A salmon dinner

(Recipe adapted from this blogpost)

This dish is a great all-in-one meal. Potatoes boiled in the Thermomix bowl, veggies steamed in the Varoma dish, and fish on the tray. Best thing is that you can use up all the stray veggies you have and replace the potatoes with rice or pasta if you prefer (although if you do this I’d recommend binding the dish together with the sauce from the original blogpost.) The quantities below are for a dinner for two, but you can always make more or less.

For some reason I didn’t take any prep pictures of the salmon or veggies, only the potatoes! Silly me.

Ingredients
2 pieces of salmon (or any other fish you prefer
Lemon pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
A TMX basket filled with diced, peeled potatoes
A Varoma dish filled with your veggies of choice for steaming (just make sure there are enough uncovered holes for the steam to rise)
Butter, milk, salt and pepper and anything else you want to include in your whipped potatoes

Method

Place the basket of potatoes in the TMX bowl and fill up to just under the 2l mark.

Cook potatoes for 10 mins/Varoma/speed 2.

Pop your Varoma dish filled with veggies on top and steam for an additional 5 mins/Varoma/speed 2.

While the veggies are steaming, scrunch a piece of baking paper under the tap, squeeze the excess water out and lay the paper on your Varoma tray. Place the fish on top, drizzle the lemon juice over the fillets and sprinkle lemon pepper to taste.

Pop the tray on top of the veggie dish and continue steaming for another 7-10 mins/Varoma/speed 2.

Check that your fish and veggies are cooked, otherwise continue the steaming process for another couple of minutes on the same settings. Then remove the dish and tray and set aside.

Drain the potatoes and pour out the water from the TMX bowl, then pop the potatoes back into the bowl. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper to taste.

Whip potatoes for 5 secs/speed 5.

Plate up, eat up, then end the night on a sweet note with a slice of chocolate mousse cake.

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Steamed fish with lemongrass and ginger

(Recipe from this post)

I love a nice steamed fish with rice and greens. In Malaysia they do a version in a broth flavoured with preserved vegetables and more, when I’m back that’s one of the dishes that I make a point to order.

It’s great that the Thermomix can steam a protein and veggies on top, while your rice is cooking underneath. With this recipe, next time I would actually saute the ginger mix until it’s fragrant before pressing it onto the fish, I felt that the mixture was a little bit raw for my liking.

Ingredients

700-800g fish fillets (i cut mine up into chicken tenderloin-sized pieces)
40g ginger, peeled
1 large chilli, peeled and deseeded
5 spring onions, bottom third only
1 stalk lemongrass, bottom white part only, bruised
Serve of veggies to steam (I used a head of broccoli)
400g rice
800g water
Sesame oil to drizzle
Light soy to drizzle

Method

Place the ginger, chilli, spring onions and lemongrass into the TMX bowl and chop for 10 secs/speed 7.

Scrape out the mixture and press onto the fish fillets. (This is where I would have sauteed the mixture first in some sesame oil, but I’ll wait until I’ve actually given it a shot and then post an update!)

Arrange the fillets in your Varoma dish, leaving enough of the base covered so the steam can come through. Pop your veggies on the flat tray and sit this above the Varoma dish.

Fill your TMX bowl with the water, wash and drain your rice in the steamer basket, then place it in the bowl.

Cook for 17 mins/Varoma/speed 4.

Remove the rice from the TMX bowl. Check whether your fish is cooked, otherwise top up the bowl with some hot water, place your tray and fish back in position, and steam for another 5-7 mins/Varoma/speed 4.

Place rice, fish and veggies on a plate, drizzle with sesame oil and soy, and you have one very healthy – if slightly bland – meal. Yep, definitely frying the mixture up next time.

Spaghetti vongole (clams)

(Recipe developed at home!)

I’ve never cooked clams at home before. But this weekend I was at the South Melbourne markets, and the clams looked so fresh I had to get some. I had intended to cook this pasta dish on the stove, but then I thought hell, why not give it a shot in the Thermomix! Well, the sauce and the seafood, anyway.

