Words cannot 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 try & I have cooked, photographed & tasted them all!! By the way don’t forget to check out the official site Entertaining with Dani Valent each chapter has a spotify playlist too!!
The day after I got the book in the post – so exciting!!
BRUNCH
Bloody Maria
Kale, Chia, Pear & Orange Smoothie
Wholemeal Crumpets
Green Fig & Lime Marmalade
Rhubarb & Blackberry Breakfast Tart
Spiced Carrot Porridge
Bacon and Cinnamon Scrolls with Salted Maple Glaze
Smoked Salmon Muffins with Steamed Eggs & Herbed Relish
Tiraccino
SPANISH
Sunny Gazpacho
Tuna Empanadas made by my Mum
Tuna Empanadas
Chorizo & Prawn al la Sidra
Herb-Salted Chicken and Chickpea Casserole
Peas & Jamón
Steamed Orange Pudding with Almond Milk Ice Cream
CHINESE
Masterstock Chicken
Daikon Salad (recipe with Masterstock Chicken)
Prawn Wontons
Steamed Fish Black Beans & Rice (I had to use trevally instead of snapper)
Char Siu Bao – Steamed Pork Buns
Sichuan Pepper and Chilli Salt Squid
Chinese greens with XO Sauce
Fortune Cookies
Fortune Cookies
PARTY
Cherry Margarita
Rhubarb & Vanilla Rhumba
Pear Mulled Wine
Romesco Dip
Rice Crackers
Spiced Nut Clusters
Mushroom Cappuccino (Mushroom Soup)
Sweet Potato Blini with Cumin & Sesame Crème Fraîche
I’ve been making this delicious recipe for around 10 years now. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does. Watch my youtube video here
Coconut Rice
Ingredients:
400g Jasmine
Rice 800g water
400g coconut cream
Place the rice into the simmering basket & rinse under running water in the sink until the water is clear. Place the water & coconut cream into the TM bowl. Put the simmering basket with the rice into place inside the TM bowl. Put the lid & MC on set the TM to cook for 20 mins Varoma temperature Speed 4. Using the TM spatula carefully remove the simmering basket & tip the cooked coconut rice into a Thermoserver until you are ready to serve.
Inspirational ideas:
💚 You can add a couple of kaffir lime leaves to cook on top of the rice.
💚 You can place the varoma on top instead of the MC & steam some vegetables & or protein at the same time.
💚 You can pour some of the cooking liquid onto the rice in the Thermoserver & let it sit for a few mins to soak up the extra liquid.
Place the rice into the simmering basket & rinse under running water in the sink until the water is clear.
Place the water & coconut cream into the TM bowl. Put the simmering basket with the rice into place inside the TM bowl. Put the lid & MC on set the TM to cook for 20 mins Varoma temperature Speed 4.
Using the TM spatula carefully remove the simmering basket & tip the cooked coconut rice into a Thermoserver until you are ready to serve.
Inspirational ideas:
💚 You can add a couple of kaffir lime leaves to cook on top of the rice.
💚 You can place the varoma on top instead of the MC & steam some vegetables & or protein at the same time.
💚 You can pour some of the cooking liquid onto the rice in the Thermoserver & let it sit for a few mins to soak up the extra liquid.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister! We had so much fun cooking, styling, photographing & eating all the food for my sister’s birthday party dinner with family. There were 12 of us & it was supposed to start at 3pm but we took slightly longer getting the grazing board & countless photos done!! The most important thing was that my sister absolutely loved her birthday & her party was exactly just how she had imagined it would be. I made the birthday cake which was the Carrot Layer Cake recipe by Christina Tosi (which is also included in the In the Mix 2 Cookbook & on the Dani Valent website) My sister wanted all the food to team with the theme of neutrals & greens. The dessert was homemade ice creams with toppings, nibbles & sauces to compliment the ice cream.
I couldn’t think of a better way to say goodbye to 2020 than with Bruny Island Oysters & when I saw they had a special pack with all their condiments too I was all in!!
Well what can we say about the year that was 2020? It was crazy, unbelievable & for so many of us so very challenging. I think I went through each an every emotion at some stage through the year. However I choose to focus on the positives. So many amazing, unique experiences & memories were made in 2020. I actually enjoyed staying at home, it made me just stop & appreciate everyone & everything I have in my world. I thank you all!! I loved travelling the world virtually with Chef Charlie Carrington‘s Atlas Masterclass, making his 3 recipes from a different country every week has been lots of delicious fun!! Being able to have some of my favourite restaurant meals at home was a fun novelty too. It was fun being able to do some online classes & live cooking with Chefs that would normally too busy for these sorts of things. I loved Ben Shewry & Hamish Blakes live cook a longs on Instagram & Jock Zonfrillo had a great cook-a-long too.
I thought I would not be earning an income because we couldn’t do face to face Thermomix demonstrations but because most people were at home cooking more they were ready to buy themselves a Thermomix!! I am so very grateful to my wonderful customers who referred me to their friends. I think I enjoyed cooking, eating & drinking a little bit too much & yes I need to be a bit more healthy this year to get rid of my covid kilos/food baby!!
Cheers to you all, wishing you a happy & healthy new year!! Happy Thermomixing everyone!!
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