REAL MEALS

Yorkshire Pudding

2016-10-24T14:00:00.000+11:00

Mr frillipants' mum gave me this recipe, which really is the easiest-peasiest thing ever.

I am in the habit of making this with most roasts now, whether it's red or white meats, and it tastes so yummy with the meat and roasted veggies. The recipe that I have says cooking time is 40-50 minutes, which is seriously wrong. No idea where they got that? What I normally do is, when I have taken the cooked meat out of the oven to rest, and the veggies are still cooking, I put my 12-hole muffin tray in to start heating up. I've already put a tiny dribble of a failsafe oil into each cup. After a few minutes, I take the hot muffin tray out and, working very quickly, I pour the batter into each cup to about 1/3 full. This will fill all 12 cups, giving the frillipantii 2 each... because we're greedy-gubbinses when it comes to Yorkshire Puddingses.

INGREDIENTS

125g plain flour
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
275g milk

METHOD

Put all ingredients into Thermomix and mix on Speed 5 for 5 seconds
Scrape down if required and mix again
Pour into hot muffin tray cups (1/3 full) and put into oven, 200ºC, for about 20 minutes or when they've risen well over the tops of the muffins cups
Serve immediately (So, have everything else ready to go)

VERDICT

Some of the frillypantii are using Pear Ketchup on their roasts, which is obviously a disgusting idea. Weirdos. But they also love it on their Yorkshire Pudds. I feel like I ought to confiscate one pudding from everyone who does that. Sound fair?

TWEEKS

None! This is Yorkshire Pudding!!!!! You cannot improve upon Yorkshire puddings!

Brined Roast Chicken

2016-10-24T13:50:00.002+11:00

The most exciting thing since Real Deli Chicken.

This is a brining method I hadn't yet tried. Or even heard of for that matter. But I felt like 'EVEN MORE FLAVOUR' should be something we could achieve.

I found the instructions on 'Enjoy How to Cook' and just worked roughly on that. So, if you haven't yet discovered Real Deli Chicken then click to have a look. It replaces deli meats for your sandwiches, salads and even wherever you used to use bacon. No! Really! FAILSAFE bacon!! Go and check it out.

Now, starting with that brine recipe, I have added garlic and citric acid and am doing a whole family roast. I may as well chuck in some chicken breasts as well, to flavour-up some Real Deli Chicken.

This recipe takes some forethought because you're going to boil the brine and then allow it to cool completely. All the way to COLD people. DO NOT try to brine your chicken in warm, lukewarm, just warm, only a bit warm water unless you want to start your own bacteria-farm and make people sick. Brining must be done in cold water and in the fridge. So, clear a spot for a large bowl.

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole chicken (about 1.4 kgs

About 1/2 cup salt
About 1 litres water
2 cloves garlic, smashed a bit
2 tablespoons of white sugar (omit if you'd prefer)
2 tablespoons citric acid

METHOD:

Put all ingredients (except the chicken!) into a large saucepan and bring to a boil
Allow to boil for a few minutes and then switch off and leave brine to cool
When mixture is cool enough, put it into a very big non-reactive container (e.g. glass, stainless steel, enamelled), large enough for the whole chook, add 2-3 litres of cold water and place into fridge so that it gets all the way to cold
Add whole chicken (you might like to do this at the sink, incase of overflow), ensuring it's all submerged in the brine mixture
Cover container and pop into the fridge
Allow to brine for 2-3 hours (minimum 1 hour, maximum 12 hours)
Remove chicken from brine, pat dry with a clean towel (or paper) - chuck the used brine down the drain
** If you're doing breasts only, follow the instructions of Real Deli Chicken, i.e. put sufficient brine into saucepan, bring to boil and add brined breasts back in until cooked.
Allow chicken to air dry in the fridge for an hour (Melanie (from Enjoy How To Cook) says this is optional but will help the skin get crispy with cooking)
Now, go forth and cook your chook as you normally would. For me that means, drizzled with a little failsafe oil, 200ºC fan-forced for about 45-60minutes, until chook is cooked.

Amines. If you are cooking for a strong amine responder, use caution since every process the chook goes through means a little bit more protein breakdown and amine build-up. No idea to what extent this is of course, I am not a food scientist, just a failsafe-home-cook.

Verdict
Oh. My. Goodness! YUM!! YUMYUMYUMMMMMMMY Delicious, succulent roast chicken. So! Good!
And the chicken breasts making "flavoured-up Real Deli Chicken", also utterly delicious!!!!! Yum Yum Yum! So yummy in those school lunches.

Tweeks
When I did this, I boiled about 4 litres and then I realised afterwards, when I topped i tup with cold water, that I didn't need to waste all the energy on boiling up 4 litres, just make a strong 1 litre and then top it up with cold water. aves energy on the heating and speeds up the cooling. I've written the recipe to do it the 'better' way.

Panettone - Individual

2014-12-15T22:51:00.000+11:00

FAILSAFE Panettone. Pear on the left and chocolate on the right.

I recently asked again on my Real Meals Facebook page if anyone had a special request. Something they wanted me to try and convert to 'FAILSAFE' and Thermomix-ese. Vee asked for Panettone which is an Italian sweet bread usually made for Christmas. It's normally filled with many dried fruits and peels, like currants, raisins and citrus peel. Stuff we can't eat while FAILSAFE.

So, I googled. And I came up with quite a few recipes, most of them claiming to be "the authentic" one. :) Reading these recipes I realised that every Italian family has their own idea of what is 'authentic'... the main criterion being "it came from Nonni".

I am not going to claim this to be 'authentic', but I think the intention is clear. This is "Failsafe Panettone" and these can sit proudly at any Christmas table. Or pre-Christmas get-together. Or end-of-year gathering. Or... crikey... a birthday party!! (Waves to the December birthday peeps)

The recipe I finally settled on was actually for individual Panettones and wasn't too complicated. You should visit this site for the non-Thermomix instructions to go with my ingredients.

...With Love and Cake Individual Panettones in Tin Cans!!!

I only have tins cans that have been plasticised inside. I'm not rapt with this idea, so I am going to do cupcake holders. This will mean even smaller buns, but we'll see how that turns out. If you have tin cans, or indeed, a proper Panettone tin, then follow the instructions at the above link. The Citric Acid is added because the original recipe uses lemon rind, which we can't have. You can leave it out if you're not happy to use that additive.

With an Australian accent, this is pronounced "Pa-nuh-TOE-nee".
Total 'rising' time about 3 hours.

INGREDIENTS:

80g Milk
1 tsp (5g) Caster Sugar
3 tsp (about 13g) instant Yeast

100g butter, room temp
50g caster sugar
3 eggs
400g Bakers' (strong) Flour
1 tsp Citric Acid (opt)
1 tsp Salt
180g diced Dried Pear

METHOD:

Prepare a warm spot, eg your oven on 50ºC for 5 minutes and turn off
Place Milk into a glass jug or similar and microwave for 20secs so it's warm
Add Caster Sugar and stir to dissolve
Add Yeast by sprinkling on top and give it a gentle stir
Set aside Yeast mixture
Put Butterfly into Thermomix bowl
Add Butter and Caster Sugar
Mix at speed 3-4 until it is soft and pale and fluffy (This is small amount for TMX to handle, so you may need to stop and scrape down a few times.) About 20-30 seconds.
Remove butterfly, close lid and turn on Thermomix to speed 3
Add Eggs, one at a time through the lid while it mixes, about 15 seconds
Scrape down and gently pour in the Yeast mixture
Add all of the Flour, Citric Acid and the Salt
Knead for 2 minutes
While it's kneading, prepare a bowl for it to rise in (you can leave it in the Thermomix, but I don't have a second bowl so I use a mixing bowl) and a clean damp tea-towel
After the knead, dump mixture into a bowl - this is a sticky dough, so you can use the 'scraping it out with a spatula' method or, the one I've just learned, the 'invert TMX, unlock base and allow dough and blades to drop from bowl' method. I quite like this one.
Allow this to rise in a warm spot, covered with the damp tea-towel, for one and a half to two hours.
Prepare your cupcake cases. I'm using 18 cardboard ones where you don't need a muffin tray
Punch it down in the mixing bowl by folding in the mixing bowl with a large spatula
Add the Dried Fruit and fold, fold, fold until it's well combined (or choc chips, see Tweeks)
Divide the dough amongst the cupcake cases, filling them 2/3 full, by just tearing a handful off the dough, rolling it and dropping them in. Even though the dough is sticky, it rolls off the skin very easily
Cover again with the damp tea towel (I used a cooling rack set up over the top of them to hold up the tea towel) and allow to rise again to the top of the cases. (1 hour)
Pre-heat oven to 190ºC fan-forced
Bake on the tray for 10 minutes.