Ingredients (serves 2)

500g clams

1 bulb garlic (feel free to use less, that’s just how we like it! Half a bulb for the people who like garlic but aren’t crazy like we are, and 3-4 cloves for those who just want a light hint.

A handful of parsley

80g butter, cubed

1 lemon, halved

170g white wine

Chilli flakes (I’d prefer fresh chilli but the man’s a wuss, so I add chilli flakes to my plate at the end).

Method

• Wash and drain your clams, and then place them in the Varoma dish, taking care to leave some of the tiny holes in the dish uncovered so that the steam can come through. Side note, if you live in Melbourne, I can’t recommend Aptus Seafood at the South Melbourne markets enough. These clams were ridiculously fresh, and the flesh was oh-so-juicy and sweet!

 

• Put a pot of salted water on the stove to boil, and then cook enough spaghetti for two. When your pasta is ready, drain it and leave the noodles in the pot so you can add the seafood and sauce in at the end. You can also make your pasta in the the TMX if you want, I just think making the components of the recipe at the same time means that your pasta isn’t sitting around for too long.
• Pop your garlic and parsley into the TMX bowl and mince for 3 seconds/speed 7. Scrape down the sides and if necessary, mince for a further 1-2 seconds/speed 7.

• Add the butter and saute for 4 minutes/100 degrees/speed 1.

• Add wine and the juice of half a lemon. I actually added a whole lemon’s worth of juice which was fine for our tastebuds as we like a bit of a kick, but half would probably be more balanced. You can always add in more lemon at the end if you feel like it.
• Place the lid on the TMX bowl and the Varoma dish on top. Cook your sauce for 10-15 minutes/100 degrees, speed 1.
• After five minutes (the cooking temperature should definitely have hit Varoma by then), check your clams, and pull out the ones that have already opened so you don’t overcook the flesh. Continue checking every 2.5 minutes.
• The sauce only needs to cook for 10 minutes, so if your clams are all done by then, you can turn your TMX off.
• Pour your sauce and clams on top of your cooked pasta and mix well. Enjoy.

 

Flake di Josie

(My first attempt here)

I’m starting to get to the point where I can play around a little bit with recipes. I felt like a Thermomix all-in-one meal, so I grabbed some flake from the markets along with some veggies.

Once I laid out my fish and potatoes though, I realised that I didn’t have enough space to place my leeks. So I just chucked it into the TMX bowl and chopped it along with the garlic. You’ll see that the sauce is a lot thicker and chunkier as a result, which I liked!

Definitely steaming potatoes more in the future.

Prawns with garlic and wholegrain mustard

Recipe from the Thermovixens blog)

I love garlic prawns and rice, but was looking for something a little bit different than the garlic-cream recipe. I stumbled across this recipe and loved that I hadn’t tried a version with wholegrain mustard, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

Ingredients

1 small/medium onion

2 spring onions (didn’t bother with this)

4 cloves of garlic (as usual, I used more)

1 red chilli (I actually forgot to buy this, so I added chilli flakes in at the end)

1 tablespoon of seeded mustard

40g butter

60g olive oil

400g fresh prawns, peeled, deveined and tails off

Cooked white rice

Lemon or lime wedges to serve

Vegetables (I had some french beans, otherwise you can make a salad too)

Method

• Add the onion, spring onions, garlic and chilli into your Thermomix bowl and chop for 5 seconds/speed 6.

• Add the mustard, butter and oil into the bowl and cook for 5 minutes/100 degrees/reverse/speed soft.
• Add prawns and cook for 4 minutes/100 degrees/reverse/speed soft (I actually ended up having to double the cooking time to ensure all of my prawns were cooked.
• I ended up with a lot of sauce, so I removed all the prawns and some of the sauce, before adding my beans into the bowl and cooking that for a further 5 minutes/100 degrees/reverse/speed soft.

