beyond the fridge door...

inspired by confessions of a food nazi, here is the inside (and outside) of my fridge. of course it's pretty empty after being away lately. and desperately in need of a clean (susana, do you feel a challenge coming on? lol)


i'll do some notes on flickr so you can see what's what :)

camping report...

it was an interesting experience!

the menu didn't quite go according to plan, mainly because of weather...

the first night we got to green patch at jervis bay was lovely and we used the gas bbq's to do our hamburgers which were great, but overnight the weather changed and we had 2 full days and nights of freezing winter weather, constant rain showers and some heavy falls, and very strong winds.

the wind made it pretty impossible to use our gas stove without one of us going off into the amenities block for hours - there's no camp kitchen and the bbq's have a roof but no walls so with wind AND rain they were a no-go too. it took me over half an hour to boil a pot full of water one day so it just made life very difficult.

we still did our dinners roughly according to the menu plan (a few minor changes depending on what defrosted when), and that worked really well - the ice box was brilliant at keeping everything frozen / very very cold for the whole week. breakfasts however were a whole nother matter. we ended up giving the kids peanut butter on weetbix (til we ran out of pb - aagh!) and then we would find a WARM DRY cafe to have a huge cooked brunch in ! lol

i think next time if i knew there were free gas bbq's i would plan more bbq meals rather than pre-cooking meals.

the best meal we had out was our brunch at the cafe at hyams beach in jervis bay - a gorgeous little cafe and amazing food for good prices. i wanted to go back but couldn't talk geoff into it!

PS: i wish i could have taken my thermomix, it would have made life much easier! lol

PPS: for some reason blogger is posting my photos big even though i'm selecting the small option. i'll just post the ones of the hyams beach cafe and one of the gorgeous beach and you can see the rest of my pics on flickr if you want :)

Gold Coast Gluttony

well it kind of felt like gluttony yesterday as my tummy took all day to recover! i think i ate more than i do in a normal week, and i certainly drank more alcohol than i normally would in a whole year!!!

i don't have time to do a thorough post so here are some pics and a brief outline of our food and drink weekend...

after arriving on Friday morning and driving from brisbane to the gold coast we met some of the others at the Wildlife Cafe at Pacific Fair. Nic & I shared a so-so Nachos (only discovering that the meat sauce was under the corn chips when we got half way through!)

Friday night we had our own cocktail waiter in the gazebo by the pool at our destination - the Arc Resort in Broadbeach and we made the most of it (well until we got in the pool and couldn't be bothered to get out LOL we just got someone to bring down the 'Bucket o Love" and then we didn't have to get out ;) The girls who had organised the weekend provided munchies and the lady who runs the resort brought us hot food which was very good (but you wouldn't want to be a vegetarian lol)

she is from an asian background of some sort and it showed in the delicious snacks she made:

• chicken teriyaki sticks
• mini fritattas (no idea what was in these)
• fried noodles with chicken
• chicken balls
• mini beef balls

drinks consumed by me on the night included

• sex on the beach (above) - however we had no oj so we used cointreau instead ;)
• c***sucking cowboy shots
• oh gosh i can't even remember now! i know i had another cocktail before deciding to stick with the sex on the beach!
• and of course the bucket of lurve (see the big pink bucket in the photos??)
  

i know there were lots of fruit tingles drunk, and cosmopolitans, but i can't remember what else! (maybe some of my fellow drinkers might remind me lol)


we finished early on friday night as there was a noise complaint - at 8:30pm LMAO!! can you believe it, 8:30pm!!! some people...

