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A Few Thermomix Recipes

Goat's Cheese

Pea, Goat’s Cheese and Mint Quiche…

It’s the annual School Quiz, and the endless battle to create something that can be transported like a picnic, but is more gourmet than soggy sandwiches… I made the mistake of asking Hubby what he fancied, and he requested quiche… Quiche!  I’ve never made quiche, primarily because my mother-in-law makes such a fantastic one, and, well, just because… But if I was going to have to make quiche, I wanted something really unusual, vibrant and delicious…


I do love the web – instantly thousands of choices at my fingertips… I found a fantastic recipe on the BBC site (of course) which consisted of a layer of peas, with goat’s cheese, mint and spring onions… Perfect, and just passably vegetarian for those allowed eggs and cheese.  This is absolutely going to be on my summer repertoire, and the girls loved it!

Ingredients:

300g frozen peas
3 tbsp olive oil
handful mint leaves
2 eggs
284ml pot double cream
4 spring onions, finely sliced
200g mild goat’s cheese, crumbled
280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140g cold butter, cut into pieces

Method:

  • Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Follow steps 1 and 2 of the Sticky onion & cheddar quiche recipe, opposite page. 2 While the pastry is chilling, cook the peas in boiling water for 3 mins, then drain and refresh under cold water. Use a hand blender to purée the peas with the olive oil, then stir in the chopped mint and season.
  • Lightly prick the base of the tart with a fork, line the tart case with a large circle of greaseproof paper or foil, then fill with baking beans. Blind-bake the tart for 20 mins, remove the paper and beans, then continue to cook for 5-10 mins until biscuit brown.
  • While the tart is cooking, beat the eggs in a large bowl. Gradually add the cream and stir in the onions. Season. When the case is ready, spoon and spread the peas over the base, pour over the egg mix, then finally scatter over the goat’s cheese. Bake for 20-25 mins until set and golden brown. Leave to cool in the case, trim the edges of the pastry, then remove and serve in slices

Notes:
  • Clearly I did not make my own pastry – I was preparing a meal for eight people – I’m not bonkers…  I use a very thin pastry, which doesn’t require baking blind, but here I should have done – I definitely had a soggy bottom and had to pop the tart into the warming drawer to head from the bottom! Not helped by the fact I put my tart case onto a layer of foil in case of leakages, which actually then covered the perforated base of my case… Whoops…
  • Don’t forget to put the mint into the pea, rather than trying to scatter it on top (I forgot to put it in at first – but the mint will just float up in your egg mixture! Not ideal, though not the end of the world…)
  • The opening photograph is from the BBC website – clearly I forgot to photograph my finished quiche in the rush
  • Be careful which goat’s cheese you use – the first time I used this, but the second this – the second took longer to cook, was ‘moussier’ and slightly more ‘curdled’.  I’ve included a photo of the second, you can see the cheese fluffing up…

    Spread the pea and mint mixture over the base of the BLIND BAKED tart
    Then scatter the goat’s cheese and spring onions over the pea base…
    Definitely not happy with this one – not as good as the first!

    Baking

    Frangipane Tarts

    Pistachio frangipane, with figs

    There’s something about the scent of frangipane which has haunted me for decades. We have relatives on the French side of the Swiss-France border, and on our very first visit, we had a plum and frangipane tart. The memory has stuck with me for twenty years – served at room temperature – the tart was luscious, creamy, delicately scented – just adorable.

    Spotting some nectarines which needed using up, I thought it would make a delicious variation.  A quick trawl through some of my favourite chefs revealed a recipe on the BBC site by Angela Hartnett…

    That first tart was consumed by the multitudes in my household within twenty-four hours.

    Luckily, the quantity of frangipane in the recipe allowed me to make two tarts – so the second tart was a plum and frangipane one…  The plums hold up better than the nectarines, though surprisingly they do make the mixture more moist (I would have assumed the nectarines would offer up more water).  The scent load is also greater with the plums.

    Having everything to hand, the second tart only took about 10 minutes to prepare, so well worth keeping some frangipane in your fridge (bring it back to room temperature, and give it a quick re-fluffing with a fork – et voila – instant tart…).

