw honey

2tsp dried yeast

pinch salt

420g bakers flour

DO:

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Place wheat onto baking tray and roast for 10 minutes until crunchy and well toasted.

Place wheat and linseed into Thermomix bowl and mill for 1 minute on speed 10.

Add milk, honey and yeast and warm for 2 minutes at 37°C on speed 2.

Add remaining ingredients and mix for 6 seconds on speed 6. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 3 minutes at Interval speed. Tip out onto Silpat mat and roll into a tight ball. Wrap and allow to double in size before continuing.

Press dough out into flat rectangle, just using your fingertips. Roll long edges into each other and seal together. Turn and repeat the folding and sealing action on the short edges. Repeat this several times until you have an even shape. Place into rectangular bread tin to double again. Slash top with razor blade or very sharp knife. Spray with water spritz.

Place in steam oven for 15 minutes. Move to preheated oven and cook a further 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and sounding hollow when tapped. Cool 5 minutes in tin before turning out and returning to turned off oven to crisp up base.

Slice and eat with toppings of choice….

Pistachio Pudding with Saffron and Cardamon Cream

I have spent the weekend dreaming up this one, no really, it came to me in a dream. I LOVE pistachios and in the USA there is an evil little package of powder that is pistachio pudding which I also LOVE. Full of preservatives and additives and who knows what, and really at the end of it all, not that great unless one is in a hurry for a sweet fix.  The upside is that this is pretty quick, highly delish and fairly low in carbs. (Keep telling yourself that as you wolf down 2 or 3…!) Then of course, I had to add the cardamon and saffron cream, gentle, fragrant and very un-American! So sleepless night not wasted after all. Enjoy!

NEED:

200g shelled pistachios

600g full cream milk

140g Orzata syrup (available at Italian food speciality stores)

40-50g cornflour

Cream;

40g raw sugar

generous pinch saffron threads

400g pure cream

1tsp cardamon powder

DO:

Place nuts into Thermomix bowl and mill for 3 seconds on speed 8.

Add milk and syrup and cook for 6 minutes at 90°C on speed 2. Allow to infuse until milk is completely cold.

Mix for 15 seconds on speed 9. Strain through nut milk bag (jam or jelly bag). Return to Thermomix bowl. Add cornflour and cook for 7 minutes at 90°C on speed 3.

Pour pudding into dessert glasses or shot glasses and refrigerate.

Rinse and dry Thermomix bowl before whipping cream.

Place sugar and saffron threads into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10. Insert Butterfly and add cream and cardamon to the bowl. Whip for 10-20 seconds until cream is stiffened (depending on freshness of cream). Scrape into piping bag and pipe swirls on top of set pudding. Garnish with a few saffron threads if desired.

These would be charming served as part of a dessert trio with perhaps a mini citrus tart, and a tiny choc pot of lust. Move over Incontro, (my current favourite Perth restaurant) I have my own trio!

Brie, Pesto and Potato Galette

Quick midweek dinner, great brunch option or just nice lunch with a fresh salad and crusty bread. As usual, I bake, I photograph, I blog! From my home to yours, feel free to adapt this with any toppings of choice, throw in a different pesto, use walnuts, almonds, or seeds instead of pine nuts…differing cheeses, replace potato with pumpkin or kumara; the list goes on. Let this be conduit to many, many tarts slash galettes, in a good way! Not my finest hour, but in a week of crazy…I kept in touch. Maybe you can do the same?

NEED:

2-3 sheets commercial puff pastry (or make your own)

1 batch pesto

3-4 large Ruby Lou potatoes, thinly sliced

200g French triple cream brie, sliced

1 punnet grape tomatoes, halved

DO:

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Line a large rectangular baking tray with puff pastry, overlapping all edges with at least 8cm of pastry.

Make pesto and spread across pastry.

Place potatoes in microwave and using steaming function, cook for 3-5 minutes in batches if necessary until starting to become translucent. Cool slightly before arranging on pesto in an even, slightly overlapping pattern.

