Beetroot, Pumpkin and Spinach Bread

When you have a Thermomix you can let your imagination run wild with ideas!

Years, and years ago I remember buying a bread for the then, very young "Precious".  The lovely colours of the bread captured her eyes - they were so vibrant - yellow, pink and green.  There had to be a vegetable or three in there - but she didn't care it appealed to her on a visual level.  She loved that bread and whenever we went to that bakery - that was what she wanted.

That bakery has long since gone, but the memory has stayed with me.  Now that I am turning into quite the bread maker, I thought it was time to experiment a little and see if I could recreate that wonderful looking bread.  Not hard really when you have a Thermomix!!

Beetroot, Pumpkin ans Spinach Bread

400g pumpkin, cut into 3cm cubes
400g beetroot, cut into 3cm cubes
1 bunch silverbeet, leaves only, white rib removed, cut into 2cm strips

Place the beetroot into the varoma receptacle.  Top with baking paper.  Place the pumpkin on top of the baking paper.  Place the varoma tray on top and place the shredded spinach leaves onto the varoma tray.

Put 1500g water into the TM bowl.  Place the varoma onto the TM bowl (weight down the lid of the varoma with cans if necessary to ensure that the lid is on tightly.)

Process on varoma temperature and speed 4 for 40 minutes.

Gently remove the lid from the varoma.

Remove the water from the TM bowl.  Add the spinach to the TM bowl and process for 10 seconds on speed 9.  Remove and set aside.

Rinse out the bowl, making sure there is no spinach residue left in the bowl.

Process the pumpkin for 10 seconds on speed 9.  Set aside and rinse the bowl out.

Process the beetroot for 10 seconds on speed 9.

Clean and dry the bowl completely.

Basic bread mix - you need to make this mixture three times!

520g bakers flour
15g dried yeast
350g warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Place the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and water in the TM bowl.  Add the pureed vegetable.  Repeat with remaining batches.

Process on interval speed for 4 minutes.  Place in a well oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (approximately 40 minutes).

Once all three batches have risen.  Knock down the dough, and divide each colour into four equal portions.  You will have enough dough to make 4 baguette style loaves.

Take 1 section of each colour and roll out into a long thin "sausage" shape.

Secure at the end, and then plait the dough.

Allow to rise again for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Brush the top of the bread with a little milk.

Place in an oven that has been preheated to 210 degrees.  Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

Isn't that the most gorgeous looking bread you have ever seen???

Even better when sliced.....

So for dinner that night we had crumbed pork schnitzel accompanied by a coleslaw consisting of cabbage and apple, and with a dressing of sour cream, parmesan cheese, red wine vinegar and olive oil.  Along with this gorgeous looking bread and some homemade butter.  As any Thermomix owner knows, butter is just as easy as whipping cream - really just a few seconds longer!!!!  To the butter mix I added a dash of sugar, some sea salt and a slurp of olive oil (so that it didn't become too hard in the fridge!!!).

I ask you is there anything more perfect than eating a slice of homemade bread that is topped with butter that you have also made yourself???  I think not!

Garlic Overload!

When you are a child all you dream about is the time when you are old enough to make your own decisions - to be an adult!  These last two weeks all I have wanted is to be a child again, and not have to make the hard decisions.

How can I make that ultimate decision that takes my child's best friend away from him forever??

Every day as I grumble about the extra washing that I have to do, and as I carry the dog outside to hopefully relieve me of a little extra washing I wish him far.  But when the decision time came, and we had set a deadline, (which the vet helped counsel us on) I could not follow through.  I just could not do it.  From somewhere I heard the words come from my mouth - "let's give Buster another week - let's just see if we get a sign that he is getting better" (god I am such a wimp!!!) - but lo and behold Buster rallied today (d'day!!) and sent me a sign - he sat up - he attempted to stand, and I even cajoled him to walk (if only but a step).  My faith in life was restored!  So Buster lives to see another week, and hopefully a few more on top of that.

This is a food blog, and I know that is why you have come here - so even thought the posts have been few and far between of late - here is a meal I whipped up in the Thermomix the other night.  Garlic Bread, and Creamy Garlic Prawns with Rice.  Can you ever have too much garlic????  I think not!!!

I found the recipe for the Creamy Garlic Prawns here.  The only comment I can make about this recipe is that I felt that there was a little too much sauce (and I had increased the amount of prawns to 1kg).  What I would do next time is reduce the amount of chicken stock to perhaps 1/2 cup.  I would also probably reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes, and check - adding extra time if needed.  (I felt the prawns were a little tough - I tend to err on the undercooked, and then add extra time rather than go too far overboard!)  Other than that I thought it was a fabulous recipe - and that the flavour was great -  I also loved the fact that I could "saute" my prawns in the Thermomix - something that I have done again to get prawns ready for a pizza!!!