    The next time I made a bakewell tart, and then another for my chum Sarah… And then we moved on to pistachio and fig tarts, with a further tart for another chum, Nicole…

    Once you have the basic frangipane recipe in your back-pocket, the possibilities are endless :0)

    Ingredients:
    For the pastry:
    375g/13¼oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
    15g/½oz sugar
    225g/8oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
    1 free-range egg
    4 tbsp ice-cold water
    For the frangipane:
    200g/7¼oz unsalted butter
    200g/7¼oz caster sugar
    2 free-range eggs
    200g/7¼oz ground almonds
    For the tart filling:
    5-6 ripe plums, each cut into eighths, stones removed
    To serve:
    icing sugar, for dusting
    whipped cream or crème fraîche

    Method:
    • For the pastry, sieve the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Tip the cubed butter into the bowl. Rub the butter and the flour between your thumb and fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
    • In a jug or small bowl, beat the egg together with four tablespoons of ice-cold water. Pour into the flour mixture.
    • Slowly bring the ingredients together with your hands to form a dough, being careful not to overwork it.
    • Knead the dough lightly on a clean, floured work surface, then wrap it in cling film and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
    • For the frangipane, beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Crack the eggs into the bowl one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the ground almonds and mix well until combined. Set aside.
    • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Dust the work surface with flour and roll the chilled dough out thinly. Use it to line one large 25cm/10in tart ring or 6-8 individual tartlet rings 8cm/3¼in in diameter. Trim away any excess.
    • Spoon the frangipane into the tart case so that it comes about halfway up the sides. Smooth over the surface with a spatula and cover the frangipane evenly with the plums.
    • Bake for 30-40 minutes (15-25 minutes for the tartlets), or until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown and the fruit is tender.
    • Remove the tart(s) from the oven. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with whipped cream or crème fraîche.
    Notes:
    • I used a pre-rolled pastry sheet made by Marie – it’s the best I’ve used, comes in a circle, and is rolled super-fine!  Because it’s so fine, I always brush it with beaten egg and allow to dry in the fridge, before putting any filling in
    • Don’t push your figs too far into the batter, it will rise up around them.  For maximum visual effect, just lightly lodge them in

    Lay the fruit in a pattern of your choosing – you can see from the plum chart that I chose a different layout that time

    Fig and pistachio frangipane

    Nectarine and frangipane

    Plum and frangipane

    Bakewell Tart: spread jam  spread a layer of frangipane, and top with almonds halfway through cooking #simples

    Baking

    Banana Bread [Thermomix]

    c3885-p3020127I’m a mother of four – you have to be able to knock-up banana bread to use up all those mushy bananas.  I don’t know what happens – some weeks they go through many bunches, others none…  Still, banana bread is a favourite of the 11yo, so it’s never a wasted effort.

    I’ve found that making cake batter in the Thermomix is speedy, but can result in too much gluten development, resulting in a leaden batter.  Here I’ve put everything else in together and blitzed, before adding the flour by hand at the last moment.   The Thermomix does give you a finer puree of bananas, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing from my point of view!

    This recipe is based on the one on the BBC website…

    Ingredients


    285g/10oz plain flour
    1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
    ½ tsp salt
    110g/4oz butter, plus extra for greasing
    225g/8oz caster sugar
    2 free-range eggs
    4 ripe bananas, mashed
    85ml/3fl oz buttermilk (or normal milk mixed with 1½ tsp lemon juice or vinegar)
    1 tsp vanilla extract

    Thermomix Preparation Method:
    • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
    • In the thermomix bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – I do this using the butterfly…  Bring it slowly up to Speed 4 / 5 minutes – this stops the sugar mixture from splashing all over the TM bowl.
    • Remove the butterfly, and add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix on Speed 4 / 2 minutes.
    • Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the TM bowl, and fold the wet ingredients into the dry by hand.  When mostly combined, pulse briefly for around ten seconds until more thoroughly mixed – try not to overwork the batter.  Once you have removed 90% of the batter, you can briefly pulse again for just a few seconds – this will spin the remaining batter out of the blade an onto the side of the TM bowl.
    • Grease a 20cm x 12.5cm/8in x 5in loaf tin and pour the cake mixture into the tin.
    • Transfer to the oven and bake for about an hour, or until well-risen and golden-brown.
    • Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
     
