STEAMOVENCOOKING with Tenina

Well it was inevitable…sooner or later I was going to try combining as much chocolate into one decadent dessert as humanly possible, and I believe this is the motherlode! Just check that your heart is still beating after a slice of this one. A chocolate shortcrust pastry (which frankly I could have eaten without proceeding any further), then a chocolate frangipane filling spiked with chocolate crust morsels, all smothered in ganache…and more ganache and more and more…stop it! Anyhoo, needless to say, we licked the plate clean and it is on a definite schedule for future appearances on our table. (Probably Christmas time, thus it’s inclusion in the Twelve Recipes of Christmas.)

Chocolate Frangipane Tart

NEED:
Pastry
120 grams unsalted butter cubed
80 grams caster sugar
1 large egg yolk
200 grams plain flour
50 grams dutch processed cocoa flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
iced water as needed

Frangipane Filling
120 grams blanched almonds
100 grams dark chocolate
120 grams unsalted butter cubed
100 grams caster sugar
dash almond essence
2 large eggs

Ganache
100 grams dark chocolate
80 grams cream

DO:
Pastry
Place the butter and sugar into Thermomix bowl and cream for 1 minute on speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl if necessary.
Add egg yolk and a scoop of the flour and beat for 10 seconds on speed 7.
Add remaining ingredients and with lid in closed position, process on Interval setting until ball forms. Add water through hole in lid to help bring mix together.
Push into flan tin (with removable base) and place in freezer.
Trim edges and reserve excess.

Frangipane Filling
Place chocolate and nuts into Thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 8. Set aside.
Place butter, sugar almond essence into Thermomix and cream for 1 minute on speed 5, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary.
Add egg yolks and blend for a few seconds on speed 8.
Add chocolate and almond mix and incorporate on speed 5-6 until you have a pourable mixture.
Pour into frozen flan shell. Dollop extra dough throughout the top of the filling.
Bake on 170oC for around 45 minutes or until tart is set in the center. Cool.

Ganache
Place chocolate into clean TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 8.
Add cream and heat at 37oC for 2 minutes or until melted on speed 1.
Spread over cold flan.

Serve with fresh berries and coulis…(and cream and chocolate curls if you really seek a diabetic coma!)

I made a terrific bread recipe during the week, part of which I used as a crusty base for an onion tart…the rest made the most delicious bread which toasted to nutty perfection and was swiftly polished off by the hungry hoards that inhabit my kitchen whether I let them or not! SO two recipes for the price of one, but I neglected to photograph the bread…use your imagination, or better still, go and cook, slather with butter and eat! (Then come back and tell me how it went)

Hazelnut Seed Loaf

NEED:
2 teaspoons dried yeast granules
300g warm water
1 generous teaspoon honey
310 grams wholemeal flour
330 gram unbleached bakers flour
pinch Celtic sea salt (My new ingredient love!)
100g sunflower or Pepita seeds
100g roasted skinned hazelnuts

DO:
Place yeast warm water and honey into Thermomix bowl and warm for 4 minutes at 37oC on speed 1.
(This can be achieved by mixing the ingredients and allowing to stand for a few minutes to bubble…if you are so unfortunate as to not have a Thermomix…will I ever shut up about that???)
Add flours, salt and nuts and mix quickly on speed 7, then with lid in closed position use Interval setting to knead for 2 minutes. (Add more water if necessary.)
Oil a Silpat mat or similar and wrap the dough in it whilst you make the tart ingredients.

Meanwhile, back at the Thermomix….

Onion Tart

NEED:
700-750 grams brown onions peeled and chopped in half
60 grams olive oil
50 grams butter
3 eggs
nutmeg to taste
Celtic sea salt to taste!
200 grams cream
Shortcut bacon slices
Large pie dish

DO:
Place onions, oil and butter into clean Thermomix bowl. Cook for 30 minutes at 100oC on speed 2.
Allow to cool slightly.
Prepare the pie base by greasing the pie dish, then take a portion of your bread dough big enough to line the dish, roll it out into a large round and place into dish. It should come up the sides of the dish.
Place the cooled onion mix into the dish.
Without cleaning the bowl, place all ingredients except the bacon in and whiz together on speed 7 until blended (around 5 seconds). Pour over onion mix.
Lay shortcut slices on top and bake in moderate oven for about 1 hour or until golden on top and set in center. Serve with fresh rocket (preferably from your own garden….and yes, now I AM showing off!)