Saturday morning we headed off to Jamaica Blue at Pacific Fair where Carol had spotted a $10 cooked breakfast including coffee.

it was good and definitely good value - also just what the doctor ordered lol

lunch was a picnic of sorts - we bought bread, crackers, cheese and dips, and had a late lunch sitting around the coffee table in our room - we thought about going to eat by the pool but it seemed too far away hehehehe

Saturday afternoon was spent in the pool and included bottles of omni and a pseudo bucket o lurve (carol and laura just tipped most of the leftover alcohol and juice into the bucket and mixed it up lol it was delicious like lolly water but very very potent)

Saturday evening was included in the cost for the weekend and it was divine!!! we ate at Sage Restaurant. I'll scan our menu and post it but i had the

• calamari - soooooo tender it nearly melted in the mouth. large serve with salad
• Sage chicken - a HUMUNGOUS serve, with delicious chips and salad. i absolutely couldn't finish it all!
• lemon meringue pie - this was ok, i think desserts are not their forte. they had put coconut on top of the meringe and toasted it all, it was a bit odd in taste and texture. the filling wasn't quite zesty enough for me (though many others were saying it was perfect).
• we also got a few rounds of free drinks though this is where i hit the wall - i had one gin and tonic and that was it - i didn't finish my second one and not a drop more of alcohol passed my lips that weekend lol

we then went on to another bar (owned by the restaurant owner, we had been given vouchers for free drinks) where the others had a quick drink, but it was not quite our style! (the crowd too young and hip lol) and finally onto Howl at the Moon. i didn't stay long before heading home to bed...

Sunday morning we were up for an early swim and then packed and at Jupiters Casino for their buffet brunch by about 830am...

it's $24.50 for brunch on a sunday and you really do get your money's worth.

breakfast is all kinds of breakfast options - i had a cooked breakfast including bacon, eggs, tomatoes, little pancakes, followed by fruit and danishes.

a few hours later - we were there for 4 hours all up, we weren't flying out til 845pm so we had a LOT of time to fill in on sunday lol - i followed it up with a selection from the 'lunch' buffet as they had changed most of the buffet over at around 11am.

the others had cold meats and salads etc but i have to confess that i had a plate full of sweets. though i couldn't eat them all, but they were so worth the aching teeth lol i think i have a photo on my phone which i will get off soon...

after saying goodbye to the others carol and i went and lay by the beach just north of coolangatta. we read for 3 hours! then we finally headed to the airport to wait for our flight.

what an amazing weekend! i had a fantastic time :)

Noodle Poodle

what do you get when you cross stir fried noodles & veg with leftover hot dogs and need to make it appealing to the cranky 5yo who wants nuggets and chips??

Noodle Poodle of course!

fry julienned carrots and onions & garlic, add julienned capsicums and hot dog. drain noodles (soaked in boiling water to separate) and add. add some sesame oil and hoisin sauce, mix well and serve.

of course you can swap the hot dogs out with any kind of meat or tofu :)

i'm off to the gold coast at 6am tomorrow for a weekend that is childfree and girls only - can't wait! see you all next week ;)

Thermomix LOVERS!

the Thermomix forum is currently having a recipe book giveaway!! anyone who joins and posts is in the draw to win!!! referrals also earn entries so if you do join and post your intro please mention that you found out about it from me ;)

you can read more here! http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=223.0

good luck!

Thermomix Very Quick and Easy Creamy Sundried Tomato Sauce for Gnocchi

i couldn't be bothered starting from scratch with the pasta sauce (the 5 year old remember?) so i did a cheats version that was very nice:

4-5 sundried tomatoes

chop for 3-5 seconds on speed 4

add in one jar pasta sauce (we use aldi organic usually but this time i used the aldi olive one) and a little cream if you have some that needs to be used up, or leave out if you don't want it.

cook for 8 minutes on 80'c speed 2

pour over gnocchi, top with parmesan if desired.

