Nutella Brioche Muffin Scrolls

Don't they sound amazing! 

Nutella....brioche...all wrappped up and mooshed together a little into a scroll and served as individual muffins.  And to think you have both of the recipes you need for these delicious morsels in your Everyday Cookbook!

Nutella. It's a weakness of mine, along with Lemon Butter. I simply cannot stop at just one mouthful (eaten from the jar, of course).  My children didn't know it existed until last year and I am quite proud that I  managed to keep that one from them. So, even though the Thermomix version is so much healthier.  I'm better not to have it in the house.

After saying all that, these muffin/scrolls were for a special occasion. And special occasions call for special treats.  They were on the menu of my gorgeous girlfriend's birthday brunch...and a perfect brunch pastry they were.

Nutella Brioche Muffin Scrolls

Nutella
See pg 34 EDC

Brioche
See pg 35 EDC

Preheat oven at 180'C and oil muffin tins.  Make Nutella and Brioche components, as per instructions.  Once the Brioche has risen, knock it down and roll it out into a large square.  Spread half of the nutella down the middle third of the square and fold the inner thirds into the centre, as you do when making puff pastry.  Then fold the long rectangle into thirds again.  By now you should have a small, fat square.  Roll out the square into a large square again and then spread with  the remaining Nutella.  Roll the square into a log to make a long scroll.

Slice pieces of the scroll off and place into each muffin hole. 

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until cooked.  Don't over cook them, they are better a little gooey inside.

It's a great month to buy a Thermomix!

April is a great month to buy a Thermomix. 

Receive a bonus Thermomat with all Thermomix orders placed this month.  The Thermomat is a large silicone mat.  A must for all bakers.  It's perfect for proving dough, rolling out pastries and can even be used a non stick baking mat in the oven.


We use it for all manner of dishes, our gnocchi, potato and silverbeet torte, scones and biscuits, to name a few.

Plus, to make your Thermomix even more affordable, this month we are offering 12 months interest free.  Contact your consultant for more details.

Silverbeet and Potato Torte

I've mentioned before how handy it is to have silverbeet growing in the garden.  It has such a long season, it's easy to grow and is so versatile, particularly with a Thermomix to chop it up finely and hide in all manner of dishes.  I seem to love it most at those times when I think I have nothing in the fridge for dinner.  It certainly saves the day when I can combine it with some fridge fragments and rustle up a meal.

Although I usually chop silverbeet up nice and fine to hide it, in this torte, it's a feature.  And, the kids still love it. The recipe is from Stephanie Alexander and she makes it with the children at her Collingwood College kitchen.


One of my favourite parts about this recipe is the pastry; it's dairy free and not too rich.   The olive oil makes it so pliable and easy to roll out into a thin base and top.  This pastry recipe has become my standard for all savoury pies and whenever I need a pastry for Edward (my dairy intolerant son).

Potato and Silverbeet Torte

Ingredients
Pastry

200 g plain flour (I use wholemeal spelt)

½ teaspoon salt
30g extra virgin olive oil
125 cup cold water

Filling

150 g young silverbeet or rainbow chard - washed, stems and leaves separated

salt
300g potatoes - cut into cubes
Extra virgin olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
handful of parsley
150 g mozzarella/cheddar (either pre-grated or cut into pieces)
slice of feta
Freshly ground pepper
1 large egg - lightly whisked

Method
Pastry

• Weigh all of the ingredients into the TM bowl and mix for 5secs, sp6. 
• Set dial to closed lid position and knead 10-20 secs on Interval speed to form dough.
• Turn mixture onto Thermomat or lightly floured board and knead lightly to bring together. 
• Wrap in plastic and place in fridge..

Filling

• Add 500ml of water to TM bowl and place potatoes in rice basket to steam 12mins, Varoma temp, Sp 4 or until tender.  Pull basket out and empty water.
• Place cheese into TM bowl and grate 5-10secs, Sp8.  Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 200'
• Place onion, stems, parsley into TM bowl and chop Sp5, 5secs.  
• Add a splash of oil and saute 2mins, 100', Sp 2. 
• Add silverbeet and chop 5secs, sp4 - use the spatula to stir so that all of the silverbeet gets chopped.
• Add potatoes, crumbled feta, cheese and whisked egg into bowl and stir 5secs, Reverse Sp2.
• Whilst filling is sauteing, roll out 2/3 of pastry into a circle larger than the pan you will cook in on (I use my pizza stone covered with Gladbake)
• Place the pastry on the pan and pile the potato mixture onto pastry, leaving a border around the pastry.
• Roll out the remaining pastry in a circle to fit on top.  Fold extra pastry from base to seal edges and press together.
• Pierce top with a fork.
• Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.