• Serve with your cooked rice and lemon/lime wedges. The lemon/lime really brings everything together in terms of flavour, so make sure you don’t forget this ingredient. The chilli is also a must, otherwise you end up with a gravy that’s quite sweet and unbalanced.

Snapper & Prawns En Papillote (In Paper)

(Recipe taken from the thermovixens blog)

While there are still a number of recipes that I haven’t yet tried from my cookbook, I’ve started focusing more on other Thermomix blogs for inspiration. When I stumbled across this recipe, I just had to give it a go!

Ingredients

2 snapper fillets

12 uncooked and peeled prawns

2 cloves of garlic (I used a tad more)

Half a bunch of coriander

Small chilli (add to your liking)

Half an onion

20ml soya sauce

20ml olive oil

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 lemon cut into thin slices (I had a lime in the fridge so I used that instead)

1 tin coconut cream

450g water

300g rice

Side salad to serve (I had some kailan leaves that I popped on top of the Varoma dish while cooking everything else)

Method

• Add garlic, coriander, chilli and onion into the TMX bowl and chop for 5 seconds/speed 6.
• Scrape down the sides, and add the soya sauce, olive oil and sesame oil into the bowl. Mix for 10 seconds/speed 6.

• Tear out a piece of baking paper, and place the lemon/lime slices in a row. Pop your fish on top, with 6 prawns on top of each fillet of fish.

• Add the mixture to the top of this mini seafood tower you’ve created.
• Wrap the baking paper around the fish, quite tightly so the liquid can’t escape.
• Don’t worry about washing the bowl. Add the water and coconut cream, then place the basket into the bowl and weigh out your rice.
• Add your fish to the Varoma. Ensure you have left space for the steam to rise. Cook for 16 minutes/Varoma temperature/speed 4.

• Remove the rice and place in the Thermoserver to keep warm. Cook the fish parcel for an additional 15 minutes/Varoma temperature/speed 4. My fish fillets were quite thick, so at the end of this I actually added another 6-7 minutes of cooking time.

• Serve the fish and its juices with your coconut rice and veggies. A great all-in-one meal that tastes pretty dang fantastic.

Trout/Snapper di Josie

(Recipe from the Everyday Cooking for Every Family TMX cookbook)

I googled “di Josie” to find out whether it actually meant a cooking style or whether this dish was just conjured up by someone called Josie. I’m leaning towards the latter but if you know, shoot me a note!

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic (I used 4. This family ain’t the Cullens.)

40g oil

200g water

200g white wine (I used a cheap chardonnay)

S&P to taste

Approx 800g snapper or trout, either whole or filleted (I bought 800g of ocean trout fillets, but for two I’d recommend something closer to the 500/600g mark)

Mixed vegetables cut into bite size pieces (I had 3 small red capsicums, 1 medium green capsicum and 1 leek, you can use carrots/broccoli/cauliflower too)

2tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp TM vegetable stock concentrate (the recipe’s on its way, but in the meantime if you don’t have this, 200g of liquid vegetable stock can replace the water. I actually heaped tablespoons onto clingwrap and froze the portions into little ‘wontons’ for ease of use.)

Oh, and because I took a fancy picture of my veggies, for shiz and gigs, here you go.

Method

• Place garlic into TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7.
• Add oil and saute for 2 minutes at 100 degrees celcius on speed 1.
• Add water, wine, stock, s&p into the bowl. (This will become your sauce).
• Place fish into the Varoma dish…

• …and vegetables in an even layer on the varoma tray. Place tray on top of the dish, which goes on top of the TMX.

• Make sure the Varoma dish cover is on, then cook for 25 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1.

• Remove the dish and tray, and portion the food onto your serving dishes.
• Add the cornflour to the bowl, and cook for a further 3 minutes at 90 degrees celcius on speed 4. Pour over the fish and veggies. Garnish if you feel like it, and enjoy because you’re being awesomely healthy (no, the alcohol has evaporated so it’s not like you’re drinking. I promise.)