“Famous ThermoFive”

by | May 23, 2017 | Foodie Adventures, Thermomix, Thermomix Recipes | 0 comments

“Famous ThermoFive” are my 5 chosen questions to ask my family, friends & customers about their Thermomixing 🙂 Please get in touch if you would like to answer my Famous ThermoFive questions.

More Famous ThermoFive Interviews are Fiona Hoskin, Nico Moretti, Dani Valent and Sophia Thermomix Baking Blogger.

 

My first interview was with my Mum for Mother’s Day, she has had her Thermomix for over a year now & I gave her an Entertaining with Dani Valent Cookbook for her early Mother’s Day pressie. (That’s one of my sisters in the photo too)

1. What do you love about your Thermomix?
I love weighing directly into the Thermomix bowl as I’m cooking & I love how well it blends. I make the best pesto with basil from my garden and a really smooth crepe’ mixture.

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?
At the moment it’s the Smokey Chicken recipe from the Mexican chapter of Entertaining with Dani Valent.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?
I text Arwen for any of my Thermomix questions!!

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?
Butter Chicken from the Indian Cookbook (It’s so quick when you have the homemade Tikka Paste already in the fridge).

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?
Churros, Spanish Chicken & Red Rice from the Entertaining with Dani Valent Cookbook.

Thanks Mum 🙂 & guess what we made Mum for her Mother’s Day dinner? Spanish Chicken & Red Rice – she loved it!!

My next interview was with my son ❤

1. What do you love about the Thermomix?
I love how easy it is to start something, then walk away & do other things while it’s cooking.

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?
I love using the recipe community, it’s easy to find any recipe you want. I also like the Basic Cookbook.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?
I like to use the simmering basket to strain cooked pasta.

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?
Rice Pudding or Macaroni Cheese.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?
Cinnamon Scrolls.

My friend Eloise Emmett she is a Tasmanian Chef, Mum & Award Winning Author. 

1. What do you love about the Thermomix?
It stirs while cooking! I can have a shower while my porridge is cooking, get washing of the clothes line while dinner is cooking and it makes otherwise time consuming tasks like quince paste super easy. I also love that it inspires people too cook with real food and not buy as much food out of a packet.

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?
Arwen’s Black Forrest Trifle 🙂

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?
If you are thinking of buying a Thermomix or at all tempted, just do it, because you will eventually! I regretted not buying my first one when I was first interested, so I missed out on having it to make baby food for my first 2 babies and used all my pots, pans and blenders to prepare baby food and when I was making baby food for my 3rd child in the Thermie I would always think “why didn’t I just buy it earlier”!

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?
My Butter Chicken recipe.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?
I like making recipes for my family so I would love to try the pulled pork recipe from the Entertaining with Dani Valent Cookbook.

My friend Ulla (pictured with Pepsi & Hamish) Ulla is the reason I signed up to be a Thermomix Consultant 5.5 years ago!! She came to work on a Monday morning & said she bought a Thermomix on the interest free payment plan & I would love it & I should be a consultant! She wouldn’t stop talking about how amazing the Thermomix was so I had to book a demonstration – I was sold at the icing sugar!! The rest is history, so they say 🙂


1. What do you love about your Thermomix? 
I didn’t fall in love with my Thermomix until I got it & started using it & now I wouldn’t be without it!
When I first saw the Thermomix at a demo, I had in mind Arwen loves food, cooking & has such a sunny personality, she should be doing this for her job!

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?
Beef Rendang & the Torte Caprese’ (gluten free almond & chocolate cake)

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?
I use my Thermomix to chop up tired veggies for the dogs’ food, they love it!

4.What is your quick & easy go to meal?
Any soup including the Moroccan Lentil Soup & Stir-fry. 

5.Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?
Salmon with Salmon Mousse & Mango Sauce from the Full Steam Ahead Cookbook.

Next I interviewed my sister Ali, she was one of my first customers over 5 years ago 😀

1. What do you love about the Thermomix?

I love how quick it is to make everything & it’s on the bench ready for anything from baking prep to family meals.

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?

Pizza dough!! We have woodfired pizza’s every Friday night, the whole family help put the toppings on & we all sit around the fire while they are cooking.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?

Definitely get 2 Thermomix bowls, it’s so handy to be using one while the other one is in the dishwasher 😀

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?

Arwen’s Thermie Green Curry (I’ll pay her later lol!)

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?

Steamed Bread.

