The layering process begins!

Smorgastarta Up Close and Personal!

Okey, so if you are on board with me here….this is what you are waiting for to finish off this creation. It really is impressive and a lot of fun to serve. There are a lot of ideas for decorating, I went with Swedish (sort of) but for lots of other ideas head on over to this The Kitchn post. There were mixed reactions at the most expected Grand child in history’s baby shower, some people were disappointed it wasn’t sweet, others were so taken by the idea that is was savoury, they couldn’t wait to dig in. Slicing it is the trick, so be brave, but use a serrated edge to get through all the layers and serve in thin wedges if possible. We loved the left overs more the day after the Baby Shower, and I think it was because all the flavours had melded together. Therefore, this is a perfect party food to do ahead…way ahead.

Hope you post pics over on Facebook if you do this…go on…you know you want to!

Fillings;

NEED:

4 hard boiled egg yolks

100g mayonnaise (For Foods Sake has some amazing Mayo options, and I did use a home made garlic, spring onion and lime option)

100g pickled gherkins

60g red onion

250g cream cheese

100g smoked salmon

Juice 1 lime

Murray River pink salt flakes to taste

DO:

Place egg yolks, and mayonnaise into Thermo bowl and blend 4 sec/speed 6. Add gherkins and onion and chop 3 sec/speed 4. Add remaining filling ingredients and blend 6 sec/speed 6. Remove from bowl and set aside. Clean bowl if you want a white ‘frosting’.

Frosting;

NEED:

500g sour cream

500g cream cheese

DO:

Place sour cream and cream cheese into Thermo bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 7. Insert butterfly and whip for 30 sec/speed 4. It should be fluffy and aerated. Remove from bowl and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Sliced cucumber

Sliced chicken breast fillet, ham or other cold meats of choice

Caviar

Sliced hardboiled eggs

Butter

Sliced onions

Beetroot

Stuffed olives, black olives

Parsley leaves to garnish

Cherry tomatoes to garnish

Other garnishes of choice

You must have sparkling mineral water to brush the bread layers with.

ASSEMBLY:

Remove the crusts from all the loaf, including the top, leaving only the bottom crust.

Slice the bread loaf into 3 or 4 layers horizontally.

Spread a little of the frosting onto the serving plate you will use. Stick the bottom layer of loaf onto this plate.

Brush this layer with a generous amount of mineral water. Butter it and then spread with some of the filling. Top with other meats, cheeses, vegetables of choice. Top with next layer and repeat, until all layers of bread are used. Do not overfill the layers between the sandwich as it will make it difficult to cut.

Completely brush the whole sandwich cake with mineral water. Frost it using all the frosting you have and pipe rosettes on the top like you would a cake around the outside circumference. Decorate the top with as many garnishes as you would like.

Arrange individual parsley leaves on the outside of the cake. Garnish the base with cherry tomatoes, and add any other garnishes of choice. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

The mineral water helps the consistency become easier to cut and more cake like.

Hungry today…and this is what showed up! Didn’t have a lot of time to muck around with fussy food (do I ever??) and this cut straight to the chase. Filling for those kids with hollow legs on holidays, who normally will eat anything not nailed down. And yes, it beats 2 minute noodles hands down. Pretty good toasted the next day with bacon, eggs and beans…was dreaming of Holl

NEED:
70g parmesan cheese, cubed

2 cloves garlic

300g water

1 sachet dried yeast (2 tsp)

500g bakers flour

20g EVOO, plus more for drizzling

100g provolone cheese, cubed

Generous pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

DO:

Place parmesan and garlic into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 8.

Add water, yeast, flour and 20g EVOO and blend 8 sec/speed 6. Knead 3 min/Interval. Turn out onto floured Silpat mat and wrap tightly. Allow to rise in warm place…(If you are lucky enough to have a warming drawer…use it! I confess, I am LOVING my Kleenmaid warming drawer!)

Meanwhile, place provolone (or mozzarella) into Thermo bowl and mill 5 sec/speed 8.

