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.

Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe is a conversion request…and I must say, well received in this household. The pastry is my recipe and the idea of puff on the top as well…love it! Easy and delicious, watch this space, pretty sure this will show up on Spin A Dinner  the thermomix app of all apps it would seem…At the moment sporting over 30 recipes and fast on it’s way to another 30 at the rate I’m going!! Did you get yours yet? Both iPad and iPhone versions are going M.A.D. We are so wrapped that you are so wrapped! AND…hold onto your hats, the Android version is close…how close? Not close enough I hear you cry…but coming, so stay tuned, and go and let me know on Facebook, how much you want this to happen. (Need to feel the love right now kids!!)

Anyhoo, thanks for the email Douglas…here you go. Chicken Pot Pie at your service…

NEED:

Parmesan Shortcrust;

60g parmesan, cubed

A few peppercorns

1 tsp paprika, ground

60g butter

220g plain flour

1 egg yolk

1 pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

30-50g ice cold water

Filling;

75g butter

100g onion, halved

40g flour

Generous pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

2 tsp powdered greens (optional)

100g carrots, sliced thinly

1-2 stalks celery, sliced

300g water

2 tbsp Chicken Stock Powder (recipe in For Foods Sake)

500g chicken fillet, cubed

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

100g frozen peas

50g milk (optional)

To finish pie; 2 sheets commercial puff pastry

DO:

Place parmesan, peppercorns and paprika into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10. Add butter and flour and blend 6 sec/speed 6.

Add yolk and salt and a little water and blend 5 sec/speed 5. If dough is coming together there will be no need to add more water. If still crumbly, just add a little more water and blend further 5 sec/speed 5 until dough forms a mass.

Remove from bowl and form into a disc on floured Silpat mat. Wrap and place into fridge whilst you make filling.

To make filling place butter, onion, flour and salt into Thermo bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 5. Saute 5 min/Varoma/speed 2.

Add powdered greens, carrots, celery, water and Chicken Stock Powder to Thermo bowl and cook 10 min/100ºC/Reverse/speed 2.

Add chicken and pepper and cook 5 min/100ºC/Reverse/speed 2.

Add peas and milk and stir through 3 sec/Reverse/speed 2.

Preheat oven to 200ºC.

Line a deep pie or casserole dish with the Parmesan shortcrust. Fill gently with the chicken filling. Top with puff pastry being sure to tuck and seal the edges. Cut a cross in the centre of the pie for steam to escape. Bake 35-40 minutes until top is puffed and golden.

Leave to cool for around 10 minutes before serving.

Chicken Vindaloo

I love curry…you may have noticed…I love spicy food; you may have noticed. I love chicken dishes; you may have noticed. So combine them all and I am in hog heaven…well…you know what I mean. Fragrant and amazing, don’t stop here, try this mixture with lamb, beef or (shhhh, dare I say it?) pork…It’s not too often you hear of a Pork Vindaloo but I am taking a stand and saying, go ahead…pork it up! But chicken works just fine…more than ‘just’ actually! Yum.

NEED:

1/2 tsp each ground, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cloves, cardamom, fenugreek, cayenne, mustard, ginger and black pepper

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp sweet paprika

20g Fini EVOO

150g brown onion, cut in pieces

20g fresh ginger, peeled

8 cloves garlic

500g tomatoes, cut in pieces

20g red wine vinegar

900g chicken thigh fillet, cut in large pieces

Steamed rice to serve

DO:

Place all dry spices into Thermomix bowl and heat for 5 min/Varoma/speed 2. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add oil, onion, ginger and garlic and chop 3 sec/speed 5. Saute 5 min/Varoma/speed 1/MC off.

Add tomatoes and vinegar and cook 10 min/100ºC/speed 2.

Add chicken and cook further 10 min/100ºC/Reverse/speed 1.

Serve with fresh coriander, sliced chillies and chopped cucumber and tomato. A little dollop of plain yoghurt is nice with this too…and the obligatory steamed rice or quinoa.

