Char Sui Pork Bun, De-Constructed!

WARNING: Long ingredient list…but don’t be put off!

You could call this ‘De-constructed Pork Buns or Pot Stickers’…almost. As you know (if you read this blog regularly), I am into anything that is easy and quick, can be adapted to feed 1000′s, and naturally, gotta be tasty. Pork Buns officially fill most of the said requirements, but these are easier and quicker still! And yes, I did the Char Sui Pork myself…see note below.

NEED:

Water Dough Pastry;

50g rice

150g bakers flour

50-100g boiling water

pinch salt

Oil Dough Pastry;

200g bakers flour

pinch salt

50g oil

50-70g hot water

Dressing;

1 dried chilli

2-3 cloves garlic

2cm piece peeled ginger

1-2 tbsp sugar

50g soy sauce

20g Chinese black vinegar

Juice 1 lemon

Remaining Filling;

600g Char Sui Pork, sliced

1/4 Chinese cabbage, shredded

A few sliced spring onions (shallots)

Bean shoots to taste

Crispy fried shallots to taste

500g cubed and roasted sweet potato

Roasted peanuts to taste (optional)

Few sprigs coriander

DO:

To make hot water dough, place rice into Thermomix bowl and mill for 1.5 minutes on speed 10. Add remaining ingredients and only about 50-60g of the water, mix for 6 seconds on speed 6.

With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 1 minute on Interval speed. (Add more water at this point if not forming sticky dough.) Turn out onto Silpat mat and wrap tightly. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make the oil dough by placing all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mixing for 6 seconds on speed 6. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 1.5 minutes on Interval speed. Wrap tightly and allow to rest for at least 10 mintues.

Place both doughs back into Thermomix bowl and with dial set to closed lid position, knead for 2 minutes on Interval speed.

Roll into long sausage shape and cut into rounds which you then roll flat into large circles before placing into a hot, well oiled fry pan. Add a ‘slosh’ of  water and cover the pan immediately so that the wrap is steamed. When the water has almost evaporated, remove lid and when golden, turn and brown the other side. Set aside, but keep warm until service.

To make Dressing, place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend together for 15 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.

Assemble wraps as you would any other, salad, sweet potato, dressing, pork, garnishes and more dressing…don’t forget anything now! Is there something you would like me to ‘de-construct’ to make it simpler? Let me know…perhaps that should be my new alter ego…Recipe Doctor.com, or De-Constructs R Us! (Only in my spare time of course!)

Char Sui Pork

Make the Char Sui marinade by placing to taste honey, sugar, oyster sauce, five spice powder, soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, Chinese wine, chilli, garlic and ginger into Thermomix bowl and mixing until blended. Heat for 4 minutes at 60C on speed 1 to form a syrup. Marinate up to 2 kg of pork fillet slices for several hours. (I marinated for around 24 hours) Cook under a very hot grill until charred and fragrant. Slice as needed.

Beef Kofta with Rosemary Sprigs

Well today was the big day…I had a photo shoot for an ad that will appear in the all new Master Chef Magazine in my kitchen…exciting! I did dream all night long about styling the dish I had planned for a side bar pic, but still sporting a flu (will it ever end??)! I woke up feverish and not in the mood at all to pretend I was in Master Chef and producing the winning dish! SO, we had it for dinner, and no, sadly, it won’t appear in the mag spread! But then, it doesn’t need to, cos it’s on here, right?

NEED:

Salad;

Wraps, pitas, or flat bread of choice per serving

400g Heirloom tomatoes or cherry tomatoes halved

Fresh parsley

Rainbow chard leaves

Sliced red onion

Crumbled feta

Greek Yogurt and EVOO to taste

Additional sprouts and herbs to taste

Kofta;

2tsp fennel seeds

2 sprigs rosemary (foliage only)

Handful Italian parsley

Handful mint leaves

2-3 spring onions/shallots

500-550g cubed beef fillet

1tsp cumin

100g dried breadcrumbs

40g raw honey

100g feta

1 egg

pinch Celtic sea salt

DO:

To make kofta, place fennel seeds and rosemary foliage into Thermomix bowl and mill for 8 seconds on speed 10. Add remaining herbs and spring onions and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7.