Verdict Yum! Lovely bready-cakey thing. It's not bread but then it's not cake either. You can have it buttered, too.

Tweeks I only had 90grams of dried pear (that was 3 whole pears, dried in my my cheap Aldi dehydrator) so I decided to do 1/2 fruit and the other half chocolate-chip!!! What a treat!!!


Option 2 - using a lined ring tin, drop 7-8 balls around tin. Bake about 30-40 minutes

Besan Bikkies

2013-12-08T10:18:00.001+11:00

Besan Bikkies - gluten-free

I got the basis of this recipe from Cinnamon N Chillies blog. (Read there for non-thermy instructions) The original is spiced, so of course we can't do that.... but it doesn't matter! These are actually a very yummy, high-protein bikkie. The kids will munch them all so I just make a double batch to start with. I made 2 double batches last week, after a break of a few months... and I have to stash some so I don't miss out. I store them in the freezer to dissuade secret munchers.... the frillypantii are onto me. I'm not even going to bother giving you the single batch measurements. Pointless. You'll make them, eat them and have to start all over. I like to have my bikkies and eat them.

INGREDIENTS:

400g Dried Chickpeas (or buy Besan Flour)
120g Sugar (or Caster Sugar)
250g Butter - room temperature
1tsp Vanilla Extract
½ tsp salt
½ tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup choc chips (optional)

METHOD:

Preheat oven 150ºC
Process Chickpeas, Speed 9, until completely milled, set aside.
Put Sugar into Thermomix and process on Speed 9 for 5 seconds
Scrape down, add Butter and Vanilla and process until creamed. Speed 5 for 15 seconds,
Scrape down, add Besan Flour, Baking Powder and Salt
Mix at Speed 5 for another 15 seconds until it almost comes together in a dough
Then 60 seconds on Interval speed, scraping halfway through (add the Choc Chips now if you're using them)
Put into another bowl to make it easier to do the rest
Roll into balls and place on lined tray. (I use a metric 2tsp spoon for larger bikkies and today I used a 1tsp spoon to get more and smaller bikkies. I also tried the cookie press today, but I think the ‘gritty’ texture prevents that from working very smoothly. I got peeved and went back to rolling.)
Bake at 150ºC for 15-20 minutes, until they are nicely browned on top.

Verdict: Delicious!!! But not the dough. That's gross. Blergh! Must be cooked.

Tweeks: Add a half cashew on top of each bikkie, pressing in slightly.
If you are not failsafe, then go nuts. Add pistachios and spices as per the original recipe. Cinnamon would work very well.... but is not failsafe of course.

English Muffins

2013-08-26T12:53:00.001+10:00

English Muffins

Good old, English Muffins. Split them with your fingers, pop them in the toaster then butter and spread with jam; grill them with savoury toppings; mini-pizzas; for morning tea, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea... and yes... even the evening meal when you're having a something simple like eggs and baked beans. (Oh my! Saturday brunch, "egg and bicken muffin".) The uses for little palm-sized 'rolls' are endless but unfortunately the ones you buy in the shops always have nasty preservatives.

Making these is easy, but set aside some time to stand at the stove. You're going to be flipping these over every few minutes several times. You might like to have a couple of frypans going at once.

I googled around and this is almost exactly this recipe at The Opies: Family Food I've just tweeked it ever so slightly. You might tweek it to suit yourself as well. This recipe makes about 34 muffins using my 7.5cm scone cutter.

Ingredients:

240g Milk
25g Sugar
50g Butter
240g Water
7g instant Yeast
750g Plain Flour (I have used both Bakers Flour and Plain Flour and prefer the stronger bakers' flour, but both work well)
1tsp Sea Salt
Extra Plain Flour in a small bowl to dip dough circles into

Method:

Put Milk and Butter into a microwave-proof jug and warm on high for 60 - 90 seconds
Add Sugar and stir to dissolve in the warm milk mixture and set aside
Warm the water in the TMX on 50ºC for 1 minute Speed 1
Sprinkle the yeast on the water and leave for 10 minutes
Give the milk mixture a stir up (the butter will be cooling on top by now) and add to the TMX jug
Add half of the flour and mix on Speed 6 for 15 seconds
Add the rest of the flour and the salt, mix on Speed 4 for 10 seconds and then knead for 3 minutes
Leave the dough to double in size (about 30 minutes)
Punch down, and roll out on a floured surface to about 10-15mls thick
Cut circles, dip into the extra flour on both sides and set aside (I like to use a huge tray so I can move them about the kitchen easily)
Allow to sit for another 10 minutes
Very lightly oil your fry pan (I mean LIGHTLY, with a brush) and set up on the lowest heat.
Place a few into your fry pan so you can easily maneuver them about with a spatula. (My fry pan fits 5 around the edge and 1 in the middle.)
Pop a lid onto the fry pan and let them cook for 3 minutes. The lid will help the muffins rise beautifully. Flip them over and do another 3 minutes with the lid on
Flip them over again every 2 minutes without the lid now (yes, I set a timer so I don't forget when I'm doing other stuff at the same time) until you're satisfied their done. About 3-4 turns for each side.
Pop them onto a rack to cool and start over with the next batch.
Store in the freezer in bags or sealed container. If you're feeling keen, cut around each muffin with a sharp knife (like is done with commercial ones) so that you can just easily split them with your fingers later on.

Verdict: "Just like a bought one." said Mr frillypants. Woah!!! That's big words right there!! Just like a BOUGHT ONE.

Tweeks: Using 2 fry pans or some sort of large hotplate would be best because the last few have risen again while waiting and I end up denting them as I pick them up. Then they don't have beautiful bottoms anymore. :( I definitely use a timer because that frees me up to do other things at the same time. Today I mixed up some yogurt and wrote this blog post while cooking the muffins. Without the timer, I'd forget where I was at and I'd have black muffins. Ewww.

Non-failsafe additions. Regular muffins are dusted with polenta... but that's HIGH in Salicylates and Glutamates. But, if you're not concerned about that, then use polenta where I've dusted with extra flour. (That's what's happened in the photo above) Fruit muffins: add 200g sultanas/raisins/currants and a tsp cinnamon or nutmeg with the last of the flour. NOT failsafe.

Carob Syrup

2013-07-31T14:18:00.001+10:00

Carob Syrup on Ice-Cream

You can buy this stuff.... and it is expensive!!! OR... you can make it in the saucepan or TMX at home and it is cheap cheap cheap. You might like to save a pretty bottle or jar to store this. Maybe a Maple Syrup jug thingy would work.

I yoinked this recipe from Sandra at "Cooking For Oscar". Here's the Link: Carob Syrup saucepan.
You can use it on ice-cream and it goes a bit like Ice Magic. Crispy. cool!
Add it to sweet stuff like cakes (see Sandra's recipes) and savoury stuff like Trish's Sauce of Wonder. Today, I added it to a stock while making gravy for pasties.