Of course prior to making the Garlic Prawns I cooked my rice in the TM - and placed it in the Thermoserver while making the Creamy Garlic Prawns - making this a complete meal cooked in the Thermomix!!!!

To go with the Garlic Prawns one must have Garlic Bread!!!! (there will be no vampires in this household that's for sure!!!)

Wholemeal Garlic Bread

1 whole head of garlic
100g whole wheat grain
300g lukewarm water
15g dry yeast
1 tsp salt
420g bakers flour
150g grated tasty cheese, plus extra for garnish
20g olive oil

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Lightly wrap garlic head in foil.  Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the garlic is soft and slightly caramelised.  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.

Place the whole wheat grain into the TM bowl.  Mill for 1 minute on speed 9.

Add the water, then the yeast, salt and flour and oil.  Mix for 5 seconds on speed 7 to combine. Gently squeeze the garlic from their skins, and add the garlic and grated cheese to the TM bowl.

Set dial to closed lid position.  Knead the dough for 1 minute 30 seconds on Interval speed.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, in a warm position to prove for 20-30 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, divide into three equal portions.  Plait the dough, and place on baking paper.  Sprinkle extra grated cheese on top and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

As you can imagine - we were all given wide berth the next day (due to severe garlic breath!!!).

Just another little handy tip - this garlic bread makes a fantastic toast to serve your poached eggs on the next morning (just in case you have not had enough garlic that is!!!!!)

So, Buster lives to see another week, and Jack has his best friend at his side still.  I hope and pray that Buster can continue to improve because I can't bear to break Jack's heart!

Malaysian Chicken Curry with home made Naan Bread

Do you ever see a photo of a dish and know that you just have to make it?  I do it all the time.

I saw the photo for this dish in the MasterChef magazine several months ago.  It looked so good, I just knew I had to make it.  I even went out and bought all the ingredients, but just never seemed to get around to making it.  Anyway I was revisiting the magazine and ran across the picture again. That was it, I just had to make it now!  The trouble was after going to all the effort of making the dish I was really let down by the flavours.

I think if I ever made it again I would do it all a little differently.  It needed a little more flavour - perhaps a little more chilli, and I really think the curry leaves need not only to be a garnish, but cooked within the dish as well.

Malaysian Chicken Curry
From MasterChef Magazine April edition

Serves 4

2tbs vegetable oil
20 curry leaves *
1/2 tsp chilli flakes, or more to taste
1 cinnamon quill
1 onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
185g jar Malaysian Curry Paste **
800 - 1kg chicken thigh fillets, trimmed and cut into cubes
2tbs coconut milk ***
2 large desiree potatoes, quartered lengthwise
1 tsp sugar
50g unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
coriander sprigs, hard boiled eggs and steam rice to serve

Heat oil in a deep frying pano voer medium high heat.  Add curry leaves and chilli flakes, and fry for 1 minute or until curry leaves are crisp.  Remove and drain on a paper towel.

Add the cinnamon, onion and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft.  Add the curry paste and stir for 2 minutes or until fragrant.  Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes until well coated.  Add 1/2 cup water, coconut milk, potatoes and sugar.  Season with salt and stir to combine.

Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over low-medium heat for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked.

Divide the curry among bowls and scatter with the curry leaves, peanuts and coriander sprigs.  Serve with quartered hard boiled eggs.

* I think you need to double the amount - fry off half and put the other half in the curry while cooking
** I used Ayam brand
*** I omitted the water and added more coconut milk - around 200ml

Homemade Naan Bread

FromMeat on the Menu Thermomix Cookbook

1 egg

50 olive oil

200g milk

210g greek style plain yoghurt

2 tsp yeast

600g bakers flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

Place the egg, oil, milk, yoghurt and yeast into the TM bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3.  Cook for 4 minutes at 50 degrees on speed 3.  Leave in TM bowl for approximately 10 minutes to activate yeast.

Add the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into the TM bowl.  Set dial to closed lid position and knead for 3 minutes on interval speed.  Place the dough into a large oiled bowl.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for up to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to at least 200 degrees C.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand until smooth.  Divide the dough equally. Roll out to 1/2cm thickness.  Stretch by hand into a pear shape.  Place onto a baking sheet that has been lined with baking paper.  Bake in the hot oven for around 5-8 minutes, or until golden. You do not need to turn them over.

 Serve with curry....

Has anyone else made this curry - I would be interested to hear your thoughts on it.  I just think it lacked a little something - I was so disappointed after all that anticipation.

It does look nice though!!!!

Spaghetti Marinara

When I make Spaghetti Marinara I like to make up my own mix of seafood.  We prefer to have it loaded up with salmon and prawns in particular, however, feel free to change the amounts or varieties to suit yourself!!

