Words can not express how excited I was to get my advanced signed copy of this awesome cookbook!! I have been lucky enough to do a bit of recipe testing for this cookbook & was invited for a week of the photoshoot – along with a couple of other cooks I got to cook some of the dishes that were photographed for the shoot. We all had a Thermomix each to use. It was so amazing to watch the pros work their magic with the styling & photography, I learnt so much & had so much fun too. I am so grateful for the experience.
There are so many amazing chapters & delicious recipes to share with you, here are a few pictures of the recipes I have made already & I will continue to update them. By the way don’t forget to check out the official Entertaining with Dani Valent site & register your progressive dinner in Feb to win great prizes.
The day after I got the book in the post – so exciting!!
BRUNCH
Kale, Chia, Pear & Orange Smoothie
Wholemeal Crumpets
Rhubarb & Blackberry Breakfast Tart
Spiced Carrot Porridge
Smoked Salmon Muffins with Steamed Eggs & Herbed Relish
Tiraccino
SPANISH
Tuna Empanadas made by my Mum
Herb-Salted Chicken and Chickpea Casserole
CHINESE
Masterstock Chicken
Fortune Cookies
PARTY
Rhubarb & Vanilla Rhumba
Romesco Dip
Spiced Nut Clusters
Mushroom Cappuccino (Mushroom Soup)
Sweet Potato Blini with Cumin & Sesame Crème Fraîche
INSPIRED IDEAS: For Chef Ellie Emmett’s plain grissini from her The Real food for Kids Cookbook, skip the spinach,cheese & sesame steps & use all the dough & cut into strips. (Ellie often makes half the dough into grissini & the other half for a pizza base.) Try Dani Valent’s variations from In the Mix 1- Grissini with apricot & cardamon paste – a Caroline Velik recipe. Or search for Dani Valent on the Thermomix recipe community to find her Semi-dried Tomato Grissini with Rosemary.
Ingredients
500g bakers or plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp bread improver (optional) 1 tsp yeast
1 tsp olive oil
300g lukewarm water
Instructions
Place, yeast, flour, bread improver, salt, olive oil and water in the TM bowl. Mix for 6 sec/speed 6, then for 2 min/ interval setting (dough kneading)
Turn onto a Thermomat and wrap, or tip into a greased bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or cling wrap.
Leave for an hour or so, until dough has doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 190 degrees, fan forced. Grease or line a large baking tray.
Divide the dough in half.
Chop 50g baby spinach leaves add half the dough & knead again for about 1 min/interval setting or until all incorporated.
Remove from bowl then chop 60 grams of parmesan cheese 5 sec/ speed 10.
On the Thermomat or a floured board, sprinkle sesame seeds (optional), press or roll the green dough into a rectangle around 40 x 30 cm.
Spread the cheese over the dough, spray with some oil to help it stick to the next layer.
Roll out the whole piece of white dough to the same size & place on top of the cheese & the green dough pressing gently.
Sprinkle with black sesame seeds (optional).
For shorter dipping sticks cut the joined dough through the middle with your spatula making 2 long rectangles 40cm by 15cm approx.
Then thinly slice through 1cm wide slices twisting & stretching each one place on a tray lined with baking paper.
Bake at 200 degrees for 15 mins or until golden & crisp.
It’s almost here – again! How on earth did that happen?
So obviously you are wanting to plan for food for the big day & any celebrations with family & friends leading up to Christmas 🙂 So I bring to you some inspiration & ideas to get you through this crazy busy time 😉
The Festive Flavours Cookbook & Chip is really great with some really good ideas for making your own gifts too like flavoured salts or spice rubs or flavoured sugars.
The Festive Flavours Cookbook is one of 4 books currently available to purchase in a book bundle saving you money. There are also lots of other great gifts available from the Thermomix online shop.
One of my favourite recipes from the Festive Flavour Book is the Pork & Chicken Terrine & I am definitely making that again – it was really delicious, it has cranberries & pistachios in it too.
Our family love my Thermie green avocado dip & this year I will be making the warm roasted cauliflower hummus from Dani Valent Cooking – speaking of which, wouldn’t a subscription to this site be a great gift for Christmas – there are already over 40 recipe videos available (index here) with a new one added each week, Dani Valent also has a Christmas ebook available to purchase for $15 or it’s free to her subscribers. See some of her recipes on my post called my addiction to Dani Valent Cooking 🙂 I am almost certain we will be having the Basque Cheesecake on Christmas day too!!