Ingredients:

1 cup Carob Powder (I bought mine from Allergy Train)
2 cups water

Method:

All into the TMX, cook on 100ºC, speed 4 for 5 minutes.
Allow to cool before putting into a clean jar/bottle and store in fridge.
Give it a good shake before using

Pasties

2013-07-31T13:44:00.001+10:00

Beef and Veg Pasties

Left-over roast beef. It haunts me! To minimise amine build up, it needs to go straight to the freezer. But once there... it refuses to be eaten. Pulling out a chunk of frosty meat for a sandwich doesn't inspire me much... that's assuming I remember it's even there. I often find the plastic container with 'roast beef' written on it when I'm playing Freezer Tetris, making room for my school lunchbox baking... and then I slot it in somewhere again and remind myself I really ought to do something with it. What a waste!

Now, you can do all this chopping in the Thermomix but today I have a head cold and I felt like just standing there, chopping. I did the finest dicing I have ever done in my life. Teeny tiny little cubes of veg. If you do use the TMX, I'm going to suggest popping the roughly chopped vegetables in and chopping them on Speed 5 for about 3-4 seconds. No faster. Or you'll create a mush. (Which, you could still use of course. )

If you don't have left-over roast beef, then you might like to use some freshly minced beef instead.

Ingredients:

1/2 Swede (about 120g)
3-4 Brussel Sprouts
1 medium Potato
2 Spring Onions
500g (homemade) Chicken (or 1tab Veg stock concentrate and 500g water)
60g No-Tomato Sauce
20g Carob Syrup
2 tsp Cornflour
300g Left-over Roast Beef (or fresh minced beef)
5 frozen Pampas Puff Pastry sheets (watch for bad additives)
egg (optional)

Method:

Peel and finely dice (really, REALLY finely) Swede, Brussels, Potato, Spring Onions and Beef
Add a little oil into a large frypan and cook all vegies together. Try to have a lid on for a few minutes to help it sweat and cook a bit.
While that's simmering, combine Stock, No-Tomato Sauce, Carob Syrup and Cornflour and stir until there are no flour lumps.
Add meat to the frypan
Add Stock mixture to the frypan and keep cooking on a moderate heat, with the lid on to help simmer those potato and swede pieces. After 5 minutes or so, keep the lid off and the food moving to let the liquid reduce. About 10 minutes or so.
While that's simmering, get the pastry sheets out of the freezer to start defrosting.
Cut each square, corner to corner, so you get 4 triangles.
Pre-heat oven to 180ºC and line a couple of large baking trays
Allow the beef and veg mixture to cool a bit and then use a small spoon to scoop it onto the triangles and using a bit of water brushed on the edges to help seal it. I think it should be about 3 teaspoon scoops. Shape it well to cover half the triangle, with a 'hem allowance' and then fold over the pastry and press the hem to seal.
Put them onto the trays, brush with an egg wash (optional)
Cook for 20-25 minutes at 180ºC, until they are golden.

Verdict: Yummo! And Yummeh! MsD just ate 2 for lunch.... and is asking for more. She had them alone I had 2 with Pear Ketchup.

Tweeks: If you can go the Moderate Sals, you might like to add carrot and sweet potato. Salt too, if you need it. My roast beef was already salted. One day I might try this all chopped and nearly puréed in the TMX. Please let me know if you do or have already.

If you want a Vegetarian pastie, I suggest you replace the beef with potato and/or lentils. (And tell me how it went!!)

Banana Pancakes - 2 ingredients.

2013-04-27T21:09:00.002+10:00

Okay, we'll start with 2 ingredients. You may want to add 1 more. This is moderate to high amines, depending how ripe your bananas are so this would make a great Gluten-Free Amine challenge.

I am back to dabbling in gluten-free. As I am dabbling, I won't make big noises about it on here because I don't know enough about it, all the hiding places of gluten, to be a GF-frillypants-guru.

So, this is one of those recipes you wonder how it is you got to *the age you are* and didn't know this. A bit like "Banana Ice-Cream - 1 ingredient". I was googling around, trying to find a really quick GF flat bread while the kids were whining at me that they were hungry. I am at this awful early stage of GF when I've removed the bread, but I haven't yet replaced it. I need to think this through much better!

So, here's the site where I got the recipe: Top With Cinnamon

Ingredients:

1 large banana**
2 eggs

Optional:

1/4 tsp GF Baking Powder

** Mod Amines

Method:

Mash the banana and add the eggs, combine really well.
Cook in medium heat fry pan the same as you would a regular pancake, but don't expect the bubbles to form and pop. If you get that far, you've burned it.
Flipping is done very carefully once you can get a wide spatula/egg slide under there.

Verdict: YUMMOH!!!! One of mine turned out like a 'banana omelet', but then I realised it was a bit too thick to properly cook through. Also, the banana was a bit lumpy. The rest were YUMMOH!! I made the first lot without the Baking Powder and found them fairly thin. Adding the Baking powder made them fluff up just that little bit and made it more pancake-esque. Try it one way and then the other, see how you like it.

Tweeks: For Failsafe, there's not a lot you can do with this, except eat them with pure maple syrup. Or even just alone! If you're doing an amine challenge, you might like to do what the original recipe says and add some safe chocolate bits before you flip it over. To make more, I did 4 bananas and 5 or 6 eggs. Worked well.

Hearty Beef Casserole

2013-04-22T16:27:00.000+10:00

Brrrr!!! Did you feel that? Autumn started. Really suddenly down in the Southern parts of Australia. Goodbye BBQs and salads and hello to belly-warming fare.

I felt certain that I would have already blogged this recipe. I found it in my notebook where I do my workings-outs then came here to get the final draft... and nope! I haven't posted it at all.

Ingredients:

1 kilo diced Beef
1 Leek, sliced finely
2-3 cloves Garlic, crushed
2 carrots*, diced
1-2 sticks Celery, sliced
1/2-1 Swede, diced
2-3 med Potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup Whiskey
1 cup No-Tomato Sauce
750mls Water or Stock
Oil for frying
Peas**

Method:

Preheat oven 180ºC
In heavy oven-proof dish with a lid, Sauté leek, garlic, celery and carrot
Set aside
Add diced Beef in small batches and brown, removing each batch as you go
Add all beef back into the pan still on the moderate heat
Add Whiskey, stirring
Add all Vegies
Add Water or Stock and No-Tomato Sauce and stir to combine well
Put into oven and cook for about 30-50 minutes
Add peas at last 5 minutes
Serve with steamed rice and/or other steamed vegies (green beans, brussels...)

* Moderate Salicylates
** Moderate Amines

Verdict: Yummeh. Everyone likes this and it's the sort of meal you can eat with a splade in one hand and a nice piece of buttered, crusty bread in the other.

Tweeks: You can use whatever veg is in your fridge, but I've gone for more 'Winter' root sort of stuff here. Shred some brussel sprouts, add some legumes... please tell me how you tweek this recipe.

Pear & Vanilla Jam

2013-02-05T10:09:00.000+11:00

Pear and Vanilla Jam

This is just a small addition and adaption to Birgit's recipe in the Fed Up cookbook. Most of the frillypantii love this jam and guests are always intrigued. As if I've created jam from some exotic fruit. Everyone loves it and it's probably because it's such a subtle flavour.

I added vanilla when I saw a 'gourmet jam' for a squillion dollars in a deli. 'Pear and vanilla'. The second time I made it was for the school's Easter Fair. I was going to take pity on the stall and buy them myself... but by the time I got there, it was all gone! Ridiculous! People paid about $6 for a small jar. The cost to produce this is so teeny tiny I can't even make my brain small enough to work it out. And... even if you don't have a Thermomix, the recipes I have read online show that the saucepan method is almost as simple. (Except, I've walked away from my jam-making-Thermomix to type this. Can't do that with a saucepan. No, I do not sell Thermomixes.)