Spaghetti Marinara

Serves 6

2 squid tubes (approx. weight 500g)
2 x salmon portions (approx. weight 500g)
1 x barramundi fillet (approx. weight 240g), cut into 2cm chunks
500g green prawns (with shell weight), shelled
2 x 400g cans cherry tomatoes
250g fresh cherry tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
20g butter
1/2 cup shredded basil
500g angel hair pasta, cooked according to packet directions

Cut squid hoods in half, and gently score the inside.

Cut into 2cm wide ribbons.

Heat half the butter and a small amount of olive oil in a large frypan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and fry gently until just starting to turn golden.  Add the fresh cherry tomatoes, and cook stirring constantly until they start to soften.  Add the canned tomatoes and gently simmer for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until you are able to gently "pop" the tomatoes by pressing a spoon on the tomato.  Add the wine and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken.

Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

In a second frying pan gently heat the remaining butter with a little olive oil.  Cook the salmon pieces for 2-3 minutes each side, or until just lightly browned.  You want the fish to be still pink in the middle.

Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the prawns, squid and barramundi to the pan and gently cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the prawns are just starting to change colour.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Gently flake the salmon into chunks.

Add the seafood to the sauce, and mix gently.  Simmer for a minute, then add the basil.  Combine well.

Add the seafood mix to the cooked pasta. Toss gently to combine.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese on the side.

So what goes with a good pasta dish???  Garlic Bread of course!!!

I was inspired by a post I saw recently on Sunday's Kitchen - while mine is not the same as hers - I did use the fontina cheese, as I have not tried it before!

Killer Garlic Cheese Bread

530g Bakers Flour
2tsp yeast
300ml warm water
1 tsp salt
1tsp sugar

Knead in the TM for 4 minutes.  Remove from TM bowl place in a lightly greased bowl, and allow to sit in a warm place for approximately 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Then into the Thermomix I popped:

8 cloves of garlic

I blitzed the garlic for 4 seconds on speed 7.

Then I added:

150g fontina cheese, broken into small pieces
1 egg yolk (reserve the white)
140g butter, cubed

I blitzed these together for 6 seconds on speed 6.

Spread this mixture out over the rolled out bread dough.

Now roll up, using the baking paper as a guide, in a jelly roll fashion.  Make sure you secure all the edges well - or you will have garlic cheese butter everywhere!!!

Place on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper, and sprinkled with a little polenta.  Allow to rise again in a warm place for approximately 30 minutes.

Lightly beat the egg white, and then brush the loaf all over with the egg white.

Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

and voila!!!!

Isn't that a beautiful loaf of bread????

You know we have no problems with vampires in this house - what with all the garlic we eat!!!!!

So tell me Dear Readers how do you like you garlic bread?  With cheese, with roasted garlic - or with both!!!! Do tell.

Basil Pesto Crusted Barramundi

Last night's dinner was a bit of a quick throw together.   That's not to say though that it wasn't good and flavourful.  Sometimes all it takes is just a couple of simple elements and a voila!!  Meals in minutes!!!

Firstly I whipped up a Basil Pesto Dip in the Thermomix - to make the dish even easier - you can simply pick up a tub of ready made dip at the supermarket.

After I had made the dip I decided that in order to fill up "The Darlings" a loaf of bread was in order.  If you have a good basic bread dough mix you can really add anything that takes your fancy to it. Tonight I am going to add roasted garlic and feta cheese.

Roasted Garlic and Feta Cheese Bread

520g Bakers Flour
2tsp yeast
300ml warm water
1 tsp salt
1tsp sugar
1 head of roasted garlic *
150g feta cheese, crumbled

* To roast the garlic wrap the whole head loosely in foil.   Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until the garlic is soft to the touch.  Allow to cool until it is cool enough to handle.

Place the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in to the TM bowl.  Gently squeeze all the garlic cloves from their skins into the flour mixture.  Add the warm water.  Put on closed lid position and on interval (Knead) setting knead the dough for 4 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a large bowl that has been lightly oiled.  Cover with cling wrap that has also been lightly oiled, and keep in a warm place for approximately 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Knock down the dough.  Place the dough on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper and lightly sprinkled with polenta.  Shape roughly into the shape you desire.  Make an incision with a sharp knife into the bread dough, and place a small amount of the feta cheese into the incision.  Cover the dough back over the cheese.  Repeat all over the dough until all the cheese is used up.  You may wish to save a little to sprinkle over the top of the bread as well.

Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 210 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped.

As an accompaniment to the basil pesto crusted fish I made some roasted garlic tomatoes.  As you know I love those beautifully coloured tomatoes in the tomato medley - you know the ones .....