Add remaining ingredients and mince together for 30 seconds on Reverse + speed 8. Use the spatula if necessary to help you incorporate the ingredients together. Turn off the reverse button a couple of times just to untangle the mixture from the blades.

Heat a grill or fry pan to smoking with just a drizzle of oil. With damp hands, form ‘rissoles’ and flatten slightly. Cook until well done and turn.

Meanwhile, prepare each wrap by flame grilling on the actual flame of a gas burner until you have a char grilled look with burnt edges….or to taste. Place onto each serving plate and dress with salad, feta, yoghurt, EVOO etc.

Top each prepared plate with 2-3 Koftas. Serve immediately with additional yoghurt to taste.

Persian Power Bars

I have been twiddling around with the idea of power bars for sometime as the ones you can buy are;

• A) nasty tasting
• B) bad for you in that they have masses of additives and
• C) because I have a Thermomix and that is what I do!

Of course due to the masses of spare time at my disposal, until now there has been no need for such a thing on here, but dear reader, I recieved my usual subscription email from my friends over at Duo Dishes this week…and inspirationally there was a lovely recipe for something along the lines I had been thinking of, but far more romantically named and of Persian origin, who could not be charmed by that idea? Anyhoo…it catapulted me into action and here we have it! I guess the thing I loved most about their recipe was the no baking bit, and of course with Thermomix in your kitchen, the cooking plus stirring part could not be easier!

However, it did became a bit of a ‘schlep’ (as Marketing Manager Mandy would say…MMM from here on in!) I have 4 Thermomix bowls at home which naturally makes life a little easier in recipes like this, but I resolutely persisted and did this in one bowl, just so I knew it could be done…and yes kids, it can!

Persian Power Bars (with a little Duo input!)

NEED:

100g walnut pieces

40g organic shredded coconut

100g almonds

100g rapadura sugar

zest 1 orange

400g pitted Medjool dates

100g shelled pistachios

1tsp vanilla bean paste

240g unsalted butter

40g raw honey

300g SR flour

2tsp ground cinnamon

2tsp ground cardamom

1tsp Celtic sea salt

DO:

Toast walnuts for 10 minutes by placing into cold oven and setting temperature to 200C. Cool. (May I just mention, do not skip this step as the difference between toasted and untoasted walnuts is a revelation in flavour!)

Place coconut, almonds, raw sugar and orange zest into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 9. Set aside.

Place dates, pistachios, vanilla and toasted walnuts into Thermomix bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.

Place butter, honey, flour and ground spices into Thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5.

Cook for 20 minutes at 100C on speed 2. Ensure that mixture does not stick to centre of blade by pressing Reverse button a couple of times and also by stopping timer to scrape down sides of bowl during cooking time.

Add 220g of coconut almond mix and salt to Thermomix bowl and blend for 20 seconds on speed 5. Press half that mixture into large square spring form pan lined with baking paper. (Or use square pan of choice but for easy removal bring baking paper up on two sides, above the top of the pan.)

Push date mixture on top of base, press remaining cooked mix on top of that and then press (using a piece of baking paper) the remaining coconut almond mix on top of that again! Allow to cool completely before placing in fridge for at least 4 hours before cutting into bars.

Wrap separately, freeze and on a busy day (who has those??) you have a fantastic breakfast on the go, a mid morning snack for the energised or dare I say it, an extremely high calorie tidbit to have any time of the day or night! So, MMM, I’m hoping you’ll be making these now now.

Dark Chocolate Cardamom Kiss

You know me, LOVE ice cream, particularly home made…and when there are about 4 ingredients…even better! (Well that’s if you don’t include the dipping ingredients.)

A little fiddly. I’ll be honest…but soooo cute! Impressive, if that’s what you’re after, and really, with a little patience, NOT that hard…just like I said, fiddly!