Preheat oven to a bread setting 220ºC and line a rectangular baking tray with paper.

Cut your dough into two pieces…you will see in the pic the amazing SuperKitchenMachine spatula. They are perfect for cutting sticky (or not) bread dough and absolutely perfect for this recipe and are currently available in the Tenina store!

But I digress…

Roll one piece of dough out to fit the size of your prepared baking tray exactly. Lay onto the paper. Sprinkle with all the provolone cheese, and lay the other piece of dough on top, tucking it in at the edges to seal. Again, rise the dough, (in the warming drawer) covered until it looks like a focaccia.

Score the dough into rectangles with the spatula, drizzle with a little EVOO, and sprinkle with salt to taste.

Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Serve hot, with or without the butter, which melts all over the place and makes this a truly decadent experience…

Three Cheese Pizza with Heirloom Tomatoes

I am always inspired by the produce I see when shopping…(well mostly) and often come home with amazing product or wierd and wonderful ingredients that I must then put into something that ends up on here. Some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes just yelled ‘pick me, pick me’ when I headed out for the family shopping today. Although they cost more per kilo than the ring on my finger, I did buy them, and they were worth it! Rather than smother them with something overwhelming, I kept them fresh and uncooked and they were simply delicious as a foil to the rich cheese topping for this pizza.

Dinner just as I love it; Simple, tasty, quick and painless…(take the food pic quick, before the hoardes descend!)

This amount will make 4 thin crust pizzas or 2 thick crust.

NEED:

Dough;

30g fresh yeast

20g Fini EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

300g water

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

150g rye flour

350g bakers flour

Topping;

As many mini heirloom tomatoes as needed

1-2 cloves garlic

130g Aussie Parmesan, cubed

130g Jarlsburg, cubed

200g Stracchino, sliced thinly

Snipped fresh Italian parsley

Additional EVOO to drizzle

Big Appetite

Pizza Stone….or Pizza oven…

DO:

Make dough by placing yeast, EVOO and water into Thermomix bowl and warming 2 min/37ºC/speed 2.

Add salt and flours and blend 10 sec/speed 6.

Knead 2 min/Interval. Tip out onto floured Silpat mat and roll into a tight ball. Wrap and prove about 10 minutes.

Preheat pizza stone in the hottest oven possible on a bread baking setting if available. You should at least try for around 220ºC.

Place garlic, Parmesan and Jarlsburg into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Divide dough into quarters and roll each pizza out to desired thickeness. (Thin is best on this occasion…but then thin is always best in my book!)

Bake each piece of dough approx 5-6 minutes until puffed and starting to colour around the edges particularly.

Remove from oven and cover with grated cheese mixture. Arrange sliced stracchino over the top and return to the oven for around 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden.

Slice tomatoes and chop parsley.

Arrange over the top of the hot cheese, drizzle with additional EVOO and serve immediately.

(Gotta say this once…YUM!) 

Euro Union Subway Sandwich, with no hassle.

Before you go looking like crazy for some European recipe contest…please read the following. (Disclaimer; This is not a serious title!)

It was just that I realised that I had used Hungarian salami, which may or may not be your choice…Swiss Cheese and the bread dough was my French Baguette dough…so yes, European Union all over again. OF course the baguette recipe now features in For Food’s Sake available for sale on here. (Where have you been??)

Easy if you have a steam oven, or the fab-you-laaahs Kleenmaid Combi Steam oven…which as the lucky recipe developer I am, I now have installed in my kitchen in pride of place. If you are not that lucky, get lucky and tell them I sent you! There will be a discount involved as well! But you can duplicate (sort of) the steaming thing with a bain marie in the bottom or your oven which you then remove.

It is a great lunch box subway of sorts, ready filled for your convenience and with all the little and big kiddies back at school, how about you make smaller individual ones for lunches this week…or next…or the next for that matter. Book mark this one! However, my son did eat half of a large one as a snack the day that I made these, so be warned; they won’t last long if you have teenagers in the house.