Sally is an amazing cook & hosts Chinese Cooking Classes from her beautiful home just past Cygnet. I first met Sally many years ago when she was still a Thermomix Consultant. Thanks for taking the Famous ThermoFive questions Sally. You can email Sally directly to find out about her cooking classes sallypixies@hotmail.com.

1. What do you love about your Thermomix? 

Apart from saving me heaps of money and time, Thelma (Sally’s Thermomix) has made my life sooooo much easier for the past 6 years! Now I can’t imagine a life without her. My husband is quite jealous of her actually! 

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe? T

oo many to list, from dip to salad to soup to cake mix, all at my finger tips. However, I must say the thing I use the Thermomix most for is making various doughs for my Chinese pancakes, dumplings and steamed buns. My husband loves sticky date pudding. He keeps reminding me the way to a man’s heart is through his belly so that is on our menu often too!

3. What is your top Thermomix tip? 

Before you start any cooking, think what you can do in your Thermomix. The more you use it, the more you will use it and the easier life will be! Trust me!

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal? 

Again too many to list. At the moment it is pumpkin soup (only because I harvested 45 pumpkins in April…..need to get rid of them somehow) with my various forms of Chinese pancakes.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?

I just saw Arwen’s post for her Vanilla Chia Puddings recipe. I happen to have some chia seeds in the pantry, so I will definitely will try that. 

My friend & fellow Thermomix consultant Kelly has taken the famous ThermoFive questions. Thanks so much Kel, you are a true inspiration & I love that you use your Thermomix constantly to make delicious food for your family.

1. What do you love about the Thermomix?

I don’t think there is anything that I don’t love about my 2 Thermomix (yes I’m spoilt with 2 Thermomix, a TM31 and a TM5) I just love how easy it is to make everything from scratch and how I am in control of how much sugar and salt I add, not to mention the preservatives and rubbish in bought food that we are avoiding! Having 2 Thermomix is a huge saving on time and on the grocery bills!!

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?

I love the Devil of a Cookbook and the I Love Chocolate, I Love Thermomix cook books. They both have some great easy recipes to make. One of my favourite dessert recipes is my own recipe from the recipe community for chocolate molten cakes.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?

Don’t think just because you now own a Thermomix that everything you make will be a hit. Sometimes we do have failures in the Thermie (not often) but you just have to keep going and keep cooking. Add more flavour to dishes by upping the herbs and spices. Use your own intuition with some recipes.

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?

The Thai Basil and Chilli Chicken from the Basic Cookbook & recipe chip. It’s healthy and super quick! I up the chicken to 1.2 kilos.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?

After 4 years I still haven’t made mayonnaise so I guess I should give that a go!!

My good friend & fellow food lover Helen Ellis from Rita’s Bite & her blog http://pc-rita.blogspot.com.au/. Helen has had a Thermomix for over 12 years. I met Helen through my Thermomix friends & I’ve learnt so many great recipes & tips from her over the last few years including her Massaman Curry  http://arwensthermopics.com/helens-massaman-curry/

1. What do you love about your Thermomix?

The ease that good, healthy and tasty food can be achieved with a TM.

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?

As I cherry pick, and blend so many techniques and recipes from the many TM cookbooks I’ve bought over the years, it’s hard to nail down a favourite but probably I’d have to say The Basic Cook Book as it reminds you of the basics of all recipes.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?

Top tip for me is use it to roast and blend all your fresh spice mixes, and make (then freeze) curry pastes etc. Such an easy go-to solution for those times you don’t have the ingredients and/or can’t be bothered.

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?

My favourite easy go-to meal is Thai fish cakes, or my Chiang Mai Sausages. Quick, easy and tasty using my own personal kitchen hacks.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?

I’ve been really loving your posts and pics of steaming the whole chicken, so am really looking for an opportunity to try that. Never dared attempt it before, so one day….

My Famous ThermoFive interview today is with my friend Erica. I met Erica over 6 years ago when we trained together to be Thermomix consultants.

Even though she is longer a consultant she still loves & uses her Thermomix everyday. Erica is passionate about lunch boxes see her lunchbox inspiration below.

1. What do you love about your Thermomix?
Versatility. I can throw everything in Thermie for a quick all-in-one meal. Or I can use Thermie to chop all the ingredients when batch cooking meals to freeze. Or blend up a dip or smoothie for afternoon tea. Or make a cake, buzz up bliss balls, pizza dough, muffins… the list is endless.

