Filling Tummies with Easy Curried Sausages

Curried Sausages and rice is one meal that our whole family loves. JD posted this very yummy and rather gourmet version on forumthermomix, which we really enjoy. When I am in a hurry or just feeling a bit lazy though, I often resort back to my very quick and easy version. It isn't flash, but it feeds my crew with a minimum of fuss without resorting to take-aways.

Curried Sausages and Rice

Ingredients:

200-300g rice (see notes for using brown rice)
900g water
8 lean beef sausages
trimmed green beans or broccoli florets (optional)
1 large brown onion - peeled and quartered
30g organic olive oil
2 carrots - washed and sliced into rounds (or half rounds if big carrots)
250g water
2 tsp chicken stock (see notes)
1 tsp curry powder (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
2 level tbsp white spelt flour
2-3 tbsp water

Method:

Weigh rice into basket and rinse well. Add 900g water to bowl and insert rice basket.

Place sausages into varoma dish - 4 across bottom and 4 on top (laying in opposite direction to those below). Place green veg in varoma tray.

Fit varoma to TMX lid and cook for 16-18 minutes at varoma temp, speed 4. Remove varoma and set sausages aside to cool a little. Place rice in thermoserve and top with green veg. Rinse bowl and dry.

Place onion into bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down sides, add oil and saute for 3 minutes at 100 degrees on reverse speed 1.

Add carrot, 250g water, chicken stock, curry powder and salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1. While this is cooking slice each sausage into 4-6 pieces.

When the TMX has finished cooking add the sausages and cook for a further 3 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Mix the flour and water together in the MC to form a paste and add to the TMX bowl. Cook for a further 3 minutes, 100 degrees at reverse speed 1 (give the paste a quick stir through at reverse speed 3 for a couple of seconds to begin with).

Plate with the steamed rice and greens. Enjoy!

Notes:

Chicken stock paste can be made easily in the TMX. There is a good recipe in the My Way of Cooking book and the recipe can also be found in this thread of forumthermomix.

If you wish to use brown rice then you need to add 1200g of water to the TMX and cook the rice for 17 minutes before adding the varoma and cooking for a further 16-18 minutes.

Happy Adoption Day!!!

Today is a very special day for our family. It is the anniversary of the day when our Ethiopian-born son's adoption was finalised. It is our "Happy Adoption Day".

It's hard to believe that our special day has come around already. The last twelve months have certainly flown by. Looking back it has been a challenging twelve months in some ways with our son understanding more of what it means to be adopted and to not have grown in Mum's tummy. We had some very difficult months as the full impact of our little man's situation hit home and his secure and comfortable world seemed to fall apart. Slowly but surely however we have begun to pick up the pieces and have started the healing process. We are blessed to have a child who wears his heart on his sleeve and also blessed to be surrounded by such supportive family and friends as we work through it all together. Today is really a special day to celebrate our union as a family and the special journey that we are taking together.

To celebrate our day we have made and decorated a chocolate cake and are having a meal out tonight as a family. In previous years we have bought small presents for the boys, but this year we decided to do something a little different. We have donated money through World Families Australia (an amazing charity) to build a home for a homeless Ethiopian family. It certainly won't be a palace, but will have a tin roof, timber walls and basic furniture. I am very proud to report that our boys donated 40 cents each toward the project from their hard earned chore money. The boys have checked out the general area where the house will be built on google earth and are hopeful that Bob (Bob the Builder) will be working on the project. Now we just need to save up and get over there to meet the family and give them a housewarming gift (perhaps some chickens would be nice:-)). It is such a wonderful project (and a wonderful and dedicated organisation) that has made us feel close once again to our beautiful second home.

Happy Adoption Day!

"Oh, who would have guessed? Who could have seen?

Who could have possibly known?

All these roads we have travelled, the places we've been

Would finally have taken us home?

So it's here's to you and three cheers to you!
Let's shout it Hip, Hip, Hip, Hooray!"
For out of a world so tattered and torn,
You came to our house on that wonderful morn . . . .

And all of a sudden this family was born.
Oh, Happy Adoption Day!"

