Carob Plum Morsels

I was away earlier in the year as you might have read, and I got this fabulous email out of the blue, asking me if I would like some organic carob pods to play with….and of course, I said yes! It was Kristen Morrison from Naturally Better Foods who wanted to know! To cut to the Readers Digest version, I had a long chat with the very energetic and dynamic Kristen about her amazing business that operates out of Victoria, and if you are at all inclined to want the best sourced, least fiddled with ingredients for your family, then head on over to her site and join up! She also has a fantastic book about her own experience with her darling little boy which is absolutely fascinating reading and a must for any mum with a child with (or without for that matter) any sort of health difficulties….so what did I do with the carob??

(Just giving you the heads up…) There was a bit of process involved to get to the carob powder stage…not really that difficult, just a little time consuming. The fragrant results however were well worth it.

SO…to process the pods, you must boil them in plenty of water (out of Thermomix in other words), then remove the seeds. Roast the seeds for about 25 minutes in a hot oven at 180ºC and then allow them to cool before milling at least 3 times 1 min/speed 10, cooling well in between each milling. Sieve out any hard pieces and discard.

Roasted Carob powder with raw pods

Then you can make these delicious little treats; they are nut free, (unless using pistachios for coating) therefore perfect for school lunch boxes…or try chopping and adding them to Graneusli from For Foods Sake…quite a decadent, yet very healthy little mouthful!

The other great thing about Kristen and her site is that she is giving us the chance to give away a hamper to the value of $150 for you to spend in her online store…to be in the running, please head over to her Facebook page, ‘like’ the page and then put the comment “Tenina sent me” and Kristen will draw the lucky winner on Thursday 29th March…the same day as the Albany Cooking classes for those in the know!!

NEED:

100g seeds of choice (I used sunflower, pumpkin and linseed)

150g pitted prunes

50g carob powder

60g maple syrup

Pinch Murray River flake salt

Some chopped nuts, shredded coconut and more carob powder to roll them in

DO:

Place seeds into Thermomix bowl and mill 30 sec/speed 10.

Add remaining ingredients other than the rolling thingos of choice and blend 20 sec/speed 6.

Using wet hands, roll the mixture into balls and roll into either/all options to garnish.

Eat on a whim….but make sure everyone knows you made the carob powder…yourself…

Banana Tres Leches Cake

I am a sweet tooth…ask anyone. I would rather skip the entree and move straight to the dessert menu. I am always disappointed at a restaurant that only serves the standard ice cream in 3 flavors, a brownie fudge thing and possibly a lemon thing. Deeply disappointed. I often take inspiration from a fantastic dessert I eat when out…I loved going to recipe development meetings in Switzerland for many reasons, the least not being that one of the Vorwerk staff would take us out to eat and would always order every dessert on the menu and we would simply pass them around, tasting each one. Now that’s what I call living! It was the meeting of the palates…we were often short on language, but dessert crossed all borders!

This is Spanish inspired, a ‘three milk’ cake and is often made for special occasions, and after you consume it, you will realise why. Don’t be mean with the bananas, just keep them coming.  Think Swiss Restaurant Dessert Menu…go large!

NEED:

Cake;

180g sugar

110g butter

1 banana (120g)

300g flour

110g milk

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

1 tsp coconut extract

3 eggs

Tres Leches; (That would be ‘three milk’s kids!!)

150g each evaporated, condensed and coconut milks

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Caramel Bananas;

1/2 banana per serving

200g dark brown sugar

40g butter

Dash of rum or brandy

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Garnish; toasted shredded coconut (optional)

DO:

Prehat oven to 170ºC. Butter and flour a 16cm cake pan (with removable base if available.) Set aside.

To make cake batter, place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add butter, and banana and blend 10 sec/speed 4.

Add remaining cake ingredients and blend 10 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and blend 5 sec/speed 6.

Spread batter into prepared cake tin and bake 40-45 minutes until inserted skewer comes out clean.

Pierce entire cake several times through to almost the base, stopping 1 cm from the bottom of the cake. The more holes you create, the better.

To make the Tres Leches Syrup place the milks and vanilla into a clean Thermomix bowl and cook 5 min/90ºC/speed 2. Pour this hot syrup over the pierced cake slowly so that the holes absorb the liquid. Make more holes if necessary. The moisture of the dessert depends on the cake soaking up this syrup. Cool completely. If you cannot add any more, reserve remaining syrup for service.

