Sesame Orange Chicken from US Cookidoo

In a recent Thermomix cooking expererience, we made the sesame orange chicken with rice.  This recipe is from the US Cookidoo.  This dish was a total hit.  We made the marinade, then the glaze and then the sauté all in the same bowl.  In between steps we steamed the rice.  I wish I had a picture of the glaze to share.  Would you like to make your own Chinese-style dishes?  Would you like to make fresh and healthy meals?  You will once you experience cooking with Thermomix. When I got home I put all the components in the dish washer to clear any worries of cross-contamination.  Having a second bowl is key too. 

Our Thermomix Hummus

We enjoy with veggies and  gluten-free buckwheat crackers ordered from Vitacost

Even better topped with Thermomix carmelized onions

A favorite summer-time, salad-like preparation: a heaping amount of hummus topped with farmer market cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs. We then drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with more paprika. 

Thermomix makes hummus in seconds.  You can make it with canned chickpeas.  In this case, I recommend Eden brand because the cans are BPA free, the beans are organic, and the beans are cooked with kombu.  Thermomix also will cook your garbanzo beans first and then you can proceed with making the hummus.  Either way, the guided digital cooking will walk you through how to make it step-by-step.  

Would you like to make more of your own food with pure ease? Would you like to save time and money?  Would you like to be more creative in the kitchen?  Would you like to involve your family and children in the art of cooking?  Would you like to stop having to run to the store to pick up things you can do yourself? Would you like to have more fun cooking?  Would you like to have more variety on your table?  Thermomix gives you the choice to make your food according to your preferences.  For me, Thermomix feels like freedom.

Our hummus is made without tahini because of a sesame allergy.  My boys like their hummus with cumin, Spanish paprika and lots of lemon juice.  With Thermomix, I can easily incorporate our favorite flavors and the best quality ingredients.  I can also take the extra step of sprouting my chickpeas for better digestion. 

Both Boys are presently doing Oral Immunotherapy.  Little Brother has moved from daily doses of milk baked in muffins to actual milk.  Big Brother is daily dosing tahini.  I am making hummus every few days right now because he likes to take his daily dose of tahini with our tahini-less hummus. 

Our Favorite Baked Falafel

Family favorite baked falafel 
My dearest childhood friend shared this recipe with me

Blend everything in TM:

1 cup sprouted rolled oats oatmeal 

1/3 cup apple sauce 

Half an onion 

One can of garbanzo beans 

One bunch of parsley 

One bunch cilantro 

One tsp lemon juice

One tsp sea salt

A little tumeric 

A little coriander 

One tsp cumin

Put all the ingredients in TM and blend until smooth. Spoon into mini muffin tins to make 24 falafel. Pour about half a table spoon of olive oil onto each falafel. Bake for 25 minutes at 375. 

Rinse and make 5 min rainbow salad in Thermomix or any other salad

Weekly meal with Thermomix: steamed rice, veg and fish

A favorite Thermomix meal: steamed rice, veg and fish.  Everything made in one go, one space and turns out perfect every time

Set Thermomix and forget.  I get everything in place, take my boys out for a bike ride and return: 22 minutes, Varoma temp,  speeed 3.  That's it!

Big Brother chooses not to eat fish.  I store in fridge mason jars of Thermomix steamed and shredded chicken and hard -boiled eggs for such moments

Baby Brother loves this meal.  He likes the flavored broth in little bowl for dipping

Packing Papi's lunch for following day

Look how clean the Thermomix bowl is after cooking this meal.  I just fill with water and some dish soap and spin blades for 30 seconds to finish cleaning

Switch up protein: today it's cod

See how veggies steam under fish.  The parchment paper holds the sauce on the top tray

Thermomix Asian-Style Rice With Egg and Veggies

sesame seeds sprinkled on top for a few of us-one way we eat sesame without cooking with it

With simple ease, an entire meal is made in the Thermomix.

It's Friday and time for lunch.  What shall I make today with my Thermomix?

With my Thermomix, I am guided through a recipe and everything is made in one place.  I won't have a mess to clean up, everything will be precisely cooked and I can do other things in between steps.

I have a few veggies hanging around still from the Farmers Market: a head of broccoli, 2 carrots and zucchini.  I also have leftover rotisserie chicken.  A favorite way to use up such veggies and chicken is in the Thermomix Asian-style rice with egg and veggies.

I was recently asked: "What can the Thermomix do for me?  Why do I want to spend money on a Thermomix?" I think that this meal is a good example. Beginning to end all in the Thermomix. I am making something which would take much more effort and time without the Thermomix.  Plus, it's hot out in Houston, and I won't have to turn on the stove today since everything will cook in the Thermomix with its built in temperature control. 

Yes, the Thermomix will begin this dish weighing out the onion, bacon and oil and will sautee them.  Will I have to cry chopping the onion? Nope, because the Thermomix chops the onion for me.  The Thermomix will then steam rice, veggies and protein simultaneously.  For this recipe, for example, the rice will gently and precisely steam in the basket while the veggies in the Varoma bowl and eggs on the top Varoma tray will cook up perfectly.  It's so effortless and wonderful!