NOW…back to your bread, you should have more than enough dough left over to make a hearty loaf, rise and punch down once, roll into loaf shape and place in tin (if using) and allow to rise again.
Cook in hot oven (220oC plus) for 25 minutes, take out of tin and cook a further 5 minutes until crusty on the base. Slice and enjoy!

OK so weekly went to fortnightly all of a sudden…but I had a flop! Yes a disaster, an ice-cream that was good for you…I won’t go into detail, but needless to say there were leftovers and I had planned to put it up here, but leftovers in my house only mean one thing! NOT GOOD ENOUGH for my eating public! This week we are on track however with more than one posting, so hold on to your mouse, and get ready to hit the copy and print button!

In honor of my beautiful strawberries which are so pleasing to the eye as well as tasty, and along with the fact that I was given some juicy ripe limes at work (thanks to you Susan!) I thought a pairing of the two would be magnificent…so here is another dessert I know, but what can I say…dessert…it’s a little word, often misspelled and often mis-cooked, but it is music to my ears.

May I present; Lime and Strawberry Tart.

Crust

NEED:
160 grams plain flour
70 grams blanched almonds toasted in hot oven
80 grams icing sugar, (made in TM if you have one)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
160 grams cold unsalted butter cubed
a little cold water

DO:

Place all ingredients except butter and water into Thermomix bowl and turn speed to 6 for about 5 seconds until the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Add butter and continue to process on speed 7-8 until pastry comes together. Add cold water if necessary.
Press into greased tart dish (with a push up center) and smooth up the sides. The mix should be quite soft.
Freeze for 30 minutes or until solid. Blind bake in pre-heated 175oC oven for 20-30 minutes until crust is quite cooked and golden. Set aside to cool.

Filling:

NEED:
zest of 1 lime
150 grams white chocolate
juice 4 limes or 3 small lemons
2 sachets unflavored gelatin (100 grams) or equivalent in agar agar
120 gram whipping cream
additional 300 grams whipping cream
2 tablespoons caster sugar
100 grams sour cream or Greek yogurt
Strawberries for topping
100 grams strawberry jam, homemade

Place zest and chocolate into Thermomix bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 9.
Add first amount of cream and heat for 2 minutes at 60oC on speed1.
Meanwhile place gelatin on top of juice in separate bowl and stir. Allow to soften.
Add gelatin mix to Thermomix bowl and blend for 5 seconds on speed 8. Pour into separate bowl and allow to cool completely.
In clean dry bowl, use Butterfly attachment to whip second amount of cream with sugar and yogurt.
Add lime mixture into Thermomix  bowl and gently incorporate on speed 4-5 with the help of the spatula if necessary.
Pour into cooked tart shell and set for several hours.
Garnish with sliced strawberries and drizzle with heated strawberry jam (or Strawberry Dessert Syrup.)

Enjoy!

After a hearty telling off (see Comments on “CALL FOR COMMENT!!”) I am truly chastised and contrite, back in the saddle and dreaming up my favourite…Dessert, what’s more Ice Cream…and Licorice to boot. What more could a Recipe Developer with a sweet tooth ask for? Three great loves rolled into one!

I’ve been meaning to put this together since acquiring my newest gadget, Thermomix, but have resisted till now. SO in honor of returning to the blogging minority, here is my recipe for Licorice Ice Dream…yes Dream! Check out those little chunks of licorice! This is soooo yummy, there should be a law against it!

NEED:
250 grams sugar
6 egg yolks
360 grams milk
360 grams whipping cream
pinch sea salt
200 grams licorice pieces
additional 600 grams whipping cream

DO:
Make caster sugar in Thermomix, with sugar by pulverising on speed 9 for 10-15 seconds.
Add yolks, milk and first lot of cream.
Cook for 10 minutes at 90oC.
Add licorice and salt and stir on speed 2-3 until licorice starts to melt a little and combine.
Bring speed up slowly to around 7-8 and beat for 30 seconds.
Pour into cold tin, allow to come to almost room temperature and freeze overnight.
In clean dry TM bowl, whip remaining cream until soft peaks form (around 30-40 seconds).
Place frozen mixture into TM bowl and blend with whipped cream for 30-40 seconds on speed 6-7.
Re-freeze for several hours. Makes around 2 litres of excellent textured ice-cream.