I use tinned pear because I want it to be as easy as possible. When pear is in season, you might like to use fresh. Either way... still easy. You can use Vanilla extract, paste or 'proper' vanilla pods, just depends on what you have. (Just make sure it's not preserved.)

Ingredients:

2x 825g tins of Pears in Syrup (or 1kilo fresh, peeled and cored)
Seeds of 1-2 Vanilla Pods (or 1 tsp Vanilla Extract)
750 g Sugar
1 tsp Citric Acid or Ascorbic Acid
50g packet 'Jamsetta' (contains sugar, pectin and citric acid)

Method:

Drain pears (and retain syrup to make icypoles or use in other recipes)
Put all ingredients into Thermomix, chop on Speed 3-4 for a few seconds to chop pears
Cook for 45 minutes, 100ºC Speed 2.
If it seems not to be setting enough when you test it, try 5-10 minutes at Varoma temp. *be careful of hot splashes, place the steaming basket on top with MC out*

Verdict: Universally loved
Tweeks: Make this as vanilla-ry as you would like/can tolerate. Or leave out the vanilla and just go all pear.

PS if you have any doubt that you are saving yourself some money, have a look at this price!! I am not suggesting 'Hank' is gouging us, just covering costs and making some money. But... woah! Hank's pear and Vanilla Jam

Savoury Pinwheels

2013-02-01T23:23:00.001+11:00

I was inspired by one of those 4 Ingredients style recipes.

I thought "Well! I can do that!! With No-Tomato Sauce and Real Deli Chicken. Easy!!" (Yeah I often think in exclamation marks. !!! Are you surprised?!?!?!)

With the Deli Chicken, to err on the side of caution we'll have to assume the amines are building up and up each time it is cooked... so, let's just consider this a 'moderate' amine dish and be careful if you're sensitive to amines.

Ingredients:

2 sheets Puff Pastry (commercial: Pampas frozen sheets have no bad additives *today* but always read the label)
2 tabs or so Sandra's No-Tomato Sauce
100g or less of Real Deli Chicken, chopped finely

Method:

While the sheets are still frozen and on their plastic sheet, spread a layer of the sauce, all the way to the edges. How thick depends on your preference
Sprinkle with chopped chicken, making sure it's all the way to the edges.
Roll the pastry (it will have thawed by now) away from you, holding the plastic sheet with one hand to pull back while you roll the pastry forward with the other.
With a good, sharp knife, chop into desired size. I like to go half, then half and then thirds.
Place onto lined tray, lying down sidewards and bake for 20-30 minutes at 180ºC
Can be frozen to pop into school lunch boxes, but best eaten fresh.

Verdict: Ms D says "That is rooolly nice! Can I have some more?" She and her sleepover friend just polished off a few more while I was distracted.

Tweeks: If you can tolerate amines you might like to add a small amount of grated tasty cheese. And if amines really, really aren't a problem... you might use additive-free bacon.

Chicken-on-a-Stick

2013-01-25T09:33:00.001+11:00

Chicken-on-a-Stick with Tzatziki and Quinoa Salad

The frillypantii will always give a big "Phwoarrrrr" when I say dinner is 'chicken-on-a-stick'. Honestly! It's ridiculous! I could nicely dice the chicken, I could present it in full breast pieces, I could butterfly some breasts... and still use all the same ingredients. But add some bamboo sticks? Yipeee!!! Crazy, I tell you.

Now, this dish can be presented anyway you like. Marinade (eg Fed Up's golden marinade), don't marinade, bbq, grill... tonight I served it with a nearly failsafe tzatziki, and a quinoa salad. The tzatziki is just natural yogurt (moderate amines), one clove of crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp of citric acid in a tab of water and half a peeled and chopped cucumber (moderate salicylates).

What I do want to show is this method I use to make chicken sticks quickly. I buy organic free-range chicken breasts, packaged up. They are still in the shape of the package here. Use as much as your family needs. Mine are up to 3. Soak the sticks in water for at least an hour before using. This will help them not catch fire later. Always handy. Chicken-on-a-charred-stump is not nearly as much fun.

Then, with chicken pieces together, push the sticks through with enough room to slice between. Some of these look very close, but it's where the chicken is thicker and I've got one on top of the other.

Slice with a good sharp knife... and.. here you go. Chicken-on-a-Stick in very little time.

Mmmmmmmmm.

Quinoa, Cashew and Chickpea Salad

2012-11-25T19:30:00.003+11:00

Tri-colour Quinoa, Cashew and Chickpea Salad

It's November, so now we're thinking about Christmas presents and *gulp* all those barbeques, work functions and family get-togethers we're about to go to. I have tasted some awesome summery cous cous or quinoa salads that are just about meals in themselves, but were flavoured with citrus juices and full of dried fruits. No good for us. :( Tonight, I've tried to do a Failsafe version of a healthy, high protein, light but filling Summer salad.

Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa, cooked as per packet's instructions
100g raw Cashews
Small bunch Parsley leaves, finely chopped
Bean Sprouts
Cucumber*, peeled and diced
Whatever other fresh "Summery" vegetables you 'd like
1tsp Citric Acid
3tabs water
50g Rice Bran Oil
400g tin of Chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about net 250g)
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Pre-heat oven 180ºC
Cook Quinoa as per instructions (1 part quinoa, 3 parts water), rinse in cold water, drain well
Dissolve Citric Acid in the Water
Add Salt and Parsley and Oil; stir well and set dressing aside
In the Thermomix, lightly chop Cashews on Speed 5 for 1 second (or by hand)
Toast the Cashews (some of mine was cashew 'dust' which was great.) for 5-10mins
Into a large serving bowl, put the Quinoa, Cashews, Chickpeas, Vegetables and stir to combine
Stir through with the dressing just before serving
Serve with BBQ meats as a side, bring it to 'bring a plate' functions as a versatile addition to a buffet

* Moderate Salicylates

Verdict:
The frillypantii... scoffed this down! Made lots of appreciative noises and went back for seconds. There were no thirds available! I served it tonight just with cold roast chicken (that I cooked yesterday) and that was sufficient for everyone. Don't be fooled by this being a 'salad'. It's quite filling. Mr frillypants came later for dinner and is now saying 'absolutely bloody marvelous dinner!' Cool!

Tweeks: Add any veges you'd like, but I was aiming for a 'light summery' sort of salad, so keep it small pieces and fresh. Perhaps celery, carrot*, choko... Please DO share in the comments section so we can all benefit. :) You'll see in the picture I used Tri-colour Quinoa. That's Black, Red and White Quinoa. You can use just white, whatever is available.

Coq au Vodka

2012-11-10T19:29:00.001+11:00

Coq au Vodka

The first time I made this, I had everyone come to the kitchen to taste the sauce from the pan. It was a new flavour for some and a forgotten one for others. Their eyes lit up, they all oooh and aaaah'd, it was just right. Delicious! Then I served it up, the sauce was so thin it didn't 'stick' to the food and we ended up with some cooked chicken and floppy veg, not looking very appealing and not tasting so great. Bugger.

I realised too late that what I should have done was thicken the sauce with some flour, so the sauce would stick around to add the delicious flavour. Of course, I have had to wait some time before trying this again. Too soon and the frillypantii would have simply refused to try it. Too long and we'd be in the thick of Summer and not feeling like casseroles.

Obviously this is my failsafe version of Coq au Vin. Red wine is nothing like failsafe. You can be sure, I've never told my kids that... absolutely not relevant to their lives.... and so Mr frillypants and I are free to indulge. :) However! When it comes to food for the family... of course I can't go using red wine. (Btw, the alcoholic drinks that are considered failsafe are Whisky, Gin and Vodka.) This time, I am adding Rice Malt Syrup to the Vodka to replace wine. This was a tip I picked up in casual chat on one of the Facebook groups, except I think it was using Gin. (Thanks Monique, love ya guts!)