Also don’t forget about the recipe platform now called Cookidoo – what a great way to plan out your dishes for the festive season – if you haven’t signed up yet it is really easy to use with a great shopping list feature too. Here is the link to sign up to Cookidoo & you will get 1 free recipe collection when you sign up.
I am having a fun countdown on my social media pages sharing a different recipe idea each day – I hope you enjoy it & get some great ideas to use for your special day 🙂 Merry Christmas everyone!!
Day 1 recipe is my friend Kelly’s Dutch Spice Speculaas recipe here
Day 3 Thermie Green Avocado Dip This is one of the best dips ever – even if I do say so myself, put it on your Christmas & or entertaining menu this season or maybe just put it in your mouth!! Your taste buds will thank you 😉
The Best Avocado Dip
Day 4: I introduce to you the “Cheesecake” You can put as many or as little layers as you like of your favourite cheeses & I have included a layer of my favourite fruitcake to eat with cheddar cheese. You have to trust me on this it is seriously good – I also made some apple paste to go on my “cheese cake” because I’m all out of my homemade quince paste. I was also toying with the idea of making rounds of homemade crackers to put in between the cake layers so when you dismantle the “cheesecake” you could break the big cracker into a few pieces to serve with the cheese too.
Day 5 inspiration is Smolt’s Lemon Curd You can give it as gifts or serve it on or with your christmas desserts – Like pavlova with fresh berries!!
Day 7: Southern Stars White Christmas Custard – Coconut, White Chocolate, Frangelico & Vanilla Bean – our Thermomix team created this recipe for a custard challenge last Christmas & it is very delicious 🙂
Day 8: My Fruit Mince Surprise – it’s got rhubarb in it!! YUM! You can do so much with this delicious stuff – Add some fruit mince to some cream cheese and serve with fruit for Christmas sweet dip, stir through your ice cream mixture or serve with vanilla or brandy custard. Use fruit mince with thick custard or whipped cream as a profiterole filling, or use in fruit mince pies, pull apart bread or spread onto rectangles of puff pastry or brioche dough and make scrolls.
Use Fruit Mince in profiteroles mixed with cream or thick custard, fruit mince pies, pull apart bread or spread onto rectangles of puff pastry or brioche dough and make scrolls. Add some Fruit Mince to cream cheese and serve with fruit for Christmas sweet dip. Stir through your ice cream mixture or serve with vanilla or brandy custard.
Ingredients
1 orange zest
500 g apples peeled, cored and quartered
200g chopped rhubarb
100 g dates dried
80 g craisins
100 g currants
15 g fresh ginger piece chopped/ minced
60 g flaked almonds
Juice 2 oranges
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cardamon
2 fresh bay leaves
1 tablespoon Cointreau or Brandy (optional)
Instructions
Place orange zest, dates and fresh ginger into mixing bowl and mince for 20
sec/speed 9.
Add apples and chop 4-6 sec/speed 6.
Add remaining ingredients except brandy and cook for 35 min/Varoma/
/speed 1. Cool slightly,remove the bay leaves & stir in cointreau or brandy, set aside
until ready to use.
3.5.3226
Christmas Profiterole – serving suggestion for my Special Fruit Mince
Day 9: Ellie’s Turducken. Yes it’s a chicken in a duck in a turkey!!
Day 10: Spiced Cherry Brioche from the Festive Flavours Cookbook – you can put any of your favourite fillings in 🙂
Day 11: Sarah’s Cheese Biscuits make up a few batches of this & store in the freezer in log ready to slice & bake when unexpected guests arrived or an attack of the munchies! Perfect with a glass of bubbles!
Sarah’s Cheese Biscuits
Day 12: Mum’s Chicken & Mango Salad – Such a versatile salad great to use up left over steamed chicken breast (after steaming a whole chook) or poaching chicken breasts in the Thermomix. You can use any nuts you like either cashews, macadamia or pistachios. Finely chopped celery for the crunch & fresh element, 1 mango sliced, sliced spring onions. Avocado is delicious in it too. I used cucumber because I had some in the fridge & added fresh parsley & mint leaves. Mum dressed it with 1/2 homemade mayo & half natural yoghurt 1 tsp of curry powder & 1 tabs of tomato relish. I used a honey & seeded mustard vinaigrette to dress it, my sister likes to use an Asian style dressing with soy sauce, fresh ginger & garlic.