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?
Only one?? I have more Thermomix recipe books than I care to admit! But my boys are 2 and 5 so I’m in the daily trenches of getting meals and snacks on the table and packing lunchboxes. The books I reach for most are the Basic Cookbook and all three Louise Fulton Keats’ books.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?
Use it. Start with recipes written for Thermomix. Choose ones that suit your tastes and nutritional requirements. Make as many different recipes as possible. Learn how different combinations of temperature, time and speed achieve the different functions. Get familiar with kneading, chopping, milling, grating, steaming, stirring, cooking, mixing, sauteing, blending. Then you can make any recipe you want, including recipes with conventional instructions. The sky is the limit!

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?
Good ol’ risotto. I use the Basic Cookbook recipe as a base and then vary it to suit. e.g. I use different veggies, or a mix of grains (e.g. quinoa, rice, buckwheat). Or I make a plain risotto and serve family style with side dishes to suit different tastes.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?

I’m looking forward to exploring Cookidoo more and finding new recipes to try.

Thanks so much Erica for your inspiring answers to my my Famous ThermoFive questions.

 

Today’s Famous ThermoFive interview is with my awesome foodie friend Rosey, she made my Thermomix costume  I met Rosey when she was a Thermomix consultant a few years ago & we will be lifetime friends because we love food & eating so much!!

1. What do you love about your Thermomix?
It’s always there for me no matter what I want to do 😀

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?
The Basic Cookbook & the Torta Caprese (with my own tweaks) it’s just so versatile.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?
Read the full recipe before you start cooking, to see if there you can make any of the steps quicker or easier like milling your sugar into icing sugar before you start your recipe.

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?
Healthy steamed whole chicken from the Devil of a Cookbook.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?
As many Dani Valent recipes as I can from her Entertaining Cookbook & her Dani Valent site 😀

Thanks so much Rosey I’ve learnt so much from you xx

Today’s Famous ThermoFive questions are with my friend & customer Janne, she has had a Thermomix for over 10 years ❤

1. What do you love about your Thermomix?
I love how quick it is!

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?
Chicken Kiev’s.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?
To get extra mixture off the blades when scraping out the bowl put it on again for 1 second on reverse speed 4 to fling the mixture off the blade to the sides of the bowl.

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?
Pumpkin soup or risotto.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?
Arwen’s pesto scrolls 😀

Thanks so much Janne for answering my questions & being in a photo with me 😀

Today’s Famous Thermo Five is with my friend Kate – she is too shy to be in a photo but we have a pic of her 2 Thermomix.

1. What do you love about your Thermomix?

It encourages me to try to make new things that I was previously too scared to even attempt, like pastry and jam. Having two Thermomix has saved me even more time, today I made dinner and jam at the same time.

2. What is your favourite Thermomix Cookbook or Thermomix recipe?

My favourite cookbook is the Festive Flavours, it’s great for entertaining any time of the year. And the recipes always get compliments.

3. What is your top Thermomix tip?

If you think a recipe has too much or too little of something, adjust it to your liking as you’re making it. Trust your gut. You can always add more salt later, but it’s super hard to adjust a recipe once you add too much.

4. What is your quick & easy go to meal?

Okonomiyaki, to always use up the random cabbages my husband buys, the recipe is from the In the Mix cookbook.

5. Which Thermomix recipe/s do you want to try next?

There’s a curry in Skinnymixers “A little Taste of Asia” cookbook called Ayam Kapitan that a friends always raves about, I’m desperate to try it out next.

Thanks so much Kate – 2 TM’s is always better than one LOL!!

Thermomix Stars in Cafes & Restaurants

by | Apr 19, 2017 | Breakfast, Foodie Adventures, Thermomix, Thermomix Recipes | 0 comments

Why all cafes & restaurants need a Thermomix. (Most of them already do have at least 1 Thermomix.)  
My friend & award winning chef, Eloise Emmett, who owned the hugely popular Mussel Boys restaurant for over 10 years, said “It’s a no brainer to get a Thermomix. The amount of time that you save is worth the investment over & over. I wish I’d had my Thermomix when I ran my restaurant.” Eloise, the author of the Seafood Everyday Cookbook & The Real Food for Kids Cookbook, said she constantly uses her Thermomix at home & when preparing for her dinners and functions. She is amazed with how easy it is to make quince paste in the Thermomix – no stirring! Some of the other things she makes with her Thermomix are fresh bread dough, curry pastes, coulis & sauces. AND pasta dough, aioli, purees, jams, relishes & chutneys. AND not to mention sorbets, ganache, creme’ anglaise, hollandaise & pate’.
“Here is the prep list from the launch for the Seafood Everyday Cookbook. While they are not Thermomix recipes as such, most of what I cook has some part prepped in the Thermomix.”
Bread
Tart base
Fettuccine
Fish crust
Salad dressings
Hollandaise for scallops
Beetroot chutney
Lasagne sheets
Tomato sauce base for lasagna
Fish stew base
Berry cheesecake
Lemon tart
Coulis
Sorbet
Quince paste