Not only does the Thermomix weigh, chop, sautee and steam all together with precision, it's a breeze to clean up after you are finished eating.  Hey, it even cleans itself!

This is what's left behind.  I empty out the TM bowl, add water with a little soap and spin clean

Another Thermomix plus is the access to recipes which can then be plugged into a self-selective recipe menu to be loaded onto the Thermomix screen.  Would you believe that the screen walks you through each step of the programed recipe? 

With the Cookidoo platform, you have access to thousands of recipes.  You log-in, browse, select and save to create your own recipe list.  Then, when you want to make something, you turn on your Thermomix and connect your Cookidoo and select the recipe you want to make.  I did just that today.  I have this recipe in my recipe list to then pull up when I want to make it.  And when it's time to start cooking the Thermomix walks me through step-by step.

I should also add that you can generate a weekly menu and shopping lists.

Simplicity, ease, and deliciousness every day!  Any break in the kitchen with special diets and allergies is much appreciated.

Bowl: steamed rice mixed with the sauteed baon, onion and carrot, and steamed veggies

Egg?  What? Little Brother is allergic to egg?  He is.  He can tolerate in baked goods and it's safe for him to have the egg cook on top in such a way.  He doesn't eat the actual egg. 

Allergic mom doesn't usually eat egg.  I tossed in some sauteed collard greens and kimchi-one of the few ways garlic/ginger found in house

Big Brother cut the egg into squares for himself and Papi

following day's lunch: steamed some more veg in Varoma for 10 min. Then added to bowl shreddded leftover chicken along with the rice/bacon/veg mixture.

such an easy way to revive leftovers.  Just love my Thermomix and Varoma.  

Butternut Squash Red Lentil Dahl

This is a family favorite meal.  Well, Little Brother doesn't always like as much as the rest of us.  This is so simple to make and satisfying to eat any night of the week.  If I want to pack for lunches the following day, I heat it up on the stovetop while making breakfast and then pour into our already warmed with boiling water Lunchbot and Hydroflask thermos. 

great warm lunch served with dino kale and turnip greens

What you need:
Loosley based on this recipe
 
1 medium-size onion, peeled and halved
a handful of cilantro stems
1 red pepper, de-seeded and quartered
1 large carrot rougly chopped
1 stalk of celery
1 cup organic red lentils, rinsed
a few handfuls of cubed fresh or frozen butternut squash
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground tumeric
1/2 tsp of fennel
1 teaspoon pink salt 
1 bay leaf
some fresh curry leaves
freshly ground pepper 
1 400 ml tin Jovial crushed tomato
1/2 Native Forest canned coconut milk 
lime and cilantro


What to do:
Chop onion, cilantro stems, red pepper, carrot, and celery, speed 5-7 for 5 seconds

Add lentils, tomatoes, spices, coconut milk and butternut squash, bay leaf and curry leaves

Cook for 25 minutes, 100 degrees speed 1-2

Serve with fresh lime juice and lots of chopped cilantro

Sometimes we serve with sprouted brown rice or freshly baked foccacia.  You can serve with a big bowl of greens or even add in some baby spinach to the hot dahl before serving

Thanksgiving Leftover Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This is our favorite way to use up scraps of leftover turkey.  Today for lunch I started out sauteing scallions in some saved turkey fat, added in collard greens cut in lovely strips, added a splash of apple cider vinegar along with another splash of maple syrup, fresh ground black pepper and a dash of pink salt. There happened to be a leftover slice of turkey bacon in the fridge so I threw that in along with a handful of raisins to satisfy the little ones. We then top sweet potatoes with a heaping pile of this mixture.  And everything is better with a spoonful of homemade cranberry sauce.  This year, it was cranberries and fresh mandarin orange juice from our tree along with the tiniest spoonful of coconut sugar.  This makes for a very tart cranberry sauce.  No top allergens or garlic in this meal.

Happy New Year 2015

Big Brother planned out our New Year's dinner menu with me yesterday: short ribs (he likes braised meat dishes for festive meals), broccoli and brown rice.  Grapes would be for dessert like we have every year in line with the Spanish tradition of las doce uvas de la suerte. While playing this afternoon he reminded me that he was going to help me cook and that we were going to need appetizers to help us along. Before starting the short ribs, we put out dates, raisins, roasted chickpeas, green olives and some jamón serrano. 

The first step in preparing dinner tonight was getting Baby Brother's seperate pot of short ribs on the stove.  His were made with homemade turkey stock, rosemary, carrots, celery and kale.  We haven't introduced red wine, tomatoes or bay leaves yet.  Oh, nor onion.  We will be doing a skin test to onion at our next allergist visit. Onion is on the top of my scary list. No garlic was used this time, as we no longer keep it in the house or cook with it.  

While we didn't make it to midnight to eat our grapes, Big Brother insisted that he'd be old enough next year.  I loved that he helped me with each step of the short ribs as well as stringing the grapes on the popsicle sticks.  

Tomorrow we will have leftovers for lunch with sweet potatoes and sautéed spinach. Whatever sauce is leftover will be combined with some crimini mushrooms and sautéed kale to be thrown on top of a bowl of polenta.  Are we ready to introduce corn to Baby Brother?

