Baconnaise!

Well rather than go shopping for all those bits and pieces one runs out of periodically, I decided to clean out the fridge and do a bit of home made pantry inventory…so on a busy Saturday I not only managed to navigate an early start at the dentist with two (yes two at once!) kids getting their wisdom out, but I made Kulfi (post to come), whipped up a batch of my world famous granola, made Baconnaise, Corn and Cheese Crackers, a batch of Asian flavoured stock concentrate, as well as a Roasted Wheat and Honey loaf, and some dried veggie stock with Dulse…and then went and picked the poor round faced kiddies back up again, and came home to play nurse…

(Just call me super-MUM)

I have had plans for Baconnaise for a while, a heady mixture of rich, creamy egg mayo with the salty smoky flavour of bacon through it…I imagined the home fries I could dunk, the coleslaw I could slather, the straight up lickability of it many times before finding myself here: Done it! Made it! Blogged about it!

Baconnaise

NEED:

200-300g rendered bacon fat (discussed below)

2 egg yolks

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

cracked black pepper to taste

additional EVOO as needed

juice 1/2 lemon or to taste

DO:

Render the bacon fat by placing speck, streaky or relatively fatty bacon (500g approx) in medium heat pan and allow fat to ‘render’. Strain and remove all solids. Bacon will be crisp and could be chopped up finely and added to mayo if desired. Set fat aside and allow to cool without solidifying. The fat MUST BE COOL!

Place egg yolks, vinegar, mustard and pepper into TM bowl and mix for 1 minute at 37°C on speed 5.

Add bacon fat very slowly as you run the blade at speed 5. This process should take approximately 3-4 minutes.

Add extra oil as needed to make up volume if needed. (You can generally add up to 500g fat to 2 yolks as a ratio guide.)

Add lemon juice and stir through for 5 seconds on speed 5. Scrape from Thermomix bowl and serve in whatever way you imagined…

I can attribute this next idea to a Sydney Thermomix consultant who separates her ‘stock options’ (don’t you love it?) into Red, Green and Other…This is quite spicy but for a mild version, reduce or completely leave out the chillies.

Asian Base Stock Concentrate

Asian Base Stock Concentrate

NEED:

4 cloves garlic

3 dried or fresh red chillies

2-3 kaffir lime leaves

2 onions peeled and halved

50g oil

1 lemongrass stalk

handful coriander leaves

handful Italian parsley leaves

600g tomatoes chopped

1 red capsicum roughly chopped

180g Himaylan salt

few Dulse leaves (sea vegetable available at Health Food stores)

DO:

Place garlic, chillies, lime leaves, onion and oil into Thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 6. Saute for 5 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 2. Add remaining ingredinets and cook for 30 minutes at 100°C on speed 3. Remove lemon grass stalk before pureeing by bringing speed up slowly to speed 9 until well blended. This is quite liquid as opposed to being a paste. Store in sterilised jars in fridge until use. This should keep up to 6 months without any problem.

Veggie Stock Powder

Dried Veggie Stock Powder

NEED:

2 x 100g mixed dried vegetables (I used a peas and corn and a peas and carrot mix)

200g Himalayan Pink salt

5g Dulse sea vegetable

50g dried onion flakes or fried shallots (from Asian supermarket)

DO:

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blitz for 20 seconds on speed 10. Store in airtight jar. This is very salty, but that is the purpose of stock, and at least you know what is in it. One teaspoon equals one stock cube in conventional recipes.

Pantry replenished. I have plans for a pantry book…but it has taken a back seat to a lot of other projects. What Thermomix book would you like to see most and what elements would you include?

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.

Thai Beef Salad

Sorry, its Friday afternoon at the end of a long week, and so I am not only tired, but silly to go along with it! Thai Beef Salad is one of my favorites and lately I have been on a mission to find a nice one in a restaurant that I could rely on to deliver the taste hit that I crave…no luck! So had to come up with my own, here it is. Although we have had  nothing but rain here all week (mid November, what is going on??) I am primed and ready for some hot weather eating. Hope you enjoy this on a leisurely evening…cooking time of approximately 5 minutes…how much more leisurely could you get? Enjoy!

