Baingan Raita - Grilled Eggplant in Yoghurt Sauce

Ingredients: 1 can Grilled Eggplant, or you can do you it over gas flame or in the oven 2 onions, chopped 8 cloves garlic, minced green hot peppers, chopped (as many as you desire) 1 Sliced red pepper salt, as per taste a pinch of sugar black pepper powder Good pinch turmeric 1 rounded tsp cumin powder 1 tsp coriander powder / handful chopped coriander leaves yogurt (I think about 1-2 cups) Method: Fry the chopped onions, till translucent (not golden brown). Add in the garlic and green peppers, and sautee for a few minutes. Add the sugar, salt, garam masala, the grilled eggplant, mix and turn off the heat after 5 minutes. Cool it completely and stir in the beaten yogurt. That’s it, serve at room temperature. Garnish with chopped cilantro and chopped green hot peppers (without the seeds if you dont want it hot). This is good as a side dish to complement Indian food, or as a dip with crackers.

World Peace Cookies Recipe

World Peace Cookies Recipe
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours, metric measurements from Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen
Makes about 36 cookies
Ingredients:

1¼ cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (30 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons or 150 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3cup (120 grams) (packed) light brown sugar
¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
½ teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces (150 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous ¾ up store-bought mini chocolate chips

Method:

Make the cookie dough: Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour. Drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1½ inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about one inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

Serving: The cookies can be eaten when they are warm or at room temperature — Doris prefers them at room temperature, when the textural difference between the crumbly cookie and the chocolate bits is greatest — and are best suited to cold milk or hot coffee.

Storing: Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months. They can also be frozen in log form for months, and can be sliced and baked directly from the freezer, adding a few minutes to the baking time.

Tips: If you find it difficult to shape the dough into a log, do it between a piece of parchment paper. To avoid very crumbly cookie dough when slicing, ensure that the butter is soft at room temperature before mixing, the chocolate chunks are small and the dough cold but not freezing. Let it rest on the counter for 5 to 15 minutes after being removed from the fridge or freezer. To avoid spreading cookies, chill the tray of sliced cookie dough for 5 to 10 minutes before baking. If the log breaks while cutting, just rearrange the crumbs and press them together again to form a round cookie.

Matcha Almond Cookies Recipe

Matcha Almond Cookies Recipe

Yield 24 cookies | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 14-16 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed powdered sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon matcha powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly chopped

Method:

Sift together the all purpose flour, matcha powder and salt.

With an electric mixer at medium speed, cream the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.

Lower the mixer speed. Add in sifted ingredients 1 tablespoon at a time until dough is formed.

Add in the sliced almond in 3 batches and stop the mixer immediately once all combined.

Remove the dough and place on a 22 inches long plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a 1 1/2 inches thick log. Wrap the log with the plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degree Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment papers.

Remove the dough from the freezer. Use a sharp knife and cut the dough 1/4 inch thick each. Arrange the cookie dough on the baking pan 2 inches apart.

Bake them for 14-16 minutes on the middle rack. Remove the cookies to wire rack to cool completely before storing in air tight containers.

Cook’s Notes:

1. If using salted butter stick, omit the salt in the ingredients.
2. Culinary quality matcha powder can be found at Japanese grocery stores.
3. To convert to metric measurement, please use the conversion tool.

Toddler walnut cookies

My daughter loves making these biscuits, though hers tend to be on the very large side at the moment.....

Ingredients makes about 15 biscuits
220 g (8 oz) spelt flour or superfine whole meal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 g (4oz) ground walnuts
100 ml (4 fl oz) raw honey, warmed
100 ml (4 fl oz) walnut oil or sunflower oil

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together
3. Add the wet ingredients and mix to form a dough
4. Form the mixture into small balls, place on a baking tray giving each one space to spread, and flatten with a fork
5. Bake for 5 minutes
6. Cool biscuits on a wire rack

Tip: you can replace the walnuts with almonds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts or any other suitable nut. I've also tried sunflower seeds.