Filling Tummies with Yummy Soaked Crumpets

Check out some of the cute star shaped crumpets that my hubby made on Tuesday night. They are such a healthy breakfast (being made with soaked whole grains) and go down a treat with the kids. We love them toasted and spread with raw honey!  The recipe makes oodles of crumpets and they freeze really well. :-)

Filling Tummies with Homemade Vanilla Extract

Vanilla extract is something that I use often in my baking, but find quite expensive to buy in the supermarket. Rather than use vanilla essence (which has some interesting ingredients), I followed a thread on forumthermomix and now make my own vanilla extract. It is quite expensive to buy the ingredients initially, but works out economical in the long run as one batch lasts me for almost a year. My 750ml batch costs approximately $35-40 and the same amount would cost approximately $65-70 from the supermarket. Aside from the cost the flavour and fragrance of homemade vanilla extract is divine and far superior to anything you can buy!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Ingredients:

12 x vanilla beans (see notes)
1 x 750ml bottle of brandy (see notes)

Method:

Cut the vanilla beans in half if they are long (they need to be able to fit in your jars) and then slit them length ways. Open them up a little so that the vanilla seeds are exposed. Divide the beans amongst 3 clean jars with secure lids.

Fill the jars evenly with the brandy and secure the lids. Place in a cool dark place and give them a shake-up once a week. The vanilla extract will be well infused in around 6 weeks (although can be used earlier).

Notes:

I buy my vanilla beans from ebay and they are fantastic. I pay $12 for 12 beans and that price includes postage. I have bought from several different sellers and they have always been lovely and fat beans. Not at all like the skinny, dried up beans that the supermarkets sell for $3-4 each.

Brandy often comes on special at the major liquor outlets. Just ensure you don't get an infused or flavoured variety.

I funnel the extract into a little bottle and refill it when necessary. I don't bother straining it as I don't mind if the tiny seeds end up in my cooking. When I get down to my last bottle I know that it is time to buy some more brandy and beans and make another batch up.

You can make the vanilla extract in the actual brandy bottle by tipping some of the brandy out and adding the slit beans directly into the bottle. I disliked this method due to the wastage, but it is an option.

Filling Tummies with Apple Berry Crumble

Two of my most favourite unofficial thermomix recipe developers would have to be Quirky Jo from North Queensland and Bron from Spain. When I try their recipes I have absolute confidence that I am making something very yummy. Recently I was doing some cooking with our boys (something they enjoy and I suffer through :-)) and they decided they would like to make an apple crumble for pudding. I was quite happy with their decision, but faced with a dilemma. Bron's Yummy Apple Crumble or Quirky Jo's Divine Apple-Berry Custard Crumble??? A lovely dilemma to be faced with really!

In the end I decided to combine our favourite elements of both dishes in one heavenly crumble. This crumble combines Jo's sweetened fruit base and delicious custard layer with Bron's crispy and caramelly hazelnut topping. Yum!

Bron and Jo's Apple Berry Crumble

(with my own little tweaks)

Ingredients:

Topping:
50g hazelnuts
100g spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 thin strips of lemon and/or orange zest (thinly peeled, no white)
100g cold butter - in small pieces
80g rapadura

Custard:
60g rapadura
2 eggs
500g non-homogenised milk
40g cornflour
(check out Jo's dairy-free custard recipe here)

Fruit Base
4 apples peeled and sliced
1-2 cups frozen berries (we used blackberries)
2 tbsp rapadura
1 tsp cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Make the topping first be placing the hazelnuts into TMX bowl and chopping them for 7 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.

Place flour and lemon zest strips into bowl and blitz for 15 seconds on speed 9 (check zest and blitz for longer if necessary to become very fine).

Add butter,rapadura and nuts and mix for 5 seconds on reverse speed 5. Set aside.

To make custard place rapadura into the bowl and blitz for 10 seconds on speed 9. Add other custard ingredients and program 7 minutes, 90 degrees on speed 4.

While the custard is cooking peel and slice the apples and place them in a pudding dish with the berries. Sprinkle over the rapadura and cinnamon and stir well.

When the custard has finished cooking pour it over the fruit. Sprinkle over the topping and pat it down so that it will form a crust.

Bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Thanks Jo and Bron for your great recipes!

Filling Tummies with Nutty Milo Slice

If you like muesli slice with a bit of texture then this Nutty Milo Slice might be just the one for you. I converted the recipe from one I found in a New Idea Mag. It is easy to make, rather tasty and quite healthy (especially if you make it with Cathy's yummy homemade milo).

Nutty Milo Slice

Ingredients:

65g raw almonds
65g unsalted macadamia nuts
65g unsalted cashews
120g organic honey
100g rapadura or organic raw sugar
120g unsalted butter (perhaps try coconut oil if you are D/F)
100g organic desiccated coconut
110g organic rolled or steel cut oats
70g sunflower seeds
80g pumpkin seeds
50g sesame seeds (I used chia seeds instead)
100g milo
100g dried fruit (I used organic sultanas and craisins)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a large 26 x 32cm slice tray with baking paper (ensure paper extends 2cm above edge of tray).

Add nuts to TMX and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.

Add honey, rapadura and butter to TMX and heat for 4 minutes at 90 degrees on speed 2.

Add all other ingredients (including nuts) and mix on reverse speed 3-4 for 20 seconds or until well combined.

Empty into prepared tray and use knuckles to press the mixture out evenly.

Bake in oven for approximately 20 minutes or until browned. Cool completely in tray. Lift from tray and cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Notes:

Consider chopping up the seeds with the nuts for a smoother texture.

Filling Tummies with Dutch Baby Pancakes

When I went to listen to Cyndi O'Meara speak last year I was a little shocked by her very strong stance on breakfast cereals. I have always known that cocoa pops, fruit loops and the like were basically rubbish, but I really wasn't aware that good ol' weetbix wasn't a good nutritional option. It took me a little while to remove weetbix from our family diet as although we weren't overly fond of it, finding a quick and healthy replacement wasn't easy. Now there is certainly no going back to breakfast from a box though and we love our enormous glass of thick fruit juice and our whole grain, naturally sweetened crumpet or muffin.

Occasionally though we really like a treat for breakfast and along the way Sunday mornings have somehow become our regular pancake morning. There are currently three pancake recipes that we really like and rotate between. These are:

1) Brown rice and almond pancakes

These are so easy and yummy. I still can't believe they are made with brown rice.

2) Crepes

I use the Everyday Cookbook recipe and substitute white spelt flour instead of the wheat (adding about 20g extra flour). These are a real treat as I don't often use white flour solely in cooking anymore. We serve them with chopped fresh fruit (usually banana and strawberry) and homemade caramel sauce. I bought a little crepe pan recently and they are so easy to make now.

3) Dutch Baby Cakes

I found this amazingly easy recipe on Lindsay's Passionate Homemaking Blog. I really love it because it has the goodness of soaked grains, butter and eggs, but most of all I love it because it is oven baked. No standing at the stove pouring and flipping pancakes - hooray!!!

The texture is a little different to normal pancakes and it has had some mixed reviews, but we are definite fans (although my eldest son still loudly protests that these aren't his most favourite pancakes). I will jot the recipe down here in TMX format in case you would like to give it a try. I have reduced the amounts slightly to fit the pancake into my standard sized pyrex lasagne dish, but I am on the lookout for another square 8x8 glass pyrex dish a two smaller dishes would probably work better.

Dutch Baby Pancakes

Ingredients:

130g spelt, wheat or khorasan grain
210g milk of your choice (I use non-homogenised dairy)
1 tbsp of organic apple cider vinegar
75g butter (small cubes)
3 large eggs (or 4 medium)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Mill grain on speed 9 for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Pour into a jug or bowl and sit on TMX lid. Weigh in milk and measure in vinegar. mix well and leave to soak for 12-24 hours.

After the soaking period preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Place your glass dish on top of your TMX lid and weigh in the butter. Throw in several pieces at a time so the weight will register properly. Scatter the pieces over the bottom of the dish and then place the dish in the heating oven for 2-3 minutes or until melted.

Add the eggs to the TMX bowl and whisk for 30 seconds on speed 5.

