Chick Pea, Avocado and Lime Salad

I am trying to include more pulses in our diet; They are cheap, easy to cook if you think about it in advance and so good for you!

This salad happened on Mother’s Day, the day that I should not have been cooking, but any hoo, if I wanted to eat something yummola, it was always going to be up to me! SO, cued the BBQ, and husband…made salads, and this was just one of them…all good, well received. Thinking I would add a little char grilled chilli next time, so go ahead and give it a burl with or without the chilli….(How hot are you??)

NEED:

150g chick peas, dried

Water for soaking and steaming

Generous handful coriander leaves and roots

1 small chilli, deseeded

1/2 red onion, sliced thinly

100g baby spinach leaves

3 avocadoes, peeled and cubed

2 Lebanese cucumbers, diced

2 tsp Murray River pink salt flakes

Juice 3 limes, or to taste

EVOO as desired

DO:

Soak chick peas overnight. Drain and place into steam basket. Insert into Thermo bowl, cover with water to 1L mark and cook 45 min/100ºC/speed 3. Drain and cool.

To make salad, place coriander and chilli into Thermo bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 7.

Toss with all ingredients, including chick peas and allow flavours to marinate for 30 minutes before serving.

The timing for cooking chick peas can vary based on how long you have had them in your pantry. They can easily be replaced with tinned chick peas.

Aztec Hot Chocolate Shots….go steady!

Store this one away for a cold evening when the wind is howling and you feel as though you need to be warmed right through. Recently featured in all classes since For Food’s Sake was launched, it has been a BIG hit with the whole country, and now here you go…all yours for the asking! Once again starring the chocolatey-est chocolate, because it is pure chocolate, Crio Bru…your friend and mine…choose the dark chocolate you use carefully, try to get a 64% or higher…for the best flavour and highest nutritional value. (And then you can tell yourself it is a health food…really!)

NEED:

1 cinnamon stick

1 dried chilli (or less to taste)

Zest 1 orange, finely grated

100g palm sugar

100g Crio Bru granules

100g dark chocolate, in pieces

500g cream

200g milk

Pinch sea salt

DO:

Place cinnamon, chilli, zest, palm sugar, Crio Bru and chocolate into TM bowl and mill 15 sec/speed 10.

Add cream, milk and salt and cook 10 min/80°C/speed 2.

Strain and drink in small shot glasses. Try adding a vanilla bean in the first step for another flavour advantage…delish!

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.

Cold Chilli Noodles….with all the fixings!

Someone asked me for this…cannot remember who…are you out there? They were hoping to approximate those horrible noodles the kids eat I think, ‘Mee Goreng’ and I am not ashamed to say it, my 16 year old eats them like there is no tomorrow. It is a cheap filler for his hollow legs, and I have bowed to the pressure. We have great hoardes of them in our store room….(he is child number five and seriously hungry ALL the time!)

This is a lot healthier than Mee Goreng, and so much nicer. It could join the fake-away list I am compiling for those of you who prefer fresh healthy fast food! Enjoy!

NEED:

400g noodles of your choice (I used udon stick noodles)

1L water

Sauce;

2 eschalots

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 dried chillies, soaked in boiling water

55g miso paste

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp shrimp paste

2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp dark brown sugar (or Billingtons molasses sugar)

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Sea salt to taste

Garnishes;

Lettuce

Red or green cabbage

Carrots

Cucumber

Sprouts of choice

Spring onions/shallots

Kimchi (optional)

Sesame leaves, shredded (Perilla leaves, optional)

2-3 eggs, hard boiled

DO:

Place noodles and water into Thermomix bowl and cook 10 min/100ºC/Reverse + speed 1.

Drain noodles and plunge into cold water. Keep in insulated serving bowl in cold water until ready to assemble.

Prepare sauce by placing all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blending 6 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and saute 5 min/Varoma/speed 1. 

Meanwhile prep all the garnishes, boiling, shredding or julienned as needed.

Stir sauce through noodles and top with all prepped garnishes before serving.

Morroccan Lamb Braise

I don’t want you being put off by the long list of ingredients on this one…just suck it up, print off the list (note Printer friendly version button now on each post…thank you Luke!) and go for it…you won’t regret it, really. It makes a LOT, so feel free to cut meat, tomtoes, and garnishes as needed…but please don’t alter cooking times.