I cut these in half and tossed them in a little olive oil and crushed garlic.  Then to sweeten up the mixture I added a little of my balsamic/maple sauce - now if you haven't made this yet you must - you will find it here.

Also needed was some roasted kipfler potatoes which you will also find on the post for the balsamic sauce.  Tonight I added a few chunks of pumpkin to the mix.

Ok so while the bread is baking add the potatoes - they will take all up around 35-40 minutes.

During the last 10-15 minutes of cooking add the tomatoes and the fish.

The tomatoes should be like a thick tomatoey sauce.

The fish is really simple.  Just line a baking tray with foil (saves washing up!!) spray the foil lightly with olive oil spray.  Top with a good amount of the dip.  Bake in the oven along with the potatoes (now I have to confess I do not have enough oven space to cook all of this at once - I baked the bread first - then half way through it's cooking time I added the potatoes, then the tomatoes and then when the bread was ready I started cooking the fish).

Bake the fish for around 10-15 minutes, or until it is cooked though and flakes easily.  You may like to grill the top of it  to give it a crust - beware it browns quickly!!!

Serve with the roasted potatoes, and the tomatoes on the side.

Perhaps not the prettiest of meals (I would certainly win no points on plating up!!) but it was easy to prepare and it was very tasty.

Fish Curry with Cheese Naan

While I did so well last week, I seem to be behind the 8 ball in posts again.  In an effort to catch up here is the fish curry that we had on Friday night.

Fish Curry 
Adapted from Fish Food Cookbook

Serves 4

4 cardamon pods
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbs shredded coconut
1/4 cup oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 small green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tbs fresh ginger, finely diced
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
2 cloves
1 tbs tamarind concentrate
20 curry leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
800ml coconut cream (I used light)
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs ketchap manis
500g (with shell) green prawns, peeled and deveined
500g fish (I used salmon and firm white fish), cut into strips

Lightly crush the cardamon pods until the pods split, then remove the seeds from the pods and put in a small frying pan with the coriander seeds.  Dry-fry the seeds until fragrant and the seeds begin to jump.  Remove from the heat and tip into a mortar and pestle.  Grind the seeds to a powder.

Add the mustard seeds to the frying pan with the coconut, and toast together until the seeds begin to pop, and the coconut is light golden in colour.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion.  Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until it starts to soften.  Add the garlic, chilli, ginger, turmeric and nutmeg and cook for a further minute.  Add the ground spices, the toasted coconut and mustard seeds, the cloves, tamarind concentrate, curry leaves, cinnamon sticks and coconut cream.  Stir well and heat to just below boiling point, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Add the fish and prawns and poach for 5 minutes, or until the fish is opaque and the prawns are pale pink.

Season to taste with the brown sugar and ketchap manis.

Serve over steamed rice, and with cheese naan.

Cheese Naan
Adapted from  Meat on the Menu Thermomix Cookbook

1 egg
50 olive oil
200g milk
210g greek style plain yoghurt
2 tsp yeast
600g bakers flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
grated tasty cheese

Place the egg, oil, milk, yoghurt and yeast into the TM bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3.  Cook for 4 minutes at 50 degrees on speed 3.  Leave in TM bowl for approximately 10 minutes to activate yeast.

Add the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into the TM bowl.  Set dial to closed lid position and knead for 3 minutes on interval speed.  Place the dough into a large oiled bowl.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for up to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees - or I used my electric pizza oven to cook the naan.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knead by hand until the dough is smooth.  Divide the dough equally (approx 100g per portion)  between two pieces of baking paper, roll out the dough until 1/2cm thickness - add a small amount of grated cheese to the middle of the dough, turn the edges into the middle to cover the cheese, then roll out again.

Now either cook individually in a pizza oven, or place on a baking sheet that has been lined with baking paper in the hot oven for 5-8 minutes.

I have been a little remiss in the photo department - and I have no photos of the naan bread.  They were really popular though let me tell you!!!!

Italian Feast

Life has kind of gone back to normal now.

The long weekend is now a distant memory, the pupil free day is over, and they are all back at school again (breathe a big sigh of relief!!!)  Of course there was my birthday in there this week as well - so things have been quite topsy turvey here to say the least.  While I have been cooking as usual over the last few weeks, I just haven't had the time (or the concentration with everyone around) to blog.  So I guess I have lots to catch up on.  I take the photos, and file them away in a file, meaning to write about them, but the enthusiasm seems to wane, and well, before you know it I never wrote about them at all - and they become little lost "orphans" sitting in a file feeling very unloved.

This is the time of the month is when the new editions of several magazines hit the newsstands. The current edition of Good Taste Magazine features food from all over the world.  This meal is a trip to Italy.  (I always wanted to spend my 50th birthday in Italy, but somehow it never happend - a trip via food will have to do!)