Add the soaked mixture and vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute on speed 3.

Carefully and slowly pour the batter over the butter in the pan. Cover the entire base of the dish. It doesn't matter if a little butter ends up on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until light brown and fluffy. Slice and serve with your choice of toppings. I like lemon juice and rapadura and my boys all like homemade jam. :-)

Filling Tummies with Yeast-Free Spelt Bread

For all of you spelt bread bakers out there who like to try something new, I suggest you check out this rather interesting recipe. It certainly has a lot of great feedback in the review section.

I made a loaf today (a half batch of the recipe) and was impressed by how easy and quick it was to make. I was surprised by how much it rose and how lovely the crust was (I covered it with another tin as suggested in the recipe). My bread tin was too big for the loaf but it still worked quite well.

The texture was very much like a light banana bread (a bit dense, but not too cakey). Although it was ok fresh, it was really yummy toasted and spread with homemade apricot jam. I'm sure it would lend itself very well to additions - fruit, different seeds etc. It was super easy and I didn't have to bother about leaving it to rise so I will probably make it again. I don't think it will become a big family favourite, but it is definitely worth a try (especially if you are limited to low-gluten flours).

My modifications today to the recipe were:

• I used 2 cups ground spelt grain (300g) and 2 cups white spelt flour (250g) for the half batch.
• I used honey instead of molasses.
• I used sunflower seeds (80g) instead of sesame seeds.
• I used 1 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of baking powder.
• After I ground the grain (in two batches) I threw everything in the TMX and mixed it for 30 seconds on reverse speed 4. I scraped it into my oiled bread tin and baked it for the recommended time.

Filling Tummies with "Bubble and Squeak"

One of the great things about being a stay at home parent is being able to cook healthy and sustaining "vegie-packed" family lunches. I am really dreading the fast-approaching time when our lunches are limited by what can be safely packed into a lunch box. At the moment I am whipping up lot's of soups, lentil patties, vegie burgers, ploughman platters, salads and of course our absolute favourite - bubble and squeak. Bubble and squeak is a quick, easy and relatively healthy meal that uses up left-over vegies from dinner the night before. Although it makes a great lunch we have been known to throw it on the BBQ with some bacon for a yummy breakfast fry-up.

Here is my easy recipe that I adapted from the Kraft Australia website:

Bubble and Squeak

Bubble and Squeak with Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

2 spring onions - trimmed and quartered
50g parmesan - cubed
50g tasty cheese - cubed
2-3 cups of cooked veg - cooled (see notes below)
2 eggs
70g spelt flour (white or wholegrain)
1 tsp baking powder
cracked pepper to taste
oil for frying

Method:

Place spring onions, parmesan and tasty cheese into TMX bowl and grate for 4-5 seconds on speed 8.

Add remaining ingredients and mix on reverse speed 3 for 20 seconds.

Heat oil in fry pan on moderate heat. Add tablespoons of mixture and cook for several minutes before carefully turning over. Don't overload your fry pan as they can be difficult to turn.

Notes:

You need to have some mashed potato in your vegetable mix as it acts as the "glue" in these fritters. I like to use left-over potato/sweet potato mash for about half of the vegetable mix. The other half is usually a mix of steamed carrot, beans, peas, pumpkin, celery, corn etc.

If you don't have any left-over cooked vegetables, you can easily cook some up in the TMX before starting this recipe. Simply place 500g of water in the TMX bowl, 500g of peeled cubed potatoes and sweet potatoes in the rice basket and an assortment of chopped vegetables in the varoma dish (you can chop these in the TMX of course). Program 25 minutes at varoma temperature speed 2. When the time is up tip out the water and insert the butterfly into the bowl. Tip the potatoes into the bowl, add a little butter and milk and mix for 10 seconds on speed 3. Remove the butterfly, tip in the other steamed vegies and mix on reverse speed 3 for a further 10 seconds. Set aside to cool before starting the above recipe.