Banana Yoghurt Cake

Ingredients:
2 small or 1 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup natural yoghurt
1/2 cup unhydrogenated margarine (I use sunflower oil instead)
1 large organic egg
22gg (8 oz) spelt flour
1/3 cup fructose (I use honey instead)
3 teaspoons baking powder
a dusting of icing sugar (optional)

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F / Gas 4.
2.  Combine the banana, yoghurt, margarine, egg, and fructose in a food processor until smooth.  Add flour and baking soda.  Pulse till mixed through.
3.  Scrape the mixture into a well-greased loaf tin.
4.  Bake for 45 ins to 1 hour until cooked through.
5.  Put on a wire rack to cool and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Tip:  For toddlers, allow them to spoon into cup cake cases, and add toppings as desired before or after baking as appropriate (e.g. marshmallows, raspberries)

Banana pancakes

Ingredients:
200g plain or SR flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda  (or if SR flour 1 tsp baking soda)
50 g sunflower oil
2 medium eggs
300g milk plus a little more
2-3 ripe bananas (depending on how banana-y desired)

1.  Put all the ingredients in the TM bowl.  Mix 20 seconds / Speed 6.  The mixture should be the consistency of double cream.  If it's too thick, add a little more milk and mix again.

2. Heat pan to right heat at low-medium flame.  Add a little oil - use kitchen towel to wipe over whole of pan, and mop up excess.  Pour to make pancakes of desired size.  Turn when bubbles have just stopped forming.

Tip:  Serve with strawberries, blueberries, maple syrup, nectarines, oranges etc - whatever fruits are in season.  Also works with savoury toppings - e.g. goats cheese, salami..

Easy Peasy Waffles

From this link

Ingredients

15 g sugar
60 g butter (90g butter if using semi-skimmed milk)
400 g milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla or maple syrup
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
250 g SR flour

Preparation

1.

Mill sugar on speed 9 for 3 seconds
Add butter to TMX bowl and melt for 1 minute at 90° on soft speed
Add milk, vanilla/syrup and eggs to TMX bowl and beat for 10 seconds on speed 4.
Add remaining ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on speed 6
Cook as per your waffle maker instructions. Enjoy!

My Tiramisu

At long last I've decided to share my secret tiramisu recipe, (mainly because I keep on forgetting it if I don't make it for a long time) but also because it's nice to share.

Ingredients (serves 6)* EGGS, 4, with yolks and whites separated
* SUGAR, a pinch
* MASCARPONE, 500g
* Sponge finger biscuits, 10-15
* AMARETTI biscuits, a standard small bag
* Espresso or Strong Coffee, 1 cup
* Cognac or Brandy, to taste (I'm quite liberal)
* COCOA, 1/8 cup
* Vanilla extract, 1 tsp or a pod of real vanilla

Directions

1. Separate egg whites and yolk.
2. Whisk egg whites with a pinch of sugar in TM, with butterfly whisk, speed 4 keeping an eye on it until firm (mixture should form soft peaks when touched with a spoon and spoon lifted off).  Pour out and put to one side.
3. Put the egg yolks and a tablespoon of brandy into the TM bowl and heat 5 mins/ 80 C / Speed 4 (if you don't have a TM, then just mix the egg yolks and brandy without heating)
4. Add mascarpone, vanilla and mix 20 seconds / speed 4. Empty the mixture into a large bowl.
5. Gently fold in the egg white into the mixture.
6. Mix the brandy into the coffee to taste
7. Arrange the lady fingers and amaretti biscuits into an appropriate medium rectangular flat dish (about equal amounts of each, you can vary the ratio to your preference), and soak with the coffee and brandy mixture
8. Spoon the mascarpone mixture on top.
9. Sprinkle with the cocoa
10. Chill at least 3 hours or overnight

Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Pomegranate Couscous

From this link.