This recipe would be easy (enough) to duplicate with a good strong arm (for the custard part), a mixer/blender and an icecream maker…so go ahead, email me and order your Thermomix now!

Well dear Reader…(s?)

The time has come to make yourselves known. Although it sounds a little paranoid, or possibly vain, I have put some thought into leaving this blog up as a recipe resource, but not adding to it…yes, deserting my blog for other pastimes! (NO, not dessert-ing…deserting…as in running away!) I am extremely busy in my job, my family and due to shrieks of silence, feel unloved, underappreciated and generally find myself wondering if Anyone cares!! hahahaha.  So if you are Anyone and you care…please send me a message (click on Comments , then Submit Query, below) and perhaps I can re-evaluate the amount of recipes I post. Thanks to all who do comment and I trust I will now be flooded with complimentary, head swelling, superlatives about my wonderful site!

I hate to say it, but there are only around 10 weeks until Christmas and of course as all stores minds turn to high retail profit margins, all cooks minds turn to what they can produce that is tempting, delicious and enticingly different.

Well I have a couple of answers hopefully and so am starting a new category, ‘The Twelve Recipes of Christmas’…so by the time the big day comes, you should have your menu’s completely sewn up and to raving ‘oohs and ahhs’ from those at your table on the day! I am cheating and adding a few in that I have already tried and tested and are on here now, but all in all, there should be a few new ones on your ‘to do’ list.

So tonight’s offering was a lovely dessert (you knew I had to start with that didn’t you??)
Cherry, Orange and Almond Tart.

NEED:
1 quantity Almond Pastry from the Thermomix recipe book. (See below)
100g sugar
zest and juice 1 orange (around 75g juice)
40g cornflour
680g jar pitted cherries
1/2 tsp almond essence
100g flaked almonds

DO:
Make pastry and push into large pie plate. Freeze until use.
Place sugar and zest into TM bowl and pulverise on speed 9 for 10 seconds.
Add juice, cornflour and drained juice from cherries.
Whiz together on speed 8-9 until blended then cook at 80 degrees Celcius for 7 minutes on speed 3-4.
It should be thickened and clear, like a jelly consistency.
Place drained cherries into prepared pie base, pour cooked syrup over the top, then sprinkle the flaked almonds on top.
Cook for 45 minutes at 160 degrees celcius or until set in centre.
Cool and serve warm or cold with…(what else) a dollop of whipped cream!

(This recipe is almost precisely the recipe that is found in the Everyday Cookbook provided with each Thermomix purchased in Australia. I have changed it only marginally.)

Almond Pastry
NEED:
30g sugar
30g almonds (unblanched)
210g Plain flour
130g hard chopped unsalted butter
1 tsp mixed spice
sea salt to taste
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2-3 tbspns cold water
DO:
Make icing sugar from sugar by pulverising on speed 9 for 10-15 seconds. Set aside
Put almonds into TM bowl and mill for a few seconds on speed 8.
Add all ingredients except water and mix on Interval speed until a dough starts to form.
Add water through lid as required until you have a ball of dough.
Use as instructed.

Just sounds delicious doesn’t it? It and it was…oh yes, it was! (Sorry to drool so publicly, but go ahead, lick the screen if you have to!)
“Dulce de Leche” is Portuguese (Spanish) for ‘milk candy’ which is of course what you get when you cook some condensed milk long enough to make a sort of caramel. So combined with cheesecake (which, lets face it, is pretty decadent anyway…) you have ‘like’ the ultimate taste, texture and frankly it’s pretty pretty as well! So here’s hoping you have a Thermomix or an Induction cook top as they are the best ways to get an even temperature for the caramel process! (Otherwise, good luck with that…sorry!)