Filling Tummies With My Monthly Menu Plan

There has been some menu-planning conversation on the wonderful forumthermomix lately so I thought I would join in and share what I am doing at the moment. :-)

Although I am an organisation-junkie in most areas of my life I really don't like menu planning. When it comes to our main meals I really love to be flexible and to have the freedom to decide each day what we would like to eat. Realistically though I know that my preferred "impulsive" style of cooking generally results in an unbalanced family diet, weight gain for me, increased trips to the shops and higher monthly grocery bills. So instead I menu plan (sigh!).

I do my menu plans monthly at the moment and generally tie it in with my monthly grocery shop (I just buy fruit, veg and dairy each week). I don't do a totally new plan each month, but just change a few meals over to keep it all interesting and so I can try out new recipes. I don't bother planning for breakfasts, lunches or snacks anymore as we are in a good routine for these.

I'm not a meat and three veg type of cook , but our mains still have a big vegetable focus and even our spaghetti bolognaise and pizza sauce are jam-packed with vegetables. I try to balance out each week by not overloading on rice, pasta or dairy and by including at least one vegetarian meal and one fish meal. I generally plan a few easy and quick meals in the week as well as some that are a little more labour intensive (although all meals are relatively easy in the TMX). I only plan for 6 nights a week which allows for an easy "scrambled eggs on toast" type meal, an evening out or a night for me to create a new recipe. I don't follow my menu plan religiously and don't allocate any meals to any nights, but I do enjoy the piece of mind of knowing that I have everything on hand to cook the dishes for that week.

Here is this months menu plan:

Week 1

Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potato and Steamed Rice

Bolognaise Pinwheels with Steamed Vegetables and Dinner Rolls

Bangers and Mash with Steamed Vegetables and Onion Gravy

Parmesan and Herb Crusted “Fish Fingers” with Homemade Sweet Potato Fries and Mayonnaise

Beef Stroganoff with Fettuccine

Italian Shepherds Pie (Everyday Cookbook)


Week 2

Roast Chicken and Steamed Vegetables in Creamy Honey and Mustard Sauce

Lentil Bolognaise with Jacket Potatoes and Sour Cream

Swiss Beef with Steamed Vegetables

Pizza with Roasted Pumpkin, Local Smoked Cheddar Salami and Caramelised Onions

Meatloaf with Red Sauce and Steamed Butternut Pumpkin Rounds (Everyday Cookbook)

Dirty Rice, Steamed Vegetables and Meatballs


Week 3

Chicken and Pear Risotto

Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti

Vegetable Lasagne and Salad

Curried Sausages, Mash and Steamed Vegetables

Salmon Cakes with Jacket Potatoes, Salad and Homemade Mayonnaise

Beef and Guinness Stew with Cheesy Dumplings


Week 4

Homemade Chicken Kiev’s with Steamed Vegetables and Mash

One-Pot Spaghetti Bolognaise

Spaghetti Bolognaise Pizza

Tuna and Vegetable Strudel with Jacket Potatoes

Beef Burritos with Homemade Spelt Tortillas, Fresh Salsa, Salad Veg etc

Egg and Bacon Pie with Steamed Vegetables

Filling Tummies with Our Top 10 Favourite Recipes!!!

There are some absolutely fabulous recipes out there Thermie-land. Here are our current top 10 favourites (in no particular order):

1) Quirky Jo's Homemade Mayonnaise (just divine)

2) Baf's Creamy Chicken and Veg in the Varoma (this dish is ridiculously easy and tasty - consider adding 1 tsp of mustard powder and 1 tsp of raw honey to the sauce for an extra boost)

3) Thermoconverts Sweet Chilli Sauce (yummy but I must remember to leave out the chilli seeds)

4) My Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti (our favourite main at the moment)

5) Creamy Vanilla Ice cream (from the Everyday Cookbook)- I have started making it with powdered rapadura and beating it up twice instead of once. Served with Quirky Jo's chocolate spread it is a perfect dessert!

6) Quirky Jo's Blender Batter Muffins (the apple and cinnamon ones are our current favourites)

7) Isi's Easy Portuguese Rolls (the best rolls ever and so easy - I have been substituting 150g of milled rye grain instead of 150g of the bakers flour)

8) My Soaked Wholegrain Chocolate Cake

9) Cathy's Homemade Milo

10) Achookwoman's Caramel Apple Pudding and my version of the pudding here which is almost (but not quite :-)) as good.

