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.

Cheesey Sable Bites

I love a good sable, and normally think of them as sweet or as the base of a cheesecake or tart…so these are a savoury take on a sable. Crumbly, buttery, little bites of yum, they are perfect for the Christmas entertaining platter. Get out the dried fruit, a few nuts, some good cheese and these…or box them up and use them as gifts. Maybe save the egg whites and go ahead and make that Crio Bru Pavlova you are dreaming about!

NEED:

50g mature Cheddar

30g Parmesan, plus extra

100g unsalted butter, cubed

120g SR flour, plus extra

2 egg yolks, hard boiled

50g fine polenta

Pinch sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Sesame seeds to garnish

DO:

Preheat oven to 180ºC and line a baking tray with paper.

Place cheeses into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 1o.

Add remaining ingredients except seeds and blend 6 sec/speed 6.

Tip out onto floured Silpat mat and push together with hands.

Roll into small balls and place onto prepared tray. Sprinkle with seeds and extra grated Parmesn. Flatten with a piece of baking paper between the biscuit and the MC to form rounds.

Bake 8-10 minutes until golden and fragrant.

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?

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.

Roasted Pumpkin, Garlic and Sage Soup with Lemon Parmesan Wafers

Are there too many soup recipes in the world?? Well not for me. It was rainy, dark and I hugged my couch in front of the heater for a great portion of the day…July revisited (unless you are northern hemisphere, in which case think November, pre-snow days, but dreary!!) So in possession of some left over pumpkin from my Mandurah Souper Bowl class, a great fresh bunch of new leaves on my up till now scraggly sage bush and the ever present garlic in my fridge, this was an easy fit, and so delicious! I happen to have a great loaf of Cheats Sourdough for toasting, so that will fill the kids up, but for me, the Parmesan Lemon Wafers were just the right foil for the smooth creaminess of the soup. I have recently welcomed Fini EVOO inot the Team Tenina family of products and boy I am loving it! It is widely available in Australia and is grown and produced in Gingin, north of Perth…hopefully I can bring you a more in depth tour sort of post one day soon…when I have a few spare minutes…did I mention I have a little bit on my plate…and I am not referring to dinner!

NEED:

500g pumpkin, cubed

4 cloves garlic

60g Fini EVOO

Handful fresh sage leaves

800g water

2 tbsp Umami paste

1 tbsp vegetable stock concentrate (or powdered veggie stock)

200g cream (or milk)

Extra sage to garnish

DO:

Preheat oven to fan forced 200ºC and line a large baking tray with paper.

Prepare pumpkin and place on tray with garlic and drizzle with EVOO.

Cook for 2o minutes. Test for done-ness (is that a word?)…and if almost done, add sage leaves to the tray and cook for a further 5 minutes until fragrant. Cool.

Place roasted pumpkin, garlic and sage into Thermomix bowl with all remaining ingredients except cream and garnish. Cook for 8 min/80ºC/speed 2. Blend for 30 sec/speed 7-8 by bringing speed up slowly. Add cream and blend a further 10 sec/speed 9.

Serve with Lemon Parmesan Wafers and sage leaves as a garnish.

The Lemon Parmesan Wafers can be made by  milling zest 1 lemon, 100g Parmesan and 2 tbsp cornflour in Thermomix bowl for 10 sec/speed 8. Place spoonfuls onto lined trays and bake for 6-7 minutes in a hot oven until golden and crispy around the edges.

Green Potato Salad with Quail Eggs

My family rarely need an excuse to eat potato salad, and if I can use pesto for anything I will…so this is a combo, and whilst on a theme, we went green! (I know, I know, I should take up penning poetry)!

Less of a recipe and more of a suggestion, you can tweak this to your personal taste or numbers as required….This amount served 10 comfortably!

NEED:

15 baby potatoes, quartered

1 batch pesto

15 quail eggs

4-5 shallots/spring onions, sliced diagonally including green tops

200g green fresh or frozen peas

1 avocado

2-3 stalks celery diced

additional fresh lemon juice to taste

Additional toasted pine nuts and fresh basil leaves for garnish

DO:

Prepare potatoes and place into steaming tray from Combi oven, or Varoma dish and tray from the Thermomix. Steam following directions of appliance of choice until tender. (Approximately 30-40 minutes) Set aside.

