Strawberry and raspberry sorbet ... in the Thermomix

It's been particularly warm the last few days and the day before yesterday was downright sizzling with temps reaching about 38dC (over 100dF).

We are keeping cool by having salads and cold treats from the fridge and freezer.

We decided to make some sorbet so that we could enjoy a cold, cold treat in the evening.

This is my strawberry and raspberry sorbet RECIPE, which I've lifted from the standard Thermomix Everyday Cookbook and then modified to suit my taste.

Ingredients:

• 150g sugar
• 500g strawberries
• 500g frozen raspberries
• 200g ice
• 1 egg white

Instructions:

• Put sugar into Thermomix and mill for 10 seconds on speed 9.
• Add strawberries, half the frozen raspberries and egg white into bowl. Slowly turn the speed dial to speed 10 and blend for up to 30 seconds until everything is smooth.
• Add the remaining frozen raspberries and the ice. Use the spatula to assist in incorporating the ice into the first batch of sorbet. Slowly turn the speed dial to speed 10 and blend for 30 seconds.
• Use a spatula to mix the sorbet around and blend at speed 10 for another 30 seconds until the sorbet is smooth and the consistency you like it to be.

When blending the second time with the ice, sometimes the blades can get stuck as air pockets get created in the bowl. If this happens, stop blending, open the top and use the spatula to mix the sorbet and ice around till it settles and the air pockets are not there anymore, then continue blending as usual.

This makes enough for 2 large takeaway containers of sorbet.

This tastes absolutely delicious and very berry-ish but not too tart.

It's also a great dessert when served on a bed of dark chocolate ganache.

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Mushroom and wild rice soup

Last weekend, we went out walking - The Boy and I, and we decided ... okay, well, I decided that I wanted to stop at the fresh food markets. We went through and bought a whole heap of fresh fruit and vegetables. Among the stuff we bought were some amazing fresh mushrooms. The guy at the mushroom stall said that the mushrooms would keep up to 2 weeks refrigerated but we decided to use most of it the first night and made a lovely mushroom risotto. There was still plenty of mushrooms left, and The Boy said he wanted a mushroom and wild rice soup.

This weekend, we headed up to The House and brought the mushrooms with us and tonight I'm making mushroom and wild rice soup. The recipe which I found here, called for 1/2 a pound of mushrooms, so I bought another small package of fresh Swiss Brown mushrooms to add to the mix that I already had.

Here's the RECIPE I used for the soup, which I found on the interwebs. (However did we manage before Google?):

Ingredients: Makes about 6 servings

• 1 cup wild rice
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 celery stalks, diced
• 1 pound mushrooms, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-2 cheese rinds (optional)
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons rosemary
• 1 cup whole milk or cream
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons salt, divided

Instructions:

• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the wild rice and one teaspoon of salt, and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 40-50 minutes, until the rice has burst open and tastes tender. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid to use as stock if desired.
• While the rice cooks, prepare the rest of the soup. Warm a teaspoon of oil in a dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and celery with a half teaspoon of salt, and cook until the onions have softened and turned translucent, 3-5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the mushrooms and another half teaspoon of salt. Cook until the mushrooms have released all their liquid and turned dark brown, 15-20 minutes. Don't skimp on this step! This is where the soup gets its deep, rich flavor.
• Add the garlic and oregano, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir until the vegetables become sticky and there is no more visible dry flour. Increase the heat again to medium-high and pour in the wine. Stir and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue simmering until the wine has reduced and thickened a bit.
• Add the bay leaf, cheese rinds, and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Add the rosemary, milk, and wild rice. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, until the soup has thickened to your liking. Stir in the cider vinegar. Taste and add more salt or vinegar to taste.
• Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to a week.

I didn't have cider vinegar, so I used white wine vinegar instead, but other than that, I pretty much followed the recipe exactly ... except for the fact that I used maybe 5 cloves of garlic rather than the 2 it asked for.

I also used the water that boiled the rice for the soup rather than throwing it out.

Oh! and I didn't have any cheese rind, so I left that out and I also used chicken stock rather than vegetable stock since I didn't have any of that, so that is what I used instead.

... So maybe I should take back the bit where I say I pretty much followed the recipe exactly ... because ... um, I didn't. :-)

The soup turned out to be very rich and creamy. Simply delicious.

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Mango and banana sorbet ... in the Thermomix

Mangoes are in season right now and we have been buying them by the boxful because we love them. Usually, I slice them up and freeze them and then it's like eating a frozen mango popsicle which is very yummy on a hot day as a snack.

I bought some mangoes about a week ago but decided that I would make some mango sorbet instead.

Today, I finally dragged the mangoes out of the fridge and with The Boy's help cut them up for making sorbet. We also had an overripe banana sitting around and decided to throw that into the mix as well. It's not an exact science!

The Boy has been wanting to learn how to use the Thermomix for a while and we thought that making the sorbet would be a good start for him. It is a fairly easy and straight forward process.

Here's the RECIPE for our mango and banana sorbet:

Ingredients:

• 450g ripe mangoes - cut into pieces
• 1 ripe banana
• 2 packages of the Creative Gourmet Smoothie Cubes in mango and banana
• 150g icing sugar
• 1 egg white
• 170g ice cubes

Instructions:

• Place the mangoes, ripe banana, icing sugar and egg white into the Thermomix bowl. Add 1 package of the Creative Gourmet Smoothie Cubes in mango and banana into the bowl as well.
• Blend on speed 10 for 30 seconds.
• Put the other package of the Creative Gourmet Smoothie Cubes in mango and banana into the bowl as well as the ice cubes and blend again on speed 10 for 30 seconds.
• Check the sorbet and smooth any sorbet that has puffed up above the blade and created an air pocket back into the bowl.
• Then blend again on speed 10 for another 30 seconds. This will ensure that that ice cubes are completely gone and the sorbet is super smooth.

This made a really creamy and tasty sorbet. The banana really smoothed out the texture of the sorbet and made it very delicious. I wanted to just eat the whole tub there and then. As it were, I took a few spoonfuls after we put them into containers to go into the freezer. In fact, it was so good that The Boy while licking out the Thermomix bowl forgot to offer me some and I had to ask if he was going to share. :-)

It's a pity that mangoes are only in season in the summer time, but for sure, whenever it's summer, we will be making this dessert.

I definitely recommend this recipe.


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