Filling Tummies with Soaked Whole Grain Pizza Crust

Soaked whole grain baking is seriously addictive and I am 100% hooked. Before I have even finished creating or modifying one soaked recipe, I have already started planning for the next. I just love the challenge that baking with whole grains presents and now really dislike even opening the cupboard that houses our pre-milled flour (how ridiculous is that)!

A big part of the soaked whole grain baking challenge is pushing the boundaries to see what you can actually get away with without compromising taste or texture. Yesterday I was in the mood for a whole grain challenge and decided to tackle my pizza crust recipe (yes I know I only finished this recipe recently). I am delighted to report that tonight we enjoyed soaked grain pizza crusts where the flour content was made up entirely of soaked whole grain flour. Not such a huge discovery on a global perspective as people have been making soaked whole grain pizzas for years (and it hardly compares to man walking on the moon :-)), but for this wee lass who doesn't have the benefits of a specialised grain mill I think it is pretty impressive. :-)

So here is my new pizza crust recipe:

Soaked Whole Grain Pizza Crust

Sausage, Roasted Pumpkin and Feta Pizza

Ingredients:

450g khorasan, spelt or wheat grain
250g warm water
1 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar

70g khorasan, spelt or wheat grain

30g lukewarm water
3 tsp yeast
1 tsp organic honey

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
1 tsp dulse flakes
1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Place blades in freezer for 10-15 minutes to reshape.

Mill grain in TMX in two batches (225g x 2) for 1 minute and 30 seconds on speed 9. Pour into a jug or bowl and sit on TMX lid. Weigh in 250g water and measure in cider vinegar. Mix well and leave covered to soak at cool room temperature for 24 hours.

After soaking period mill remaining grain for 1 minute and 30 seconds on speed 9. Set aside for later use (to be added to dough if too sticky or to dust surface for rolling the dough).

Add 30g lukewarm water, yeast and honey into TMX bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 2. Leave for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

Add the soaked flour, salt, oil and dulse flakes into the TMX and mix for 7 seconds on speed 6. Knead for 2 minutes on interval setting. Check the dough after 20 seconds (by carefully feeling the dough through the hole) and add more water or flour (milled grain) if necessary.

Place the dough into an oiled bowl and set aside in a warm place to double in size (that took about 1 hour and 20 minutes for my batch today). This rising step isn't necessary for thin pizza crusts. Divide into portions and roll out to fit your pizza trays. Spread with paste or pizza sauce and leave dough to rise for a further 20-30 minutes if desired.

If you don't have a pizza stone consider pre-baking the pizza bases for 7 minutes at 200 degrees before adding the toppings and continuing to bake for a further 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Notes:

It is hard work mixing the liquid into the flour as it is a very dry soaking mix (it will still "soak" though).  You could easily mix it in the TMX if you prefer (I just don't like cleaning and drying it after as I am usually about to mill more grain).

It is hard to give an exact flour and liquid measure when working with 100% whole grains as each batch of grain is different and spelt, khorasan and wheat are all different also. Just feel the dough often during the kneading process and add a little water or milled flour as you need it to make a dough that is relatively easy to pluck out of the TMX (not too sticky, but not too dry).

Freeze any uncooked dough in zip lock bags.  Thaw in fridge before bringing to room temperature and continuing on with rolling out, adding toppings etc.

Filling Tummies with Sticky Date Self Saucing Pudding

I have been working on this recipe for a little while and almost had it perfect tonight (almost). I knew when I milled the grain yesterday that the blades really needed to go in the freezer for 10 minutes for a quick reshape, but of course I was in a rush and didn't take the time to do it. As a result our pudding tonight had a slight "crunch". Grrr! Note to self - reshape blades before milling!!!