So a few tips;

• Make the ice cream well in advance of dipping and make sure you have made the small balls and frozen them separately for at least 24 hours.
• Use food handling gloves for easy rolling of the ice cream into balls.
• Place each ball into a mini muffin tin…its amazing how much easier that makes it!
• Do each colour separately and replace the un-dipped balls into the freezer between preparations!

The recipe…

NEED:

400g coconut milk

500g whipping cream

75-80g honey

4-5 cardamom pods

DO:

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and scald for 15 minutes at 80oC on speed 3. Allow mix to cool completely before removing cardamom pods and placing into ice cream churner. Follow manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately or freeze until solid and form balls as required. Dip as desired and serve as finger food dessert.

Of course if you have no ice cream churner…not a problem. Freeze mix in ice cube trays and then simply place cubes into your Thermomix and whiz up for around 30 seconds or so until thick and rich and creamy! Return to freezer and then continue with rolling and dipping if desired as directed.

To dip, use around 50g chocolate, or white chocolate and melt with 1 tsp of coconut oil until liquid…add flavours/colours as desired, toss ice cream balls through each batch individually (work fast) and return to freezer immediately. If you are rolling kisses into anything after coating, be doubly quick. (coconut, coloured sprinkles, crushed pistachios, etc etc)

Each 50g chocolate will coat approximately 4 walnut sized ice cream balls. The total recipe will yield around 30-40 balls…I confess I only did half the mix, we ate the rest drizzled with passionfruit pulp…it is everything ice cream should be; the whitest, creamiest, fluffiest mouth taste ever.

Pictured are dark chocolate rolled in coconut, lime zest in white chocolate, frozen raspberry in white chocolate, plain dark chocolate. As you can see, to roll on top of dipping adds dimension. I would recommend only 1-2 per serving, but of course…everyone WILL want to try them all! Sorry, that’s just how it is!

Well it was tough, but someone had to eat it! Luckily I made this one at work and the office staff were happy to oblige…otherwise my ever increasing girth would be even girthier! My sister Kerri provided me with some of her lovely fresh figs and of course I had to blog about them! I took on the fig challenge, just as I took on the chocolate challenge, thinking of so many options that my hips ached! ANYHOO, this is the end result, and it smelt so amazing as it was cooking that I had frequent visitors into the demo kitchen to see what was for morning tea…those spoilt children!

Toffee Crusted Fig  and Marzipan Tart

Pastry NEED:

100g toasted almonds

50g sugar

130g unsalted butter, cubed and frozen

1tsp vanilla essence

½tsp cinnamon

Pinch salt

210g plain flour

1 egg yolk

1-2tbsp ice cold water

Pastry DO:

Place toasted and cooled almonds with sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 8.

Add butter, essence, cinnamon, and salt and mix for 5 seconds on speed 7.

Add remaining ingredients and with dial set to closed lid position mix for 10 seconds on Interval speed.

Turn out onto lightly floured Silicone mat and knead into a tight disc.

Place disc into flan tin with removable base and with floured hands press out and up edges to fully line tin. Place in freezer while you prepare the filling.

Vanilla Scented Marzipan NEED:

130g sugar

1 whole vanilla bean

130g blanched almonds

1tbsp cornflour

1 small egg white

DO:

Place sugar and vanilla bean into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 8.

Add almonds and mill a further 10 seconds on speed 8.

Add cornflour and egg white and mix together for approximately 30-40 seconds on speed 5, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary.

When marzipan has formed a reasonable dough, turn out onto corn floured silicone mat and roll out using rolling pin. Lay on top of lined flan tin and cut excess away. (Reserve excess.)

Fig Tart NEED:

Enough fresh figs to line flan dish of choice when quartered

250g mascarpone cheese

1 egg

15g raw honey

Reserved Marzipan

Fig Tart DO:

Place figs carefully on top of marzipan, arranged cut side up centrically.

Place remaining ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mix for 8 seconds on speed 7. Spread over figs.

Bake in preheated 180ºC oven for 30-35 minutes until just wobbly in centre. Leave in oven to cool. Chill before topping with toffee.
Toffee Crust NEED:

150g caster sugar

50g honey

Enough water to dampen sugar

Toffee Crust DO:

Place all ingredients into heavy based pan and heat to a medium temperature stirring only occasionally.

