Turkish prawn and chili pasta

The Boy has decided that he would like to learn how to cook pasta and tonight he's picked this recipe out of "A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey" by Sibel Hodge. Of course, this also means that he is the one doing the cooking with a few helpful hints from me.

He's never cooked pasta before so he doesn't actually know how to cook al dente pasta, which is super easy really - boil water, add salt and oil (some people say the oil isn't necessary but I like to add it only because it means that the pasta doesn't stick together as much) and then when the water is boiled put in pasta and cover the pot with a small gap to let steam out. Boil the pasta for EXACTLY 8 minutes and there you have it, al dente pasta every time.

Tonight, he's picked a prawn and chili pasta dish which is somewhat different from my garlic prawns with spaghetti dish. In Turkish, this dish is called "Aci biberli Sarimsakli Karides Makarna" to which the pronunciation, I'm certain that I would butcher if I had to say it out loud. I'm looking forward to trying it.

This would be our 3rd recipe out of this cookbook and the recipe looks simple yet delicious.

Here's the RECIPE for the dish:

Ingredients:

• 115g gluten free pasta
• 4 cloves of garlic - crushed and chopped
• 1 cup of small prawns or approx 12 king prawns
• 2 - 4 spring onions - sliced
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon fresh chili or dried chili flakes
• 3 - 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

• Cook the pasta until it's soft (see above for al dente instructions!).
• In the meantime, fry the garlic and spring onions in olive oil until cooked and soft.
• Add chili flakes and prawns and continue cooking. Turn prawns over to make sure both sides are cooked.
• Turn down to a low heat and cover with a lid to infuse the flavors for a few minutes.
• Drain the pasta, add into prawn mixture in frying pan and add more olive oil and salt to flavor.
• Toss the pasta with the prawn mixture until evenly mixed.
• Serve!

This recipe will serve 2 people.

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Zucchini soup ... in the Thermomix

Continuing my adventures of the ginormous zucchini, I used the remained of the zucchini after the zucchini bread to make zucchini soup for dinner. Basically, it's just a large pot of creamy vegetable soup - very healthy, if you leave out the butter in the recipe, which I did not. :-)

This was a super easy recipe and I found it here.

Here's what the RECIPE looks like:

Ingredients:

• 1kg zucchini sliced
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 50g butter
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

• Melt butter in large stock pot
• Add all vegetables. Coat vegetables with butter stirring constantly
• Add salt and pepper, stir to combine
• Add chicken stock. Simmer until vegetables are soft
• Cool slightly. Blend until smooth

Note:

• Blend with a stick blender until smooth and then add a dollop of cream or sour cream to serve. The cream is optional.

I did change up the vegetables a little bit, just based on what I had in the fridge. I had part of a green capsicum left that I used up and instead of 2 medium potatoes, I used 4 small potatoes instead, also because that was what I had.

I decided to simplify my job even more by doing all my chopping in the Thermomix. I just put each vegetable into the Thermomix and cut it at speed 5 for about 3 seconds. I wanted them chunky, so I didn't cut for too long, I didn't want it to turn into mush.

After chopping everything in the Thermomix, I just followed the recipe and cooked it the way the recipe said, but added a step or two.

I coated the vegetables (and there were a LOT of vegetables) with the butter in the pot, and then added an additional step - I covered the vegetables and sweated them in the spot, stirring ocassionally for about 15 minutes. This browned the base a little and really got the flavor out of the vegetables. It smelled so good.

After I sweated the vegetables, I added the stock and brought it to a boil. Once boiling, I put the whole pot into the oven at 120 degrees C to simmer for 15 minutes.

Once that was done, I took the soup out and blended it with the stick blender until it was creamy and smooth.

The soup turned out to be very tasty and very very good.

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Zucchini bread ... in the Thermomix

I was given a HUGE zucchini by my boss recently and decided that I would make some zucchini bread and zucchini soup out of it. There was so much zucchini that it really was a several recipe thing to get through it all. The zucchini bread, I could take in to work and let the boys have some as well.

I have never made zucchini bread before, so I decided to look up the interwebs for a recipe that was easy to follow and "Deanna proof" meaning "easy for dumb people who can't bake to make". :-)

I found this recipe and thought it looked straightforward enough to follow. And to make it even simpler for myself, I had my friend convert it to a Thermomix recipe for me.