So here is my latest soaked whole grain recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Sticky Date Self Saucing Pudding

Ingredients:

Pudding:
170g spelt, khorasan or wheat grain (I use khorasan)
120g non-homogenised milk
2 tsp organic apple cider vinegar
200g dates
1 free-range egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
40g organic cold pressed macadamia oil (or pure olive oil)
60g rapadura
2 1/2 tsp aluminium free baking powder
handful walnuts or pecans

Sauce:
1 MC (TMX measuring cup) of rapadura
Approx 30g butter chopped into small pieces
500g boiling water

Method:

Mill grain in TMX for 1 minute on speed 9. Consider leaving to cool for 5 minutes before milling for another minute at speed 9. Pour into a jug or bowl and sit on TMX lid. Weigh in milk and measure in cider vinegar. Mix well and leave covered to soak at cool room temperature for 24 hours.

After soaking period preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease a 1.5 litre pudding dish (I have to use a larger dish than usual so it might pay to measure).

Chop the dates on speed 7 for 8 seconds or until finely chopped. Set aside (don't worry about washing the TMX, just scrape out as best you can).

Place the soaked mixture into the TMX with the egg, vanilla and oil. Mix for 1 minute at speed 9 adding a tbsp (or 2) of milk if necessary to assist the mixing/milling.

Add the rapadura, dates, baking powder and walnuts and mix/chop for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Scrape the mixture into the greased dish. Sprinkle the mixture with the MC of rapadura and then dot the butter around on top. Gently pour the boiling water onto the pudding over the back of a spoon.

Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until it springs back in the middle when touched. Try not to overcook it as the sauce will disappear. Stand for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow the sauce to thicken.

Enjoy!

Filling Tummies with Good Ol' Egg and Bacon Pie

I love to use butter puff pastry when making savoury pies and quiches. The health benefits that come from consuming animal fats in moderation are now well documented and the flavour from the butter is just divine.

When I have a little time up my sleeve I really enjoy making my own rough puff pastry using the Everyday Thermomix Cookbook recipe (which uses a combination of lard and butter), but when I am in a hurry I use pre-made butter varieties. Pre-made butter puff pastry is usually double the price of most margarine-based varieties, but the butter variety is so delicious that I think it is well worth paying the extra. Check out the ingredients of two popular puff pastry varieties below. They are certainly very interesting.

Borg's Butter Puff Pastry
wheat flour, unsalted butter, water, salt.

Home brand Puff Pastry (Margarine)
wheat flour, water, margarine [vegetable fats, vegetable oils, water, salt, emulsifier (471), soy lecithin, food acid (330), flavour, antioxidant (306), colour (160a)], salt.

Now time to hop off the soapbox and jot down this easy family pie recipe. This Egg and Bacon Pie is really so simple that I am not even sure that it qualifies as a recipe, but as it is an occasional Sunday night favourite at our house I thought I should probably blog it.

Egg and Bacon Pie

Ingredients:

2 butter puff pastry sheets or 1/2 batch of rough puff pastry
1/2 brown onion peeled
60g tasty cheese
2 rashers bacon - rind removed and chopped
4 free-range eggs
190g non-homogenised milk
salt and pepper to taste
chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Place pastry sheets on bench to thaw for 5 minutes or roll homemade pastry thinly.

Grease a pie plate/dish (I use a 30cm quiche dish) and line with pastry. Cut and join the pastry together where necessary (pressing the seams together at the joins).

Place the onion into the TMX bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 5. Sprinkle over pastry.

Place the cheese into the TMX bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 8. Sprinkle over onion.

Sprinkle the bacon over the onion and cheese.

Place the eggs, milk, salt and pepper into the TMX bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 4-5. Pour the mixture into the pie dish.

Garnish with chopped parsley and cook for 10 minutes at 200 degrees, before turning the oven down to 180 degrees and cooking for a further 20-25 minutes until set. Enjoy!

Notes:

I usually serve the pie with steamed veg or crusty bread for a simple meal.

You can chop the bacon in the TMX, but I prefer to have chunky even-sized pieces.

Creamed matchsticks are a very yummy way to make use of any leftover pastry. Simply cut the leftover pieces into strips, fold them in half length ways and bake on a tray for 20 minutes while the pie is baking. When cool, split them in half length ways and spread with jam and whipped cream. Place tops back on and sprinkle with icing sugar or powdered rapadura. Yum!