NEED:

Juice ½ orange
780-800g lamb fillet, cubed
Few sprigs coriander
Bunch mint leaves
1 onion peeled and halved
4 cloves garlic
1 small red chilli
110g red capsicum
20g olive oil
15g ground smoked paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Generous pinch saffron threads
450g Roma tomatoes , quartered
3-4 anchovies, rinsed
6 fresh pitted dates
6 dried apricots , soaked in boiling water for 1 hour
400g tinned chickpeas (around 230 g after draining)
100g black or Kalamata olives
Crumbled fresh feta to garnish
Sliced red chilli to garnish
Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

DO:
Marinate lamb in orange juice in non reactive bowl for several hours.
Place coriander and mint into mixing bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 5. Remove from bowl and set aside.
Place onion, garlic, chilli, and capsicum into Thermomix bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 5. Add oil and sauté 5 min/Varoma/speed 1 with MC off.
Add spices, tomatoes, anchovies, dates and apricots and cook 10 min/100ºC/speed 2.
Blend 5 sec/speed 6.
Add lamb (with juice) and cook 10 min/100ºC/Reverse +  speed 1.
Add chickpeas and cook 3 min/100ºC/Reverse + speed 1.
Add chopped herbs and olives and stir through 3 sec/Reverse + speed 1.
Adjust seasoning to taste.
Garnish with crumbled feta, sliced red chilli and additional fresh herb leaves. Serve with steamed couscous or rice.

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.

Mexican Meatball Soup

Well I managed to make dinner, (and take a pic and write up the recipe!)…what a superstar! I am off to NSW tomorrow morning for 5 Celebrate and Bake classes…I had a final edit on my big book chock full of thermo methods and recipes this morning plus a photo shoot for the front cover or something…glamour, glamour all the way! (You should see me at the moment, and then you would recognise the irony in that!) Dinner Spinner, my self published thermomix recipe book, has come in handy for me already..but this is not in it and of course (dear reader) I must look after you all on here still…for free…right? SO happy Mexican Soup…and yes…it feeds a tribe…did I mention? All using a Thermo blender!

Soup;

20g Fini EVOO

3 onions, quartered

1/2 red chilli

4 garlic cloves

300-350g capsicum

40g Umami Paste

2  bay leaves

500g water or liquid stock

2 x 400g tins diced tomatoes

100g Chunky Tomato Salsa

Sea salt to taste

Meatballs;

3-4 cloves garlic

40g red onion

1/2 red chilli (that would be the Other half)

600g beef fillet, cubed

300g pork fillet, cubed

60g polenta

30g whole milk

1 large egg

1 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 tsp ground cumin

SERVE:

Sprigs coriander

Crumbled tasty cheese of choice

Fresh lime wedges

Steamed long-grain white rice as needed

DO:

Make meatballs first; Preheat oven to 200ºC and line a large tray with baking paper.

Place garlic, onion and chilli into Thermomix bowl and chop 2 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining ingredients.

Mince 20 sec/Reverse + speed 8-9 until desired consistency is reached. You may need to assist the process with the spatula.

Form walnut sized meatballs and arrange on tray. Bake for 30 minutes until well browned and fragrant.

Meanwhile, without cleaning the bowl,  make the soup;

Place EVOO, onions, chilli and garlic into Thermomix bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 6. Saute 5 min/Varoma/speed 1.

Add remaining ingredients to Thermomix bowl and cook 16 min/100ºC/speed 1.

Serve over steamed rice and meatballs, topped with cheese, coriander and lime juice.

AND DONT BURN YOUR TONGUE in your haste to down this fantastic soup!

Chunky Tomato Salsa

An almost instant flavor hit to most things savoury, add it to any Mexican cuisine, tomato based sauce, or just bring on the Corn Chips and you have a healthy snack sorted in seconds. (Well, after the prep work is done!) This has the potential to keep in the fridge for up to three weeks, but we all know that is a pipe dream. It will be eaten almost immediately!

NEED:

600g Roma tomatoes (approx, do NOT use 1/2 tomato, whole tomatoes only)

1L water for steaming

Iced water in a large bowl

80-100g red onion

1 clove garlic

Handful coriander leaves and stalks

1 flame grilled red chilli (discussion below)

1 tbsp raw sugar

Good pinch sea salt

1 tsp ground cumin

130g tomato paste

50g white wine vinegar

Juice 1 lime

Corn chips to serve

DO:

Score the base of each tomato with a cross. Place tomatoes into Varoma dish. Pour water into Thermomix bowl and steam tomatoes 10 min/Varoma/speed 4. Cool tomatoes by plunging them into iced water. Peel.

Place onion, garlic, coriander and chili into Thermomix bowl and chop 2 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add remaining all ingredients (do I have to specify this?) other than Corn Chips but including tomatoes into drained Thermomix bowl and cook 60 min/80ºC/speed 2. Cool completely.

Serve with diced avocado as a garnish and with lots of corn chips…or toasted tortilla wedges, or as the sauce for char grilled chicken or beef strips wrapped in soft tortillas; you see where I am going with this? Its another pantry item…yes, I think so!

Now to the flame grilling discussion: Place whole chilli on an open gas flame and turn it a few times until it is charred and the flesh is soft. This will not take ages, but nor will it take seconds. When you are happy that it is well charred, place into a glass bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the chilli to sweat. Rub the blackened skin off prior to using in the recipe. This will add a lot of flavour to the salsa.

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.