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.

Pasta Carbonara

It was bound to happen. In fact, I am amazed it didn’t happen sooner. Upon announcing that I was making pasta carbonara tonight for dinner, my (16yr old) son was pretty excited…why I wonder did I not do this recipe before?? Its a puzzle, but thanks to Julianne Block for asking the question…and magically, here it is! (Now Julieann, go sing my accolades far and wide!!)

YUMMY, and so easy, it just may become a staple…perhaps we might add it to the Dinner Spinner app…did you buy one yet? If not why not?

Get with the program kids. I mean, really…

NEED:

50g Parmesan, cubed

1 large brown onion, quartered (200g approx)

4 cloves garlic

300g speck bacon, cubed

200g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced

620g liquid chicken stock OR equivalent water and stock paste of choice

2 tbsp Umami paste

300-400g long or short pasta of choice (100g per serving is an average!)

200g cream

Sea salt to taste (depends on saltiness of your speck)

Cracked black pepper to taste

Few Italian parsley leaves and or basil leaves to garnish

DO:

Place Parmesan into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 8. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place onion and garlic into Thermomix bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 4.

Scrape down sides of bowl and add speck and mushrooms. Saute 10 min/Varoma/Reverse + speed 2.

Add liquid, Umami paste, and pasta and cook for time stated on pasta packet 100ºC/Reverse + speed 1.

Add cream, seasoning and herbs. Serve immediately with grated parmesan over.

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.

Chorizo and Chick Pea Spaghettini

Another dinner on the run at this time of year (and especially for those of you who are all waiting on the return of Dinner Spinner to the store…there on Monday guys…buy up big)! Throw it in, and rush off to decorate, wrap, drop kids off to something, pick kids up from something, put your lippy on, heat up your curling iron, check the laundry has not taken over the laundry room, run the bath or whatever. Delicious dinner done in no time…please enjoy. (In the time that it took to make it, I blogged about it…yes, I’m thinking of you all!)

NEED:

5-6 cloves garlic

280g chorizo sausage, sliced

100g white wine

600g chicken stock

Few saffron threads

2 tbsp Umami Paste

1x 420g tin chick peas, drained

Handful baby spinach leaves

240-50g spaghettini (thin spaghetti) broken into short pieces, 7-8 cm long

Juice 1 lemon (at least 20g)

Toasted almond slivers and chopped parsley to garnish

DO:

Place garlic into Thermomix bowl and chop 2 sec/speed 6. 

Add chorizo and saute 8 min/Varoma/Reverse + speed soft.

Add wine, stock, saffron and umami and bring to the boil 8 min/100ºC/Reverse + speed 1.

Add pasta and cook for time recommended on package 100ºC/Reverse + speed 1.

Add spinach and chick peas and cook 2 min/100ºC/Reverse + speed 1. Taste liquid and adjust seasoning if necessary with a little sea salt, add lemon juice and stir through 2 sec/Reverse + speed soft.

Serve garnished with almonds and parsley.

Light Lemon Risotto with Garlic Prawns

I was looking for a summer risotto. Not generally associated with summer, risotto is a creamy and sometimes rich rice dish that has varying levels of success depending on your expectations. My expectations are high, and over my formative years at Thermomix in Australia as the recipe developer, I did not enjoy the time I spent with risotto, specifically the mushroom risotto, which ranged from a stodgy lump of rice, to a thick soup with floaties. I literally spent about 3 weeks of my life that I will never get back on that single recipe…and still the complaints roll in.

Can I just mention a few risotto tips and tricks?

• Always use a risotto rice. This would mean arborio or caranoli or nano all of which have excellent asborption properties whilst releasing the necessary starch to make the risotto creamy. Any other variety of rice will just give you a soggy, gluey mess.
• The ratio of liquid to rice should be a minimum 1.5. So, for 300g rice, you should have at least 550g liquid. Personally I enjoy a lot more liquid in my risotto than that, and as we are using the thermomix, and there is no stirring involved, it is easy to add much more. But never go under that ratio.
• Rice is quite bland, so add as much flavour as you deem necessary. Herbs, cheese, prawns, aromatics like garlic, leek, onions, eschalots etc, roasted pumpkin, capsicum, eggplant, pine nuts, lemon zest, butter, more butter, cream (which actually then makes it something called Mantecato) and of course anything else that takes your fancy.
• Don’t be afraid to add more liquid. If the rice seems to be absorbing it all, splash in some more alcohol, stock or water.

NEED:

Handful Italian parsley

zest 2 lemons

60g Parmesan cheese, cubed

2 cloves garlic

2 eschalots (French shallots)

20g Fini EVOO

300g risotto rice of choice

100g white wine

700g stock

40g lemon juice, fresh

40g Umami paste

Sea salt to taste

Cream to taste

Additional finely grated lemon zest to garnish

DO:

Place parsley into Thermomix bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 7. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place zest and Parmesan into Thermomix bowl and mill 8 sec/speed 8. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place garlic, eschalots and EVOO into Thermomix bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl and saute 3 min/Varoma/speed 1.