Thai Beef Salad

Marinade NEED:

55g Tamari or soy sauce

55g fish sauce

50g honey

Juice ½ orange

Juice 1 lime

Handful coriander leaves

Handful mint leaves

1 small chilli (deseeded if desired, for more heat leave seeds in)

2 large cloves garlic

3cm piece peeled ginger

Marinade DO:

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 8. Drizzle over meat and leave for around 3-4 hours if possible.

Dressing NEED:

Juice 1 lime

25g Tamari or soy sauce

Juice ½ orange

2tbsp sesame oil

20g fish sauce

1 small chilli (deseeded if desired, for more heat leave seeds in)

2 large cloves garlic

3cm piece peeled ginger

Few coriander leaves

Few mint leaves

Dressing DO:

Without washing bowl after making marinade, place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend for 10 seconds on speed 8. Set aside until assembling the salad.

Salad NEED:

100-150g Asian vermicelli noodles

400-500g rump steak cut in strips

2 tbsp olive oil

200g sliced mushrooms

3 diced tomatoes

½ thinly sliced red onion

1 ruby grapefruit peeled and segmented

Few sprigs mint/coriander

Mixed salad greens of choice

Salad DO:

Place vermicelli noodles into insulated bowl and cover with boiling water.

Drain marinade from beef strips and set aside. Place olive oil into Thermomix bowl and heat for 2 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 2.

Place beef strips into Thermomix bowl and cook for 5 minutes at Varoma temperature on Reverse + speed soft.

Meanwhile, assemble the remaining salad ingredients on large platter.

Drain noodles and toss with about half the dressing.

Place dressed noodles on top of the salad, add beef and drizzle with remaining dressing. Serve immediately.

Tortillas
NEED:
300 grams polenta
300 grams bakers flour
100 grams butter (plus more for frying)
generous pinch sea salt
200 grams warm water

DO:
Place all ingredients except water into Thermomix bowl and pulse 4-6 times until mix resembles breadcrumbs.
Add water and mix on speed 7 for 5 seconds.
With lid in locked position, knead for 3 minutes.
Roll into balls and cover with a wet tea towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
Place each ball between 2 layers of baking paper and roll as thinly as possible with a rolling pin.
Cook quickly in hot pan, (Induction 7-8) that has been lightly buttered.
Use to wrap fillings of choice.

Chicken Filling
NEED:
4 skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon each of the following;
coarsely ground pepper
paprika
ground garlic
ground cumin
ground coriander
sea salt

DO:
Combine dry ingredients in small bowl.
Rub into chicken breasts and allow to marinate for up to an hour.
Process in steam oven for 17-20 minutes. Leave in oven until ready to serve.
Slice into thin slices or shred.
Serve on top of tortillas with fresh Guacamole, combination of grated Parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella, and fresh salad and if desired, a dollop of sour cream.

For other ‘Throw Down’ offerings, check out Great Cooks Community. Great way to end a month…or start a new one!

NEED:
500 grams stringless green beans
2 red peppers (roasted)
½ red onion sliced paper thin
½ cup black pitted (kalamata) olives
Balsamic Dressing (recipe to follow)

DO:
Trim beans and steam in steam oven for 8 minutes.
Roast red peppers in MW Grill until skins are blackened,
place in paper bag until cool. Peel and seed.
In large bowl combine beans, pepper strips, onion and olives.
Toss lightly to mix. Just before serving, pour vinaigrette over
and toss until well coated. Transfer to serving bowl and scatter
olives over the top to serve.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

NEED:
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley chopped

DO:
Place all ingredients except parsley in food processor.
Blend 2 minutes until you get an emulsion. Stir in parsley.
Use immediately or can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

NEED:

2 Plum tomatoes diced
2 tablespoons diced cucumber or green capsicum
2 tablespoons diced fresh pineapple
1 firm ripe avocado diced
1 tablespoon diced red onion
1 tablespoon fresh coriander chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste

DO:

Place all ingredients in a glass bowl (not metal) and toss to combine.
Cover and store in fridge until ready for use.
Best made within a few hours of eating.