NEED:

30g fresh yeast

330g warm water

2 tsp salt

650g bakers flour

6-8 thinly shaved slices Hungarian salami per loaf

6-8 thinly shaved slices Jarlsburg per loaf

DO:

Place yeast and water into Thermomix bowl and warm 2 min/37ºC/speed 1.

Mix 15 sec/speed 6-7.

Knead 3 min/Interval. Allow to ‘rest’ for 5-10 minutes.

Knead again 3 min/Interval.

Turn out into oiled bowl and cover completely with plastic wrap so the air will be trapped and allow to double. (This may take up to 3 hours, unless you have the Kleenmaid warming drawer in which case probably about 20 minutes rising time.)

The dough will be quite hard and dense and yet flexible.

When happy with the rise, punch down and roll into two rectangular shapes.

Lay salami and cheese across each rectangle, then fold in both long sides into towards each other. Tuck in the ends and seal all together by pinching the dough together.

Turn over so that the seam is down and you have a nice smooth top. Slash top of loaves with very sharp knife diagonally.

Place onto baking paper and allow to rise again. (Use warming drawer if you have it…and yes, I LOVE IT!!) Cover with a cloth.

Place into oven and steam 10 minutes/100ºC. Unload water tank as oven directs and change function to fan forced. Cook 15 minutes/225ºC or until golden. Loaf should sound hollow when tapped. Cool slightly before slicing.

If you want to make only one loaf, simply halve everything but the yeast. Use 20g fresh or 2 tsp granulated. I have written the filling per loaf.

Curry Filled Vetkoek

Vetkoek Dough

You are all on a new years diet kick…is that right?

How about you save this one then for a rash day of calorie consumption? This recipe is in honor of my South African friends everywhere, but in particular my friend and business partner Mandy, without whom I would be a lot of good ideas with no direction…we are dreaming big together for 2012…so watch this space!

Every country has their own form of donut it would seem, and this is a savoury filled one which I have made before to great acclaim. It has been sitting around in my draft folder for months, so  I thought I would trot it out…just in time for something completely different on here…I have cleaned up the Christmas decorations, the Christmas food slash chocolates are all gone (except for my mother in laws most excellent fruit cake which will last until mid March at least!) and I really am now in Empty the Pantry Mode…not wishing to buy anything but the fresh stuff. This fit the bill perfectly.

Enjoy…oh…and don’t forget, you can stuff these donuts with a nice melty cheese before frying if you dare…but you will definitely eat more than one. (Consider yourself warned!)

NEED:

Donuts;

Aish Bel Lahm

Look, lets not beat around the bush….this is Middle Eastern Pizza…or Gozleme, without the folded bit….amongst other things. This is designed to feed a small army….so I suggest if there is only two of you, invite the neighbours for a street party or at the very least, get the kids to bring home a few strays on the night you decide to make this recipe. (Or halve it, bread and topping can both be halved.)

If you would like to use fresh yeast, I suggest that is a great idea…activate it first by heating it for 2 min/37ºC/speed 2 along with the liquid, and without the flour. Then add the flour etc and proceed as directed.

NEED:

680g bakers flour

60g olive oil

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp dried yeast

3 eggs

Good pinch sea salt

300g warm water

Topping;

Handful fresh Italian parsley

Few black peppercorns

2 onions peeled and halved

500g beef or lamb mince

salt to taste

1 leek cleaned and sliced

2tbsp tahini

30g pomegranate molasses

200g crumbled feta

Few poppy or Nigella seeds

DO:

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mix 10 sec/speed 6.

Knead 2 min/Interval speed.

Turn out onto oiled Silpat Mat, wrap tightly and allow to prove in warm draft free place for up to 2 hours or until doubled. (Or if you are lucky enough to have it, use the bread rising setting in your Kleenmaid oven!)

Topping;

Place parsley into Thermomix bowl and chop for 3-4 sec/speed 5. Set aside.

Place peppercorns into Thermomix bowl and mill 8 sec/speed 8.

Add onion and chop 3 sec/speed 6.

