Kale and Pecorino Salad with Pine needle dressing

This was a little quick lunch last Saturday, which was more manic than usual! SO nutrition was required as I immersed myself in Almond Praline, Almond Paste, Vanilla Almond Crunch, Almond Dacquoise etc etc….Seriously cooking, but not great working food…so this filled a niche. I had a Twitter conversation with the very generous 2010 Chef of the Year, Nic Poelaert from the amazing Embrasse in Melbourne about a salad dressing that included the very young tips of pine tree leaves/needles….not sure how to describe that accurately, anyhoo….it sounded so fantastic, and he willingly shared it! Thanks Nic…

As a result of that conversation, I found myself foraging in the pine forest and picking little ends of the branches off, removing the leaves or tips, which broke off quite easily. Use only those very soft tips. And try to be covert as you are foraging…otherwise it can make for an interesting day ~ just trust me on that score!

NEED:

Dressing;

Fresh pine needle tips (only available in spring time)

1 sprig rosemary, foliage only

Pinch sea salt

40g white wine vinegar

10g honey

85g Fini EVOO

Juice 1 lemon

75g Pecorino, cubed

Salad;

1 bunch Kale, veins removed

1/4 red onion, cut in pieces

50g pine nuts, toasted

Extra shaved Pecorino for garnish

DO:

Place pine tips, rosemary and salt into Thermomix bowl and mill for 5 sec/speed 7.

Add vinegar and honey and heat for 2 min/60ºC/speed 1.

Add remaining Dressing ingredients and blend for 5 sec/speed 8.

Without removing the dressing, place 1/2 the kale into the bowl. With the aid of the spatula, chop for 5 sec/speed 4. Remove kale with a pair of tongs (leaving as much dressing in the bottom of the bowl as possible) and place into a large bowl.

Place onion and the other half of the kale into Thermomix bowl and chop for 5 sec/speed 4. Add to bowl and toss gently to combine. Place onto platter, garnish with toasted pine nuts and shaved Pecorino. Serve immediately.

Quick Pumpkin, Feta and Caramelised Onion Tart

WOW, what a week. I have left Thermomix Australia as their first ever Recipe Developer…and now I am starting my own business running Advanced Thermomix Cooking Classes….(Yes that deserves capitals don’t you think?) To stay abreast of all developments and until the website is up and functional, please join me on Facebook and you will be the first to know…really!

Threw this together over a very busy weekend, and it was so pretty, (and as you know I am the Queen of Tarts) so knew that you would love this.

NEED:

200-250g red onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic

20g EVOO

20g Balsamic vinegar

20g brown sugar

Pinch sea salt

1kg pumpkin cubed

2tbsp honey

9 sheets phyllo

Melted butter as needed (approx 60g)

Handful baby spinach leaves

Few grape or heirloom tomatoes, halved

2 eggs

40g creme fraiche

200g feta, crumbled

DO:

Preheat oven to 200ºC.

Place onions, garlic, EVOO, vinegar, sugar and salt into Thermomix bowl and chop for 4 sec/speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl and saute for 9 min/Varoma/speed 1.

Allow to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the pumpkin, heat the honey and drizzle over the pumpkin, season to taste if desired. Roast in oven for approximately 20 minutes. Cool.

Brush pastry sheets with butter and line a deep sided pie dish, allowing the folded pastry to crinkle up at the edges to form a crust. Reserve one sheet pastry to screw up in to a ball at the end, making sure you keep a damp paper towel on top of left over pastry to prevent it from drying out.

Spread the base of the pastry shell with the caramelised onions, top with spinach, tomatoes, and roasted pumpkin.

Place eggs and creme fraiche into Thermomix bowl (without cleaning first) and blend for 10 sec/speed 6. Pour over contents of tart. Top with crumbled feta. Using extra melted butter if necessary, brush all pastry liberally with butter. Brush remaining pastry sheet with butter and screw up gently like a ball of paper. Place that in the centre of the tart as shown.

Bake for 25 minutes or until pastry is well browned. Serve with salad and crispy potatoes.

So kids, there you have it! Easy, family friendly (just ask who licked the pie dish at my house??) and seriously tasty…a glimpse of things to come your way when you book into a Cooking with Tenina class….please join me, can’t wait to see you all!

Date and Honey Loaf

Normally I am a yeast-a-holic, hey I make pancakes using yeast if I have the time. This has no yeast, quick as (to use the terminology of my kids!) and except for the baking, takes minutes to get organised. Quick bread at its best…perfect for breakfast, the school bake sale, morning tea or those odd occasions when you feel like something a little healthy but sweet!

Of course I have just returned from Dubai, (and I have a few little treats up my sleeve coming your way after that food fest!) where dates are one of the few exports. I did indulge, and come Christmas may be copying a few of the awesome ideas from this beautiful shop, where I managed to blow quite a few dirhams, SO get organised and start some form of light exercise, so you can indulge!

This recipe looks tame and absolutely a health food by comparison…until you add the lashings of butter…

NEED:

260g SR flour

Good pinch sea salt

30g rolled spelt flakes (available widely at one of the big two supermarkets!)

