Thermomix - Vanilla Glazed Hot Cross Buns

These are basically the Hot Cross Buns from the Every Day Cookbook (EDC), with a couple of tweaks:

I replaced the lemon peel with orange peel, as I think its a little sweeter and works better with the spices in the buns.  I also added vanilla to the glaze, because I have a jar of sugar that I add my vanilla beans to if a recipe calls for the seeds and not the pods - you could get the same flavour by adding the seeds from 1/4 vanilla bean or adding a little vanilla bean paste to the glaze ingredients.  And I didn't have any currants or other fruit on hand so I only put sultanas in.

I separated a third of the dough before adding the sultanas in order to make fruitless buns, as I don't like dried fruit much.

Its a little fiddly because it takes so long proving and has multiple proves, but was worth it.  They smell AMAZING while baking, the whole house smelled lovely.

Fortnightly Meal Plan I (Fri 2 May 2014 - Thurs 15 May 2014)

I've decided to start posting our fortnightly meal plans, as I seem to be discussing them frequently on Facebook and a few forums.  I use my Thermomix most days at least once, though often not in dinner preparation but for smoothies and snacks, cooking for my baby.  I will mark Thermomix recipes with a (TMX).

Our family grocery budget is $150 per fortnight.  Not per week - per fortnight.  Although its blown out slightly in the initial phase of introducing food to our baby.  Every now and then I see a thread on Facebook or a forum asking how much folks spend on their shops and people seem stunned that our shop is this cheap.

I usually plan meals at the start of the fortnight that use fresh herbs, salad leaves, fruit or veg that would spoil swiftest, and meals toward the end that use vegetables that last well eg (potato, onion, pumpkin), comes tinned (crushed tomato, corn, beans) or frozen (peas, beans, corn), and uses herbs that I grow (currently lemongrass, tarragon, rosemary, oregano, thyme).

Without further ado, here's this fortnight's meal plan:

Friday - Chilli con carne (TMX - Cooking for your Baby & Toddler) served in taco cups (TMX tortillas - Steph Berg)
Saturday - Octopus & Haloumi salad (based on the recipe from Taste.com.au)
Sunday - Roast Chicken with roast veg and salad
Monday - Oven Tray Fajitas (made with leftover TMX tortillas - Steph Berg)
Tuesday - Lentil & Roast Veg Salad with Pork Belly
Wednesday - Broccoli & Blue Cheese Soup (TMX - Choothefat's Thermomix Adventures)
Thursday - Beef and feta burgers

Friday - Steak, cheesy rice and salad
Saturday - Afternoon tea for dinner (a platter of veg sticks, fruit, crackers, cheese and cold meat)
Sunday - Chicken parmigiana and coleslaw
Monday - Singapore noodles (Save with Jaime)
Tuesday - Salmon patties and salad
Wednesday - Grated rainbow salad with feta and sesame fritters (Save with Jaime)
Thursday - Spaghetti & meatballs

Snacks and desserts:
Mini Cherry pies (Based on recipe Taste.com.au, made in muffin pan with pastry made in TMX)
Carrot & pineapple muffins (Based on recipe from Taste.com.au, made in TMX without icing and baked in muffin pan)
Lactation Biscuits (Peaceful Parenting)
Slow cooker fruit pudding
Pumpkin ice cream (TMX)

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some recipes and photos.

Thermomix - Cream of Celery and Cheese Soup

I converted my mum's recipe for this soup - it is one of my favourites and I don't normally like celery!  It turned out just as good as the original recipe, and much easier.  The thermomix really shines with soups - no need to transfer to a separate blender or make a mess with a stick blender.

CREAM OF CELERY AND CHEESE SOUP

Ingredients:
120g tasty cheese
200g bacon
300g celery (½ large celery), leaves and stalks - chopped into large lengths
1 large potato - peeled and chopped into large pieces
2 onions - peeled and halved
2 cloves garlic - peeled
1½ tbsp stock paste concentrate (or equivalent powdered stock)
600g water
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
200g cream
Fresh parsley or coriander for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Fry bacon on the stove - you can keep the rashers whole at this stage - no need to chop.
2. Place cheese in TM bowl and grate on speed 7 for a couple of seconds.  Set aside and rinse bowl.
3. Place vegies (celery, potato, onions, garlic) and bacon (broken into large pieces) into TM bowl with stock paste and water.  Chop for 2 - 3 seconds on speed 4, using the spatula to help move the contents about.
4. Cook at Varoma temp for 5 minutes (or until the temperature reaches 100 degrees) on speed 1. When the time sounds, add bicarb and cook at 100 degrees for 12 minutes on speed 1.
5. Blend the soup by slowly turning the speed dial from 1 to speed 10 and keep at speed 10 for 10 seconds.
6. Add cream and stir at 70 degrees at speed 3 for 1 minute.
7. Add grated cheese and continue to stir at speed 2 for another 2 minutes (no need to set a temperature).
8. Serve with a swirl of extra cream in each bowl and parsley or coriander to garnish if desired.

Thermomix - Beef & Zucchini Burgers

I adapted this recipe from my mum's recipe website.  I made dinner rolls using the basic bread recipe in the EDC cook book, using polenta instead of buckwheat, and they were tasty although a bit dense.

Hubby poses with his burger

Beef & Zucchini Burgers

Ingredients:
1 small onion, grated
185g zucchini, grated
1 - 2 cloves garlic
500g minced steak
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated green ginger
1 egg yolk


Method:
Place onion, zucchini and garlic in TM bowl and chop on speed 7 for 2 - 3 seconds.
Add minced steak, soy sauce, ginger and egg yolk and mix (spoon icon speed) for a minute or two, using the spatula to help ensure an even mix.
Shape mixture into patties - I got about 9 patties but you can make them bigger or smaller as needed. Barbeque on lightly oiled plate until done. Serve on toasted, buttered buns with tomato, onion and letuce and your choice of condiments (we used aioli, hubby added a pickle relish).

Thermomix - Vanilla Frosting

After a brief Google I found a frosting recipe for the Thermomix on Steph Berg's site, reproduced from a 2009 Thermomix Calendar.  It looks a lot like a recipe I've seen before that produces a lovely, buttery but not too sweet, icing for cakes.  I made it up and it tasted even better!

I've amended it slightly as I prefer to do things in the order below.

Ingredients:

35g Plain Flour

200g whole milk

150g sugar

200g unsalted butter

35g natural vanilla extract

Method:

Place sugar in TM bowl and mill for 15 seconds on speed 9.  Set aside and clean bowl.

Place flour and milk into TM bowl and blend for 5 seconds on speed 6.

Cook for 15min at 80deg on speed 4

Pour into bowl , cover with plastic wrap, pushing plastic down onto surface of mixture to ensure as little air contact as possible.

Allow to cool completely and rinse bowl.  Ensure bowl is cool before proceeding to next step.

Place milled sugar and butter in TM bowl and chop for 5-10 seconds on speed 7.

Insert Butterfly and aerate butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes on speed 3 with MC off to allow air in bowl, scraping down sides as needed.

Add Vanilla and beat 6 seconds on speed 4.

Add cooked milk mixture and continue to beat for around 2-3 minutes on speed 3 until very smooth and white.

Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes (exactly) then use immediately

My only problem was trying to add colouring at the end.  If I'd used powdered colour it would have been fine, or added the colour when adding the vanilla, but as it was the liquid colour beaded on the mixture and was fiddly to incorporate - lots of taking the lid off and scraping the sides.

The cupcakes I made with this frosting