Meanwhile make pesto and place into large salad bowl.

Boil eggs in enough water just to cover for exactly 6 minutes (from cold water to finishing) on Induction 7. Set aside to cool before peeling and halving.

Gently toss all ingredients together except avocado. Garnish with pine nuts and basil. Serve warm.

Do not be tempted to dress this salad ahead of serving as potato salad always gets gluggy and solid if dressed too early. To prepare ahead of time, just prep all ingredients including pesto, toss steamed potatoes with a little verjuice, lemon juice, white wine or champagne vinegar to prevent drying out. Finish mixing the salad just before you serve it. You can also substitute 6-7 chicken eggs if you don’t want to use the quail eggs. Cook for 12 minutes, peel and chop.

Pecan Cheese Ball

If you are anything like me, the day after Christmas you are pretty well over the flavours/food of Christmas; ham, turkey, dried fruit in any form, candy canes, (dare I include chocolate in this list?) and you may have quite a bit of all or some of those things still lying around the house. I always seem to have the remains of cheese platters wrapped with great care, but useless by themselves. So here are a few ideas for you for the post silly season festivities. Thermomix certainly helps me use my leftovers more efficiently…and hopefully you’ll find the same thing. So a couple of ideas for you;

As in years gone by, I know Candy Cane Ice Cream will be showing up at our table the week following the decoration take down.

The remains of the cheeseboard ended up here…

Pecan Cheese Ball

NEED:

45g peppered Parmesan, cubed

180g Taleggio cheese

70g Ploughman’s cheese (tasty with onion)

50g cream

20g brandy

150-200g toasted pecans

DO:

Place Parmesan into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10.

Add remaining ingredients except pecans and blend for 30 seconds on speed 5-6. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat.

Place toasted pecans on a double layer of foil or baking paper. Tip cheese mix onto the nuts and roll to cover. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until solid.

Serve at room temperature with crackers, pickles, olives, grape tomatoes etc.

I have made no secret of my love of ham and cheese prior to Christmas…but this is something you can whip up in no time apres Christmas. My success rule of thumb is how long the food lasts, and basically, these were snarfed down in moments…so yes…added to the wildly successful list. And Yay…that’s 500g ham gone!

Bacon and Cheese Sausage Rolls

NEED:

2 cloves garlic

handful fresh parsley

100g Edam cheese, cubed

80g Parmesan cheese, cubed

70g chorizo sausage, roughly chopped

500g ham, roughly chopped

60g wholemeal breadcrumbs

1 egg

3-4 sheets puff pastry, thawed

egg wash as needed

sesame seeds (optional)

DO:

Preheat oven to 180°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Set aside.

Place garlic and cheeses into Thermomix bowl and mill for 8-9 seconds on speed 9.

Add chorizo, ham, breadcrumbs and egg and blend for 20-30 seconds on speed 8.

Cut each sheet of pastry in half and place filling on long edge of pastry. Roll and wrap filling with pastry and place seam side down on prepared trays. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds and slice into bite size pieces. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and fragrant. Serve hot.

What are your favourite left over recipes?

Watercress, Brocollini and Pomegranate Salad

You know me and fruit in salad…I think my kids have even stopped complaining about fruit showing up in a savoury salad because they are either;

A) resigned to the fact,

B) used to it or

C) enjoy it themselves now.

Colleagues are not so good with it, but I am trying to win them over. (When I say ‘them’ I am actually referring to one young lady who knows very well to whom I refer!)

Because I love top ten lists myself, and because I have so many salads showcasing fruit (including a new one just for this post!), an article with them all in one spot, ready for bookmarking seemed like a good idea. I also love the idea of a special salad being a bit more festive. With our hot Christmases in Australia, the old hot dinner on Christmas Day is long gone, and so a special salad recipe or ten can come in handy. Hope you enjoy!

