Spiced Chicken and Raisin Pilaf

This recipe comes from the foodiemum.com and is now a family favourite. This is a great meal to cook on Sunday afternoon so that dinner is ready to heat & eat when you get home from work on Monday night....always a sanity saver on a "Too Tired to Cook Monday"!

1 Chicken breast fillet
40g olive oil
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
300g Basmati rice (I used Brown rice)
1/2 cup raisins or sultanas
1 Litre water
1 Tbsp Vegetable stock
2 tomatoes
1 capsicum, finely diced
1 bunch of broccoli
1 handful of parsley, finely chopped
Cubed pumpkin

Add onion, garlic and chop
3 sec /Sp 6

Add 20g of oil, half cumin seeds (1 tsp) and cinnamon and saute
2 mins / 100 C / Sp 1 with MC off
SET ASIDE and add raisins

Using a frypan add oil, remaining cumin seeds and Chicken and cook until cooked through

Meanwhile, add rice to TM basket and rinse. Add water and stock to the bowl and place the basket with rice into TM
Add pumpkin, capsicum and broccoli to varoma and continue cooking 

15 mins / Sp3 / Varoma temp
 (Note: If using Brown rice cook for 30 min and add vegetables in varoma in last 15 minutes
Transfer vegetables and rice to a large bowl, mix through onion/raisin mixture and diced tomatoes.

Slice or shred cooked chicken and add to rice. Season with pepper.

Lazy Leftover Deconstructed Roast Pie

This is a version of of Quirky Cooking's leftover roast meat pie.  Mine is for the lazy ones among us.  I usually do this quickly on a monday after work when we've had roast lamb or beef on a sunday night.

Ingredients
1 or 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry depending on how many you wish to feed
1 clove garlic
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 tbs coconut oil
handful mushrooms if you have them
A few leaves of kale if you have it chopped up
leftover roast meat cut into bite sized pieces
leftover roast vegies (including any mash or rice)
leftover gravy
stock concentrate
water
2 tbsp flour of choice (cornflour, spelt, rice flour) to thicken

1. Preheat oven 180 degrees and take puff pastry out of the freezer to thaw
2.Garlic 3 sec sp7
2. add onion, carrot, celery (I also had some zucchini that needed using) 5 sec sp 5
3. add coconut oil 100 degrees 3 minutes sp1
4. add mushrooms 10 sec sp 3
5. cook 100 degrees 2 minutes sp 1
6. add kale, meat, roast veg, gravy, flour and top up the bowl with some water and add a little stock concentrate.  100 degrees 10 minutes reverse soft (may need longer to thicken up)
7.  Carefully cut pastry sheets into 4 squares.  Place on a lined baking tray and pop into the oven.
8.  Serve pie mixture in a bowl topped with square of pastry

Baked Beans

We always seem to eat so well when Mim and I go away together with thermomix in tow. This morning we had eggs and baked beans so i thought i would add the recipe so I can remember to make them when i get home. It's a recipe from Quirky Jo and I'll leave it for Mim to make her changes in the comments...

Ingredients
1 brown onion
2-3 bacon rashers
30g olive oil
1000g pre-cooked beans - tinned would be fine but ones you've cooked have to be better. Mim used red kidney beans
1 400g tin crushed tomatoes
60g tomato paste
1/4 tsp mixed spice
2 bay leaves
25g molasses
25g rapadura
1tsp sea salt
Pepper
100g water

Method
Place onion and bacon in thermomix bowl chop 2-3secs Sp5
Add oil and cook 5mins, 100deg, sp1
Insert butterfly and then add all other ingredients and cook 15mins, 100 deg, sp1 (add water to desired consistency)
 Remove bay leaves and serve

Chimichangas

After getting back from swimming lessons a little late one Saturday (probably chit-chatting to Karen about recipes for too long!!) these were pretty quick to make. Made the wraps and then whilst the chicken was cooking I quickly rolled and cooked the tortillas.