Chicken, Fennel and Potato Bake

To call this a recipe is a bit of a stretch…it is one of those mere suggestions, and dare I say it? You could do this without the use of your Thermomix. It was one of those hot days we have been suffering through here in Perth and to throw something tasty into the oven meant I didn’t have to think too hard about it…and whats more…I needed another Dinner for our Dinner Spinner iphone app (the ‘app’tly renamed, Spin-A-Dinner) If you haven’t got one…go get one, we will keep adding recipes bit by bit, so eventually you will have the most amazing Thermomix app ever! (And the Sydney Morning Herald is never wrong about those things!)

NEED:

1-2 chicken thighs per serving, skinless

1-2 small red capsicum, seeded and cut into strips

1-2 small fennel bulbs, sliced thinly

2 red onions, cut in wedges

1 red skinned potato per serving, quartered

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground smoked paprika

60g Fini EVOO

40g lemon juice

Handful blanched almonds

Chopped fresh parsley and Greek yoghurt to serve

DO:

Place chicken into large casserole dish. Add vegetables and season with salt and pepper.

Place garlic into Thermomix bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl and add fennel seeds, cumin and paprika. Saute 10 min/Varoma/speed 1.

Add EVOO and lemon juice to Thermomix bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 5.

Pour over chicken and vegetables and allow to marinate for 10-15 minutes, covered in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 220ºC. Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes until everything is cooked and fragrant. Add almonds and cook a further 10 minutes until almonds are golden.

Serve with freshly snipped parsley and a dollop of Greek Yoghurt if desired.

Tandoori Chicken

GUYS…the Dinner Spinner iPhone, slash iPad App is OUT…its available now…really! SO exciting to get an email on Saturday from our developer with the news that Apple Inc had got their skates on and the app is out! So go check it out; reduced introductory price for the first 30 days, so buckle up and pay the price of a coffee and a cake and have the convenience of your Dinner Dilemma solved where ever you are!

*25 delicious, easy to make dinners

* All using a Thermomix

* 4 brand new, never previously released recipes

* Versatile to suit all tastes

* Includes 8 tasty vegetarian dishes

Solve your Daily Dinner Dilemma now!

Just to peak your interest, here is one of the more popular recipes from Dinner Spinner, yes that would be the BOOK and the APP…hope you enjoy. (OH, and of course, Merry Christmas from me!)

NEED:

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

3 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp turmeric

2 cloves garlic

2 red chilies, deseeded

100g onion

2 tbsp EVOO

15g ginger, peeled

30g lime juice, fresh

70g tomato paste

80g Greek yoghurt

Sea salt to taste

4-6 chicken Maryland (thigh and breast attached, skin on, on the bone)

DO:

Place cumin, coriander, peppercorns, paprika, cayenne & turmeric into Thermomix bowl & dry roast 10 min/Varoma/speed 2.

Cool slightly before milling 1 min/speed 10.

Add all remaining ingredients except chicken and blend 10 sec/speed 4. Scrape down and repeat.

Place chicken into large baking dish & slash the skin in large diagonal strips. Rub tandoori mixture into skin & cover chicken for several hours to marinate.

Heat grill to minimum 200°C (or hotter if available). Grill chicken for around 20-30 minutes until well cooked.

 SERVE:

With steamed rice, Naan bread or oven fries & a garden salad.

Chicken Mango and Noodle Salad

Perth has been having a mini heatwave…of sorts, and now it is all cloudy and threatening, but I do have the airconditioner in full swing. The first air conditioning day for the season in fact…here we go…summer is on its way!

So for a hot day, a quick and easy salad. Make the dressing. Chop the cabbage, fire up the barbie or the grill and dinner dilemma is solved…to everyones satisfaction I think.