 I have adjusted the recipe slightly by adding a little more potato and some feta, it's perfect with all of that lovely silverbeet.  This is a delicious torte for a picnic but I serve it the most with roast chicken and a salad. The onion and silverbeet can be substituted for a couple of leeks and more parsley.  For Edward's dairy free option I make him his own little pie without the cheese.  If you wish to eliminate the cheese from the whole pie you can add an extra egg to make it creamier.  Oh, and left overs the next day are also delicious!

Gado Gado

Gado Gado served with chicken skewers and some finely sliced fillet steak.

Gado Gado is a well know dish from Indonesia and means "mix mix". It's a salad which combines raw and blanched vegetables with eggs and is served with a delicious peanut satay sauce.

This is an adaption of a recipe from Chris, a Thermomix Group Leader in the Melbourne Bayside area.. Her parents lived in Indonesia and it's her mother's recipe....the Thermomix version. Chris's original is on the Thermomix recipe community. I have adapted it for a larger crowd, but for a mid-week dinner, Chris's is a great all in one Varoma recipe.

I love to serve this dish for a crowd. I have three siblings and this dish feeds all of them and their families. So it's a great one if you are feeding the masses. It's easy, delicious, and it looks beautiful (which is always high on my list of priorities).

My alterations from Chris' original recipe are to use basmati rice and cook the chicken separately, I usually send out some skewers to be barbecued and I sometimes cook the eggs (about six) ahead of time so that I can fit more rice in the basket, but that is only if I am feeding more than 12.

Gado Gado

Ingredients
300 g basmati rice
1 bag spinach leaves
½ small green cabbage roughly chopped
green beans topped and tailed
1-2 carrots julienned
bean shoots to garnish
1 cucumber and capsicum cut into lengths
peanut satay sauce (recipe below)
eggs – washed and scrubbed
chopped peanuts and coriander for garnish
Serve with BBQ or grilled chicken skewers

Method
Make satay sauce
Prepare beans, carrots and cabbage in Varoma dish. Place rice in rice basket with eggs on top. I often do this before guests arrive and place Varoma dish in the fridge.
Assemble baskets in and on bowl and cook for 14 minutes on speed 4Varoma temp.
Once cooked remove rice and place on a large platter. Place the uncooked spinach leaves on top off rice then add the vegetables and boiled eggs (peeled and quartered) on top. Drizzle peanut sauce over and garnish with bean shoots and chopped peanuts and coriander.

Satay Sauce

Ingredients
Place garlic onion and chili into TM bowl and chop for 8 seconds on speed 7.
Add oil and saute for 2 minutes on 100c speed 1
1/2 onion
2 cloves Garlic
1 small red chili
2 pieces fresh Turmeric (if not available 2 tsp dried)
3 tsp cumin seeds
3 tsp coriander seeds
Juice of 1 lemon
50ml ketjap manis (Indonesian Soy Sauce)
2 tbsp fish sauce
30 grams palm sugar or brown sugar
1 can 400ml coconut milk
500 gm crunchy peanut butter

Method

Place coriander turmeric and cumin in TM and mill on speed 8 for 2 minutes. Take out and set aside.
Add all other ingredients and cook on 100c for 5 to 8 minutes speed 3.
HINT: Recipe can be halved or keep leftovers in fridge for a couple of weeks

Zucchini Slice with Feta and Herbs

You havent tried zucchini slice until you have tried this one. There are a few Zucchini slice recipes kicking around.  In Thermomix world, there is one in the Gluten Free cookbook and there are several on the Recipe Community.  Most have onion and bacon in them. This is a vegetarian option and has lots of beautiful fresh herbs which really lift the flavour.  The feta and Parmesan are also welcome additions.

I have made this recipe plenty of times before I had a Thermomix in my kitchen and it would take me about fifteen minutes to grate the zucchini, parmessan and chop the herbs.  Now its all done in seconds!

Tonight's dinner - the tomatoes didn't quite make it on top as I was in a rush to get dinner in the oven

The recipe comes from one of my favourite cookbooks; Belinda Jeffery's Mix and Bake. Every recipe I have tried has turned out perfectly and she gives lots of helpful tidbits, which I love.