8 large wraps or make your own tortillas 

120g cheese - cubed
1 onion - quartered
1 clove garlic
20g olive oil
1 tsp Mexican Chilli Powder (Masterfoods)(Adjust seasoning at the end depending on how spicy you like it)
½ red capsicum
4 mushrooms
350g chicken breast –diced
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
handful of baby spinach leaves
1 tomato, chopped
sour cream

Make tortillas and set aside on a plate wrapped in a plastic bag to keep them warm and soft

Grate cheese in TMX
4 secs/speed 8.  Set aside

Chop onion and garlic in TMX
2 secs/speed 5

Scrape down sides, add oil and saute
3 mins/100 degrees/Reverse/ Speed 1.
Add the spices and cook for a further minute.

Chop capsicum and mushroom
3 secs/speed 5

Add chicken and sweet chilli sauce and cook
5-10 mins (depends on how big your chicken pieces are)/100 degrees/Rev/ Soft speed.
Once cooked add spinach leaves and stir through. Check spice levels

Chop up tomato with a knife and set aside.

Assemble the Chimichangas by placing cheese down the centre on each wrap and spreading the chicken on top (drain any liquid first)
Fold in opposite sides to cover filling and then roll into a parcel

Heat a little oil in a fry pan and cook the parcels on each side for a minute or so. Serve with tomato and sour cream

Chicken and Vegetable Pie

This pie is so yummy and moreish!

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
5 rashers bacon
20ml olive oil
3 cups mixed vegetables (I used carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, celery)
2 tsp TMX vegetable or chicken stock
1 large chicken breast
a handful of fresh parsley
2 sheets of frozen puff pastry 

Cheese sauce 
300ml milk
25g butter
25g plain flour
50g cheese

 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

2. Put vegetables (except onion & garlic) in TMX bowl and chop
Sp 5 / 5 secs (approx).  Set aside.

3.  Place chicken and parsley in TMX bowl and chop
Sp 5 / 5 secs (approx) Set aside

4.  Place onion, garlic and bacon in TMX bowl and chop
Sp 5 / 5 secs (approx)

5. Add oil and saute
Varoma / 5 mins / speed soft / Reverse / MC off

6.  Add vegetables and chicken mix back to the bowl with stock and cook
100 degrees / speed soft / REVERSE / 8 mins
Use spatula to mix around a couple of times.  Set aside and rinse bowl.

7.  Add sauce ingredients to TMX bowl, except cheese. 
90 degrees / Sp 4 / 7 mins

8.  Add cheese and mix
Sp 7 / 10 secs
then heat for 1 min / 90 degrees / Sp 3

9.  Put pastry into bottom of pie dish. Spoon filling into the pie base (remove as much liquid as possible to avoid the pastry becoming too wet).  Pour over cheese sauce.  Put top sheet of pastry on and gently press into bottom layer of pastry around the sides and make a slit opening into the top of the pie.  Brush with a bit of milk or egg wash if desired.

11.  Put in the oven and bake for approx 20 minutes or until browned and pie is cooked through.

Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Chia Burgers

These are really yummy and definitely don't leave out the healthy tomato sauce

400g sweet potato, chopped (no need to peel)
400g can chickpeas, rinsed
2 spring onions 
1/2 lemon peel (just use veggie peeler to take off half the lemon)
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 eggs 
1 tsp ground cumin
few sprigs parsley 
2 tbs chia seeds
oil to cook

Tomato sauce

few broccoli florets
1 carrot
few mushrooms
3/4 tin organic chopped tomatoes
heaped tbs tomato paste
tsp veggie stock concentrate 
   
Bread rolls
Lettuce
Tomato
Cheese
1.  Place chopped sweet potato in Varoma tray.  Fill TMX bowl with 1L water and steam for 20 minutes on Varoma setting, speed 4.  Set aside.
2.  Empty and dry bowl.  Place spring onions, lemon peel, parsley and garlic in TMX bowl.  Chop on speed 7 until you no longer hear chopping noise.  Scrape down and repeat if necessary until finely chopped 
3.  Add sweet potato, chickpeas, eggs, cumin and chia seeds.  Press turbo until all ingredients combined but with a bit of texture left in the mix.  Scrape mix out into another bowl to have the TM bowl free for making the tomato/veg sauce.  No need to clean.
4.  Heat frypan over medium heat and place patty sized balls into pan. When browned, flip carefully with spatulaand cook until warmed through.  Repeat with remaining mix.
5.  While cooking the patties, place carrot, broccoli and mushrooms into TMX bowl and chop on speed 5 for 5 seconds.  Add tomatoes, paste and stock concentrate and cook at 100 degrees, speed 2 for 10 minutes.  Set aside.
6.   Assemble burgers by spreading tomato sauce onto bun, top with patty and remaining topping ingredients of your choice.