Place brie at intervals on top of potato layer. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Place tomatoes on top and bake a further 10 minutes until tomatoes are softened.

Cut and serve hot with rocket on top.

THAT cake and me!

Yes folks, this represents three days of my life I’ll never get back! Really! I cannot imagine managing to put up anything close to what this is, in just 4 hours as the Master Chef contestants did….I have a healthy new respect for those guys. And as for my new mate Adriano, what a true Master Chef, and all round nice guy. He deserves a medal!

I had some of the wrong equipment and although I will have nightmares about this cake for possibly months to come, it was amazing to the taste! AMAZING…capitals clearly don’t do it justice and words fail me. DIVINE…superlatives are without an equal to the taste of this masterpiece! This experience taught me a thing or two about myself.

• I don’t like having to follow intricate instructions
• Now that I have followed said intricate instructions, I have realized I was a little too worried about them all and have therefore relaxed
• I am deeply deeply lazy at heart and this pushed me beyond all previous boundaries of intensive kitchen labor!
• I love my Thermomix, I love my Thermomix, I love my Thermomix

Tenina's V4 PLUS S1 Cake!

So, just as a tweak, here are a couple of the layers, put together with a layer of my own. I’m calling it the V4 + S1 cake, (the strawberry layer), which nicely cut through the sweetness…I also recommend you head on over to the Thermoblog for one (and the three that have to be done before you can do the one…if that makes any sense!) of the processes that particularly took my fancy and a couple more of them may show up here sooner or later, or at least versions of sorts. (Just not in one location or one cake!!)

The V4 + S1 consists of 3 macaron layers, separated by Vanilla Almond Crunch, Toasted Vanilla Brulee and Vanilla Ganache.

Access Vanilla Almond Crunch here.

Vanilla Ganache

NEED:

300g white couverture chocolate in pieces

1 vanilla bean

185g thickened cream (I used pure cream and added 1 tsp cornflour)

1tsp vanilla essence

100g unsalted butter

DO:

Place chocolate and vanilla bean into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.

Add remaining ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on speed 7-8 until thick creamy consistency is achieved.

Cover with cling film pushing film onto surface of ganache and set aside until use.

Toasted Vanilla Brulee

NEED:

3 egg yolks

50g dark brown sugar

250g thickened cream (again, I used pure cream and added 2tsp cornflour)

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out

175g caster sugar

25g cold water

DO:

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and cook for 6 minutes at 80°C on speed 4. Pour into large shallow baking tray so the mix is approximately 1/2 cm depth.

Bake in 180°C oven for around 10 minutes until golden. Increase temp to 200°C and cook a further 5-10 minutes until a dark golden crust is formed. It will appear slightly split.

Cool completely.

Scrape mixture into Thermomix bowl and blend for 20-30 seconds on speed 4-5 until a smooth paste is formed.

Cover with cling film, pushing film down to fully cover the surface of the brulee mixture until needed.

SO: Quick recap of V4 + S1 cake pictured;

• 1 layer macaron (recipe not here…will need to do again in near future…)
• Vanilla Almond Crunch layer
• Another Macaron layer
• Toasted Brulee layer, Vanilla Ganache layer
• Final Macaron layer

Drizzle the whole darn lot with White chocolate ganache, top with strawbs and Adriano’s your uncle!

Is it Brioche? Or Pulla?

Apparently Pulla is Finland’s answer to Brioche, in a braid…and based on this delicately fragranced butter rich bread, I would say they did one better…(Are the Norse Gods listening?) This version, sporting saffron and cardamom, is a beautiful colour and the texture truly ‘melt in the mouth’, bordering on cake as opposed to bread. I also happen to be hoarding a great stash of saffron, a gift from a friend, and perhaps it may show up in an ice cream recipe yet…but a good pinch was not wasted in this fragrant bread. A slower rise would have resulted in a more brioche like, finer crumb, but sweet, delicate and fantastic as toast…

I failed on the braid idea, the dough was beautifully soft, so gave up and went for a ring shape without the fuss! I tossed up glazing the bread with warm marmalade (home-made of course) but the kids just object to orange jam, so I opted not to. Just lashings of homemade butter and the beautiful apricot jam I scored from the Mundaring Truffle Festival today. (No truffles in the jam BTW, just excellent apricots!)