This is a versatile recipe that I have served for lunch, dinner and even a girlfriend's birthday brunch.  In muffin form it goes into lunchboxes and tonight we had it for dinner tonight with a big garden salad. When I serve it for brunch or hors d'oeuvres I slice it into smaller sizes, or rounds and top with smoked salmon and Herb and Garlic dip (from the EDC). 

Served at a Birthday Brunch for my girlfriend - Cut into rounds and topped with smoked salmon and Herb and Garlic Dip

Zucchini Feta and Herb Pie - Adapted from Belinda Jeffery

Ingredients
700g zucchini, roughly chopped
5 eggs
125 ml (½ cup) olive oil
1 cup chives
½ cup dill, mint or basil
220g feta
150g Parmesan cubed
Salt and pepper
150g (1 cup) self raising flour
8-12 cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180’C. Line 22cm square tin with bakewell paper.
Place zucchini in TM bowl and grate for 5 second on speed 6. Place into TM rice basket and put a plate on top to drain.
Place Parmesan and herbs in TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 8. Add eggs and oil and mix 5 seconds on speed 7.
Press down firmly on plate and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Add zucchini to egg mixture, crumble in most of feta, season and add the flour. Mix for 20 seconds on Reverse + speed 4 or until combined.  You don't want the mix to be too processed and I often put my spatula in there to give it all a stir.
Pour into prepared tin. Sprinkle feta over the top. Gently press the cherry tomatoes on the top. Bake 45-50 mins. (Make sure it is quite bouncy on top). Let set 10 mins and then cool on a wire rack.
Serve with a salad for dinner or leftovers make great lunches. Can also be booked in muffin tins for individual serves (cook for less time)

Excitement

Welcome to 2013!  I hope you have all being enjoying the holidays and this beautiful summer. We have holidayed at the beach and are now back at home, enjoying the lazy days with the kids.  I have a few exciting bits to share with you.

 

Firstly, the winner of my last post was Eliza.  She has just bought her Thermomix and is waiting for it to be delivered.  How exciting - don't you remember that feeling!.  Eliza wanted some lunchbox recipes for back to school.  I'll make sure I include a few of those before the month's end.

 

Many of you wanted more Varoma recipes. This is great because I find that I use my Varoma so much and I'm often preparing all-in-one dishes.  I have already put quite a few Varoma recipes on my blog so if you haven't tried them, make sure you do.  I've added a Varoma tag on my posts so you can now search for them.  See all Varoma recipes here.

 

When it comes to using the Varoma the key for me was to practise.The best place to start is to steam some vegetables next time you are cooking rice.  For us, the 14-16 minutes it takes to cook the rice is perfect for steamed veges.  I'll try to cover more tips in the coming posts.

 

Secondly, this month's promotion is the double Thermoserver.  When you purchase a Thermomix and host a demonstration you receive the regular 2L Thermoserver and a gorgeous 1L mini. Spread the word!

 

And thirdly,  I'm on Facebook!  Well I've had a page set up for a while but not actually putting anything on it.  Now I have my head around it (my project for the summer) I will be posting regularly. Like me at My Melbourne Thermomix  We've began with delicious fresh spelt pasta.  It's so easy to make the dough in the Thermomix and the best dough I have made.

 

I have a couple of summer recipes to share with you in the next few days so pop back in and say hi!

 

Ciao xx

 

PS Eliza, can you please send me your address

Thank You

I forgot to mention.....I did it.  Hong Kong here I come!

A huge thank you to all of my lovely customers who have refered me to their friends and family.  I have always said...happy customers are what makes me tick.  Getting wonderful emails and texts from customers about how much they love their Thermomix, and are using it all the time, really does make my day. I am always here for my customers, to share my passion for Thermomix.....this is how My Melbourne Thermomix began.  Well that, and a craving for good Thermomix photography.

I couldn't have my business without satisfied customers and their word-of-mouth, so a huge THANK YOU.

As an expression of thanks I am having a little give away.  Just leave a comment on the blog and you go into the draw for my prize pack.  Let me know what you would like to see more of on this blog.  Google isn't too good at the unsubscribed commenters, so make sure you leave your name as you sign off.  I will post the winning comment on my blog in a week or so.

The winner will receive:

• a calender
• a copy of the Budget Busters cookbook
• and a spiral bound book or your choice ie Meat on the Menu, Vegetarian, Gluten Free etc

With deep gratitude
Tamara