Thermomix Potato & Sweet Potato Gnocchi

no pictures sorry, a one hour long tantrum by the 5 year old ensured that, but here is a bit of a method for this. i may need to edit it next time as i'm not sure my brain was really focusing on gnocchi :(

for 4-6 people

350g Sweet potato, peeled and cubed
650g desiree potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 egg
2+ cups flour
salt & pepper

steam the potatoes & sweet potatoes. i did mine in the microwave but of course you could do it in the varoma if you wanted and didn't have your mind on when the noise was going to stop...
(you would probably use about 500g water, 12-15 mins (??) varoma temp, speed 2
they need to be really soft but not falling apart.

drain them well and let them cool as much as you can (last time i kept them in teh fridge overnight and this worked well.

put about 500g in the tmx and chop til they're fine - but be careful! you don't want to make glue out of them! (have done that before with a food processor, NOT pretty!) i did speed 6 for about 30-40 seconds i think.
remove to another bowl and repeat. add the first batch back in and add the other ingredients.

mix on speed 6 until well mixed, again keep an eye out for gluey tendencies! i was very distracted by the 5yo at this stage and mine was done for 2 minutes and was OK thank goodness, so glue must be less likely at this stage ;p

put a large pot of water on to boil.

remove from tmx and place on a floured surface. knead until smooth, adding extra flour until the dough is no longer sticky. my dough was very sticky at this stage (i think the sweet potatoes have more water than regular potatoes) so i had to add a LOT of extra flour, but it was fine in the end.

cut the dough into 4-6 pieces and then take one. roll out on the floured surface until you have a sausage that is about 2cm thick. cut into 1cm pieces with a knife (i used a bread knife so i didn't cut my silicone mat). i actually just cook them like that because we don't care what they look like!

but if you want them to look pretty like "real" gnocchi just roll them a little into a ball then press into shape with a fork.

to cook them you need boiling water - just drop one sausage worth of gnocchi in at a time (i found it took the exact time to make the next sausage-worth as it did to cook each batch of gnocchi). they are cooked when they flat on the surface - use a large flat slotted spoon to remove & drain them. you can serve them straight into a bowl.

top with sauce and cheese as desired.

of course you can swap the sweet potato for pumpkin, or use more potato and a little black olives etc etc - the options are endless!

Satay Quinoa

this was ok in my opinion, but rora ate every single bit of 2 full bowls, and it's a high iron meal so i'm recording the "recipe" so i can make it again...

finely dice firm tofu and marinate in sweet soy

fry onion, garlic, ginger, red capsicum, then add quinoa

add water / stock, other vegies (fresh corn off the cob, zucchini)

cook covered (15-20 mins) until quinoa nearly cooked then add asian greens, mushrooms, and tofu

toast 8-10 macadamias, chop

for "satay" flavour add peanut butter, sweet chilli sauce (also lemon / lime juice / tamarind if desired) and macadamias

stay tuned for a tmx version ;)
serve!

a varoma adventure!

dimsims in the varoma tray, vegies in the base of the varoma

rice in the basket in the bowl of the thermomix

the full story is over here but there are more pictures here than there ;)

Thermomix demo

last night i hosted a Thermomix demo for a friend who is very keen to get one but didn't want to host her own demo. now she is even more impressed ;)

i found a lovely local demonstrator who came and did the demo for us. this was our menu (yum)


orange & lemon sorbet - delicious and i loved the combo of orange with lemon rather than just lemon
garlic and herb dip - i only got 2 dips! it was so popular it went too quick :( lol (i must have greedy friends hehehehehehe)
beetroot and coriander salad - i loved this but there were a few who didn't, because of the coriander
TM31 bread - made with whole wheat
pasta e fagiole - this smelled sooooooooooo good as it cooked! tasted divine too. geoff had tried making it once and it wasn't this nice so we will have to try it again!
lemon custard - loved the lemony flavour but the zest left the custard a bit 'gritty', anyone got any tips to get around that? (we make the custard heaps for the kids over winter so it's definitely not the basic custard that's the problem) i suggested soaking the rind in vodka to make your own lemon essence :D

several of my other friends are now coveting one and tania is hoping to have her own demo to convince her dh ;)

i'm so pleased to have passed my obsession around LOL

Cranberry Maple Breakfast Scones (Thermomix)

this recipe was heavily inspired by two recipes from The Crepes of Wrath - Whole Wheat Maple Oatmeal Scones and Cranberry Almond Multigrain Scones - thank you!