Mr frillypants came home with 1 whole kilo of free-range chicken breast, so that is what I used. We're moving house in a few weeks so if I can put a meal or two in the freezer, then fabulous. All my recipes are for feeding the 6 of us, but we come in such a range of sizes and appetites I can't honestly say 'feeds 6'. But I do like having leftovers for the frillypantii lunch boxes. Today I am putting 2 containers of leftoversin the freezer, one dinner for all of us.

Ingredients:

1/2 - 1 Leek, sliced or diced
2 sticks Celery, sliced
2 medium Carrots*, peeled and diced
1/2 - 1 Swede, peeled and diced
1/2 Choko, peeled and diced
1 kilo Chicken Breast (or thigh), diced (whatever size you prefer/ have time to cook)
100g Plain Flour (or GF Equiv)
Oil for cooking
Knob of butter
1/2 cup Vodka
2 tabs Rice Malt Syrup
400g No-Tomato Sauce
1 tab Vegetable Stock Concentrate
1 litre Water

Method

Coat chicken in flour, set aside
In large frypan / cast iron pot, heat oil and butter
Sauté leek, carrot and celery
Set aside sautéed vegies
Add little more oil for cooking and add chicken pieces, moving them about until cooked on all sides. Cook half at a time so they don't sit and stew together.
Add back all cooked Chicken pieces to the pan and add the Vodka (sizzle!!)
Then add Rice Malt Syrup, any left-over flour, No-Tomato Sauce, Vege Stock and Water
Stir well and add all Vegetables
Stir, cover and simmer on moderate stove top or in moderate oven until chicken and vegies are cooked through. (about 30 minutes)
Serve with rice or Mashed potato and green beans

*Moderate Salicylates

Verdict: Yum. Yummo. Yummeh!!!   You just wouldn't know there no tomato in here. It has that sweetness and acidic tang. Yummeh with mash. Very comforting flavour.

Tweeks: Whatever veg is in the fridge I think. So long as it isn't overpowering in flavour. The important flavour is this mock-tomato and wine thing we've got going on. My one and only issue with the No-Tomato sauce is that it tends to 'catch' in the pan and so I find I need to keep stirring it every few minutes. Not such a biggie, but can be if you don't realise.

HOW MUCH ALCOHOL IS IN THE PREPARED FOOD?
This is another one of those conversations I've had online. How many times have you heard "It's okay, all the alcohol is cooked off." Turns out, perhaps not entirely true.

In Australia, a new driver has to have absolutely 0% blood alcohol and for some, a home-cooked meal can cause them to lose their license.

This information is from Wikipedia, you might like to do your own research.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_with_alcohol

Alcohol in finished food

A study by a team of researchers at the University of Idaho, Washington State University, and the US Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Data Laboratory calculated the percentage of alcohol remaining in a dish based on various cooking methods. The results are as follows:

alcohol added to boiling liquid & removed from heat - 85% alcohol retained
alcohol flamed - 75% alcohol retained
no heat, stored overnight - 70% alcohol retained
baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture - 45% alcohol retained
baked/simmered, alcohol stirred into mixture:

Time (h)	Alcohol retained^[1]
0.25	40%
0.5	35%
1.0	25%
1.5	20%
2.0	10%
2.5	5%

Bomboloni - Baked, not fried

2012-09-24T20:57:00.001+10:00

Bomboloni filled with Lemon Custard

I used to have this Italian doughnut-like-thing in a café in Melbourne, a bombolone. It was sugary on the outside and on the inside was a delicious custard, or pastry cream, with a light lemony tang. I'd try to eat it so that there was still a little bit of custard left in the last mouthful.

When I saw Sandra's Swedish Vanilla Buns on Cooking for Oscar, those bomboloni are what I thought of. Googling bomboloni, I see they are supposed to be fried like the regular doughnuts we know. But I didn't know that until I'd already baked the first batch in the oven and they were great. Be aware, however. I have made these twice and both times I have overfilled them with the custard and it has leaked out. Some completely!!! So, heed my warning. One teaspoon of filling for each and seal it thoroughly. I thought I knew better and was smugly sealing a tablespoon's worth in there... but it was the volume not the seal that was their undoing.

Today, I ran out of custard for the last 2 (see? Too much!!) and so I chucked in some raspberry jam. They were for me, not the kids. Shhhhh. Yum-oh!!!

Remember to reserve some caster sugar for the outside when you're making these.

Custard Ingredients:

90g white Sugar
2 eggs
30g Cornflour
1tsp Citric Acid
500g Milk

Custard Method:

Put the Sugar into the Thermomix and pulverise on Speed 9 for about 5 seconds. Remove about 10g of the Caster Sugar and set aside for later.
Put all the rest of the ingredients into the Thermomix and cook on 90ºC for 7 minutes on Speed 4
Put aside custard to cool in another bowl, with a cover to help prevent forming a skin (It sets thicker as it cools)

Bun Ingredients:

250g Milk
75g Butter, chopped
7g of Yeast
1 Egg (or 1 tab Oil)
110g (1/2 cup) of Sugar
610g (3 1/2 cups) Plain Flour
Pinch of Salt
10g Butter extra

Bun method:

Place Milk and Butter into Thermomix and melt butter on 37ºC for 2-3 minutes on Speed 2
Add Yeast, Egg, Sugar, Flour and Salt and knead for 2 minutes until it is smooth
Set aside to rise in a covered oiled bowl for 30 minutes
On a floured surface, plop out the dough, punch it down and roll out with a rolling pin until it's about 1cm thick.
Cut rounds out of the dough of about 8-9cm
Have the custard standing by as well as a couple of large lined baking trays
Stretch and fill each round in turn. I found it easiest to just stretch and keep turning the dough with each press of my fingers
One teaspoon of custard into the middle of a round and then fold the edges up in half, quarter and then press/twist edges together to seal
Place seal-side-down on the tray and proceed with the next one.
Allow these buns to rise for about 30 minutes and then cook on 220ºC for about 10 minutes. Don't walk away or start facebooking, they're suddenly ready. (Yes, voice of experience.)
Cool on a rack, covered with a clean tea towel.
Melt the extra Butter and brush over the cooled buns then dip into the reserved Caster Sugar.
Makes about 24+ Bomboloni. Serve immediately. Will keep about 24 hours in sealed container, but best eaten a little warm. I will freeze a few in the interest of science and let you know how they fare.

Verdict: Fabulous! Yummeh! Delicious!!! Can't. Stop. Eating. Yummy. Bomboloni.

Tweeks: I want to try Vanilla Custard, Carob Custard.... what else could we do?

Magic Bean Lemon Cup-Cakes

2012-09-08T22:54:00.000+10:00


Magic Bean Lemon Cupcakes

Inspired by Old Mother Hubbard from facebook page, 'Me and My Thermomix', I wanted to try a different flavour for the Magic Bean cake. Of course, I had to use a different kind of magic bean, the white kind. I'm very excited, this actually worked!! But, with cashews, it's one we can't use for school snacks. I didn't try this as a single large cake, but if you do, please do let me know.

The batter was quite thin, like a pancake batter really... so I was a bit scared. But it worked out just fine.

I'll make a some lemon icing tomorrow and the kids can decorate them for our special afternoon tea.

Ingredients:

420g can of Cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
100g raw Cashews
1.5 tsp Citric Acid
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
5 eggs
80g white Sugar
125g soft Butter
1 tsp GF Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sodi Bic
1/4 tsp Salt
5-10g Poppy Seeds

Method:

Pre-heat oven 160ºC and line 2 muffin trays with 24 patty pans.
Put Beans, Cashews, Citric Acid, Vanilla and 1 of the eggs into Thermomix and mix on Speed 7 about 15-20 seconds. Scrape down if needed and mix again until it's very smooth.
Add Butter and Sugar, mix for 20 seconds on Speed 4
Add remaining 4 eggs and beat Speed 4 for 20 Seconds
Add Baking Powder, Sodi Bic, Salt and Poppy Seeds and mix on Speed 4 for 10 seconds
Use a tablespoon measure to put 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each patty pan
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until cooked through; when a skewer comes out clean.