If only I were a lyrical food photographer such as the impressive Matt (noice to see yer face and taste yer Truffle Risotto!), but alas, still waiting on my new camera to make more sense to me….so the reliable old Sony had to do….bit like me really; old and reliable.

NEED:

Large pinch saffron threads

12 cardamom pods, seeds only

85g unsalted butter

140g honey

1 sachet dried yeast

650g bakers flour

200g tepid water

2 eggs

pinch salt

egg wash

DO:

Place saffron into 100g boiling water and leave to steep.

Place cardamom seeds into Thermomix bowl and mill for 20 seconds on speed 9.

Place butter and honey into Thermomix bowl and warm for 2 minutes at 50C on speed 2.

Add remaining ingredients except egg wash and candied orange slices to Thermomix bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 6.

With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 3 minutes at Interval speed.

Turnout onto floured Silpat mat and knead together into tight ball, wrap and allow to double in size.

Shape into desired shape and prove again until doubled, (go ahead, try the braid…and send me pics!) I used a chiffon cake tin.

Preheat oven to 200C. Brush risen bread gently with egg wash and bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and sounding hollow when tapped with fingertips. Cool slightly in tin before turning out and then restrain yourself…luckily I have eaten myself silly all day at the Truffle Festival and so could only manage half a slice, (albeit thick slice) and now am plotting who I might deliver warm, aromatic Pulla to…really, any takers?

Char Sui Pork Bun, De-Constructed!

WARNING: Long ingredient list…but don’t be put off!

You could call this ‘De-constructed Pork Buns or Pot Stickers’…almost. As you know (if you read this blog regularly), I am into anything that is easy and quick, can be adapted to feed 1000′s, and naturally, gotta be tasty. Pork Buns officially fill most of the said requirements, but these are easier and quicker still! And yes, I did the Char Sui Pork myself…see note below.

NEED:

Water Dough Pastry;

50g rice

150g bakers flour

50-100g boiling water

pinch salt

Oil Dough Pastry;

200g bakers flour

pinch salt

50g oil

50-70g hot water

Dressing;

1 dried chilli

2-3 cloves garlic

2cm piece peeled ginger

1-2 tbsp sugar

50g soy sauce

20g Chinese black vinegar

Juice 1 lemon

Remaining Filling;

600g Char Sui Pork, sliced

1/4 Chinese cabbage, shredded

A few sliced spring onions (shallots)

Bean shoots to taste

Crispy fried shallots to taste

500g cubed and roasted sweet potato

Roasted peanuts to taste (optional)

Few sprigs coriander

DO:

To make hot water dough, place rice into Thermomix bowl and mill for 1.5 minutes on speed 10. Add remaining ingredients and only about 50-60g of the water, mix for 6 seconds on speed 6.

With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 1 minute on Interval speed. (Add more water at this point if not forming sticky dough.) Turn out onto Silpat mat and wrap tightly. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make the oil dough by placing all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mixing for 6 seconds on speed 6. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 1.5 minutes on Interval speed. Wrap tightly and allow to rest for at least 10 mintues.

Place both doughs back into Thermomix bowl and with dial set to closed lid position, knead for 2 minutes on Interval speed.

Roll into long sausage shape and cut into rounds which you then roll flat into large circles before placing into a hot, well oiled fry pan. Add a ‘slosh’ of  water and cover the pan immediately so that the wrap is steamed. When the water has almost evaporated, remove lid and when golden, turn and brown the other side. Set aside, but keep warm until service.