85g oats
140g wholemeal flour
100g plain flour
70g ground almonds *
1 tab baking powder
1 tspn cinnamon
1 tspn cardamom
100g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
65g milk (low fat)
140g yoghurt (low fat, i just used the yoghurt i had left, so if you have more or less in a tub just adjust the milk accordingly, you could also use flavoured) **
25g maple syrup ***
50g cranberries
for the glaze:
1-2 tspns each of maple syrup and milk

place oats in tmx, closed lid position and pulse using the turbo button x3
add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix for 3 seconds on speed 7
add butter, closed lid position and pulse using the turbo button x2-3
add wet ingredients and cranberries. remove the measuring cup from the lid. set on closed lid position, reverse and knead until the dough is well mixed (i forgot to pay attention to how long but probably just 3-4 'kneads')
line a baking tray (i used my silicone baking mat) and sprinkle with flour - probably about 1/8-1/4 cup. gently knead the dough a little more and shape into a circle. flatten until it's about 4cm thick. with a butter knife cut into 6-8 wedges.
in the measuring cup mix the extra syrup and milk and brush over the top of the scones. i think it would be nice with a few oats and some raw sugar sprinkled over too (ooops i just noticed this is actually in the whole wheat scones recipe!)
bake in a 160' oven for about 20-25 minutes

* to grind the almonds place 70g whole raw almonds in the tmx, grind at speed 6-7 for 5-10 seconds until you can hear the smoothness and no larger pieces hitting the sides.
** my dough was a little wet so perhaps i will adjust the amount of yoghurt next time
*** this was the perfect (not very) sweetness for me but if you like sweet breakfast dishes you might like to add a little brown sugar too - or you could serve with a brown sugar / butter blend

geoff just got home from the Botanic Gardens native plant sale and had a scone - he's not a fan of any fruit except blueberries - but he loved them!

Indian style side dishes

well after postponing it all weekend i finally started making the Chicken Tikka Masala at 5pm on Monday, only to discover it had to marinate overnight! ooops!

so last night I finally cooked it up. it was good, though the recipe definitely needs tweaking (it had too much lime juice for a start) like the Butter Chicken did. This recipe is a perfect recipe for the Thermomix (other than the grilling of the chicken and the marinading i did all the rest in the TMX) so when i've had a bit more of a play with the recipe i'll post a conversion.

we had it with rice (of course lol), some more of tenina's naan's (last of the freezer stash), a lentil and beet chard dish (ryan said "oh YUM, i LOVE lentils!! when he saw it lol) and a vegie dish which i thought would be a disaster, but was actually quite nice. no recipes today, but i will note down spice combos so i have them for another time...

Lentils:
brown lentils
beet chard
black mustard seeds
fennel seeds
garam masala (need to find which recipe i used and make more!)
garlic
cumin seeds
chicken stock
cardamom pods

vegies:
sweet potato
eggplant
onion
sugar snap peas
fenugreek
garlic
coconut cream
chicken stock
aagh can't remember the other spices... will have to come back later

and flickr isnt cooperating with uploading photos this morning either :(

Thermomix Chicken Burgers

Geoff just made these for our lunch - read the review over at Thermomix Magic :)

Thermomix Review

UPDATED AUGUST 2009

i get sooooo many hits from people looking for a Thermomix review, plus i have friends who were asking, so i guess i should write one ;)

First up, the Thermomix is $1939 here in Australia, so it IS a lot of money and i feel very lucky to have one! obviously it is not something that everyone can afford, but if it might be possible (they even do payment plans for you ;)) and you're interested you should really try to attend a demonstration - there is nothing like seeing it in action! no matter how much you hear about how great it is, until you see it you can't really appreciate it. *

So, how often do I use my tmx? generally at least once a day for breakfast. on work days geoff often uses it to cook a whole meal in it too. on days off and weekends i will use it multiple times a day to make breakfast or dinner as well as baking all sorts of sweet things. (i need to try some savories soon, i haven't done many!) today i must have used it about 10 times!!
updated: now that i'm not working i tend to use it minimum 3 times a day - i'm trying to make as much from scratch as possible :)

what do i use it for?