Three Japanese Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream & Sesame Pudding

I certainly agree with Ellie as early in my career, I worked at cafes, bakeries & a catering establishment for a number of years. You will find that using a Thermomix commercially works a little differently than domestically. Most restaurants wouldn’t use their varoma steamer because they utilise big commercial steam ovens.
My friends at Three Japanese used the Varoma to make a steamed savoury custard dish, called chawanmushi, as they aren’t able to have a steam oven at their premises. During a 2016 Cooking Class we used 5 Thermomix to make this popular recipe for the guests. Three Japanese also use a Thermomix to make their delicious Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream and Plum Sake Sorbet.
Any restaurant, cafe or catering firm would certainly use it for silky smooth purées, dips, flavoured mayos or aioli. Chocolate ganache is another popular use along with perfect creme’ anglaise and amazing instant sweet or savoury sorbets. For example Smolt achieves the most amazing lemon curd with their Thermomix. The Thermomix also roasts & mills whole spices to get the best flavours into dishes.

Some elements of this menu were prepared using a Thermomix at the Pidgeon Hole Cafe

Making flavoured salts or sugars was a favourite of Fiona Hoskin. Her Launceston restaurant, Fee & Me, won national awards for an innovative menu. Fiona & her chefs used a number of Thermomix to create maximum flavour, while saving time. You can find Fiona’s recipes from her restaurant in the Devil of a Cookbook which also includes a few recipes from renowned Chef Tetstuya.

Some chefs are concerned that the Thermomix will replace them. Having a Thermomix means they can work smarter, saving time while not compromising on quality. You can decide the level of involvement the Thermomix has in your kitchen.  While most commercial kitchens wouldn’t take advantage of the guided cooking function, with a little bit of practice, it is so simple to convert your own recipes to use with the Thermomix. As with any new technology, it just takes a little investment of time to explore the full potential you have right at your fingertips. The Delivery Briefing (provided by your Thermomix Consultant) & subsequent staff training in the correct use of the Thermomix is vital.

The German designed quality of the Thermomix stands up to the rigours of restaurant life. It is recommended to have a 2nd bowl blade & lid set, to speed up kitchen processes even more. All the parts are dishwasher safe (obviously not the base.)

The commercial warranty is 1 year, you have the full back up & support from your Thermomix consultant. Occasionally the blades need replacing costing only $115.

Many well known chefs are Ambassadors for Thermomix in Australia. You may have seen the Thermomix on cooking programs such as MasterChef Australia & Chef’s Table where many of the worlds top restaurants use a Thermomix.

Thermomix in Australia are developing a site called Kitchen Stars to feature restaurants & chefs who use a Thermomix. Renowned Spanish restaurant elBulli had 36 Thermomix to ensure perfect cooking for dishes requiring a constant temperature.

The Dani Valent Cooking video site features many top chefs preparing their favourite Thermomix recipes. Dani’s In the Mix Cookbooks also feature amazing recipes from chef’s around the world.

A chef recently mentioned to me they prefer to work in a kitchen that has a Thermomix.

It’s well worth mentioning that Thermomix are very popular in schools both in the cooking classes & canteens.

If you would like to see how the Thermomix can work for you in your commercial setting you can contact a commercially trained Thermomix consultant for an in-house demonstration.  (Yes I am a commercially trained consultant ;-))

I have seen Thermomix at many places all over the world -maybe you would like to do some Thermospotting too?

My Thermospotting Gallery

Lunch with Alain Passard at Josef Chromy Wines

by | Mar 29, 2017 | Foodie Adventures, Lunch, Photography | 0 comments

We had an amazing day for lunch at Josef Chromy Wines with Lunch by Alain Passard. It was wonderful to see how many guests had come over from Melbourne for this much anticipated lunch including food writer Dani Valent who got me an in to take photos in the kitchen to go with her interview here.  I’ll let you read all about it on her site but here are some more of my photos of the delicious day that I hope you will enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Planning & Recipe Ideas Countdown

by | Dec 4, 2016 | Baking, Desserts, Dinner, Food Styling, Foodie Adventures, Lunch, Snacks & nibbles, Thermomix, Thermomix Recipes | 0 comments

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.

festive-flavour-book-1

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.Terrine

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

speculaas

Day 2: Strawberry & Rosewater Sorbet for Cocktails or Mocktails

Strawberry & Rosewater Sorbet

Strawberry & Rosewater Sorbet

 

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

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.

cheesecake

fruit-cake-with-cheese-2

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!!

lemon-butter

Day 6: Black Forest Trifle is another family favourite YUM!!