Ingredients

For the lamb tagine
4 tbsp olive oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 onions, peeled and chopped
4 tsp grated, fresh ginger
1½ tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
3 tsp ground cinnamon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3kg/7lb shoulder of lamb, boned, fat removed and cut into 4cm/1½in cubes
2 tbsp tomato purée
2kg/4½lb ripe tomatoes or 4 X 400g/14oz can tomatoes, coarsely chopped
4-5 tbsp honey
For the couscous
1 large or 2 small pomegranates
800g/1¾lb couscous
6 tbsp olive oil
2 lemons, juice only
1 litre/1¾ pints boiling chicken stock or water
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp chopped, fresh mint or coriander
To serve
1 lime, cut into wedges
bowl Greek yoghurt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 2.
2. For the lamb tagine, heat a large ovenproof casserole or heavy saucepan on a medium to high heat.
3. Add the olive oil, garlic, onions, ginger and spices and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then cook, covered, on a low heat for about ten minutes, until the onions are soft.
4. Add the lamb, tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and honey into the saucepan, stir throughly.
5. Bring to the simmer and place in the oven for 1½ hours, until the lamb is tender.
6. Remove the lid of the saucepan halfway through the cooking time to let the liquid reduce and thicken.
7. If the sauce is still a bit thin, put the saucepan on the hob on a medium heat and without the lid. Stir occasionally and let the liquid reduce until a thick sauce begins to appear.
8. Meanwhile, for the couscous, cut the pomegranates in half and scoop out the seeds using a teaspoon and remove the white membrane around the seeds.
9. Place the couscous in a bowl and mix in the olive oil and lemon juice.
10. Pour the boiling stock or water onto the couscous and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
11. Allow the couscous to sit in a warm place for 5-10 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed.
12. Stir the chopped herbs and pomegranate seeds into the couscous.
13. To serve, place the tagine on serving plates with couscous and a wedge of lime. Serve alongside a bowl of thick Greek yoghurt.

Paul Granger's Chicken Pie

Recipe from here.

The chicken pie is nice, it's a recipe from Bill Granger originally, but now I just sort of do it without reading the recipe. Here goes:

Make some rough puff pastry with the thermomix. I usually just make enough for a pie top, but you can make an enclosed pie if you prefer.

Shake some chicken cut into chunks with flour spiced with cayenne, S&P
Fry quickly on both sides until just brown (raw in centre still) and remove
Fry some sliced leeks in the oil
Add white wine, deglaze
Add some chicken stock or water and 2 tsp dried tarragon
Add some frozen peas
Add about 1/2 cup cream or sour cream until you get the right thickness of sauce
Add the chicken back and cook for a couple of minutes
Put pastry on while filling is still hot, wash with beaten egg and cook for 45 mins at 190 C

Thoughts

I haven't given exact amounts because you can make it any size you want. Every time it turns out slightly differently, so don't get hung up on exact measures. Last night's effort was really good, the TMX made the best pastry I have ever cooked. Ever!

Unsalted butter is best for the pastry, Australian unsalted butter is no good, the wrong consistency or something. Lurpak, the Danish butter, seems the best bet. The rare times I have seen French unsalted butter in Cairns it is rancid when bought - yuk.

I use dried tarragon because the stuff they sell in supermarkets is fake. It's either Russian tarragon, which is easier to grow, but tasteless; or 'Mexican' tarragon with bright yellow flowers, which has an appallingly overwhelming aniseed taste. So dried seems best. Chicken and tarragon is a match made in heaven. The fakeness of tarragon is a pet hate of mine, so don't get me started...

Frozen peas are nicer then fresh peas, unless you grow them yourself and cook as soon as you have picked them. Otherwise they're mealy and horrible. I don't buy frozen veges as a rule, peas are the exception.

I don't think we make enough pies these days. They have a proud heritage, and they are so nice when done with good ingredients.

I have to confess I also made mashed potato to go with it, in the TMX, and I'm eyeing off the leftovers today.

Panettone

From the UK Thermomix recipe site.

This fruited bread is an Italian Christmas speciality. Making it yourself is very easy with your Thermomix and will cost you a fraction of the price of a bought panettone, and it will taste fresh and delicious. Lovely as a gift. Leftovers make a wonderful bread and butter pudding. Makes about a 1 kg loaf.