• breakfast porridge with fruit
• making apple sauce to sub into cakes etc to lower the sugar & fat content
• making cakes and slices in minutes
• biscuits such as anzacs
• preparation work - cutting vegies small enough so the kids can't pick them out lol
• making bread - mostly the TM31 bread which is made with whole wheat, but knowing that i can make bread like that from bakers delight / brumbies, for a fraction of the price including foccacia & pullaparts
• chopping garlic and ginger - it takes seconds to chop enough to last for a few weeks (seriously, i just chopped a whole bulb in 2 seconds)
• custard - geoff makes this all the time and the kids love it - it has minimal sugar and no colours, preservatives or other nasties
• meals prepared and cooked in it - including pastas, curries, mexican, soups, risottos and so on
• i have tried making butter in it which was very easy, though i had trouble trying to make an 'easy spread' version (only because i was too scared to add too much oil and thus kept not adding enough lol)
• icecreams and sorbets for summer - all fresh fruit and you know exactly what has gone into it
• it's also great for mixing, as long as you don't overfill it like i do lol
• making dips is a breeze
• making my own spice mixes and blends - hav eyou ever looked at the 'extra' ingredients (preservatives, anti caking agents etc) that spice blends have in them?? :-|
• chopping nuts in seconds - i always have almond meal ready to go in my pantry now as it just takes seconds to do
• making gluten free food (including bread) at a fraction of the cost you can get it in the shops
  

Does it really clean itself? well, yes and no. after making anything it is definitely a great idea to let it wash itself - even though it still needs a bit more of a 'real' wash after mostly foods, it cuts washing up time down by probably 1/5th to just a few minutes most of the time (i don't pull mine apart every time). after something simple such as a sorbet you could let it wash itself, and if you are making similar things straight after each other it would be fine to let it wash itself too.
UPDATE: i was not washing it properly! if you fill the thermomix with warm water until just over the blade and do 5-20 seconds on speed 8 your thermomix will be clean, even with sticky stuff like porridge! (maybe a few bits to scrub off, but not much). i'm definitely much happier with how it washes itself now :)

anything i don't like about it? other than the price, nothing too major. i wish under the blade was a little easier to clean under. i wish it got to a hotter temperature quicker, i don't much like "frying" things like bacon or spices in it. i wish it was bigger! (i love to cook in bulk so i have leftovers!). i wish there was better after sales service (maybe there is with other sellers?). i wish the recipe book was easier to use both physically and with the content of the recipes! and that there were more books available. UPDATE: the recipe book format has been changed so that the book is a better design and the recipes read better. many of them have been tested and rewritten. there are more books available now, and with a dedicated recipe tester more in the pipeline!

so what do i think of it all up? i LOVE it! i think everyone should own one lol i haven't ever regretted getting it in the slightest.

* if anyone knows anywhere free online where i could edit movies from my digital camera i would love to make some movies of how i use my tmx and put them on youtube :)

i forgot to say - if you are in canberra and are interested in seeing the tmx in action i am having a demo next saturday evening :) just let me know if you would like to come, for catering purposes. (i don't get any reward from anyone turning up, or any sales on the night or after. i'm actually hosting so a friend can see :))

UPDATE: I am now a Thermomix demonstrator so if you'd like a demo in the Canberra area please let me know :) if you're elsewhere in Australia and would like to buy without a demo I can do that for you, or I can put you in touch with someone who can come and give you a demo :)