    Normal Preparation Method:

    • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
    • Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.
    • In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
    • Add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well. Fold in the flour mixture.
    • Grease a 20cm x 12.5cm/8in x 5in loaf tin and pour the cake mixture into the tin.
    • Transfer to the oven and bake for about an hour, or until well-risen and golden-brown.
    • Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

    Chickpea

    Moroccan chickpea soup…

    a754f-p3020113My favourite Saturday lunch, always made by Hubby, is this incredibly simple but very aromatic soup. The lemon zest clears your jaded palate and sets you up for the weekend…

    As chickpeas are an excellent source of fibre and protein, it’s the perfect dish for vegetarians and vegans, without compromising at all on flavour.

    This particular recipe comes from the Good Food magazine, but there are a number of variations out there…

    Ingredients
    1 tbsp olive oil
    1 medium onion , chopped
    2 celery sticks, chopped
    2 tsp ground cumin
    600ml hot vegetable stock
    400g can chopped plum tomatoes with garlic
    400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
    100g frozen broad beans
    zest and juice ½ lemon
    large handful coriander or parsley and flatbread, to serve

    Method

    • Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then fry the onion and celery gently for 10 mins until softened, stirring frequently. Tip in the cumin and fry for another min.
    • Turn up the heat, then add the stock, tomatoes and chickpeas, plus a good grind of black pepper. Simmer for 8 mins. Throw in broad beans and lemon juice, cook for a further 2 mins. Season to taste, then top with a sprinkling of lemon zest and chopped herbs. Serve with flatbread.

     

    Recipe

    Sea trout, with Thai scented stew…

    There are so many bugs flying around at the moment, that all I seem to be cooking are stir fries and curries – it’s the desperate desire to get garlic, lemon grass and ginger into my family. All four have particular qualities for those suffering at this time of the year – the ginger relieve congestion, lemongrass helps with sore throats, chilli contains capsaicin, and is high in vitamin C, and the garlic has antibacterial properties…

    Another week, and this time Hubby has somehow managed to perforate one ear drum, and has a double-heorrage in the other – he hasn’t managed to hear clearly for nearly a week – so time to reach for the aromatics again.

    As well as those medicinal herbs and spices, I’m including some gorgeous sea-trout (for protein and omega-3), sweet potato and butternut squash (contains beta-carotene, good for immunity), and a coconut-milk liquor (coconut milk contains magnesium, which is good for relaxing muscles and nerve endings, hopefully calming the raging tinnitus).

    The resulting dish is not ragingly spicy, but full of aromatic flavour.

    Ingredients
    1 inch of ginger, grated
    3 fat cloves of garlic, finely diced
    2 shallots (or onion) finely diced
    2 red chillies, finely sliced
    2 sticks of lemon grass (I bash mine to release the flavour, them remove before serving)
    500ml fish stock
    200g (approx) butternut squash, peeled and cubed
    200g (approx) sweet potato, peeled and cubed
    1 bulb of fennel, finely sliced
    400ml coconut milk
    Splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
    Juice of two limes
    4 kaffir lime leaves
    1 large fish steak per person
    Coriander, to serve

    Method:

    • Gently fry the ginger, garlic and shallots until softened, but not coloured
    • Add the chilli, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, vegetables, stock, and coconut milk
    • Bring the ‘soup’ to the boil then pop into a warm oven to reduce.  I can’t be more specific than that, though I would have thought around 170ºC would do it, for around an hour (as I was in London, I was cooking in the AGA, in which case it was in the second oven for an hour)
    • When the liquid has reduced and thickened to a stew-like consistency, pop the fish steaks, skin side up, onto the stew, and allow to heat through for barely 6-10 minutes until just cooked.  
    • Serve the fish on top of the stew, spooning a little on top of the fish.  Scatter the coriander, and a give it a good squeeze of lime juice.