When all sugar has dissolved, increase heat to high and bring to the boil without stirring.

Remove toffee from stove when it has reached the hard ball stage and is caramel in colour. Drizzle over completely cold tart and allow to set.

I know, I know, a little lengthy, even fiddly, but oh so worth it in the end…yes the rear end!

Pumpkin Avo Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Christmas Day and the kids have just left…feeling cruisy, the food was stunning and even though the kitchen is still in need of some cleaning, it is pretty OK. Thought I would quickly write this one down and put it up…nothing like obsession when it strikes at the least likely times! Hope you all had a great Christmas and like me, are looking forward to a fantastic 2010! (Of course this had to wait till New Year’s Eve, until I could organise a card reader to upload pics to my iMac, which despite the frustrations, is absolutely FANTASTIC! So now I owe you all a Happy 2010 as well as long overdue Merry Christmas.)

Pumpkin and Avo Salad

NEED:

700g peeled and seeded pumpkin
salt and cracked black pepper

Oil spray
100g mixed salad leaves
100g almond slivers
1-2 avocados, cut into wedges
1 small Spanish onion, thinly sliced
Handful basil leaves
Dressing:
80g raw honey
2tbsp seeded mustard
80g white wine vinegar
sea salt and pepper to taste
240g EVOO

DO:

Preheat oven to 200C. Slice the pumpkin into thin wedges and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spray with oil spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast for 20-25 minutes or until tender and caramelised. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
Arrange the pumpkin on a serving plate with salad leaves, almonds, avocado, Spanish onion and basil.
Drizzle with dressing and serve.

To make dressing place honey, mustard and vinegar into TM bowl and cook for 3-4 minutes at 100C on speed 2-3 with MC off. Add seasoning to taste, EVOO and mix for a few seconds on speed 5-6 until blended. Refrigerate until ready for use.

Honey Pecan Ice Cream

Well you may have noticed a few changes around here…not least of which is the stunning new site which is still getting altered bit by bit by my very helpful nephew Luke! (Thank you) Of course, being the almost complete computer illiterate that I am, there may be more errors than not, but I believe it has all been brought over from the other site and should look better, feel better and of course, therefore BE better than ever before! So…please enjoy. I have also changed (finally), the name of my site, which was a little dated according to my very helpful fellow foodie Matt and hopefully this will find its mark! Same recipes, same chit chat, but much prettier and easier to navigate. I actually have a new home kitchen to show off on here as well, but that will wait for another day when I have had the professional photo shoot!

Today, as I languished in long awaited sunshine, my thoughts naturally turned to ice cream, and as we have had a recent honey harvest, I knew a honey ice cream would be a real treat…honey and pecan to be precise, so brace yourselves…one serving of this will never do, and it is so easy that I’m almost embarrassed to call it a recipe!

NEED:
3 eggs
75g fresh honey
300g milk
300g ice cold whipping cream
150g toasted pecan nut pieces

DO:
Place eggs and honey into Thermomix  bowl and blend for 1 minute on speed 3.
Add milk and cook for 7 minutes at 90oC on speed 4. Cool completely.
Place cream into Thermomix bowl and whip for 20-40 seconds until holding stiff peaks.
Fold through nuts and cooled custard by adding all to the Thermomix bowl and gently stirring together on Reverse + speed 3.
Place into metal tray or bowl and freeze for several hours until solid. Soften in fridge for around 20 minutes  before serving.

Not very sweet, creamy and oh those toasted pecans…very adult ice cream…the kids will stay away in droves, but that is the idea after all!