Pasta Salad

Geoff wants this printed out so he can make it, so here goes lol (of course there are a million versions, this is just one with what we have on hand today)

small or fancy pasta, cooked (and cooled if time)
tin of corn, drained
frozen peas, cooked, drained and cooled
ham, finely chopped
capsicum, finely chopped
black olives, sliced
parsley, finely chopped
kidney beans, drained ???

dressing - mayonnaise and / or pesto

mix well

as you can see from the pics it was a HUGE hit!

so far today... (Fete baking)

carrot cake
fruit cake (in the oven and a second batch cooling)
whole lemon cake
whole orange cake

still to come...
butterscotch almond cake
date slice

plus mum & dad are coming for dinner. on the menu:
chicken tikka masala
a vegie dish of some sort
spinach & potato dish
a simple daal
naan
and rice

i think i should probably go get out of my pj's have a shower, and brush my teeth soon though ;)

At last - a salad!

Dani, we have finally started our summer salads! i LOVE a huge salad with bits of everything in it! great as everyone can take what they like best (we still struggle to get the girls to get anything but the cheese, but we try!)

geoff made this for dinner on Thursday (he was home with ryan and i was at work all day) and it was delicious. he also marinaded and grilled chicken breasts which we had sprinkled over the top too.

YUM!

Geoff's Thursday Salad
mixed greens of your choice (i always make sure i have rocket in mine ;))
baked or steamed diced sweet potato
finely sliced red onion
olives of your choice
fetta, cubed
tomato, diced (i wouldn't usually use tomato in a salad like this but ryan loves it)
and grilled sliced chicken breast

you could also add some :
toasted pine nuts or almonds
salad dressing,
diced crispy bacon

a Thermomix dinner

with rain and cooler weather tonight (and a huge lunch out) geoff wanted to make soup for dinner, so i suggested he try Lexie's lentil soup, with some TM31 bread on the side. (well actually i suggested foccacia but he wasn't organised in time to make that)

the soup was very nice and the kids all had THREE serves each!!! wow!

it's very garlicky and otherwise very smooth and creamy tasting, you'd never know it's sort of healthy lol

i do love the TM31 bread. ok so it's not light and fluffy like foccacia but it's so quick and easy to make and it's got to be better for you! it's made with whole wheat which is ground up in the thermomix - hence the darker colour you can see in the photo above.

it's not sandwich bread, but great as a dinner accompaniment.

thanks for the recipe lexie!

Flavours of Italy...

i just found these two recipes on the floor (don't ask) and thought i should type them in before throwing the paper out so it can no longer decorate my floor! i'm pretty sure that i have had these recipes for a long time - probably 14 years from when i lived in italy! i suspect they are marcella hazan recipes but have no notes to say where they came from. i'm sure i'd made them both and they were both good :)

both recipes are for 4-6 people

Zucchini with Bacon
680g firm young zucchini, soaked in water 20 mins
6 tabs olive oil
5 medium onions, sliced very thinly
110g smoked bacon or pancetta affunicata, cut into 3mm strips
salt & freshly ground pepper

scrub zucchini after soaking. trim ends & cut into 5mm slices
choose pan large enough to hold everything. put the oil, onion & bacon in and turn heat to med. high. stir occasionally until onion is pale gold. add zucchini, turn once or twice. cover and turn heat to med. cook 12-15 mins, uncover, add S&P. cook uncovered 2-3 mins, stirring frequently.
may be reheated gently


Penne with Rosemary & Bacon
60g butter
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
2 tspns fresh whole rosemary or 1 tspn dried leaves chopped
340g smoked bacon or pancetta affunicata, cut into 3mm strips
450g penne
50g freshly grated parmesan

in a 20-25cm pan put 40g butter & garlic & turn heat to medium high. saute until garlic is deep gold. remove garlic & add rosemary. stir once or twice then add bacon. saute until bacon is lightly coloured but not crisp.
cook pasta, drain and toss immediately with bacon sauce. add remaining butter and parmesan. toss and serve