While this looks like quite a lot to do, if you break it down it becomes quite simple.  The stew takes a couple of hours to cook - so you need to start that early.  The sides really don't take too long at all, just coordination.  Make sure that you start the bread once you have the stew under way, and you will have it all covered!

Spezzatino di Manzo (Italian Beef Stew)
From Good Taste Magazine May edition

Serves 6
1/2 cup plain flour
1.5kg beef chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
100g pancetta, coarsely chopped *
2 carrots, peeled, finely chopped *
2 celery sticks, finely chopped *
1 brown onion, finely chopped *
2 cloves garlic, crushed *
1 cup dry white wine
400g diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbs chopped fresh sage
2tbs capers, rinsed, drained, chopped

Place the flour in a large plastic bag.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the beef and shake to coat.  Heat 1 tbs of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.  Add 1/3 of the beef and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes, or until browned.  Transfer to a plate.  Repeat until all beef is cooked.

Add the pancetta, carrot, celery and garlic to the pan and cook stirring for 5 minutes or until browned.  Stir in the wine, and using a flat edged wooden spoon scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Stir in the beef, tomato, stock, rosemary and sage.  Bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat to low.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour 20 minutes.  Uncover and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the beef is tender and the sauce is thick. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan regularly so that you don't get the sauce "stuck" on the bottom!

Stir in the capers and season to taste.  It is quite salty with the pancetta - so taste it before adding any more salt!!!

Serve with polenta and spinach on the side, and topped with the reserved pepperoni.

* I blitzed these items separately in the TM - put on closed lid position and pulsed the turbo button 2-3 times - this will ensure it is roughly chopped - not pureed!!!


Polenta con pepperoni (Polenta with Pepperoni)

Adapted From Good Taste Magazine May edition

Serves 6

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup polenta

30g butter

150g peperoni

Chop the pepperoni by placing in the TM bowl - put on closed lid position and press the turbo button 2-3 times.  This will give you nice and uneven chopping.   Remove from the bowl and place in a small frypan.  Pan fry the chopped pepperoni until crispy.  Remove and drain on a paper towel until needed.

Place the chicken stock in the TM bowl and cook for 10 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 1.

Add the polenta to the bowl and cook for 25-30 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 2.  Add the butter and half of the cooked pepperoni, and cook for another 2 minutes, or until well combined and the butter has melted through.

Spinach all Romana (Spinach with Raisins)

Adapted From Good Taste Magazine May edition

Serves 6

500g English Spinach
40g butter
1/2 cup raisins
2 tbs pine nuts
2 cloves grushed garlic

Heat the butter in a frypan over medium high heat.  Add the raisins, pine nuts, and garlic.  Cook for 5 minutes, or until the pine nuts are golden.

Add the spinach, and toss for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted and hot.

We love our bread here - and recently while reading Not Quite Nigella she talked about visiting the Noosa Farmers Markets and showed an image of Stromboli Bread - says it was named after a volcano in Italy - and had a pocket of mozzarella cheese and garlic in the middle.  Sounds good to me!!

Here is my attempt - be warned it is not for the faint hearted - it contains serious garlic

Serious Garlic Bread

1-2 heads of fresh garlic
30g mozzarella cheese
520g bakers flour
2 tsp yeast
300ml warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Place the garlic heads on piece of foil.  Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until lovely and soft.  Allow to cool.  Once cool, gently squeeze the garlic from the skins.  Reserve.

Place the flour, yeast, water, salt, sugar, and 3/4 of the roasted garlic into the TM bowl.  Knead on interval setting for 4 minutes.  Remove from the bowl and place in a large bowl that has been lightly oiled.  Cover with cling wrap that has also been lightly oiled.  Place in a warm place and allow to rise for approximately 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and roughly shape into a large rectangle.  Down the centre of the dough place the reserved garlic (that has been roughly pureed) and the mozzarella cheese.  Fold the dough over to cover the cheese and garlic.

Lightly grease a tin and place the bread into the tin.  (At this stage I lightly sprinkled the top of the bread with a small amount of salt flakes).  Allow to rise again, in a warm place for approximately 30 minutes.

Cook in an oven that has been preheated to 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and sounding hollow when tapped.

After removing from the oven I sprayed lightly with olive oil spray just to give it a bit of a glisten!!!  This was serious garlic bread - if you love garlic - then you will love this!!!!  Be warned though - serious garlic breath!!!!

So while I didn't actually get to Italy for my birthday - I am still enjoying the food!!!

Cheese and Ham Rolls and Hot Cross Buns

Even when you try and get an easy lunch on the run with the kids it can still add up dollar wise.  The other day I stopped at the local Baker's Delight as "The Darlings" were hungry and they wanted Cheese and Bacon Rolls.  At $2.70 each they are not exactly cheap.