Add mince and cook 10 min/Varoma/Reverse + speed soft.

Add seasoning, leek, tahini and molasses and cook  5 min/Varoma/Reverse + speed soft.

Assemble;

Roll dough out into small rounds and dollop meat mixture into the centre of each one. Sprinkle with poppy seeds or Nigella seeds and place into preheated fan forced 220°C oven for approx 10 minutes or until puffed and fragrant. Top with feta and parsley and serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges.

Seeded Salami Cheese Scrolls

I am frantically busy with all sorts of little projects that will soon be coming your way, so this is an oldie but a goldie that I have drummed up from the deep dark recesses of my files…you will enjoy…nothing earth shattering, just wholesome, delicious, feed a family, goodness! I hope you are all staying abreast of the latest shennanigans that I am up to over on Facebook and that you are telling all your Thermomixing friends about it as well. I have a baking class in the planning which should be available for bookings really soon, and there is an impending trip to NSW, including Newcastle…so stay tuned. Of course, that is inbetween getting a couple of books ready! (I know right??? CRAZY, but all good fun!)

NEED:

80g Gruyere cheese , cubed
120g Vintage Cheddar cubed
2 spring onions /shallots roughly chopped
100g whole buckwheat
30g fresh yeast
320g warm water
50g oil

Pinch sea salt
500g bakers flour
50g assorted seeds of choice
Handful walnut kernels
150g creme fraiche
200g thinly sliced salami of choice
Handful Kalamata olives

DO:

Place Gruyere, Cheddar and spring onions into Thermomix bowl and mill for 5 sec/speed 8. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place buckwheat into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 sec/speed 10. Add yeast, water,  oil & salt and mix for 6 sec/speed 6. Warm for 2 min/37ºC/speed 2. 

Add flour, and seeds and knead for 1 min/Interval.

Add walnuts through hole in lid and knead a further 30 sec/Interval.

Turn out onto floured silicone mat and knead by hand into a tight ball. Wrap and allow
to double in size in draft free room. It will be quite a stiff dough.

Roll dough out to a large rectangle and spread generously with crème fraîche. Arrange salami slices evenly, top with milled cheese mixture and olives. Roll carefully into a sausage shape and gently cut into rounds, so as not to flatten the scrolls.

Place cut side up into a large baking dish, cover and allow to prove for around 30minutes. Place into cold oven set to fan forced 200ºC (to allow a further rise) and bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden and sounding hollow when tapped.

Serve warm.

Mums Potato Scones….

I know you all have in the deep recesses of either your mind or your kitchen shelf, a recipe that you would love to be making in your Thermomix…am I right? But for one reason or another, you have never attempted it; Too hard to convert, not sure how to convert, it might not taste the same….you think maybe it cannot be done in the Thermomix….the list of reasons is endless. I personally have a couple of laden bookshelves with recipe books all dying for a ‘quickie’…you know, the Thermomix method to be applied to them. (I am a tad busy with other stuff….but still!)

My mother has provided me with a veritable library of individually typed recipes from her collection over the years and I truly want to get those onto here…and I know you (dear reader) have a few as well. SO: in case you have been missing the chat over on Facebook I am planning a Recipe Conversion service…on here with some Facebook commenting on the Discussion board.

The requirements are;

• The recipe must already work…as in, taste good, be accurate in its recipe-ness as written at present.
• The recipe must be one you have cooked yourself before with or without the help of Thermie.
• The recipe must not include weird and wonderful ingredients from the southern most slopes of Lapland or something. In other words, achievable by the majority…
• You must provide me with a scanned or print version original of the recipe via email (tenina@cookingwithtenina.com), your name, your city and it would be nice to have a little story to go with your recipe if you have one.
• No judgements will be passed, intentionally or unintentionally, regarding ingredients of original recipe, though some changes may take place to keep Thermomix philosophy of healthy food from a good source, from scratch etc.
• I in return promise to uphold the laws of Thermomix recipe-ness and will endeavour to provide a timely result…I will post selected recipes onto here, and hopefully you will go and rave like lunatics over on Facebook about the wonderful, incredible, amazing, awe inspiring service that I have provided….and then tell your Thermomixer friends…who in turn may wish to put a recipe in for conversion.