So here goes;

ONE;

This is my new kid on the block.

NEED:

4 small bunches brocollini

generous amount of water cress leaves or other bitter greens of choice

Seeds of 1 pomegranate

1/2 thinly sliced red onion

water for steaming

Dressing;

2 cloves garlic

60g red wine vinegar

60g honey

Sea salt to taste

50g EVOO

DO:

Place enough water in Thermomix bowl to reach the 1L mark. Bring to the boil for 8-10 minutes on Varoma temperature on speed 4.

Place trimmed and washed broccolini into Varoma dish and set  aside. When the water is steaming, set Varoma into position and cook for 7 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 4. Remove immediately and place into ice bath to cool.

Drain bowl and make dressing by placing garlic into Thermomix bowl and mincing for 3 seconds on speed 5. Add remaining dressing ingredients and blend for 10 seconds on speed 6. Pour over sliced red onion and allow dressing to soften onion for 15 minutes.

Arrange greens on salad platter, add broccolini and onion with dressing. Top with Pomegranate jewels and voila. Beautiful and delicious, (and dare I say it? A little fruity)! Season to taste with black pepper and grainy sea salt.

TWO:

I love Thai flavours and a Thai Beef Salad is something I find hard to beat. So although not completely conventional, the fruit (grapefruit) in this just tips it into awesome for me. Of course it is optional, but I dare you, try it and let me know what you think.

THREE:

Originating from my darling sister in law who now lives in the States and whom I miss every day, I make this Broccoli and Grape Salad, just to reminisce sometimes! Tangy dressing, salty bacon, sweet grapes and barely steamed broccoli. Can’t really go wrong!

FOUR:

While not strictly complying to the fruit in the salad criteria, but rather in the dressing, Seafood Eatfood has never failed me. It is a little festive, a few Asian flavours are in there, great the next day as a cold lunch, can be easily increased to feed a crowd, is really so simple and easy…what more could you want at Christmas time?

FIVE:

OK, probably should have been number one…LOVE Fruity Harvest Salad and have even been known to add roasted nectarines when in season. This is a great accompaniment to roasted meats, particularly pork. Seriously, if you want to impress when asked to bring a salad, this should be your choice. Still in my old format (pre Thermomix days) feel free to go ahead and do what you will with Thermomix when you can!

SIX:

Probably Pineapple is one of the best foils for salty, think about all those Hawaiian Pizza days…or channel your inner 60′s dinner party with baked ham and pineapple…this Carribean Salsa salutes those flavours, adds some heat and is also fantastic with ham, or beef, or fish, or pork, or fried chook…anything you feel like really!

SEVEN:

Not quite a waldorf salad, Chicken with Grapes and Walnuts is what a waldorf salad becomes when it grows up! A lovely citrus and cranberry dressing make it perfect for Festive entertaining. Or serve with crusty fresh bread to make a great light lunch for friends.

EIGHT:

Again a bit of a cheat entry, Chicken Salad with Chilli Citrus Dressing is another example of the dressing (with fruit) lifting an ordinary salad above the mundane and into the heavenly. The dressing in fact can be used on any number of salads, kept in the fridge for around 3 weeks and never fails to impress. Great in the party season as well because you can cheat and buy a cooked chicken, simply make the dressing (all of about 1 minute) and with a bag of greens, punnet of tomatoes, you are ready to be the hostess with the mostess in no time.

NINE:

Again I am pretty well cheating with the Traffic Light Salad as well…in that the grapes are merely a suggestion. Fantastic at a BBQ of which I am confident there are no shortages at this time of year, (at least in the Southern Hemisphere folks!)

Last but not least,

TEN:

Number 10 is a johnny come lately; I have enjoyed it twice now, and have yet to photograph it…but try this on for size.

1 bag baby spinach leaves, tossed with thinly sliced red onion.

Drizzle with EVOO (and you know my stance on EVOO I hope.)

Add 1 tin of drained mandarin segments, freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt and some toasted pine nuts. Drizzle with just enough of the drained liquid to moisten and again…voila…faster than a trip to the store…you are eating amazing and delicious Fruit in (Savoury) Salad…again. And one hopes without any complaints from the peanut gallery!

