Corned Beef Dinner

I love corned beef dinner.  Simple great economical flavour for the family.

Yes, you can fit plenty of veg in the rice basket for a family of 5.

Steam your corned beef, about 1.5 kg fits well, (no bigger and be choosy about the shape when you purchase so you can be sure it will fit well) in the Varoma for approx. 50mins. Varoma temp. Sp.4.   I like to put the traditional suspects in the steaming water (bowl)  water, brown vinegar, brown sugar, cloves and peppercorns.  What's your family secret ?

After to 50 mins, then I remove the Varoma, pop the vegies in, replace the Varoma and reset for another 30 mins, Varoma temp, speed 4.

10 mins from finishing - which is shown on the display, pause the Thermi, carefully add your choice of greens around the beef to cook in the last 10 mins.

Set everything aside for a moment, add some cornflour to your remaining water in the bowl with all its gorgous flavourings, add some mustards, blitz for a few secs, then set Thermi to cook and stir while you serve the beef and vegies. 

Your sauce will be ready to pour over your plated up dinner !

Ahh,  steam your Corned Beef and you will never go back to simmering it away in water.  

Looking for a more precise recipe ?  e-mail me 

bronmodra@westnet.com.au

Roll-ups

I have so many Thermomix posts to write up - so many pictures to post.  Life and fun stuff have been taking priority - which is how I like it  : )

"Roll-ups"  (fruit leathers ? )

Have always refused to buy "roll-ups" for the kids lunch boxes - the price itself puts me off before even considering any other factors !

With grapes at a great price recently I made these.  

Add 750 grams chosen fruit , plus 1 banana to bowl.  (Grapes)

Set Thermi to cook 10 mins, 100C, speed 2.

Go and do something. light the fire  ? - its freeeezing.

Add lemon juice from 1/2 lemon.

Process for 30 seconds on speed 9.

Spread onto well oiled baking trays and dry out in the oven approx 8 to 12 hours, 80 degrees in the oven.

Done -  Soo easy. so good.

Actually produced about 5 of these trays.

laid them out on baking paper, cut into strips and rolled up.

Cute ?  darling daughters love love them. 

& in other news

Yesterday Brad & I had a bit of a sticky beak around the National Environment Center at Thurgoona.
National Environment Center. Organic Farm

We were looking to poach some ideas and glean some useful information to develop our little patch of paradise when we were sprung by the manager / principal tramping around the vegie gardens.


All good though, a friendly chat ensued and before we knew it, I had enrolled in a course.  I am now an enrolled student, to be studying for
Diploma of Agriculture (Organic Production)

        How about that !

Brad & I are looking forward to arming ourselves with the best knowledge available to sustainably farm our 50 acre plot to first and foremost provide our family with a wide variety of organic produce.

I will fit this in and around my new  'Thermomix'  job.  Which I am really enjoying  : )   Meeting great people whom most are passionate about eating 'clean' foods, no additives, no preservatives, or as my kids say , 'numbers in the food'.  I cannot claim we are are angels at this, but we are minimising these nasties as far as practical.  Thermomix is a great tool for helping  make that aim simpler.   : )

May I leave you with this,  ( but please don't read this if you are at this minute eating your supermarket purchased bread .....  )
Things in bread you don't want to know about.

wallpapers

I have been eyeing of these wallpapers for ages.  had them 'pinned' to pinterest boards.  

i took the plunge and ordered beautiful big samples. they are so divine.  can't really picture any walls in our house to put them on though ?  maybe mod podge them to a board as a piece of wall art ?

my good friend Rach has i think, booked us into a bookbinding workshop in Yackandandah. i'm thinking these would be rather nice covers.   

Porters Paints Wallpaper

and yes,  i have sooo much blogging to catch up on.  last November we went to Rodneys Agrarian Kitchen School.  i must share all about that !

Yabbies

My Dad took his Grand-daughters yabbying while we visited ' Granddad's big farm'  over the school holidays.  Lots of mud, lots of fun.  Besides capturing yabbies, we managed to inadvertently do some dam 'de-silting' and catch some funny looking small fish with legs - tadpoles, ready to 'jump' the 'nest' !

When you are dragging mud in your nets along with yabbies - you need extra muscles.

Rilla's first yabbie.

Olly and some spare teeth.

Yabbies for Entree

We didn't get very many really !  

We put them in the rice basket, gave them a good bath in fresh water, then put them to sleep in the freezer.

Put water into the TMX bowl, heat to Varoma temperature.  Take the sleepy yabbies out of the fridge and plunge straight into the TMX bowl. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes.  Drain, shell the yabbies, & remove the poop shoots.

 Meanwhile in the TMX, I had minced garlic, added spring onion, coriander, s & p, and coconut milk.  I set the TMX to 100 degrees, cooked for approx 5 mins, then added the yabbie tails and coriander, & cooked for a further minute.

Served over rice.  : )    

Made up Tomato Boost Soup

I have the sniffles.  bleh.   Doing a delivery demo of a Thermomix tonight, so need to be on my A game.  What to do ?

                     Tomato Boost Soup !

Add as many cloves of garlic as you think you need according to severity of your cold to your TMX.
Add 1 whole chilli - remove the seeds first if you are sharing with children.
Add 1 onion cut in halves.

Chop, speed 5,  5 secs.

Add Olive oil - about a tablespoon.
Saute,  Speed 1, 2 minutes, 100 temp.

Add a heap of tomato's  roughly cut.
Add a 2 tablespoons of homemade vegetable stock.
Add as much water as you think appropriate.  ( no measuring or recipe reading here today )

Cook,  10 mins,  speed 1,  at 100 temp.

Blitz to smoothness, by slowly turning the speed dial up to about 8 or 9.

Do as the kids do -  Pour into your favourite mug & take outside.