Verdict:
Lovely, lightly-flavoured cake. But dense and 'sticky' as well. In the morning I plan to get the frillpantii to ice them with a lemony icing and that should give it a little bit more tang. Then they can decorate them with additive-free decorations.

eta These are loved by Mr JR, but Ms C & Ms D both don't like them. I have a feeling it's the texture? Being a 'denser' sort of cake.

Tweeks: As I mentioned, I haven't tried this as a single large cake... yet. I imagine I'd use a ring tin and probably cook it for about 40 minutes. You could leave out the Poppy Seeds... but I think think they add a nice texture and flavour.

Rice Paper Rolls

2012-08-23T20:02:00.002+10:00

Rice Paper Rolls (sorry... photo reminiscent of the skinless chicken sausages)

We haven't had Rice Paper Rolls for a while. Just not that kind of weather here in Southern Australia. We've been having hearty, Winter-type meals. Soups, stews, one-pot-stick-to-your-ribs-wonders. But... I'm a bit souped out and Ms C has been nagging me for Rice Paper Rolls for ages... so I decided to give it a go. The big difference this time for us is the sauce. I wanted something *like* a dipping sauce or something to add some tasty wetness to the left-over roast chicken I planned to cut into teeny pieces... and I remembered Domestic Diva's highly acclaimed Cashew Cream. (Tasty wetness?? Is that a recognised cookery term you think?) I had no idea if this flavour combo would work. After all, I am doing an Asian-style dish and Domestic Diva's was a Middle-Eastern one. But.. it works! Completely. I've now got a nice lot of cashew cream in the fridge and I'll be looking for more places to use it in the next few days. Watch out.

Ingredients:

A selection of Failsafe Vegies, grated and julienned to your heart's content:
Celery, Mung-bean Sprouts, raw Choko, Iceburg Lettuce, Cucumber*, Carrot*
Vermicelli Rice Noodles and Rice Paper Rolls are both in the Asian aisle of your local supermarket. ( Read carefully, the ingredients should be rice and water, nothing else.)
Left over cooked chicken or even Deli Chicken
Small bowl of Cashew Cream

Method:

Arrange all the food in the centre of the table. This is a help-yourself type meal
Boil the kettle for the water needed to soften the noodles and the paper rolls.
Beside an adult, or even better, on a separate table, have a dish of quite hot water sitting there in which to dip the Rice Paper Rolls. Dip quickly, lay out on your plate and quickly layer in your sauce, meat, vegies and noodles. Figuring out how much you need is half the fun.
To roll it up, make sure the food is compact in the middle of the paper. Fold the closest side over the filling and tuck it over, sort of rolling backwards to 'tighten' it as you go. Now fold over each side 'flap' and then continue rolling the whole thing away from you. You should have a nice tight roll... but you probably don't and now you have to hold it all together and shove it in your mouth. Again... half the fun.
This is a fun meal to have with your family, but best not on a night where time is an issue. It can be a long, slow and messy meal. Half the fun.... wait... that was 3 halves.

*Moderate Salicylates

Verdict: Enjoyed by all... with various success at rolling.

Tweeks: I'm going to have to experiment with more sauces. Any ideas? Suggestions?

Do read the comments for some more ideas and suggestions from those in the know.

We start all pretty like this...
(Cucumber (sals), choko, lettuce,
rice noodles, chicken, cashew cream)

Then we get into a bit of this...

and then we end up more like this.

Magic Bean Carob Cake - DELICIOUS

2012-08-22T17:07:00.000+10:00

Magic Bean Carob Cake

IT'S A CELEBRATION!

Today I am celebrating 101 posts on Real Meals and 500 likers on the Facebook Page. If I made money from this I'd be doing some sort of give away... but instead, WE SHALL HAVE CAKE!!

If you have a Thermomix you might have already seen this one doing the rounds. I certainly am late coming in with this one. If you don't have a Thermie, then a food processor will happily do the job. Just purée and mix in the order given.

I took some convincing to try this cake. I mean.... kidney beans? That's disgusting! but.. no! There is no 'bean' flavour. Make sure you purée it well and you're not picking skins out of your teeth either. (Oh, icky.) The frillypantii adore this cake and since we're now into amines, we can use cocoa instead of carob. (I use Woolworth's 100% Cocoa... no added flavours or anything.)

Mmmmm, love this cake!

(Written at 2:30 Edited at 4:20 to add. Well, when I wrote this, I was sitting on 499 likers and I was waiting for that last 1 person to hit 'like' and then I was going to post this. Then I went out for pick ups and came back to find we had TOPPED 700... and climbing!!! This is the work of Jo from Quirky Cooking. Great healthy gluten-free Thermomix recipes. I am feeling giddy every time I refresh the page and see a larger number pop up.)

Here's the website I pinched it from: Thermomix Recipe Community

Ingredients:

420 g can of Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
1 heaped tsp (or even 1 tab) of Decaf Coffee, dissolved in 20mls water (or just water)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (no preservatives)
5 eggs
125g softish Butter
180g Brown Sugar
70g Carob Powder
1 tsp GF Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sodi Bic
1/4 tsp Salt

Method:

Put Kidney Beans, Coffee, Vanilla extract and 1 Egg into bowl and purée on Speed 7 for about 5 seconds, scrape down and purée again.
Set Bean mixture aside
Add Butter and Sugar and beat on Speed 5 for 30 Seconds
Add remaining 4 eggs and beat Speed 4 for 20 Seconds
Add Bean Mixture and mix on Speed 4 for 5 Seconds
Add Cocoa, Baking Powder, Sodi Bic and Salt and mix well on Speed 5 for 10 Seconds, scrape down and make sure it's really well combined and give another whizz if it needs it.
Pour into a well buttered (or lined) ring tin and bake for 30-35 minutes on 180ºC or until a skewer comes out clean (Or 20-25 minutes if making cupcakes)
Serve alone, with cream, with fruit, with ice-cream, with a ganache, sprinkled with icing sugar.... very versatile

Verdict:
Wonderful! This cake is not only delicious... but also high in protein and gluten-free and YUMMEH. I usually do cupcakes for the kids to eat at school or afternoon tea. I have even fronted up to a FOODIE GROUP with this cake, with my head held high.
I forgot to tell you... STOP EATING THE BATTER. It's delicious, I know. But leave some to cook!

Tweeks:
If you google around, you'll find many (non-failsafe) adaptions. Like lemon and coconut with cannelini beans. Wow!!
This week I had to use Cannelini beans... I did a double batch and really, I couldn't tell the difference!

Failsafe Felafels

2012-08-18T15:09:00.000+10:00

Failsafe Felafels

Ms C is on the 40-Hour Famine this weekend, she hasn't tried this one yet. But she's loitering in the kitchen. Was that mean of me? As she's only a little woman, she is going without food for only 8 hours and without furniture for the whole 40 hours (it sure has changed since I did it in the 80s!!) ...so she can have some with her dinner tonight.

If you would like to donate to World Vision via the 40-Hour Famine, click here. If you would like to do it under Ms C's name, her Famine ID is 60099193. Thank you!!!

This recipe is by Diane H. from the facebook page: Failsafe Eating Support Group. Check their recipes tab. This recipe can easily be done in any food processor, just purée/process it all in the order shown below. I'm not totally sure how many I ended up with because people kept eating them! Let's say 30-40 depending on the size you make them.