To make Dressing, place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend together for 15 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.

Assemble wraps as you would any other, salad, sweet potato, dressing, pork, garnishes and more dressing…don’t forget anything now! Is there something you would like me to ‘de-construct’ to make it simpler? Let me know…perhaps that should be my new alter ego…Recipe Doctor.com, or De-Constructs R Us! (Only in my spare time of course!)

Char Sui Pork

Make the Char Sui marinade by placing to taste honey, sugar, oyster sauce, five spice powder, soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, Chinese wine, chilli, garlic and ginger into Thermomix bowl and mixing until blended. Heat for 4 minutes at 60C on speed 1 to form a syrup. Marinate up to 2 kg of pork fillet slices for several hours. (I marinated for around 24 hours) Cook under a very hot grill until charred and fragrant. Slice as needed.

Creamy Asparagus Soup with extras!

Shhhh, don’t tell anyone…but I am working on a little project on the side…only in my spare time of course! With wintery mornings being the go down under, (particularly in Perth it would appear) I thought a heart warming soup would therefore go a long way just now. And it won’t hurt to add it to the file on my work desktop labelled ‘Souper Bowl’. But you didn’t hear it from me folks.

With apologies for the ‘dismal-night time-old camera-not lit-yes I took the pic’ photo…the recipe will make up for it! Promise!

NEED:

50g EVOO

150-200g cauliflower

Juice 1 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 leek chopped and cleaned extremely well

2 bunches asparagus topped and tailed (reserve tops)

700g stock (I used chicken)

150g cream

EVOO to drizzle

Stracchino cheese to taste, sliced

DO:

Place EVOO, cauliflower, lemon juice and seasoning into Thermomix bowl and blend for 2 minutes on speed 8, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl periodically. Set aside.

Without cleaning bowl, add leek and chop for 3-4 seconds on speed 7. Saute for 2 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1.

Add asparagus and stock to Thermomix bowl. Meanwhile, place asparagus tops into Varoma dish. Set Varoma into position and with dial set to closed lid position, cook for 15 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1.5.

Add cream to Thermomix bowl and puree for 15 seconds on speed 8-9. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serve with Cauliflower cream, asparagus tips, Stracchino  slices and additional EVOO.

It goes without saying that a loaf of crusty bread is the perfect partner…so hit the Bread section on here and choose away.

Buttering the Dough

Oven Ready Scrolls

Ready to Eat

I am hoping that although a pedestrian recipe, this will appease those who seem to call the office regarding said Cheesey Mite Scrolls…and whilst I am all for Vegemite (used to eat it by the spoonful in my wasted youth) on this occasion I omitted it. BUT please, use your noggin and add Vegemite at will, in great dollops if desired, simply spread on dough prior to proceeding with the remaining instructions, (possibly omitting the pepper).

OH, and By. The. Way.  I have a new camera, thus the not so pedestrian pics…and so many of them. My DH is trigger happy. Hopefully this means my own book is closer than ever to being realised, if I can just get my head around another learning curve…am I too old for all this and dear readers…will you buy it? Let me know.

CHEESEY SCROLLS

NEED:

510g bakers flour

2tsp dried yeast

40g EVOO

good pinch sea salt

300g warm water (tepid)

40g melted butter

300g mixed cubed cheeses of choice (I used Dutch Leydon, Vintage Cheddar and Grana Padano ~ or good Parmesan)

Generous amount of cracked black pepper

DO:

Make dough by placing flour, yeast, EVOO, salt and water into Thermomix bowl and mixing for 6 seconds on speed 6. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 2 minutes on Interval speed. Wrap tightly in Silpat mat and allow to prove until doubled.

Meanwhile place all cheeses into Thermomix bowl and mill for 7-8 seconds on speed 8.

When dough has risen, preheat oven to 220C.

Use a little of the melted butter to prepare a rectangular baking dish.

Roll dough into a large rectangle and brush with more butter.