Ingredients
50 g granulated sugar
thinly peel skin of 1 organic lemon
400 g strong white bread flour, divided 50 g and 350 g
1½ tsp instant yeast or 15 g fresh yeast
1 tsp salt
100 g butter, diced in 1 cm pieces
250 g milk
3 egg yolks from large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
100 g diced candied peel
75 g raisins or sultanas
icing sugar to dust

Method
1. Weigh sugar and the 50 g flour into the TM bowl and add the lemon peelings. Zest the peel by grinding 30 seconds/Speed 10.
2. Add remaining flour and all other ingredients except icing sugar. Mix 30 seconds/37°C/ Speed 3.
3. Knead 1½ minutes/Dough Setting. Either leave to rise in TM bowl or in a buttered bowl until doubled in size.
4. Punch down and shape into a round. Place in a lined, 15 cm round, buttered, 10 cm deep cake tin. Leave to rise until it reaches 1 cm above the top of the tin. Bake 35 to 40 minutes at 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Aga ovens: Bake same timings in Baking Oven or bake 22 to 30 minutes on the rack set on the floor of the Roasting Oven with the cold plain shelf inserted 3 sets of runners above the top of the cake tin (to allow room for the rising loaf). Cool in the tin then turn out onto a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Goji berry and chicken soup for colds and flu

By James Wong

2 tbsp dried echinacea root
200 ml water, freshly boiled
5 tbsp goji berries, fresh or dried
2 litres chicken stock (homemade or from stock cubes)
3 chicken thighs or drumsticks (preferably organic)
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
12 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
10 cm root ginger, peeled and shredded
2 fresh medium-sized chillies, finely sliced
8 garlic cloves,chopped
extra sliced ginger and chillis, to serve

1. Combine the dried echinacea root with the water in a bowl to make a simple infusion. In another bowl, pour just enough cold water over the goji berries to cover, and leave to rehydrate. Set the echinacea and goji berries aside and leave to stand.
2. Place the stock and chicken pieces in a large pan or slow cooker. Add the sliced onions, mushrooms, ginger and chillies and place around the chicken in the pan. On a very low heat, simmer gently for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until the chicken is tender and falls apart. Take off the heat.
3. Five minutes before serving, add the goji berries and chopped garlic. Finally, strain the echinacea infusion and add this to the soup, reheating if necessary.
4. Serve by ladling into bowls and garnishing with sliced ginger and chilli for an extra kick.

USE: Makes enough for 4. Can be eaten with noodles, if wished.

Mushroom Risotto

From this link.

Fresh Mushroom risotto (Demonstration Recipe Guide):

Ingredients:
50g Olive Oil
1/2 Medium Onion
200g fresh Mushrooms, sliced
2 vegetable stock cubes
100g white wine
1100g water
500g Arborio Rice (don't use sun rise)
50g Parmesan Cheese (or to taste), cubed

Method:
Place the parmesan cheese into TM bowl. Pulverise for 10 seconds on speed 9

Transfer to a separate bowl and set aside.

Add onion into TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7.

Add oil and sauté for 2 min at 100C on speed 1.

Attach butterfly. Add rice and wine, sauté for 2 min on Reverse + speed soft.

Add stock cubes, mushrooms and water and cook for 16 min at 100C on reverse + speed soft.

Pour the risotto into a dish and stir through the Parmesan Cheese.

Geranial Tips:

Ensure the MC is placed in the lid when cooking.

Once cooking has ceased pour the risotto into a serving bowl. The mixture may appear watery, but the liquid will absorb with standing.

For best result use ITALIAN Arborio rice. This can be purchased at Italian Shops, Continental Deli's and large supermarkets.

For a flavoured Risotto add soaked dry mushrooms (ie Porcini) asparagus or fresh or frozen peas.

Another popular version is to add bacon and fresh spinach. Bacon is added in strips or cubes during the sauté process, while spinach is added towards the end of cooking time.

Variations:
1. You can also use sundried tomatoes and spinach.
Use the homemade stock concentrate as it helps to consolidate the healthy/no addative angle. It always impresses!

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2. A really yummy variation on the recipe above is to change the following:

Before chopping the onion, grind a small amount of dried porchini mushrooms on speed 9 for 10 seconds.

Reduce fresh mushrooms to 100-150g
Add a tbs of porchini mushrooms (already chopped up and soaked in about 50ml of water for a couple of hours or overnight).

In the Thermoserver, add baby spinach and chopped up asparagus.

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3. Allergic to mushrooms ? Have you tried the Apricot Chicken Risotto style, amazing! For vegetarians, leave out the chicken and add some diced marinated tofu in the last 7 minutes, and some finely sliced snow peas for colour.