Here is what the RECIPE that I used looked like:

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 235 ml vegetable oil
• 400g white sugar (if you like it sweet)
• 225g grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 375g plain flour
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3rd cup chopped walnuts

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 165 degrees . Grease two 20x10cm loaf tins with butter.
• Chop up walnuts in Thermomix, spped 6, 3 - 5 seconds, remove
• Chop up zucchini in Thermomix, speed 5, 2 seconds, remove
• In Thermomix, beat eggs until light and frothy, speed 6, 3 - 5 seconds
• Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Reverse speed 6, 3 - 5 seconds
• Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts. Reverse speed 6, 3 - 5 seconds
• Make sure everything is mixed properly, if not go again, reverse speed 6, 3 - 5 seconds
• Divide batter into prepared tins.
• Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.

My measurement of the walnuts were a little less accurate and I used 1/2 cup of walnuts instead of 1/3 cup of walnuts. Other than that, I pretty much followed the recipe exactly. (I have learned that with baking, exactness is a virtue!)

I also cooked mine in a muffin tray so that they were individual zucchini bread muffins. I find those easier to store and eat. I cooked them in the oven at 160 degrees C for 40 minutes instead of the recommended 60 - 70 minutes for the loaf.

And the verdict?? OMG!!! The zucchini bread was delicious. I'm definitely making this again, even more often than the banana bread muffins that I make, which we love. The Boy even said that this was better than the banana bread muffins.

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Spanish chorizo and chickpea soup

It's getting into the cooler weather for us now and so I'm thinking that we will do a lot more soups for meals.

The Boy likes thick, hearty soups with lots of stuff in it or thick, creamy soups. I made one recently which was a huge hit, the wild rice and mushroom soup, which is just delicious beyond words.

Tonight, The Boy decided that he would cook and he picked a soup recipe out of the A Gluten Free Soup Opera by Sibel Hodge. He picked out the Spanish chorizo and chickpea soup. I didn't really help much at all besides helping him prep the stock and turning on the oven (he still hasn't figured that one out yet! :-) ). I'm so proud of The Boy for doing all of this himself.

So here's the RECIPE for the soup:

Ingredients:

• 100 gr of gluten free chorizo – chopped
• 1 x 400 gr can of chickpeas – drained and rinsed
• 3 large spring onions – sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic – crushed and chopped
• 1 ½ pints (approx. 3 ¾ cups) of gluten free chicken stock/vegetable stock/water
• 1 large carrot – grated
• 3 – 4 mushrooms – diced
• 1 green cubranelle pepper (or regular bell pepper) – diced
• 2 cups of rocket (arugula) – chopped
• 3 tablespoons of red lentils
• 2 large tomatoes – peeled and diced
• ¼ – ½ teaspoon of chilli flakes (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of black olives – deseeded and chopped (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil for frying

Garnish:

• Hard boiled egg – chopped

Instructions:

• Fry the onions, peppers, and mushrooms until soft
• Add the other ingredients and bring to the boil, then simmer for 35 – 45 minutes
• Top with the chopped egg and serve

Serves 4 – 6

The recipe asks for gluten free ingredients, but we did not use any. We just used regular old ingredients since neither of us need to be gluten free.

The Boy used all the ingredients, even the optional ones, except with the red lentils, he just used regular (I think, yellow) lentils, since the store did not have any red lentils in a can.

The only thing that we didn't do was the hard boiled egg for garnish. The Boy didn't get round to boiling the egg and since it was for garnish, we decided that we could live without it.

For the simmering for 35 - 45 minutes part, rather than have it simmer on the stove, which can be a bit dicey if not watched carefully, I turned the oven to 120dC and brought the soup to a full boil. Once it was boiling, I had The Boy put the whole pot of soup (make sure your pot is oven-proof!!) into the oven and let it simmer that way for the time. This is an excellent way of simmering or slow cooking anything. Very controlled, no mess, no fuss.

The soup turned out to be very, very tasty. It is a brothy soup with lots and lots of bits and pieces in it, so it makes for quite a filling and hearty soup. Because of the chili and the smoked paprika, the flavor it very full and slightly spicy. If you don't like your soup to be very spicy, ease off on the chili.

For us, this made exactly 4 serves. 2 for dinner and 2 to be saved for later in the week.

Definitely something that we will make again.

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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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