Remove cake from tin.

To make Caramel Bananas, peel bananas and slice.

Place remaining ingredients into a flat fry pan and cook on a medium heat (Induction 6) until bubbling and blended. Add sliced bananas and just heat through.

SERVE:

Slice the cake into wedges. Top with Caramel bananas, and toasted coconut if using. Serve with additional Tres Leches Syrup and whipped cream, to really tip you over the edge….a dessert not for the faint hearted!!

Banana Breakfast Cookies with almonds and linseed

I am not a big breakfast eater…and we all know I start my day with Crio Bru these days as my breakfast of choice…but I do still have a hungry couple of boys, nay men in the house. Tired of always cleaning up massive cooked breakfast dishes as they dash out the door…(they have time to cook apparently, but no time to clean up!!) I thought I would beat them at their own game and do something nutritious and filling they can grab on the run…lets see how long these last…they may become a regular staple in our household…what are your breakfast regular staples?

NEED:

80g almonds

1 vanilla bean

45g linseed

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

10-20g almond oil

200g banana

1 egg

85g pure maple syrup

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

1 tsp each baking soda and powder

120g spelt flour

170g Granuesli (from For Foods Sake)

DO:

Toast almonds and vanilla bean in oven set to 200ºC for 10 minutes. Remove and cool. Reduce oven temperature to 180ºC and line 2 baking trays with paper. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place linseed into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place almonds, vanilla bean, salt and oil into Thermomix bowl and blend 30-40 sec/speed 10 until a paste forms. Scrape down sides of bowl and blend further 10 sec/speed 6.

Add banana, egg, maple syrup, vanilla, baking soda and powder, and spelt flour and blend 10 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat if needed.

Add Graneusli and blend 10 sec/Interval. Finish blending with spatula as necessary.

Using an ice cream scoop, dollop generous amounts of the batter onto prepared trays. Bake (depending on your oven) between 10 and 15 minutes. If you have a Kleenmaid oven, bake for 13 minutes precisely!

If you would like to make these smaller it is totally do-able…I was making man cookies….(Now somehow that sounds like an oxymoron!)

NOTE: If you don’t have a copy of For Foods Sake…I am deeply saddened, but you can of course remedy this immediately by visiting my store and ordering your signed copy! I will then overlook your disloyalty and keep you on my Christmas list….But if you absolutely cannot wait for your book to arrive to make these delectable treats, please just use this recipe in place of the Graneusli!

Iced Lemon and Coconut Slice

I don’t want to admit it…but seriously…coming home from a holiday where you are waited on hand and foot has been hell! So when I walked past the Muffin Something or Other shop and saw the Lemon Coconut Slices in the glass cabinet, I was filled with a longing to just buy one and be done with the whole concept of making every blessed thing from scratch! But I am not sure if I have been thermomixing for a little too long…I couldn’t do it. I need therapy. I need to be tied down and force fed fast food or premade cakes…is there anyone out there up for the task?

What I DID do was buy a pack of Arrowroot biscuits (shock, horror) and whip this up. I am not sure if it was the weather today, but it needed to be kept in the freezer to hold its shape. It has been totally humid and hot today, so I am going with that. Otherwise, try a little less butter, but it wouldn’t come together until I added the amount that appears in this recipe. And no, I didn’t make the butter myself! (Not this time.)

NEED:

Base;

Zest 2 lemons, finely grated

150g butter

50g cashews, roasted

250g pkg Arnotts Milk Arrowroot biscuits

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Icing;

400g icing sugar

Juice 1-2 lemons (around 50g)

70g butter, cubed

Enough shredded coconut to cover icing to taste

DO:

Place all base ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend 20 sec/speed 8 or until well blended and coming together.

Line a square baking tin with paper and press the mixture into it. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Make icing by placing all ingredients except coconut into Thermomix bowl and blending 20-30 sec/speed 6.

Spread on top of slice, top with coconut and place into freezer until ready to serve. Slice when frozen….and eat whenever you damn well feel like it!