Tortillas

I made Fajitas for dinner the other night and thought I would try out Quirky Jo's Tortilla recipe.

http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/spelt-tortillas.html

If you haven't tried it, it is definitely worth it and very quick and easy to make.

Salmon Patties

120g brown/white rice
1 shallot, peeled and halved
Handful or fresh parsley, coriander or dill
400g tinned pink salmon, well drained
2 eggs
50g sour cream
Salt, to taste
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Place rice in dry TM bowl and mill for 3 mins, speed 9. Set aside.
Place onion and herbs in bowl and chop 6 secs, speed 5 (scrape down part way through).
Add salmon, eggs, sour cream, salt, paprika, mustard and rice flour. Mix 10 secs, speed 3.
Heat oil in pan. Divide mix into twelve equal potions and flatten with the back of a spatula. Fry for about 4 mins on each side until golden.
Good with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce.

Fish curry

3cm peeled ginger
Few kaffir lime leaves
1-2 chillies descended
3 clove garlic
1tsp ground turmeric
2tsp tamarind purée
1 tsp oil
20g dried prawns
20g palm sugar
500-550g coconut cream
1 kg firm white fish diced (I use monkfish)
1tsp fish sauce
Juice of one lime
Coriander for garnish

Ginger, lime leaves, chilli, garlic, prawns, turmeric, tamarind, oil and palm sugar  sp 6-7
Sauté varoma 4 mins sp1
Add coconut cream 8 mins 100 degrees sp 1
Place fish in varoma on  baking paper
Add fish sauce and lime juice to bowl 9mins reverse sp soft

Check fish is cooked.  Serve fish on bed of rice topped with sauce

Can make triple batch of curry paste and just do first 2 steps

Ratatouille

120g onion
30g shallots
2 clove garlic
20g EVO
200g zucchini diced
300g eggplant diced
100g red capsicum diced
300g tomatoes diced

Add onion, shallot and garlic 5 se. Sp 5
Add oil 3 mins 100 sp1
Add veg 20 mins 100 reverse sp soft

Lettuce soup

Lettuce soup - more delicious than it sounds.
This recipe is from the Thermomix Festive Flavour cookbook which was my first cooking class just before my thermomix was delivered.

Ingredients
500g water
1-2 tbsp veg stock concentrate
8-10 green butter lettuce leaves roughly chopped - it's the butter lettuce leaves that give the soup a real buttery flavour so not sure how well it would work with other lettuce leaves
1-2 spring onions or shallots
30g butter
1 large potato peeled and roughly chopped
salt and pepper
1MC cream or yoghurt
fresh mint to garnish

Method
1. Place 400g water, stock, lettuce, spring onions and butter in bowl and mix sp9 for 10seconds
2. Add potato and cook for 15 mins 100degrees sp2
3. Check potato, if cooked, add s&p, cream and remaining water adn puree for 30seconds slowly up to sp9

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls by Cindi O'Meara
I love making these sausage rolls as I generally have all the ingredients.

Ingredients
1 brown onion, peeled and halved
2 tbsp of mixed herbs of choice
100g walnuts (I have used mix of almonds and cashews as well)
95g Rolled Oats
3 eggs
150g Fetta
1tbsp Tamari
45g breadcrumbs (made in thermomix)
3 sheets puff pastry

Method
Preheat oven to 200degrees
1. Place onion and herbs in tmx chop sp6 for 6s
2. Add nuts, oats and chop sp6 for 3s
3. Add eggs, cheese, tamari, breadcrumbs and mix to combine sp5 20s reverse
4. Place pastry on bench and cut in half
5. Put portion of mixture on the long edge of pastry and roll, cut into equal portions
6. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds
7. Place on baking tray, brush with beaten egg and score with knife
8. Bake for 20mins at 200degrees

They are delicious and I am sure you can add other ingredients such as zucchini or carrots.


Tip
Make breadcrumbs up in advance and keep in a ziplock bag in the freezer as they come in handy and a pain to clean out the tmx bowl if you need some in a hurry (unless you have 2 bowls of course ;-) )