Add rice and white wine and saute 2 min/Varoma/Reverse + speed 1.5. (Not rocket science here folks, find a spot between speed 1 and speed 2 and call it speed 1.5!!)

Add stock, Umami, lemon juice and salt and cook 16 min/100ºC/Reverse + speed 1.5.

Add chopped parsley and a splash of cream if using and stir through 3 sec/Reverse + speed 1.5.

Serve piping hot with grated cheese amd lemon zest sprinkled over.

Fantastic when served with Garlic Prawns for a complete WOW factor.

I think this just might be a summer risotto…what do you think?

Garlic Prawns

I have been asked for a recipe for Garlic Prawns a few times, and as much as I love them, I am a great believer in a high heat to cook them quickly and to brown them up a bit. Of course, if you over do the brown, you have bitter garlic…so that is where Thermomix can really come into its own. So…combined with a little Light Lemon Risotto, this recipe is quick, easy and delicious. It should have perhaps featured in Dinner Spinner…but then, what would I put up here for you all to stay tuned?

NEED:

Handful Italian parsley

6-8 cloves garlic

20g Fini EVOO

700g green prawns, shelled

30g brandy

Sea salt and pepper to taste

30g cream

Lemon juice and zest to taste

DO:

Place parsley into Thermomix bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 7. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place garlic and EVOO into Thermomix bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl and saute 5 min/Varoma/speed 1.

Add prawns and cook 5 min/Varoma/Reverse + speed 1 with MC off.

Add brandy, seasoning and cream and cook 2 min/Varoma/Reverse+ speed 1 with MC off.

Add parsley through hole in lid in the last 20 sec of cooking time, just to incorporate or stir through after.

Serve over Light Lemon Risotto with lashings of fresh lemon juice, and finely grated zest over; or on simply their own with fresh crusty bread if desired.

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!

Ravioli and Mediterranean Veggie Salad

I love summer, my energy levels increase (watch out!) and the sun just makes me happy. We have had a few sunny days, evocative of what is to come later in the year and I got all inspired with summery food…hope you enjoy, and pull this recipe out on a hot day when you need it the most. Now I am mid edit of my upcoming book…and not a heck of a lot of blogging going on. SO; simple, delicious, quick and on here! (Which is the main thing right dear reader?)

NEED:
1 batch pesto

500g pumpkin, cubed

1 small eggplant, cubed

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small zucchinni, sliced

EVOO as needed

Sea salt to taste

Enough spinach for your diners

1 punnet grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 large red caspicum, diced

Few basil leaves to garnish

500g ravioli, frozen

1L water

DO:

Prepare pesto and set aside.

Preheat oven to fan forced 180ºC. Line a large baking tray or two with paper.

Prepare vegetables, toss together and spread across the prepared trays, drizzle with oil and season. Roast for around 20-25 minutes or until caramelised and fragrant. Cool.

Place spinach, tomatoes, capsicum in large salad bowl.

Heat water in Thermomix bowl for 8  min/Varoma/speed 2.

Place ravioli into Thermomix bowl and cook as directed at 100ºC/Reverse + speed soft. (Check time to cook ravioli on package for time.) Drain and cool slightly. Toss with pesto and then roasted vegetables. Add to salad and serve warm garnished with basil.

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.

Chorizo, Egg and Potato Salad

What a day I have had! Crio Bru Australia, my new foray into the wonderful world of retail has gone C.R.A.Z.Y. thanks to you dear readers! My partner in crime is on an overseas holiday and left me holding the phone…and it has been insane. I am still trying to get ready for the Big Important Food Photo Shoot starting next week, kids are on holidays, um….Paypal would like me to sign away my first born grandchild as collateral, should I perhaps abscond with someones money…and I can’t think of anything else right now…but happy in the knowledge I needed to eat and blog something other than Crio related food, I threw this together for you all…and damn delish it is too I might add. If you are opposed to charred sausage, you can cook it in the Thermomix without any danger of the charred effect, but I personally needed some flame grilled tonight.

 NEED:

6 eggs

600g baby potatoes, skin on, halved

1L water

300g snow peas

50g EVOO

Coarse sea salt to taste

300g chorizo sausage, sliced on an angle

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

40g lemon juice, fresh

Handful snipped parsley

DO:

Preheat oven to fan forced 220°C and line a baking tray with paper.

Place eggs into simmering basket and potatoes into Varoma dish.

Insert basket into TM bowl, add water to bowl, and place Varoma into position. Cook 15 min/Varoma/speed 4.

Place snow peas into Varoma tray and insert into Varoma. Cook 5 min/Varoma/speed 4.

Plunge snow peas into a large bowl filled with ice water.

Place potatoes onto prepared baking tray. Roast for 20-30 minutes until golden. Sprinkle with salt.

Fry chorizo in fry pan until charred to taste and oil is released. Add garlic and pour lemon juice over whilst still in the pan.

Toss all together, shell eggs, quarter lengthways and arrange over the salad. Garnish with snipped parsley.

Serve warm.