I recently read on The Opies Family Food blogsite how she had  made Cheese and Bacon Rolls with success, and as I am gaining more and more confidence with baking bread using the Thermomix,  I decided to have a go at making them myself.  Really not hard at all.  Only problem was that I had no Bacon - so I substituted Ham.

Cheese and Ham Rolls
Original recipe from Forum Thermomix

Makes 8 Rolls

7g Yeast
2 tsp caster sugar
280g warm water
480g bakers flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
grated tasty cheese
100g shaved ham, cut into small pieces

Pace the yeast, sugar and warm water in the the Termomix Bowl.  Mix for 20 seconds on speed 4.  Allow to stand for approximately 10 minutes, or until frothy.

Add the salt, flour and oil.  Process for 5 seconds on speed 7.  Set dial to closed lid position and knead on interval setting for 1 minute 30 seconds.

Set aside in a lightly oiled bowl, in a warm place for 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and knead lightly until smooth.

Divide the dough into 8 portions.  Place on baking paper on a baking try.  Cover with lightly greased cling wrap.  Allow to prove again for 30-40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C.

Brush with the lightly beaten egg, then top with ham, then grated cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until cooked through and golden.

So while we are in the baking mode - why not make some Hot Cross Buns as well....

Hot Cross Buns
From Thermomix EDC Cookbook

250g warm milk
500g bakers flour
2tsp salt
70g butter
45g sugar
1 egg
15g yeast
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
100g sultanas
70g currants

Place the milk into TM bowl and cook for 50 seconds at 90 degrees on speed 1.

Place remaining ingredients into the bowl, excluding the sultanas and currants, and mix for 6 seconds on speed 7.  Set dial to closed lid position and knead for 2-3 minutes on interval setting.

Add the sultanas and currants and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Put in a warm place to prove for 1-1/2 hours.  Dough should approximately double in size.

Shape into rolls approximately dinner roll size.  Place the buns close together on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.  Cover and let prove for a further 10-15 minutes.

Pipe with crosses - recipe follows

Cross Mixture

80g plain flour
pinch salt
1 tsp light olive oil
100g water

Place all ingredients into TM bowl and mix to combine for 30 seconds on speed 4 to obtain a thick consistency.  Place into a piping bag - (or a small ziploc bag that you cut a small corner from).  Pipe crosses onto the buns.

Bake in oven that has been preheated to 220 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Brush with sugar syrup while still warm.

Sugar Syrup

2 tbs water
2 tbs sugar

Place sugar and water into TM bowl and cook for 2 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 4.

So how much money did I save baking these myself???  Well $2.70 x 8 = $21.60 and a dozen hot cross buns?? Well my school was selling them for $13 per dozen as a fund raiser!!!!

Aren't I the clever little spend thrift??  So tell me Dear Readers what ways do you like to save money?  Do you bake, or do you make all your own food rather than buy Take Away?

Green Bean, Edamame and Avocado Salad and Brazilian Cheese Bread

Another accompaniment we had the other night with our ribs was a Green Bean and Edamame and Avocado Salad.  I have a bit of a thing about Edamame at the moment - I just love them - so when I saw this recipe I just knew I would have to try it.  I found the recipe in a New Zealand Magazine that was lent to me recently - I am not 100% sure but I think it was called Taste.  I copied several recipes out - but forgot to include the magazine title!

I have altered the recipe slightly - the original called for preserved lemons in the dressing, but as I was going for an asian theme I decided to leave them out.

Green Bean, Edamame and Avocado Salad
Adapted from Taste (New Zealand) December issue

Serves 6-8


400g green beans, stem end trimmed
2 cups edamame beans, podded
1 ripe avocado

Dressing
2 tbs finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbs white wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 clove crushed garlic
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 cup roughly torn mint leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the beans in a saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender.  Remove the beans from the water and place in a bowl of chilled water.  Add the edamame beans to the oiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes.  Drain the edamame beans and refresh in chilled water.  Drain again, and dry both lots of beans well.

For the dressing soak the red onion in cold water for 10 minutes.  Drain, and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel.  Place the remaining ingredients in a screw top jar.  Add the chopped onion and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To assemble the salad place the beans in a large bowl.  Halve the avocado, remove the stone and thinly slice.  Using a spoon remove the avocado flesh.  Carefully combine the beans, avocado and dressing.  Top with the mint.

Now I know I have given you a Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe before - but I was not 100% happy with it - so here is another try - this time it is a recipe I got from a Thermomix Cookbook - I think it's title was Travelling with Thermomix - there were recipes from all over the world in there.