Ingredients

2x400g cans chick peas, drained & rinsed 
1/4-1/2 leek, roughly chopped
 2-3 cloves garlic 
1/2 cup parsley, chopped (or dried)
2tbsp SR flour (GF flour works well also)
1 egg
 salt

Method

Place chickpeas, leek, garlic and parsley into the Thermomix and purée on Speed 7 for about 10 seconds, scraping down as needed
Add flour, egg and salt and purée again on Speed 7 for about 10-15 seconds until it is quite smooth, using the spatula through the lid to keep it down on the blades.
Put into another bowl
Roll mixture into balls, about heaped teaspoon lots and lightly flatten to make into 'medallions' or larger to make burger-size patties. (If your mixture is too 'wet' to handle, add flour and lightly mix through until you can use it. I also found dropping the balls of mixture into some more flour, coating them, made them easier to handle.)
Shallow fry in failsafe oil, flipping over half way when golden. (Or bake in Moderate Oven 30-40 minutes)
Drain on kitchen paper

Verdict:
Delicious!!!!!! I just had mine in a Pita Pocket with some salady bits. Add some Mighty Mayo. Yummeh! Add them to a meal to replace the 'meat' portion. Also great for finger food, with hommus or pear ketchup to dip into... and school lunch boxes! Gosh, why haven't I included these earlier?!?!

Tweaks:
I am thinking lemon. Next time I might add a tsp of citric acid with a little water to carry it. As it was, I put a little 'lemon juice' (citric acid and water, made to taste.) on the felafels I used in my Pita Pocket.

Pita Pockets

2012-08-04T22:38:00.001+10:00

Pita Pockets. Beautiful bag of nothing.... fill it up!

Today was a Full-on Failsafe Frenzy of Pita Pockets. It all started on the Sue Dengate Failsafe Facebook page. Kath P. posted a recipe for Pita bread and asked if it was Failsafe. Well!! Suddenly, Failsafers everywhere cottoned onto the fact that Pita Bread is DEAD EASY and were rolling their dough before even updating their statuses. Here's hoping Kersten manages to get a GF version in the next few days as well. Fingers crossed!

!!!!STOP PRESS!!!! Kersten has done it. Gluten Free Pita Pockets.

The original is from this blog and use this if you want non-Thermomix instructions. I made 8 medium-sized Pita Pockets and then did another batch with Wholemeal flour and made 16 smaller pockets. They both worked quite well. The uses for Pita Pockets are many. We had them for lunch, with cream cheese and salady bits inside. You can fill it anyway you like! Or tear it up to use it to eat dips like hummus. I even mixed together some cream cheese and No-Tomato sauce and got a whole new sandwich 'condiment' spread! Another Failsafer said she planned to use them for tacos. I was impressed!!

Ingredients:

310g Warm Water
10g (1 tab) Yeast
550g Plain flour
(OR 140g Wholemeal Flour, 10g Psyllium Husk, 400g Plain Flour)
1 tsp Salt

Method:

Put warm Water and Yeast into TMX and mix Speed 2 for 5 seconds and then leave about 5 minutes.
Add 250g of Flour and the Salt and mix on Speed 4 for 5 seconds.
Add remaining Flour and Knead on Interval speed for 4.5 minutes.
(If doing the Wholemeal option, add the Wholemeal Flour, Psyllium husk and 100g of the Plain Flour first and then the rest of the Plain Flour afterwards.)
On a floured surface, divide dough into desired number of pieces (Just keep halving or thirding) and roll each into a ball
Then flatten each ball with a rolling pin (I actually used one of my children's toy rolling pins and it worked very well) until about 5mm thick. Do try to keep the thickness consistent.
Put them aside for 30 minutes to puff a bit (Mine had no discernible puff, but worked anyway)
Heat oven to 220ºC
Using a large spatula, carefully flip each round onto a line cooking tray and bake for about 8-10 minutes, until puffed up and golden. (Watch this bit, it's fun!)
Alow to cool on a rack and store in an airtight container or bag. May be frozen.

Verdict:
Our lunch time ones just disappeared. One benefit is that the bits don't fall out of them while being handled by the 2-y.o and the same 2-y.o has no trouble getting his little mouth around it. At dinner I served them spread with some melted garlic butter. Gone in a flash!!

Tweeks:
No tweeks, apart from the wholemeal angle. And, as I mentioned, I hope Kersten manages to do it GF.

Sandra's No-Tomato Sauce

2012-07-25T00:21:00.002+10:00

Sandra's No-Tomato Sauce

I have been using this all over the place... and a bit like the Deli Chicken, it has helped save Failsafe cooking all over again. People on the facebook Failsafe pages are talking about it, it has been translated into Thermomix-ese on the "Something From Nothing" page and here's mine.

Oh, but first, here's ---> Sandra's original.

Ingredients :

1 tin Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
150g Pear, about 2 large halves
1 teaspoon Citric Acid
1/4 cup (50g) Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
2 medium Carrots*, peeled and roughly chopped
1 stick Celery, roughly chopped
4 Spring onions roughly chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup Water

Method:

Add all ingredients, except water, to TMX and pulverise on Speed 8 for about 5-8 seconds
Add water
With MC in, cook for 25minutes, Speed 3, 100ºC
Purée by gradually increasing to Speed 9 for about 15 seconds

*Moderate Salicylates

Verdict: When I first tasted this I thought.... >.< ewwww!... but then I remembered I'd just tasted a sauce! A condiment. A flavour base. Of course it's ewww! But in food... wow! Wow wow wow!!!!! I have used it in lots of things and every time it's great! That's too many exclamation marks in one paragraph, isn't it. But that's how excited I am. !!!!!!!

Tweeks: I am thinking of adding a bit of whiskey next time? I promise I don't drink the stuff... but it really does add another dimension of flavour to some otherwise dull dishes. If you're using Sandra's original recipe at the link, just use the same method as here and reduce the water to a half a cup.

Doubling: I use this so frequently now that I have taken to always making twice as much. This recipe still works very well just doubling all the ingredients and then cooking for 35 minutes.

Where to use Sandra's No-Tomato Sauce:

Stir a couple of spoons-full through Cannelini beans and warm in a saucepan to re-create commercial Baked Beans
Into mince to help create a delicious Spaghetti Bolognese
Spread onto a Pizza as a base sauce or as the only topping. Add Tasty Cheese if you can tolerate it.
Mix 100g Philadelphia Cream Cheese with 40g of No-Tomato Sauce. You have a new sandwich spread, great for salad sandwiches or as a dip.
Savoury Pinwheels
I will add more as I come across them....

Chicken Balls and Noodles in Broth

2012-07-21T20:50:00.002+10:00

Chicken Balls and Noodles in Broth

Dinner tonight needed to be something light, for my visitors who had already been out for lunch. But it also needed to fill the frillypantii tummies. An idea for some sort of Asian style broth was forming... (not that I know anything about Asian cooking)... where people could choose to go heavy on the broth or heavy on the fixings. Well, this absolutely worked a treat! I am so pleased with this... the kids all had seconds. I think most of the grown-ups did as well. Tonight this served 8 people, along with some tasty bread.

Again I used the whiskey... I am really enjoying this kick of flavour. Now I'm going to have to go and re-write all the recipes here... splash the whiskey around. In the name of yummy recipes... of course. If you add whiskey to a recipe and it works please tell me okay?? (Like Red Dirt Girl on the Chicken and Chickpea Casserole.) In fact, anything you do that adds to a recipe... please share.