    Blood Oranges

    Drop scones with blood-orange compote, and scented crème fraîche…

    Now that spring is finally around the corner, it’s time to abandon our winter warmers for breakfast, and start awakening our tastebuds.  Citrus fruits are always a delight first thing in the morning, and have the effect of stimulating our palate and our metabolism.  I’m not suggesting you suffer though – this breakfast combination makes a very luxurious treat…  I made it last week for the 11yo during half term, and as today is her 12th birthday, I made it for everyone…

    Blood-Orange Compote, and scented Crème Fraîche


    Ingredients:
    4 blood oranges
    20g caster sugar
    100g creme fraiche
    1/2 vanilla pod
    Method:
    • Put the crème fraîche into a small serving bowl, and zest at least two of the blood oranges into it, to taste – you’re looking for a zingy, tart contrast to the sweet compote.  You may want to sweeten it to taste with icing sugar – it will be very tart…  Alternatively, you could a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract, to round out the flavour
    • Peel and segment the oranges – make sure you do this over a bowl to capture all of the juices
    • Warm the orange segments and their juice in a pan over a low heat
    • Cut open the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds – add them to the pot with the sugar
    • Remove from the heat and allow the ingredients to infuse together while you make the drop scones – if possible leave it somewhere which will retain the heat in the pan (like warming drawer, or warming plate on an Aga)

    Drop Scones

    Ingredients:

    2 eggs, lightly beaten
    100ml milk
    25g caster sugar

    25g butter, melted
    125g plain flour
    1 tsp baking powder
    Pinch of salt

    Sunflower oil or butter, for greasing

    Method:
    • Whisk the eggs, butter, and around 90ml of the milk, until thoroughly combined
    • Put the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl, an pour in the wet ingredients, gradually incorporating the dry ingredients.  Keep whisking until you achieve a smooth, but thick dropping-consistency batter.  If the batter is too thick, incorporate a little more milk, until the correct consistency is achieved.  
    • Heat a flat griddle pan, and drop the batter in blobs from a spoon.  The mixture will spread out a little, so leave enough space between the scones.
    • When the top surface of the drop scone begins to dry a little, and little bubbles begin to form and burst, flip the pancake over, and cook for a further thirty seconds.
    Serve the pancakes with the compote, and Crème fraîche on the side.  Delicious. The acidity in the blood-oranges will keep your taste-buds zinging for hours.

    Italian

    Hartnett Holder & Co, at Lime Wood

    When I mention that I spend half my time in the New Forest, people push me for hotel and restaurant recommendations… And the problem with the Forest is that it is a destination – over ten million people pour into it to it every year to camp, trek, and cycle through the woods, and sail out of the beautiful harbours – consequently, a great proportion of the restaurants in the area cater for the tourist market.

    At one end of the spectrum it’s not uncommon to be served a tin of beans alongside your enormous portion of sausage and mash (and no, I’m not joking).  At the other end, we have several formal restaurants, usually based in hotels, and on the whole rather uninspiring, sterile spaces.  There are of course a few exceptions, but I’ve all but given up eating out down here, and recommend very few places to chums.

    Inevitably the conversation will turn to sister-hotels The Pig at Brockenhurst, and Lime Wood at Lyndhurst – both hotels feature in all those lovely magazines we Londoners seem to favour so much. The cognoscenti don their wellingtons and Barbours, and head for the woods, in an urbanite return to nature.  I’m actually very fond of Lime Wood – I’ve even stayed there, though I live less than ten miles away (excellent beds, low lighting that activates when you pop to the bathroom at night, and excellent breakfast in the Scullery, since you ask).

    But did I enjoy the restaurant enough to recommend it? To be honest – no.  Though the food was good, it had a very incongruous Disney’esque wooden framing and was completely devoid of any personality. Everyone I’ve asked down here disliked it, as did a few of my London friends who’d visited.  We were all abuzz then, with the news that not only was Angela Hartnett joining Luke Holder in an re-woking of the menu, but also the dining rooms were to be completely overhauled.

    In place of the faux Disney, there are now stuffed leather chairs, and Missoni fabric.  Much smarter than the dining room at The Pig, but much more relaxed and comfortable than it’s previous incarnation.  Playing to Luke’s strengths, the menu has a very strong Italian influence, and reflects the year Luke spent working at the three Michelin starred Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence (excellent wine list, good food, insane water menu – yes – you read that correctly – a 30 page plus water menu…). And of course we all know that Angela’s an excellent pusher of Italian delights…  Could this new incarnation live up to my expectations I wondered?