I again used whole tapioca for the recipe - this gives the bread a slightly crunchy testure - which is not bad - the authentic bread uses tapioca starch and next time I will try that - it gives a smoother sponge like texture to the bread.

Brazilian Cheese Bread

150g Gruyere Cheese * I used Gouda

200g milk

100g canola oil

1 tsp salt

250g tapioca starch

2 eggs

Grate the cheese for 10 seconds on speed 9.  Set aside.

Add the milk, oil, and salt into the TM bowl - cook for 5 minutes at 90 degrees on speed 1.

Add the tapioca starch, mix for 20 seconds on speed 6.

Remove the bowl from the stand and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.  Scrape down the bowl, making sure you get the mixture form the bottom of the bowl.

Add the eggs and cheese, and knead for 2 minutes.

Allow the mixture to rest - I actually rested mine for quite a while as I wanted to pop them into the oven at the last minute.

Lightly spray mini muffin tins with spray olive oil.  Place small amounts into the prepared muffin tins.

Bake at 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until golden.

Vineyard Sausages

Some people have a real fruit and meat aversion.  Me, I'm not one of those!  I love to have something sweet, and juicy to combine with each mouthful of meat.

I have looked at this recipe several times, and contemplated making it.  Today however, way the day the gods deemed to be the day!  It was raining, I was stuck inside, and didn't feel like going out.   I had also set about cleaning out the fridge (joy oh joy - one of my favourite jobs!) You just never know what you are going to uncover!!!  Little frozen packages of mystery that you have carefully packed away and frozen, rather than thrown away.  Somehow, you just never seem to get back to them - or do you - is it just me that likes to make frozen mystery packages??

Well it seems I had an over abundance of sausages in the freezer - so tonight's meal must have sausages - but not just plain old, boring sausages - let's do the thing with grapes!!!!

Vineyard Sausages 
From Faking It Cookbook

Serves 4

1 tbs olive oil
12 pork or chicken chipolata sausages
1 eschalot, finely chopped
2 cups seedless grapes
1/2 cup white wine
2 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
2 tsp honey

Heat a large frypan over medium high heat.  Add the sausages and cook, turning, for 8-10 minutes, until cooked through and golden.

Remove the sausages from the pan, keep warm.

Drain any excess oil from the pan, add the olive oil.  Return the pan to medium heat.  Add the eschalot, cook for 3-4 minutes, or until starting to soften.  Add the grapes, and cook for another couple of minutes, or until the grapes start to soften.  Add the wine, rosemary, and honey.  Stir until well combined.  Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Add the sausages back to pan, and heat through.

Serve with peas and bacon, and fresh crusty bread.

Peas and Bacon

1 eschalot, finely chopped
3 rashers short cut bacon
1 cup frozen peas

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a small frypan over medium high heat.  Add the bacon and eschalot, cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes, or until the eschalot and bacon have softened.  Add the peas, and cook, stirring often for another 5 minutes.

Focaccia
From EDC Thermomix Cookbook

400g lukewarm water
20g dry yeast
20g oil
500g bakers flour
salt to taste

Place water, yeast and oil into TM bowl.  Mix for 5 seconds on speed 6.

Add flour and salt and mix for 20 seconds on speed 6.

Set the dial to closed lid position and knead for 2 minutes on Interval speed.

Remove dough from bowl and place in an oiled bowl.  Allow to rise in a wamr place for up to an hour.

Knock down the dough and shape.  Allow to rise again for another 30 minutes.

After the second proving, garnish with olive oil, rosemary, parmesan cheese and sea salt.

Bake in oven that has been preheated to 200C for 20-30 minutes, or until golden.

So Dear Readers do you have little mystery packages buried deep down in the frozen tundra that is your freezer??  Are you able to keep tabs on exactly what you have in there - no duplicates of anything???

Silver Dory with Choron Bérnaise and Roasted Garlic Cheese Bread

On Friday night I attended a "Master Class" cooking demonstration for the Thermomix, hosted by Justine Schofield.  Those of you who are MasterChef fans will remember Justine from Series one.  Justine has only recently become acquainted with the Thermomix, but is a huge fan.  She is currently working on adapting a lot of her recipes using the Thermomix.  At this session she shared a few of her recipes with us.

She started the evening off by making a lovely Gazpacho that was topped with a sour dough crumble, or "Sand" as she called it, olive tapenade and quail eggs.  The main course was a piece of steamed barramundi, topped with Charon Bérnaise, and for dessert she divulged the ingredients for George's Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse, her twist was to serve it in a chocolate tart.  It was all very nice I must say!

I had already planned, as I always do, my menu for the weekend - we were going to have a salmon dish, but when I was at the fish shop I was persuaded to try the silver dory instead of the salmon.  As I really did not have a plan in mind for how I was going to serve the the dory I thought why not try the Charon Bérnaise to top the fish!