NEED:
200 gram pkg Malt biscuits
90 grams butter
1 can condensed milk (390 grams)
400 grams cream cheese
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
600 grams whipping cream
150 grams Jersey Caramels

DO:
Place biscuits and butter into Thermomix (food processor) bowl and pulverize for 10 seconds on
speed 9.
Push into 26 cm spring form pan and bake in 160 degree oven for 10 minutes exactly. Remove and cool.
Meanwhile empty contents of milk can into Thermomix bowl and cook on Varoma temperature for 20 minutes on speed 2. Cool slightly in bowl.
(If you are using a cook top to caramelize your milk cook in nonstick pan, stirring constantly on Induction 6-7 until browned and thickened.)
Add cheese, vanilla bean paste, eggs to Thermomix bowl and beat for 20 seconds on speed 8. Scrape down sides of bowl and insert Butterfly attachment.
Beat for 3 minutes on speed 4.
Pour into baked base and process in steam oven for 1 hour. Cool overnight.
In clean Thermomix bowl, and with butterfly attachment in, whip cream for 20-40 seconds (depending on freshness of cream) until thick. Pipe (a bit seventies I know) or spread onto cold cheesecake.
Without cleaning bowl, add Jersey caramels and heat until melted on 70 degrees and speed 2. Add a little cream if necessary to get a nice pourable sauce. Drizzle over top of whipped cream, serve and EAT! (This is better the next day and cuts perfectly.)

Yep a throw down, as officially defined by Jill on Great Cooks Community HERE, is not a contest so much as a last day of the month recipe that we all cook and post, and this month, (you lucky readers!!) the selected food is Chicken Enchiladas. Following reading a recipe for fresh tortillas also from our revered leader Jill, I have tweaked and changed this excellent recipe and we now have corn tortillas with our Chicken Enchiladas, so get talking in your best Spanish accent and happy eating! (Technically, Enchiladas are baked with additional sauce and cheese, but these are simply assembled and eaten fresh, so I suppose we are talking Chicken Tortillas, to be politically correct!)

Tortillas
NEED:
300 grams polenta
300 grams bakers flour
100 grams butter (plus more for frying)
generous pinch sea salt
200 grams warm water

DO:
Place all ingredients except water into Thermomix bowl and pulse 4-6 times until mix resembles breadcrumbs.
Add water and mix on speed 7 for 5 seconds.
With lid in locked position, knead for 3 minutes.
Roll into balls and cover with a wet tea towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
Place each ball between 2 layers of baking paper and roll as thinly as possible with a rolling pin.
Cook quickly in hot pan, (Induction 7-8) that has been lightly buttered.
Use to wrap fillings of choice.

Chicken Filling
NEED:
4 skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon each of the following;
coarsely ground pepper
paprika
ground garlic
ground cumin
ground coriander
sea salt

DO:
Combine dry ingredients in small bowl.
Rub into chicken breasts and allow to marinate for up to an hour.
Process in steam oven for 17-20 minutes. Leave in oven until ready to serve.
Slice into thin slices or shred.
Serve on top of tortillas with fresh Guacamole, combination of grated Parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella, and fresh salad and if desired, a dollop of sour cream.

For other ‘Throw Down’ offerings, check out Great Cooks Community. Great way to end a month…or start a new one!

OK Daring Bakers, apparently I missed a deadline somewhere without realizing it! Being a public holiday here today, I left my challenge for today…so better late than never right???

Vegan? Gluten Free? Boring? NOOOOO I shout triumphantly…the challenge worked beautifully for me and I will most definitely be going crackers again…and again and again! (My kids happily acknowledged that they believe this post is a intervention and that I am merely confirming my cracker status that they have known about for years.)

So the cracker recipe is NOT gluten free, but the dip is. You can find further information about this challenge at all the amazing sites on the Daring Bakers Blogroll. There are some incredibly talented people out there, so please explore.

To quote Shellyfish, the host for this month’s challenge;

“The Challenge: Make Lavash Crackers and create a dip/spread/salsa/relish to accompany it. This challenge allows for large helpings of creativity and personality, with the crackers, your flavor choices for the crackers, and with your dip/spread choice. You can create your own dip/spread recipe, use one of your favorites, or use one of the recipes we’ve provided at the bottom of this post. Get crazy ! Just be sure to post the recipe along with your challenge crackers so we can see what you made and how you made it (so we can try it, too!).

The Rules: You have so much freedom! You can make the Lavash Crackers either with all purpose wheat flour or you can try making them gluten free. You may use any variety of spices/seeds/salt to top the crackers. All dips/spreads/relishes/salsas must be vegan and gluten free.”

We have just polished off most of the crackers and all of the dip…in record time and down a couple of kids, so a disclaimer here: Cracker baking may be addictive and is not for everybody! Caution should be used when attempting this at home!