Speaking of Dinner Dilemma’s being solved…VERY SOON…in my store (see tab above), I will have my first little self published project available for sale. Now let me just make a fuss…21 fabulous recipes, all main meals with lots of variety, whether you are carnivore or vegetarian, whether you enjoy Asian or Mexican food, spicy, salads, winter warmers, its a bit of a mixer and hopefully you will find that you have a new friend in the kitchen in this book. It is small enough to carry in your bag;  just call it a prehistoric app…bring it out at the shop to just check on a recipe ingredients and yes, dinner is sorted. It will be that easy…so hope to have a big SOLD OUT sign up really soon!

In the meantime, enjoy this…

NEED:
Dressing;

20g peeled ginger root

1 lemon grass stalk, white part only

1 kaffir lime leaf

1 red chili

2 cloves garlic

30g palm sugar

Pinch sea salt

40g fish sauce

100g lemon or lime juice, fresh

60-80g Fini EVOO

Handful fresh mint leaves

Salad;

One chicken breast fillet between 2 servings

1/2 Chinese cabbage

Few spinach leaves or other salad greens of choice

1-2 avocadoes

1-2 mangoes

1-2 pkts Changs fried noodles

DO:

Place all dressing ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 7. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place up to 400g of cabbage at a time into the Thermomix bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 4. Remove from bowl and place on serving platter. Repeat with remaining cabbage until all is chopped. Place a few baby spinach leaves or other greens on top.

Meanwhile heat a griddle pan over a high heat on Induction 12. Oil it and then cook each chicken breast, until well charred and marked. Turn heat down to medium heat, (Induction 6), cover and cook until cooked through completely. Rest chicken,  covered in pan with heat turned off.

Chop avocado and mango and toss through the dressing.

Slice chicken on the diagonal and arrange over bed of greens, top with avocado, mango and drizzle with dressing. Garnish with noodles and additional sliced red chilies.

Voila, Summer is Served!

Chicken Biryani with Pistachios

From my understanding, Biryani is a recipe that takes all day, (and then some) if done in the traditional manner! It is also a dish cooked with the bone in the meat, which naturally adds flavor as well as nutrition, the variety of spices used is wide and every region/family has its own version! I believe that cooking all day with love for the dish, the flavours and the potential diners is wonderful and there are occasions when I do that, but not tonight! At the risk of offending the true Biryani aficionados, and throwing caution to the winds and WAAAY too busy to spend a whole day on one recipe, armed with a trusty Thermomix…(what else??) this is my version. And damn delicious it is too…if I say so ‘may-self’! You can use brown/red/white or black rice if you wish or a combo and if you are really going out on a limb, how about replacing the rice with quinoa….there are no bones, no layers of rice and chicken, it is simple in the extreme. So perhaps I should call it something else? Suggestions willingly accepted.

NEED:

1/2 cinnamon stick

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp dried chili flakes (or to taste)

1 tsp sea salt

6 cloves garlic

2 eschalots

1 brown onion (80g)

20g piece peeled ginger

20g EVOO

1200g chicken thigh fillet, cut in large pieces

400g liquid chicken stock

400g water

200g rice of choice

50g dried currants

2 bay leaves,

2 tsp cardamom seeds

Pinch saffron threads

50g butter or ghee

Pistachios, almonds or other nuts of choice, toasted

DO:

Place cinnamon, coriander, chili flakes and salt into Thermomix bowl and mill 5 sec/speed 10.

Add garlic, eschalots, onion, ginger and EVOO and chop for 2 sec/speed 6. Saute 8 min/Varoma/speed 2.

Add chicken and stock and cook 6 min/100ºC/Reverse + speed soft.

Preheat oven to fan forced 200ºC.

Pour chicken mixture into large oven proof dish and stir through water, rice, currants, bay leaves, cardamom seeds and saffron threads. Cover and bake for 1 hour.

Check liquid and add more water if needed. (Rice will absorb more or less water depending on variety used.)

Taste and adjust seasoning if required. Stir through butter or ghee.

Serve with nuts and sliced chili’s and garnish with fresh bay leaves. A dollop of natural yogurt is also nice.