Mushroom Pizza!

I went to the markets recently and couldn’t help myself…they had the most amazingly huge field mushrooms ever seen. I personally love mushrooms, but the family could take them or leave them. What they DO love is pizza, so that is where this idea originated. Quicker than a speeding Thermomix, I had the oven cranked, the pizza ‘bases’ prepped and we were tucking in.

Of course, the larger the mushrooms, the more like pizzas they look, but should you go for smaller caps, (much smaller!) they can be bite sized canapes. Even the mushroom doubters were convinced…What are you cooking tonight?

NEED:

3-4 large field mushrooms

6-7 cloves garlic

150g Parmesan cheese cubed

Handful fresh basil leaves

150g mozarella cubed

50g semi sundried tomatoes

A few mini Roma tomatoes halved

A few baby bocconcini torn into pieces

Additional fresh basil leaves

DO:

Preheat oven to as hot as you can get it. Line a large baking tray with paper.

Cut stems from caps and place into Thermomix bowl. Place caps onto baking tray.

Add garlic and Parmesan to Thermomix bowl and mill together for 10 seconds on speed 8.

Add basil, mozzarella  and semi sundried tomatoes. Blend for 10 seconds on speed 7.

Divide mixture between mushrooms and bake for approximately 20 minutes. (You want the mushroom cooked but without being too soft. Time will depend on size of mushrooms used.)

Place mini Roma tomatoes and bocconcini onto pizzas and return to oven for 10 minutes until cheese has started to melt.

Place a few basil leaves on top to wilt slightly and serve hot.

Christmas Sugar Plum Salad?

Ever since I spent nearly five years in the USA as a youngster (!) I have loved fruit in salads…It seems to be something they do extraordinarily well and so even after all these years I am still playing around with the idea. I LOVE mango in a green salad that sports a Thai flavored dressing. I LOVE roasted pears or nectarines or both in a salad that goes with roast pork and of course I love Waldorf, any salad with Citrus in it or the dressing, Pineapple with salty overtones, grapes with brocolli; the list goes on. Its the yin and the yang, the sweet with the salty, the straw and the berry, the apple and the pie; they just GO together!

This is no different. The cherry plums that are around just now are quite tart, so make sure you taste them before adding enough sugar to sweeten them up. I had a few beetroot rolling around in the fridge hoping to get eaten, so this is the pairing. I love the idea of fruity salads at Christmas time because somehow they seem a little more special and upmarket. SO keep this one on your list, Sugar Plum Salad, or Nutcracker Salad, if you will! I served it with Char Sui Roasted Pork and my butter sweet rolls. It was a pleasure to make and a pleasure to eat and a pleasure to realise for possibly the first time that I could head straight here and find everything I needed for the meal! (Feels good! Hmmnn, maybe I should bookmark this page…or subscribe over there in the right hand column, or even write a comment below…)

NEED:

450g cherry plums halved (pit them later if this is too difficult now)

A few baby beetroot peeled and quartered

Raw sugar, EVOO, red wine vinegar and Celtic sea salt to taste

Bag of baby spinach or other greens of choice

1/2 red onion thinly sliced

120g roasted and skinned hazlenuts

shaved Parmesan (please make it a good one!)

More EVOO and red wine vinegar

Few fresh parsley leaves for garnish

DO:

Preheat oven to 190°C and line 2 baking trays with paper. Halve cherry plums and prepare beetroot by peeling and cutting into bite sized pieces. Place plums and beetroot on separate trays. Drizzle both with EVOO, sprinkle with brown sugar and salt and then drizzle with red wine vinegar. Place into oven and roast, plums for 20 minutes, beetroot a little longer, around 30-35 minutes. Cool and remove plum stones.

Toss remaining salad ingredients except shaved Parmesan, with EVOO and red wine vinegar. Arrange on plates to serve, top with roasted plums and beetroot, drizzle with the syrup that will be generated from roasting the plums and top with shaved Parmesan. Serve immediately.