Ingredients:

500g Chicken Mince (a little bit frozen works better in the TMX)
100g raw Cashews, lightly toasted in moderate oven for about 5 minutes
1 clove Garlic
1/2 tsp Citric Acid
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Parsley, chopped
1-2 Spring Onions, roughly sliced
2 litres of Water
2 Tabs Vegetable Stock Concentrate
1/4 cup Whiskey
Green beans, chopped
2 Carrots*, finely diced
1/2 a Choko, peeled and cut into match-sticks
1/4 Cabbage, finely chopped
1 cake of Chang's Longlife Noodles

Method:

Fill large, heavy pot with water, add Whiskey, Vegie Stock and put onto stove to start heating.
Into Thermomix (or food processor) add Cashews, Garlic, Citric Acid, Salt, Parsley and Spring Onion and quickly process at Speed 6 for 5 seconds
Add Minced Chicken and mix at Speed 4 for 10 seconds, until it is well combine.
Transfer to another bowl
Using a teaspoon as a measure, roll the chicken mixture into little balls and plop them straight into the heating stock.
As the chicken balls cook, finely chop and add all the vegetables
Allow to simmer gently, not furiously boil, until all vegies are cooked (About 10-15 minutes)
Add cake of noodles and cover to allow them to soften, stir with a fork to separate
Serve in bowls with as much or as little broth as you'd like
Use chop sticks if you'd like a slow meal

* Moderate Salicylates

Verdict: Failsafers and non-Failsafers alike all thought this was great! Yay!! So did I!!!!!

Tweeks: Play with the vegetables, of course. Add and stir through an egg if you'd like? Next time, I am thinking I might try some sort of Asian-style dumpling, cooked on the Varoma while the soup cooks underneath.

Spaghetti Bolognese

2012-06-26T21:25:00.000+10:00

Spaghetti Bolognese

What? WHAT?!?!?! Am I trying to KILL YOU?!?!?! Nope. This is FAILSAFE spag bol.

NO! Really! Honest!!!

It all started on 'Cooking for Oscar'. Sandra made a Failsafe 'No-Tomato Sauce'. Then people on the Facebook Failsafe pages were sharing what they had made with it. They used it as a dipping sauce, as a ketchup, a dressing and as an ingredient anywhere you'd use a tomato passata. (You can see where I'm going, right?)

So, trusting all my friends in the computer I gave it a whirl. When I said "Failsafe Bolognese" Ms D jumped on me in excitement. (No, really. She jumped into my arms. Did I mention she's in grade 6?!?!) I told her to calm down because I had no idea how it was going to turn out... but she kept jumping up and down. Yeah, no pressure.

Luckily, it was delish! And SO EASY. I had already made the No-Tomato Sauce and had it in portions in the freezer. The rest was dead easy.

In the end... how did it taste? Well... it was a very passable bolognese! And I tried whiskey once again (my second splash at it) which gave it a grown up flavour. The mouth feel was right and the tang was perfect.

Ingredients:

500g steak mince
1/2 Leek, quartered and sliced
2-3 cloves of Garlic, crushed
1-2 sticks Celery, sliced
1 medium Carrot*, finely diced
1/4 cup Whiskey
about 400-800ml No-Tomato Sauce (to taste)
about 400ml water

Method:

Sautée vegetables, set aside
Brown mince and add vegetables back
Add whiskey and cook for a minute or so on high heat, stirring
Add No-Tomato Sauce about 200mls of Water and bring gently to boil, stirring frequently
Simmer for at least 30 minutes and add water as necessary
Cook enough pasta for your brood and I'll assume you know how to serve Spag Bol.

* Moderate Salicylates

Verdict: You know my Mr JR? He's the one who is always leaving the table and needs to be coaxed to eat what we consider enough to exist. (There are no 'finishing your plate' rules, but please make an effort) Well, he sat, he ate and then he got seconds. I don't remember him getting seconds before. Ms C had... FIVE serves. Mr JA also sat and ate, no coaxing required and Ms D also had 2 or 3 helpings. I call that SUCCESS BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS.

Tweeks: Depending on your intolerances, you can add a lot more vege. Grated choko, grated and peeled zucchini*, sliced green beans.... but don't get too far away from the original Spag Bol idea.

Bhaji

2012-06-26T13:53:00.002+10:00

Leek Bhaji

Mr frillypants is English... so he knows ALLLLLL about Indian food. Right? I was googling for some chickpea recipes and came across Onion Bhajis and I know Mr frillypants loves these... I thought "Why wouldn't leek work???"

Of course the original recipe used all sorts of aromatic spices, but these were seriously delicious without them. Don't tell anyone, but I have a deep fryer... (shhhh!! I know!)... but you can use a saucepan with a good amount of failsafe oil. I like Rice Bran Oil especially for frying as it has a high smoke point. The bhaji do need room to fry though.

Chickpea (Besan) flour is available at healthfood shops, but if you have a Thermomix, just grind dry chickpeas (not canned) on Speed 9 for a minute or so. The water measurement is vague... I used 80 mls and then kept adding until I could use it.

Ingredients:

250g Chickpea (Besan) Flour
1/5 tsp salt
80-150ml water
1 whole Leek, washed, trimmed, quartered and sliced
Extra veg if you'd like, but try to stay under 250g. Eg Peas**, grated carrot *, celery, grated zucchini*, spring onion

Method:

Combine besan flour, salt and water and mix until a thick batter
Add Vegetables and stir in so they are well coated
Heat oil to 190ºC (or cube of bread turns golden brown in 30secs)
Carefully add tablespoins of the mixture to the hot oil and allow it cook until it is golden and crisp. About 3-4 minutes. Turn over if you need to.
Allow to drain and place onto paper towel
Keep it warm while continuing to cook the remainder of the mixture and see if you can actually have some left to serve. I kept eating them!
Best served while still warm, alone or with natural yogurt** to dip.

* Moderate Salicylates
** Moderate Amines

Verdict: As usual, the kids are divided. It's a texture they're not used to, so it is my duty to serve it again and again until they are used to it. Ms C, Mr frillypants and I were a bit like 'You don't like it? GOOD! More for me!!! Pass that bowl over here'

Tweeks: I mentioned the other veg you could use. I wonder what else would be nice??

Chicken Casserole with Whiskey

2012-06-21T17:26:00.002+10:00

Chicken Casserole with Whiskey (ignore the peas and beans, I happened to have some leftover in the fridge, so chucked them in)

I have finally worked up the courage to cook with whiskey. I had to drink half a bottle... not really!! I haven't been keen. I hate the smell of Scotch. Really. Hate it. And knowing which one to buy? Pah! I went for something on special at Woolworths. I think it might have been Black Douglas.

Anyway... I didn't have a clue, so I looked up Failsafe Foodie's recent recipe, which used Scotch, for inspiration... then I jumped in.

When Mr frillypants got home from picking up the school and pre-school kids (gee, it was quiet) they all stopped and sniffed and said "Mmmmmmmmm, what's that? What's for dinner?" Good start. Then Mr frillypants and MsD were fighting over who was going to taste it first.... then second... then third... I think I can safely say it's a hit without even serving it up!

I plan to serve it with rice and green beans. A tummy-warming casserole for a 10ºC rainy day.

Ingredients:

500-600g Chicken breast or thigh, diced
about 1/2 cup Plain Flour
1/2 cup of Whiskey
1 leek, quartered lengthways and sliced
2 sticks of celery, finely sliced
1 head of garlic, about 10 cloves all peeled
1 medium carrot*, diced
A handful of Butternut Pumpkin*, diced
1 swede, diced
1 can lentils, drained and rinsed
1 litre water
1tab Vegie Stock Concentrate
Salt to taste

Method:

Coat diced chicken in flour
In a large heavy-based pan, heat a little failsafe oil and brown the chicken
Deglaze the pan using half of the Whiskey
Add leek, carrot, pumpkin and celery and sautée
Add water, stock, lentils and the rest of the Whiskey (did you think we were going to drink it?)
Simmer gently on the stove top or in the oven at 170ºC while you listen to school-readers or word lists... listen to the news... or check facebook
Add salt as required
Serve with steamed rice and green-beans

* Moderate Salicylate

Verdict: Woohoo! It's a hit. Three of them kept saying 'It reminds me of something we've had before...' I have no idea. But the main thing was... there were firsts and then there were seconds.
Tweeks: Any more vegies you might like could be added. Diced potato, shredded cabbage. The light gravy was very nice.