Tenina’s Thermomix Conversion (or TTC from here on in!)

NEED:

1 potato, peeled and cubed (approx 260g uncooked)

800g water

100g wheat grain

60g butter

1 tbsp sugar

320g SR flour

Pinch sea salt

1 egg

110g milk + a little extra for brushing

DO:

Place potato into simmering basket and pour water over. Cook for 20 min/100ºC/speed 3. Remove simmering basket and cool potato.

Preheat oven to baking setting 200ºC and line a flat baking tray with paper.

Place wheat into clean and dry Thermomix bowl and mill for 1 min/speed 10. Set aside.

Place butter and sugar into Thermomix bowl and blend for a 5 sec/speed 5.

Add remaining ingredients except including cooled potato and mix for 6 sec/speed 6.

Knead for 30 sec/Interval.

Roll dough out on well floured Silpat mat and cut into rounds using floured MC. Brush with milk, and bake for 15 minutes until golden. This is quite a sticky dough, but try to manage it without adding extra flour as this means a beautiful fluffy scone as the end result. (And don’t we all want fluffy in our scone??)

SERVE:

Hot with the obligatory butter, lemon curd, jam, whipped cream or mascarpone…need I go on? Then go to the gym for penance!

Never one to throw anything away, related to food that I could possibly use in another way, this is how the potato rolls started. I had a couple of baked potatoes looking at me from the bench for a day….and I knew there had to be an answer…admitedly I had heard of potato bread before and in fact I think there is a way to use potatoes as yeast, but that is another day and another recipe! I used the multi loaf tin, cos they looked so darn cute…but you can hand form the dough into any shape you want. Brush with a little melted butter when they come out and voila, great for a dinner party, nice as a sandwich, toasted…you know the drill!

NEED:

30g fresh yeast

1 50g egg

250-260g milk

10g sugar

60g butter

130g cooked diced potato

Generous pinch sea salt

600g bakers flour

DO:

Place yeast, egg, milk, sugar  and butter into Thermomix bowl and warm for 2 min 37ºC/speed 3.

Add all remaining ingredients and blend for 12 sec/speed 6.

Knead for 3 min/Interval.

Wrap tightly in Silpat mat and allow to double in a draft free place.

Preheat oven to 220ºC.

Roll equal sized balls depending on your tin. Place 2 balls per mini loaf hole and allow them to rise until joined and reaching the top of the the tin. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Brush with a little melted butter when removed from the oven and whilst still hot.

EAT….piping hot if possible…with lashings of butter and possibly home made Vanilla Strawberry Jam….of course!

Rosemary scented Spelt Crackers

A staple…but a solid little party dazzler when it wants to tart itself up with a cheeseboard, or a snazzy dip…what can I say? Someone asked me if I made crackers the other day (and they were joking…as IF you’d actually make your own crackers, right?)…of course I thought they were asking me if I AM crackers, but I had to say yes to both…I make crackers and quite frequently AM crackers…so for you kids…the things I do. Seriously. I have to be crackers.

NEED:

55 g warm water
70 g extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
250 g wholemeal spelt flour
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, foliage only
1 tsp sea salt

Extra coarse salt for topping

DO:

Preheat oven to fan forced 180ºC and line 2-3 baking trays with paper.

Place water and EVOO into Thermomix bowl and warm for 1 min/80ºC/speed
1.

Add remaining ingredients and blend for 10 secs/speed 7.

Tip out onto ThermoMat and push together to form a soft
dough. Wrap and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Divide into thirds and roll out each ball of dough separately
as thinly as possible on the prepared trays. Use a pizza cutter to score the
dough, sprinkle with the additional salt and bake for 15-20 minutes or until
crisp.

Break into crackers and return to the turned off oven to
completely dry out. Serve with dip, cheese or other toppings of choice.