Slurp up Vitamin C,  Soak up Vitamin D.

Easter time = Camping time

My entry is beginning to look like I'm about to move an army somewhere !

Sleeping bags, mozzie coils, torches, copious amounts of Tupper containers containing this n' that, water bottles, blah, blah, blah, new baby q weber, blah, blah,  blah.

But no Thermomix.  the guy at BCF, said yep he knew what one was - he's a lucky man cause his wife cooks with one !  smart people the BCF peoples !  but had no reasonably priced solutions to powering one at an unpowered site.  : (     

I'll live.

But look at what Tenina (Thermi guru) has posted tonight on her blog,

Upside-down Cherry Friand Tart !

Tenina's Upside-down Cherry Friand Tart

I'm thinking up a way to do this camping.  Maybe do the essential Thermi functions before we leave home .  Such as the milling of the Almonds and then assemble it all in a foil BBQ tray and cook in the Weber ?

wish me luck !   Happy Easter to you and you.

Simple Salmon Family Meal

Not all meals need to be fancy right ?

'Family style'  is what usually rocks in my kitchen. Even tho I do like to indulge in a little bit of fancy every now and then !

So here's my Steamed Salmon for an ordinary night.  For that 'once a week night'  when you know you should feed the family fish ! 

Place your Salmon portions on the Varoma tray. Season with salt & pepper. Sprinkle with Coriander, or other herb of your choice. Slice a lemon (or lime) and place on top of Salmon.

Spray bottom of TMX bowl with olive oil. Chop 800grams of sweet potato into 3 cm chunks, add to bowl (there is some pumpkin in this batch - whatever is in your fridge and fresh ! ).

Add a bit of salt and 230 grams of milk.

Cook. Varoma temp.  20 mins. Speed 1. 

Add your greens (beans, snow peas, broccoli, etc) , to the Varoma bowl (underneath the tray).

Cook. Varoma temp. 5 mins. Speed 1. More if you like your greens soft ....  

Set Varoma aside. Pop the butterfly in with 15 grams of butter, and mash the potato, speed 4 until smooth,  about 10 seconds.

All done.

One full portion of Salmon for the man.

Half a portion each for the three sweet peas and I.

we all love it. 

omelette

  especially yummy with eggs from my chooks.  This omelette is made from this recipe,

Stef Bergs Omelette

 I  doubled the cheese, and used 6 eggs,  added some sliced bacon ( instead of the ham ).

Made in the Varoma tray. Needed extra time than the recipe. Was the perfect amount for 5 of us.

 no fry pan to clean !

Mr. M. has to have an extra kick of protein !  - I would have smoked salmon myself, would be lovely served with wilted spinach and baked cherry tomato's.  Must get up earlier !

little pots of goodness

Silly me ,  why have I not been making this in all the time my Thermi & I have had together so far ??

Crazy.  Concentrated Vegetable Stock. Pure goodness.

Add all your rough chopped vegies & herbs, garlic to the Thermi

Thermi chops it all up, 10 seconds.

Add oil & salt

Set Thermi to cook for 20 mins

Go have a cuppa tea, read some blogs, phone a friend

Madly dash around the house, put washing on, clean floors, tidy up - the Mr is due home tonight ! (has been in Ungarie, which is not on anyones 'go to for leisure' list)

beep beep beep, Thermi is finished.

Get Thermi to Pulverise to smooth velvety goodness.

Store in the fridge, 1 tablespoon = 1 stock cube.

So right now I am reading the label on the bought stock in my pantry.  It's supposedly a good quality one, I chose it because the packet says,

Natural

Gluten Free

Lactose Free

Trans Fat Free

Cholesterol Free

No Animal Content  ('Beef' stock - go figure)

No added MSG

ok, not bad ,  but in the Ingredients list ; palm sugar, corn maltodextrin, caramel colour (150a) among others.  Does not sound so tasty now.

Banana & Choc Bread

EDITED :    Just made this again a day or so again, and if your banana's are not already pretty soft - just about past the point of no return as mine mostly are when I decide to 'banana bread' them  ...  then, when u add the banana's , last step ,  go for reverse, speed 2, 1 minute   : )

A lucky friend of mine, has a Thermomix on loan whilst her friend is o/seas , lucky girl hey ?

I do get asked quite a bit, ' how can I use my own recipes in the Thermomix ' ?

Well you can, you  experiment, and over time you get used to a new, easier and quicker way of preparing your recipes. Perhaps even with less additives, such as 'anti-caking agents.  Win !

So here is my 'thermi-fied' conversion of the requested recipe,

Bill Granger's Choc Banana Bread 

250 grams p. flour

2 tspns baking powder

125 grams unsalted butter, softened , cut into chunks

200 grams raw sugar

4 ripe banana's (or 2 large banana's) chopped into large rough chunks

2 eggs

1 tspn vanilla extract

175 grams choc chips

• Blitz the sugar, 3 seconds, speed 9   ( hello caster sugar ! )  
• Add butter to TMX, 3 seconds, speed 7
• Add flour, baking powder, eggs, & vanilla.  15 seconds, speed 4
• Add banana & choc chips, Reverse blade, 1 minute, speed interval.

Bake in a loaf tin about 1 hour, 15 mins.

Good luck Mrs R  : )

Note :  I have reduced the sugar by a quarter, I still think it is veryyy  sweet, I will reduce by another 20 grams or so when I make this again, which will be soon - yum !

Thermomix & Me

' My ' Thermomix and I have forged a wonderfully great relationship right here in my kitchen , and on holidays ( I don't leave it behind) for nearly 18 months now.

Which means now, I am feeling a bit confident about showing Thermi off to everyone else : )

Yes !  I am a fully qualified Thermomix consultant - at your service !

www.thermomix.com.au