CRACKERS
NEED:
1 teaspoon multi colored peppercorns
250 grmas unbleached bakers flour
1.5 teaspoons granulated yeast
20 grams raw sugar
25 grams lemon olive oil
110 grams warm water
nigella seeds, sea salt to taste

DO:
Quickly grind the pepper in the Thermomix bowl on speed 6 for around 15 seconds.
Set aside.
Place remaining ingredients into bowl, except for the seeds and salt.
Whiz on speed 7 for a few seconds until dough forms a ball (or almost)
With lid in closed lid position, knead for 2-3 minutes.
At this point add more water or flour as required. It should be a soft and pliable dough.
Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celcius.
Between 2 sheets of baking paper, roll out half the dough as thinly as possible.
The thinner and more even the better. If you pick the dough up and hold it against the light, you will see where the thicker parts of the dough are and re-roll accordingly.
Lay onto tray, (keep on baking paper), sprinkle with pepper, salt and seeds, then using the other sheet of baking paper, press the toppings into the dough slightly until they adhere.
Using a pizza cutter, score crackers.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until brown evenly.
You can leave the crackers in the oven to dry out completely to increase the crunch factor.

I disagree with the recipe in the Challenge slightly, in that leaving the dough to rise increases it’s elasticity and makes it harder to stretch thinly…but you possibly get a lighter cracker that way. I did not allow my dough to rise at all, but proceeded on with the rolling immediately!

DIP
NEED:
1 whole garlic
1 red pepper (capsicum)
400 grams white beans (cannelini)
100 grams kalamata olives pitted
handful coriander
olive oil to taste
sea salt to taste

DO:
Wrap garlic in foil and roast in hot oven, along with capsicum.
When capsicum skin has blackened and blistered, place into paper bag until cool. Peel and de-seed when cold enough to touch.
Push garlic cloves out of skin and into TM bowl. (This should be an easy process.)
Add all other ingredients into Thermomix bowl and process on speed 8 for around 30 seconds. Add oil to emulsify or leave out and reduce processing time to have more of a salsa.
Serve with Lavash crackers or corn chips…ENJOY!

This may appear in a book I am working on at the moment, so stay tuned for where to get that Vegan/Vegetarian Tome! But you saw it here first…ta-dah!

It has recently come to my attention that there are those who would cut and paste my recipes onto other sites without accreditation. Please don’t do this. I am happy for my recipes to be out in cyberspace, (clearly, or I wouldn’t be a blogger), but I would appreciate a link back to this site.

Cool winter nights seem to dictate dessert in my house…and then suddenly we are fighting the bulge come spring! Well, we have had unseasonably cold nights in spring here, so I guess the bulge is becoming the downright middle aged spread. This recipe is not so bad, (if you follow Cyndi O’Meara’s philosophy), which isn’t such a bad excuse right now! So settle in on a cold night and enjoy this one.

NEED:
260 grams cream
2 eggs
dash almond essence
240 grams SR flour
210 grams raw sugar
10 stalks rhubarb chopped into 2 cm lengths
2 tablespoons sugar
TOPPING:
Additional rhubarb (3-4 stalks)
50 grams sugar
50 grams butter
50 grams cream
25 grams flour
25 grams blanched almond flakes

DO:
Make raw sugar into caster sugar by processing on speed 9 for approximately 5-10 seconds. Set aside.
Place cream into TM bowl.
Insert Butterfly attachment and whip cream on speed 4 until thick. (Time will vary based on the freshness of the cream, the fresher it is, the longer it will take.)
Add eggs one at a time and blend in gently on speed 3-4. Add essence as well.
Remove Butterfly attachment.
Add flour and sugar. Pulse 4-5 times to blend. DO NOT OVERMIX.
Pour batter into spring form pan.
Place cut rhubarb stalks on top of batter. Sprinkle with second amount of sugar.
Process in steam oven for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
TOPPING:
While the cake is steaming, place all topping ingredients except almond flakes into TM bowl.
Blend together quickly for 20 seconds on speed 8.
Cook for 3 minutes on 80 degrees Celsius on stir.
Spread over top of steamed cake, sprinkle with almond flakes and either bake for 10 minutes in 180 degree oven or allow topping to set.

SERVE:
With custard or freshly whipped cream.

No Steam Oven? Visit this LINK.