Date rolls with homemade butter

Well folks, I’m trying to get back on deck, and I haven’t even been on holidays yet. Between a Vegetarian cookbook, a Back to School cook booklet, the work recipe blog, and 3 kids leaving the country for a while, an up-coming wedding across the world and a demo for Chefs in Las Vegas to organize…oh and throw Christmas in the mix and that is my life! I’m not complaining…I’m in my element, but recipes from my own kitchen have almost come to a halt!
So knowing I am away for the month of February and knowing that once again Steam Oven Cooking will run out of steam, I have dragged this one from the vault to keep the pages turning!
Served with homemade butter (and you can see I like a bit of bread with my butter) they are so yummy that diet or no, New Year’s resolution or no, you will be wolfing down the whole batch if you are not careful.
Serve with any dinner, because the sweetness is not overpowering, just a great foil for roasted meats, or BBQ-ed meats, or salad, or fish or you get the idea!
So make a date with these and enjoy!

NEED:
100g organic wheat
190g dried dates
50g powdered milk
2 tsp yeast granules
55g butter
2 egg yolks
420g bakers flour
210g warm water

DO:
Place wheat into Thermomix bowl and mill for 30 seconds on speed 9.
Add all remaining ingredients and mix for 30 seconds on speed 7.
With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 2 minutes on Interval setting.
Turn out on to silicone mat, cover and allow to double in size before making rolls and proving again for around 30 minutes in warm place.
Bake in 200oC oven for around 10-15 minutes until golden and fragrant.
I think I brushed them with milk, or an egg wash would make them all shiny and pretty!
If you wanted a beautiful crust, try steaming them in the steam oven (or Varoma) for 10 minutes and then put into a hot oven for a few minutes until browned and crisp.

SERVE:
With lashings of homemade unsalted butter…or honey butter…or butter and lemon butter…mmmnnn, think I’ll make these again today!

NEED:
100g wheat kernels
4 tsp granulated yeast
50 grams warm water
160 grams whole milk
130 grams honey
generous pinch sea salt
2 tsp ground cardomom
1 egg
40 grams butter
450 grams bakers flour
50 grams linseed
150 grams flaked almonds (plus extra for topping)
granulated sugar or raw sugar for topping

DO:
Grind wheat in TM bowl for 30 seconds on speed 9. Set aside.
Place yeast, warm water, milk in TM bowl and heat for 2 minutes at 50 degrees C on speed 1.
Add honey, salt, cardamom, egg and butter.
Process on speed 8 for a few seconds until blended.
Add flour, linseed and almond flakes.
Knead with lid in closed position for 3 minutes.
Add more flour if too sticky.
Wrap in plastic and allow to prove until doubled.
Make into loaf or rolls.
Brush with water, sprinkle with sugar and flaked almonds.
Allow to rise again.
(In cold weather this may take a long time, but the rise is worth the wait.)
Bake in hot oven (200 degrees C) for around 20-40 minutes, (depending on whether loaf or rolls) or until bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

We have just had some slices of this (were waiting for the photo to be taken before eating it of course!!) and it was FANTASTIC, with fresh butter and naturally, our own honey. It was terrific without the honey, but with…ohhhh….!!! Actually a little tip I have for you is to make honey butter with 125 grams of unsalted butter aerated in the TM bowl with butterfly attachment until light and fluffy, then add up to 400 grams of honey in a thin stream while beating. Keep in the fridge and use on hot toast, pancakes, fresh rolls, ice cream, WHALC loaf…the mind boggles. Really, what would we do without those bees??

3 pkgs  low fat cream cheese
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup sour cream
juice of one lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
4 large eggs

14 small ramekins or 6-8 large

DO:
Make toffee for bottom of ramekins by heating honey, butter  and sugar together on Induction 4 until sugar is dissolved,
butter melts and mix is blended.
Increase heat to 6 and whisk with balloon whisk until mix goes a deep caramel color.
Set the timer for 5 minutes continuing to whisk.
Remove from heat and add water. (Mix will bubble and spit)
Whisk to blend.
Divide topping between ramekins. Set aside.

Prepare filling by blending cheese and sugar in food processor until creamy.
Add sour cream, lemon and vanmilla; Process until smooth.
Add eggs blending between additions.
Divide mix between ramekins.
Process in steam oven for 20 minutes.
Chill until completely cold.

SERVE:
Run a knife around the edge and upturn onto a plate.
Garnish with fresh or thawed berries and whipped cream.

USED:
Le Creuset 7-3/4 oz. Ramekins, Set of 2, Cherry