Spread almost all of the cheese on the dough being sure to cover all the edges. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

Roll into large sausage shape and then cut through using pastry scraper. Turn filling side up and arrange in baking dish next to each other so there are no gaps.

Drizzle with remaining butter, top with remaining cheese and cook for 20 minutes or until golden. (Do I need to say it?) SERVE HOT!

We have been on a bit of a pizza kick at work. I am happy to say I have never been off my pizza kick. Always loved it, always will. I have a fantastic pizza stone that is unrivalled. It is ceramic with tunnels running from front to back and seems to produce a superior product. (Or maybe I’m just a damn fine pizza cook!) Anyhoo, I don’t have any recipes for pizza up here…a grave error, (Recipe? Bread dough, slap on a sauce, topping and cheese and we’re done, right?) and of course, when it comes to this site, the first pizza I come up with is for dessert. Not traditional, but certainly worth the effort. Enjoy!

NEED:

Starter;

1tsp sugar

1tsp granulated yeast

160g bakers flour

220g cold water

pinch sea salt

Base;

1 egg

250g buttermilk or milk

30g butter

400g bakers flour

olive oil

DO:

Place all starter ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape into non plastic bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave overnight at room temperature. (Cool is fine!)

The next day, place all of starter and remaining ingredients (except oil) into Thermomix bowl and mix together for 6 seconds on speed 6. The dough will appear sticky. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 2 minutes at Interval speed.

Turn out onto oiled Silpat mat and knead into tight ball by hand. Place into oiled glass bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap so it is airtight. Allow to double, again, a slow rise in a cooler temperature will give you a nicer crumb in the finished base.

Gently tip dough out onto baking paper or Silpat mat and divide into 3 equal pieces. Push each piece into desired shape with finger tips so as to dimple the top of the dough. Do not roll out or stretch out…allow the elasticity in the dough to work for you.

Top with variety of toppings. Bake by sliding pizza straight onto preheated pizza stone and cook until golden and bubbly. (Raspberry, lime option will have a lot of caramelised sauce) Serve immediately with lashings of mascarpone cream cheese or double cream or possibly ice cream.

I did two on this occasion (see below) photographed both and in a flu induced haze, deleted them both off my SD card before saving them, thus the singular pic. Did a cheesecake cherry topping at work…and luckily took that pic at work, so all safe and sound on my desktop, so have included that in the trio. All three were delicious and did not last long.

Topping One;

Press a few raspberries into the base, add thinly sliced lime. Drizzle with grapeseed oil and sprinkle the whole thing generously with organic raw sugar. When eating the lime slices can be removed, tho I quite enjoyed the crunchy caramelised skins.

Topping Two;

Sprinkle base with cranberries and dark mini chocolate nibs. Be quite liberal. Drizzle entire pizza with organic maple syrup.

Topping Three;

Cherry Sauce NEED:
60g sugar
670g jar morello pitted cherries
30g cornflour

DO:

Place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.
Insert basket into Thermomix bowl and pour whole jar of cherries in. Remove basket (with cherries) and set aside.
Add cornflour to Thermomix bowl and cook for 4-5 minutes at 100ºC on speed 4. Set aside.

Lemon Cheesecake NEED:
80g sugar
Zest and juice 1 lemon
2 eggs
500g cream cheese

DO:
Place sugar and zest into Thermomix bowl and mill together for 10 seconds on speed 10.
Add remaining ingredients and blend together for 10 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat.

ASSEMBLE:

Divide dough into two portions and roll out each separately on a piece of baking paper.

Place first pizza onto pizza stone and bake for approximately 7-8 minutes or until starting to brown slightly. The pizza may puff up as there are no toppings, but this is not a problem.

Remove from oven and generously spread half of the cheesecake mixture onto the pizza.

Drizzle with half of the cherry sauce, top with a few of the reserved cherries and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes or until lemon cheesecake topping has set. Serve immediately and make a second one….cos you’re going to need it!