Vegeroni Spirals with Rich Mushroom Sauce

Posted in Pasta & Rice by thermoaffairs

I made this mushroom sauce recently, by adapting a recipe in my cookbook collection. It wasn’t a Thermomix recipe, but I converted it along the way. It’s delicious as a rich, tasty pasta sauce, but can also be served as a mushroom sauce on top of a piece of grilled steak. This recipe is vegetarian & also vegan if you don’t add the sour cream. To mix it up, you could also make this with chicken stock paste, instead of vegetable for a different flavour. Serve this with any type of pasta – the original recipe was Mushroom Orecchiette, but I couldn’t find Orecchiette that day at the supermarket. This sauce is also very easy to freeze in portion sizes for a quick dinner when you don’t have much time on your hands.

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
20g dried forest or porchini mushrooms
40g olive oil
500g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
125g white wine
125g tomato sugo or tomato passata
1-2 tablespoons vegetable stock paste
60g sour cream or cream (optional)
400g dried Vegeroni spirals (or any dried pasta)
pepper
2 tbsp chopped parsley or basil
Parmesan cheese, to serve

Method:
1) Place garlic in TM bowl, chop 3 seconds/speed 7.
2) Add onion, chop 3 seconds/speed 5.
3) Add dried mushrooms & oil, cook 3 minutes/120 degrees/speed 1 (MC removed).
4) Add mushrooms, cook 5 minutes/100 degrees/reverse/speed 1.
5) Add white wine, cook 4 minutes/100 degrees/reverse/speed 1 (MC removed).
6) Add sugo/passata. Zero scales, add 1-2 tbsp veg stock paste & add enough water to reach 125g.
7) Cook 15 minutes/100 degrees/reverse/speed 1 (MC removed & place steamer basket on lid to prevent spitting).
8) Add sour cream, cook 2 minutes/100 degrees/reverse/speed 1.
9) Check seasoning, toss sauce with cooked pasta & herbs. Serve with shaved parmesan cheese.

Notes:

If you have a TM31, cook at Varoma Temperature, when a recipe is for 120 degrees.

I like to use Swiss brown Mushrooms, as they have more flavour than button mushrooms. If you can’t find Swiss browns, use any combination of any mushrooms & button mushrooms are fine to use. The dried mushrooms will add a flavor kick anyway.

This is not just a pasta sauce – use this mushroom sauce to top your steak. One serve of sauce (for pasta) could be used to top 2-3 steaks.

Dried mushrooms add a flavour kick to this dish, as mushrooms alone don’t have a lot of flavour. You can buy these from some grocers & deli’s, but they can be expensive in small packets. I buy my dried mushrooms in bulk from Moorabbin Wholesale Market in Melbourne. Places like Costco also sell in bulk.

16Jan2015

Chunky Basil & Cashew Dip

Posted in Sides & Spices by thermoaffairs

This is one of my favourite dips & I sometimes make this dip at my demos. This recipe, from the ‘Recipe Community’, replicates the ‘Wattle Valley’ dip you buy at the supermarket. This dip, however’ is made with fresh ingredients & contains no additives & preservatives. I’ve been asked so many times for this recipe, so I thought it time to share on my blog. I’ve followed the recipe on the Recipe Community, but tweaked the recipe by adding a little extra olive oil. You can enjoy this dip as is, but also use it on pizza bases & make basil pesto scrolls.

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic
50g fresh basil leaves (usually 1 bunch)
120g unsalted cashews
60g parmesan cheese, cubed
50g olive oil
20g white vinegar
Sprinkle of dried mixed herbs
Salt & pepper

Method:
1) Place garlic into TM bowl, chop 3 seconds/speed7.
2) Add remaining ingredients, chop 1 second/Turbo. Repeat the 1 second/Turbo a few more times, or until the consistency reaches your desired level of ‘chunkiness’. Serve & enjoy.

Source: Thermomix Recipe Community

Notes:

I buy my cashew nuts in bulk, to save money (Although I do need to hide them in the pantry so I don’t snack on them all the time)! Aldi sell them in small packets that are reasonably priced compared to the other major supermarkets. You can also save a lot of money buy buying in kilo bags or more. Around my local area I go to Moorabbin Wholesale Market or D&D nuts in Dandenong.

Use left overs on pizza, add oil for dressing, scrolls. Just remember if you make scroll, they contain nuts, so are not ‘lunchbox friendly’ for many schools & kindergartens.

11Jan2015

Honey Joys

Posted in Kids & Lunch Boxes by thermoaffairs

It was my daughter’s 5th birthday yesterday, so I’ve been busy making lots of party food. My kids love honey joys, but I think my Dad loves them even more! As I was making them yesterday, I converted the 1/3 cup & tablespoon measurements from my recipe into grams, so next time I can just weigh the ingredients into my Thermomix bowl. It’s great to have the butter mixture melting at a controlled temperature & not have to keep stirring it. While it’s melting, you can get all the patty pans ready for the next step.

Ingredients:
90g butter
80g sugar
20g honey
150g cornflakes

Method:
1) Pre heat oven to 150 degrees & line muffin tray with patty pan cases.
2) Place butter, sugar & honey in TM bowl, cook 5 minutes/100 degrees/speed 2.
3) While the butter mixture is cooking, place a mixing bowl on top of the TM lid, zero the scales & weigh cornflakes into bowl.
4) Pour butter mixture over the cornflakes & mix well.
5) Working quickly, spoon mixture into patty cases. Bake for 10 minutes.

Notes:

If you prefer, you can add the cornflakes to the TM bowl in steps 3 & 4. Mix the cornflakes for 15 seconds/reverse/speed 2 or until the cornflakes are all coated.

I prefer to mix the cornflakes & butter mixture in a mixing bowl, as you need to use a tablespoon to spoon the mixture into the patty cases & I’d rather not use a tablespoon in my TM bowl, so I don’t scratch it. If you’d rather do everything in the Thermomix & avoid washing another mixing bowl, just take care when spooning out the last of the mixture & be careful not to scratch the base of your TM bowl.

3Jan2015

How to Double or Halve a Thermomix Recipe

Posted in Tips & How-to's by thermoaffairs

To halve any Thermomix recipe, you halve the ingredients in the recipe & decrease the cooking time by 20%.

Before you do halve a recipe, consider making the full recipe & then freezing some portions – this will mean no cooking on another night! Personally, the only recipe I ever make a half serve of is custard. My kids prefer to eat it after it’s just cooled down, rather than when it’s been in the fridge overnight. If there are other kids over, then I’ll make a full serve.

To double any Thermomix recipe, you double the ingredients in the recipe & increase the cooking time by 20%.

It’s important to keep an eye on the maximum level mark inside your TM bowl. This is either 2lt (TM31) or 2.2lt (TM5). Don’t overload your bowl with ingredients over these marks. If you do have a full bowl, when you’re chopping or cooking, you may need to use your TM Spatula through the hole in the lid, just to help the ingredients at the top of the bowl to be incorporated.

The majority of main dishes are designed to use the full capacity of the bowl, so you probably won’t be able to fit double ingredients in the bowl. Most of the time, you would be able to just double the amount of protein in the recipe & if you do this, I’d still increase the cooking time by 20%.

Recipes such as soups, especially those that are pureed on the final step, are designed to use the full capacity of the bowl, so I would never double them.