Day 13: 60 Sec Fruitcake from the Devil of Cookbook – there are lots of other great Christmas recipes in this cookbook – Toblerone cheesecake, raspberry & white chocolate cheese cake just to name a few 🙂
Day 14: Nicole’s Festive Nougat – My friend Nicole makes these very year to give as gifts to friends.
Day 16: Flavoured butters can jazz anything up in a hurry & you can store them in the freezer. Dani Valent has some great butter flavour ideas & video of her making butter in the Thermomix. My friends at a girl, a guy furkids & food have a fabulous butter recipe then add any flavour you like – last year I made turkey skin butter as a variant to Dani Valent’s In the Mix cookbook Chicken Skin Butter recipe.
Day 18: Herb & Garlic Dip can be made into a great canape’ spread on sliced of french stick or sliced veggies with some smoked salmon YUM!!
Day 19: The good old Aussie Pav, you can make in all shapes & sizes with any choice of topping from fruits nuts & sauces, the possibilities are endless. Try the wreath recipe or pavlova stack.
Day 21: Gingerbread or Gingerbread House – I use the recipe from the Festive Flavours Cookbook.
Gingerbread house made by my customer Natalie & her 3 year old daughter.
Day 22: Beetroot Cured Salmon – there is a recipe in the Festive Flavours cookbook but I used the Jamie Oliver one from his new Christmas Cookbook & made the curing mixture with the Thermomix. I have served it here on Blinis – however it is so versatile you could serve it on cucumber rounds or rounds of baguettes – serve on top of a green salad to make it into a dish.
Day 23: Double Chocolate Pretzel Cookies from In the Mix 2 & Dani Valent Cooking – Santa will love them too!
Yes the name of this recipe is a link to one of my favourite childhood books by Dr Suess. After eating this fritatta I’m sure you would say you like to eat green eggs & ham (or bacon) anywhere. This is a recipe that is just in my brain & you can use any vegetables or any cheese, perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner, great for lunch boxes too – See my live face book video of me making the dish here. I’d love to know any of your variations, I sometimes make a fritata with smoked salmon as well .
1 large sweet potato roughly cubed (no need to peel)
4 rashers of bacon
1 red onion sliced
5 sprigs fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
100g spinach or silver beet leaves
8 eggs
250g cream or greek yoghurt
salt & pepper to taste
200g feta cheese
Instructions
Turn the oven on to 180 degrees & in your baking dish roast your sweet potato, onion & bacon rashers, you don't want to over cook the bacon & the sweet potato should be just cooked through.
Place garlic & parsley into the TM bowl & chop for 2 secs speed 7. Add the spinach & chop roughly for 3 secs speed 5.5 - you may need to use your spatula to help push all the leaves into the blades.
Add the eggs, cream & salt & pepper & mix for 5 secs speed 4. Spread the mixture over the roasted sweet potato & bacon. Crumble over the feta cheese & return to the oven to bake for approx 20 mins or until golden.
I grow rhubarb, I don’t do anything to it it just grows – that’s my favourite kind of gardening!! Maybe it grows so well because I got the original plant from my green thumb Mum? Anyway I have so much of it I am always on the hunt for a good rhubarb recipe either sweet or savoury, and I will upload more of my favourite rhubarb recipes soon – however this Rhubarb Crumble Muffin recipe is a regular because it is so easy & we normally have all the ingredients available. Watch me make them in my live facebook video.
You can replace some or all of the rhubarb with apple if you wish.
Ingredients
12 portion(s)
Rhubarb Muffins
220 grams Spelt Flour (white or whole), Or plain white flour or ½ of each
2 teaspoons baking powder
120 grams Rapdura Sugar, Or normal sugar
150 grams trimmed rhubarb
100 grams buttermilk, Or plain yoghurt or milk
60 grams coconut oil, Or vegetable oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
Optional Crumble Topping
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons Shredded coconut
2 tablespoons almonds, or hazelnuts
½ teaspoon cinnamon ground
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Place rhubarb into TM bowl 1 sec speed 6. Scrape out of the bowl & set aside. No need to clean the bowl.
Add all the wet ingredients & sugar & process for 5 secs speed 5.
Add flour & baking powder & rhubarb process 3 secs on speed 5 till just incorporated.
Scrape mixture into paper muffins cases.
Make optional topping as per below if you want to.
Sprinkle with optional crumble topping if desired. (No need to clean the bowl after making the muffin mixture- place all the crumble topping ingredients into the TM bowl [locked] & turbo a couple of times, you still want them still a bit chunky. Sprinkle a little on top of each of each muffin.)