    Well, hurrah for Holder and Hartnett!  I’ll say it again – hurrah!  Excellent Italian food, properly executed favourites, with friendly and observant staff.  Ristottos were properly al dente, creamy, and the 11yo’s saffron risotto wasn’t too metallic, a common problem. Alongside that, delicious artichokes, excellent salad which tasted as though it had just been plucked, perfect zucchini fritti (joy of joys), and my favourite – espresso affogato.

    So, go on – ask me… Would I recommend Holder and Hartnett to my London chums?

    Absolutely!

    Roasted artichokes, with grated duck egg, and bread crumbs
    Risotto Milanese
    Local meats cured in the Smokehouse at Lime Wood
    Pumpkin risotto, with chestnuts and Nanny blue cheese
    Flat-iron steak, with black pepper butter

    Affogato

    Lime Wood Hotel,
    Beaulieu Road,
    Lyndhurst,
    Hampshire
    SO43 7FZ

    Lime Wood on Urbanspoon

    Recipe

    Prawn, Pumpkin and Peanut Curry

    Pumpkin and Prawn CurryI came across Pure Package in one of the red-tops – the company delivers pre-packaged food on a daily basis for those with specific dietary goals (whether it be weight loss, athletes in training, models etc).  I wasn’t particularly interested in the service itself (I enjoy cooking far too much for that), but I was definitely interested in the nutritional aspect.  Browsing through their website, I came across the following recipe from their cookbook, which instantly appealed.  I love anything which uses squash, and as I had everything in my pantry (for once), there seemed no time like the present!

    Ingredients:
    1/2 small pumpkin – peeled, deseeded and cut into bite-size pieces
    320g broccoli, cut into small florets
    1 tablespoon groundnut oil
    1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
    3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
    2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
    1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
    2 teaspoons Thai green curry paste
    160g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
    3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
    600ml coconut milk
    juice of 2 limes
    2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
    250g sugar snap peas
    2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander

    Method:

    • Tip the pumpkin into a non-stick roasting tray and roast in the oven for 15–20 minutes or until soft. Remove from the oven and set aside.
    • Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
    • Meanwhile, heat the groundnut oil in a wok or large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for a further 1 minute.
    • Add the curry paste and stir in the mushrooms, coating them in the paste. Stir in the peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice and tamari and cook for 2 minutes.
    • Add the blanched broccoli, sugar snap peas and roasted pumpkin to the curry and simmer for 5–8 minutes. Check the seasoning and add more lime juice or tamari if needed.
    • Add the coriander to the curry and stir through just before you are about to serve.
    Notes:
    • The sauce was actually pretty rich, much richer than I anticipated.  As a result I had to add another lime before serving…  I’ll reduce the initial quantity of peanut butter in future (you can always add some in as you go along)
    • I added a few prawns to my curry, not for any nutritional reason, but because the 11yo likes them!

     

    Pumpkin and Peanut Curry

    There are more recipes in the Pure Package Cookbook >

    Restaurant

    Sumosan, Piccadilly

    Mayfair’s Sumosan is one of three restaurants worldwide run by the Wolkow family.  It’s one of the trendier Japanese restaurants, with groovy music, dimmed lighting and excellent cocktails.

    We’ve been to it several times with friends, and have always enjoyed the extensive menu.  On this occasion we found some of the combinations less successful (toro stuffed with foie gras was definitely a textural challenge) – but if you stick with the various excellent sashimi combinations, you’ll be on safe ground.  Yellowtail truffle tiradito was a very welcome variation on the usual hamachi with jalapeño – the strong truffle oil scent giving way to a crisp and citrus dressing.  The sashimi selection was also very good, particularly the scallop and sweet shrimp.

    There’s no doubting the quality of the raw ingredients, and there’s an extensive range of options available.  There’s also a decent variety of sake to suit a variety of budgets.  If you’d prefer a more intimate option than the monolithic options close by, it’s definitely worth a spin.

    Rock shrimp tempura, with a creamy spicy sauce
    Yellowtail truffle tiradito
    Sashimi selection, including salmon, scallop, yellowtail, sweet shrimp and sea bass
    Toro stuffed with foie gras
    Beef medallion, with a wasabi miso sauce and artichoke
    Sumosan
    26b Albemarle Street,
    London W1S 4HY

    Sumosan on Urbanspoon