Black Forrest Trifle

Black Forrest Trifle

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 🙂

Vanilla Custard

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.

fruit-mince

Save Print
Fruit Mince Surprise
Author: 
Recipe type: Christmas
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
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
  1. Place orange zest, dates and fresh ginger into mixing bowl and mince for 20
  2. sec/speed 9.
  3. Add apples and chop 4-6 sec/speed 6.
  4. Add remaining ingredients except brandy and cook for 35 min/Varoma/
  5. /speed 1. Cool slightly,remove the bay leaves & stir in cointreau or brandy, set aside
  6. until ready to use.

 

Christmas Profiterole

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 🙂 spiced-cherry-brioche-3

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

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.

chicken-mango-salad-2

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 🙂

xmas-cake-1024x683

Day 14: Nicole’s Festive Nougat – My friend Nicole makes these very year to give as gifts to friends.

nougat

Day 15 : Spinach & Cheese Grissini

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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.

turkey-skin-butter

Day 17: Festive Cauliflower Salad is so easy & delicious 🙂

12273724_10154313225828998_5505249077494346608_o

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 20: Shortbread Stars – recipe from my friend Erica.

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!

Day 24: Basque Cheesecake from Dani Valent Cooking

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY THERMOMIXING!!

Five Textures of Parmesan

by | Sep 13, 2016 | Food Styling, Foodie Adventures, Photography, Thermomix Recipes | 0 comments

Textures of parmasean

Cheese is one of my favourite ingredients & so I have wanted to make this recipe from current top chef in the world Massimo Bottura from his restaurant Osteria Francescana. I loved watching the Netflix series Chef’s Table & the episode with Massimo was great. (Watch it here) And another reason to get excited for me is that I will get to eat a dish prepared by Massimo himself when I am in New York in early October – the foodie stars have aligned & I am booked into a progressive dinner cooked by 6 top chef’s including Massimo Bottura!! Yes I am extremely excited I wonder which dish he will be making it may even be this one? This is a recipe from Dani Valent’s cookbook In the Mix 2 cookbook it has been adapted for the home cook. Normally featuring not only 5 textures of parmasean but 5 ages of parmesan. I decided to use 5 different types of parmesan instead, making the best I could with what I could get & I was very happy with the results 🙂 Apart from my domestic cream siphon not working very well that is!

5 parmasean cheeses in a row

5 parmasean cheeses

parmasean cheese cubbed

parmasean cheese chopped

 

5 parmasean cheeses chopped

I even made homemade ricotta for one of the elements to the dish – see my cheese making post here.

 

One of the elements even called for making a parmasean stock out of the rind of the parmasean 🙂

 

 

 

A Bit of Mad Scientist Thermomixing with Dry Ice!!

by | Jun 7, 2016 | Food Styling, Foodie Adventures, Photography, Thermomix | 0 comments

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We have just finished our studio lighting section of our photography course at TAFE & needed to arrange some photo shoots that we set up by ourselves to use lightning in a dramatic way. Well I had the idea that I wanted to make my favourite sorbet from the In the Mix Cookbook that uses dry ice – The dry ice not only creates a bit of theatre but also gives the sorbet a slightly fizzy taste in your mouth enhancing the sorbet experience even more 🙂

It was nerve raking setting up all the lighting etc plus everything up to make the sorbet & then even more so making the sorbet in front of some of my classmates, but then it was really fun & delicious, I got lost in the drama of the dry ice!! And somehow I ended up with over 200 photos!! I I have decided to use the photos for a bit of self promo for the latest Thermomix reward trip to Las Vegas & the Grand Canyon. I have to get all my sales in by June 30 to count for this amazing trip. I was so close at the end of May so I have decided to get it a good crack, while hopefully giving my customers & friends a good crack up of a laugh at my funny photos!

VEGAS

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8 FOR VEGAS

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Arwen vegas

Thanks to all my amazing customers & friends, I have made it to the Thermomix reward trip to Las Vegas & The Grand Canyon.

It’s so exciting that so many awesome new customers have started their amazing Thermomix journey over the last month or they are just about to start 🙂