Now if you are like me, I was not entirely sure what a Choron Bérnaise was - I looked over the list of ingredients several times trying to discern what the "Choron" actually was, of course looking for a magical ingredient.  I have since found out that Choron is the rose tint given by adding tomato puree to either hollandaise or Bérnaise sauce, and is named after chef Alexandre Etienne Charon who invented the sauce.  

Reading a little about Charon I am inclined to think he may have been the Heston Blumenthal of his time - he was certainly a little out there.  Charon was at the height of his fame in1870, during the Siege of Paris.  During this time Parisians were reduced to eat domestic animals due to meat shortages.  Apparently the bourgeois didn't like this idea and so Charon started eying off the animals in the zoo (they were a little more exotic!)  For the 1870 Christmas feast he presented his patrons a meal that included the stuffed head of a donkey, elephant consomme, roasted camel, wolf in deer sauce, cat with rat and the piece de resistance - antelope in truffle sauce.  He achieved quite some notoriety for his elephant dishes these included Elephant in chasseur sauce and Elephant Bourguinon!!  Anyway I digress - there were no wild animals involved in this meal you can be rest assured!

Silver Dory with Choron Bérnaise 

From What's on the Menu with Justine Schofield

Serves 4

4 pieces silver dory

salt and pepper

olive oil

4 egg yolks

130g unsalted butter, diced

1 tbs taragon vinegar *

1/2 tbs tomato paste

1 tomato, deseeded, finely chopped

1 tbs tarragon, finely chopped

*  To make tarragon vinegar you can add some chopped tarragon to white wine vinegar, and allow it to steep for several hours.  Strain the leaves from the vinegar before use.

Season the fish fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Set aside until the sauce is ready.

Insert the butterfly into the Thermomix bowl.  Add the egg yolks, butter and vinegar.  Cook for 8 minutes at 80 degrees on speed 3.

Add the tomato paste, chopped tomato and tarragon and mix for 30 seconds on speed 3.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.  Cook the fish skin side down for 2 minutes, flip over, and cook the flesh side for 1-2 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.  My pieces were quite thin - so they needed very little cooking time.

Serve the fish with roasted garlic potatoes, steamed green vegetables and a dollop of the Choron Bérnaise.

Bérnaise sauce can be quite a tricky sauce to make.  If not made properly and watched carefully it tends to split very easily.  As you can see, making it in the Thermomix is a breeze - add all your ingredients and sit down and and have a glass of wine while you wait for it to cook!!!

"The Darlings" love to have bread with their meal so I thought I would try a little twist on the regular garlic bread.  Rather than add the garlic and the butter to the cooked bread I thought I would incorporate roasted garlic and a some cheese into the bread dough and cook it all together!!  One word - YUM!

Roasted Garlic and Cheese Bread

1 head (yes a whole head!) of garlic

520g bread flour

2tsp yeast

300ml warm water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

230g cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Place the head of garlic onto a piece of foil.  Bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the garlic is lovely and soft.  Allow to cool slightly.

Cut the cheese into cubes, place in the TM bowl and process for 8 seconds on speed 7.  Remove the cheese from the bowl.  Set aside.

Place the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar into the TM bowl.  Pull the garlic head apart and gently squeeze the garlic from the skins.  Place the garlic puree into the TM bowl with the flour mix.  Add 120g of the grated cheese, and then the warm water.  Knead for 4 minutes.  Remove the lid from the TM.  Lightly oil a piece of cling wrap and place the oiled cling wrap over the top of the TM bowl.  I like to leave my bread for a long time to prove - once it had crowned above the top of the bowl I punched it down and let it rise again.

After the second proving I rolled it into a log shape and put it onto a piece of baking paper that was lightly sprinkled with polenta.  I then cut several incisions all over the bread and filled these incisions with the reserved grated cheese, make sure you pull the dough back together to cover the cheese up. Repeat until almost all the cheese has been "hidden in the dough" - but make sure to reserve just a little to put on the top!!!

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden, and it sounds hollow when tapped.

This bread was good!!!  It was even better the next morning when it was toasted, topped with a poached egg and a dollop of the Choron Bérnaise - how's that for using up the leftovers????

I did make a dessert too - but you know what?  I was not entirely happy with it.  It was George Colombaris' Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse.  Perhaps it was the chocolate I used - I used Lindt 80% - but it just didn't do it for me - too earthy, too bitter (the only highlight was the boozy berries I topped it with!)  If I try it again I think I will not use such a bitter chocolate.

I was however so impressed with the roasted garlic bread that for pizza night tonight I am going to incorporate roasted garlic into the pizza dough!!!!  Should give us pizzas with a little punch!!!!