Raw Lime Tartlets

I put a little note up on Facebook…not that I am short on ideas, but I did ask what you (the 52,000 + readers of this blog!!) would like me to convert or make in Thermomix. The answers came thick and fast and one of them was this; a Raw Key Lime pie…now this is not quite a Key Lime pie…more of a tart tart and using just plain old limes…Key Limes are a variety with a more tart or acidic flavour. Certainly raw though…made in moments, so easy and so delicious. Happily, also fitting the parameters of my new year mantra, Empty the Pantry (before shopping for more!) I had all the ingredients except the limes. So here you go Chandler…enjoy!

NEED:

Crust;

130g macadamia nuts

70g cashews

Generous pinch sea salt

20g maple syrup

25g coconut oil

Filling;

Finely grated zest 3 limes

60g lime juice, fresh (approx 3 limes)

140g ripe avocado flesh

70g maple syrup

10g coconut oil

Pinch sea salt

DO:

Place all crust ingedients into Thermomix bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 6. Press into 5 tartlet tins or one large. Place into freezer.

To make filling place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend 5 sec/speed 5. Scrape down and blend 10 sec/speed 4. Check the mixture is smooth and lump free.

Reblend if necessary.

Fill tartlet shells and return to freezer for at least an hour. Garnish with coconut flakes or additional lime zest. Serve straight from the freezer. A great dollop of whipped coconut cream is awesome on these.

Vanilla, Lemon, Coconut Sorbet

I know you are all used to making sorbet. There is a sorbet recipe for practically every fruit on the planet that has been invented and/or demonstrated at every Thermomix demo, Varoma demo or cooking class that you have ever attended in Australia at least! Officially sorbet is made with a syrup which is then added to other ingredients, frozen and churned. Of course the Thermomix method is a whole lot easier because of its amazing blending speed. But just for a moment, lets go back to tradition. Freeze this mixture in an ice cube tray, then blend as you need it. Almost as good as the instant thermomix version…and well, I am not afraid to admit it, I actually ate a lot of this without the usual brain freeze that I get from the Thermomix sorbet. Needless to say, it is all gone!

NEED:

Zest 1 lemon in long strips

300g sugar of choice (as unprocessed as possible)

300g water

2tbsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

2 x 400ml tin coconut milk

DO:

Place zest, sugar and water into Thermomix bowl and bring to a boil for 5 min/100ºC/Reverse + speed 1.

Cool slightly. Remove lemon peel.

Add vanilla and coconut milk and blend 10 sec/speed 4.

Pour into ice cube moulds and freeze until solid.

Remove frozen cubes and blend 1-2 min/speed 8 with the aid of the spatula.

Serve immediately or refreeze in loaf tin.

Can we have a little conversation about sugars? Like salts and oils, they really make a difference to flavour in the finished product. I personally love all the Billingtons range and am also hooked on La Perruche (worth a visit to their website just for the cruisy music they play!) pure cane cubes which is what I used for this recipe, thus the caramel hue to the finished result. There is an excellent article on Quirky Jo’s website discussing all of this and I would love you to go and read it. It is totally the best source for you to understand all the differences between sugars and the processes by which they are manafactured.

Sugar and Spice and all things nice….in a gingerbread cookie!

Sugar and Spice and all things nice….

Just a little quickie…a gift idea, or simply something to add to your pantry. Totally wonderful in Crio Bru as a sweetener. Actually part of the Gingerbread recipe coming your way soon. (SO go on, make it and get ready for that!) Bag it in small cellophane bags and tie the gingerbread recipe on…another Christmas dilemma sorted!

Then think laterally, add dried mango to coconut and glazed pineapple, and mill with palm sugar for a tropical twist…gotta do that one myself yet. But sounds amazing don’t you think? Or what about lime zest with pistachios and a little pandan for a bright green sugar for well…whatever you need a bright green sugar for! The possibilities are endlessssss

 NEED:

Zest 1 orange

Few coloured peppercorns

½ tonka bean (optional)

½ whole fresh nutmeg

½ vanilla bean

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cardamom seeds

15g candied ginger

½ cinnamon stick

150g dark muscovado unrefined cane sugar

DO:

Place all ingredients except sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 5 sec/speed 9.

Add sugar and blend 10 sec/speed 10.

Package in cellophane bags and tie with ribbon as a gift. Attach a copy of a recipe to use it in or use in recipe as needed.