40g cinnamon sugar (my version is 2:1 ratio sugar to cinnamon)

1 tsp bicarb soda

200g fresh pitted dates

40g raw honey

300g milk

1 egg

DO:

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Spray a loaf tin with oil and set aside.

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend for 20 seconds on speed 7.

Pour into tin, and bake for 40-50 minutes until golden and inserted skewer comes out clean.

Serve with home made butter, more cinnamon sugar and or honey….moist, simple and delish! Try adding nuts of choice or go hog wild and add oats, quinoa, chia in place of the rolled spelt flakes.

Roasted Wheat and Honey Loaf

Slice 'o' Roasted Wheat and Honey Loaf

I have been toying with the idea of roasting wheat for a while now, based on the reality that applying heat to most nuts and other grains puts their flavour into a whole new category!

SO, this is just a thought…really not a big deal, and did have a fantastic texture and crumb, but I think that was due to the steam first, bake after effect; We all decided it is best served slathered with homemade butter and lots more honey.

NEED:

85g whole wheat grain

15g linseed

300g milk

80g raw honey

2tsp dried yeast

pinch salt

420g bakers flour

DO:

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Place wheat onto baking tray and roast for 10 minutes until crunchy and well toasted.

Place wheat and linseed into Thermomix bowl and mill for 1 minute on speed 10.

Add milk, honey and yeast and warm for 2 minutes at 37°C on speed 2.

Add remaining ingredients and mix for 6 seconds on speed 6. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 3 minutes at Interval speed. Tip out onto Silpat mat and roll into a tight ball. Wrap and allow to double in size before continuing.

Press dough out into flat rectangle, just using your fingertips. Roll long edges into each other and seal together. Turn and repeat the folding and sealing action on the short edges. Repeat this several times until you have an even shape. Place into rectangular bread tin to double again. Slash top with razor blade or very sharp knife. Spray with water spritz.

Place in steam oven for 15 minutes. Move to preheated oven and cook a further 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and sounding hollow when tapped. Cool 5 minutes in tin before turning out and returning to turned off oven to crisp up base.

Slice and eat with toppings of choice….

Is it Brioche? Or Pulla?

Apparently Pulla is Finland’s answer to Brioche, in a braid…and based on this delicately fragranced butter rich bread, I would say they did one better…(Are the Norse Gods listening?) This version, sporting saffron and cardamom, is a beautiful colour and the texture truly ‘melt in the mouth’, bordering on cake as opposed to bread. I also happen to be hoarding a great stash of saffron, a gift from a friend, and perhaps it may show up in an ice cream recipe yet…but a good pinch was not wasted in this fragrant bread. A slower rise would have resulted in a more brioche like, finer crumb, but sweet, delicate and fantastic as toast…

I failed on the braid idea, the dough was beautifully soft, so gave up and went for a ring shape without the fuss! I tossed up glazing the bread with warm marmalade (home-made of course) but the kids just object to orange jam, so I opted not to. Just lashings of homemade butter and the beautiful apricot jam I scored from the Mundaring Truffle Festival today. (No truffles in the jam BTW, just excellent apricots!)

If only I were a lyrical food photographer such as the impressive Matt (noice to see yer face and taste yer Truffle Risotto!), but alas, still waiting on my new camera to make more sense to me….so the reliable old Sony had to do….bit like me really; old and reliable.

NEED:

Large pinch saffron threads

12 cardamom pods, seeds only

85g unsalted butter

140g honey

1 sachet dried yeast

650g bakers flour

200g tepid water

2 eggs

pinch salt

egg wash

DO:

Place saffron into 100g boiling water and leave to steep.

Place cardamom seeds into Thermomix bowl and mill for 20 seconds on speed 9.

Place butter and honey into Thermomix bowl and warm for 2 minutes at 50C on speed 2.

Add remaining ingredients except egg wash and candied orange slices to Thermomix bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 6.

With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 3 minutes at Interval speed.

Turnout onto floured Silpat mat and knead together into tight ball, wrap and allow to double in size.

Shape into desired shape and prove again until doubled, (go ahead, try the braid…and send me pics!) I used a chiffon cake tin.

Preheat oven to 200C. Brush risen bread gently with egg wash and bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and sounding hollow when tapped with fingertips. Cool slightly in tin before turning out and then restrain yourself…luckily I have eaten myself silly all day at the Truffle Festival and so could only manage half a slice, (albeit thick slice) and now am plotting who I might deliver warm, aromatic Pulla to…really, any takers?

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, Induction 7-8. 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 point on Induction cooktop, mark 10, 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 fan forced 200°C. 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 100°C 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 80°C 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.

Remember that the induction is possibly the easiest way to melt chocolate ever! You can leave the chocolate in a metal pan, on just Induction 1 and it will stay melted as long as you leave it there. SO EASY! Go on, give it a go!

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!

Toffee Crusted Fig and Almond Tart

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 fan forced 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 on Induction 4-5 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 I did mean the rear end!