Zucchini Slice

I picked up some beautiful zucchini at the farmer's market last week.  I sliced and steamed one for Baby Brother and then had 3 left. I wanted to make zucchini fritters for dinner, but really preferred a more simple preparation, like a one dish meal. Then I remembered the zucchini slice recipes I had Pinned.  Grate veggies, saute and mix everything up in the Thermomix and then bake, so easy! I thought that in order to get Big Brother to try this new dish, I'd call it a "dinner cake".  He jumped up at the idea and was interested in coming up with the cake's ingredients.  He decided that the veggies should be carrots and cucumbers.  We then agreed to include eggs, olive oil, onion, garlic, bacon, eggs and rice in the form of flour.  We reworked a few recipes I had Pinned into this one: both gluten and dairy free and approved by Big Brother. He doesn't need to know that the cucumber is really zucchini!  Zucchini is not normally one of his approved veggies.   

What you need:
2 large zucchini
1 carrot
1 large onion
1 clove of garlic
4 rashers of bacon
6 medium pasture-raised eggs
100 grams brown rice flour
50 grams of olive oil, I will try coconut oil to see how it turns out
handful of fresh herbs, like dill and parsley

What to do:
Set oven to 350 degrees
Make Rice flour, speed 9 for one minute and set aside
Place carrot in TM bowl and grate, speed 6 for 10 seconds and set aside
Grate zucchini, speed 6 for 5 seconds and set aside
Chop onion and bacon, speed 6 for 5 seconds
Scrape down sides and add 50 grams of olive oil
Sautee, speed 1, 100 degrees, 2 minutes
Add back carrot, zucchini and rice flour along with eggs and fresh chopped herbs
Blend ingredients together, speed 3 for 10 seconds
Pour into oiled small square pyrex and bake for 45-60 minutes.  Perhaps even a brownie pan since similar in dimensions to the lamington pan I keep reading about in Australian Thermomix recipes.  
Slice and serve with salad.  I have begun to include fermented foods with dinner, and saurekraut works well here. 
We enjoyed with some leftover oven roasted mustard potatoes for a delicious weekend breakfast before setting out for the morning. 

Brisket

I can't say that I have a true recipe to share for my brisket.  I have been making it for several years now.  I started making it for Passover, but I now make it several times a year as it has become one of my most requested dishes.  Big Brother especially adores it, my husband's family also gets really excited about it when they come visit from far away. It is essential to get the best quality brisket, in this case grass-fed, and then let it braise for hours in a mixture of homemade chicken stock, diced tomatoes, sautéed/caramelized onions, some spices and lots of fresh herbs.  I think that it also helps that I make slits in the brisket and stuff with slivers of garlic before browning it.  

Here is an attempt, in writing, of how I make my brisket.  I never exactly measure; It's the method and mix of ingredients that I think really matter.

What you need:
Grass-fed Brisket, I order mine ahead of time from Whole Foods these days.  I ask for the biggest piece I can get.  This time it was about 5 pounds.
good quality flaky salt
fresh gound pepper
3 large yellow onions, cut in half-moons and sautéed over low heat
enough homemade chicken stock to cover 3/4 of the brisket lots of garlic, slivered
jar of Jovial diced tomatoes 
1-2 bay leaves
sprig of rosemary
a handful of parsley, or just stems if you have
1/4 cup of ketchup
and approximately one tablespoon each of: onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, paprika, honey, balsamic vinegar
you can add a dash of crushed red pepper for heat 

What to do:
turn on oven to 350 degrees while you brown the meat

make sure your brisket is cut in sections that make it easy to brown and braise in your dutch oven.  I usually cut mine in three sections. 

make slits in the brisket and stuff with slivers of garlic. Then season with flaky salt and freshly ground pepper

heat dutch oven on stove top, about medium-high heat with a few tablespoons of olive oil

brown brisket on all sides, one piece at a time.  Add all brisket back to dutch oven when finished browning.

cover brisket about 3/4 way up with homemade chicken stock.  place lid on dutch oven and put in 350 degree oven for one hour.  

meanwhile, slice onion in half moons and sauté in skillet with olive oil.  add some salt and pepper and a little balsamic vinegar if you fancy.

after one hour in the oven, remove lid and add in the rest of the ingredients. You can make a boquet garni with the fresh herbs if you like.  

leave brisket in oven for about 3 hours with the lid on.  

then, break apart the meat a little so that it absorbs the liquid.  If I am serving the same day, I leave on the stove top to simmer on low heat while I roast veggies and make salads to go with the brisket.  If you make the brisket ahead of time, it tastes better the following day.  

If you have extra sauce, it is great on top of spaghetti, polenta or mustard roasted potatoes.  

serve the brisket with lots of fresh chopped parsley.  If it is for Passover, fresh horseradish is super delicious on top.  My neighbor gave me a jar of homemade horseradish this year, and it is awesome!

It's delicious, much better than it appears photographed

Leftover sauce on top of mustard roasted potatoes with
sautéed spinach

Big Brother eats it all up