Puttanesca meets Napoli and runs off with my Barramundi

I really don't know what to call this dish - can I get away with just calling it Really Yummy and Easy Fish? Healthy but doesn't taste like it?

You want a really healthy dinner, but want it to be easy, and not expensive or lots of weird ingredients... and so births this dish. A genuinely low effort 'Tuesday night dinner' or Good Friday fish meal that leaves you with lots of red sauce for some fresh gnocchi tomorrow night....or perhaps some pumpkin and sage ravioli?

I digress.

Back to this dinner. I think any firm white fish would go very nicely, and you could lean more towards the puttanesca and add some capers and possibly an anchovy or two, but reduce the stock paste by half if adding salty anchovies of course. A sprinkle of olives at the end wouldn't go astray. Let me know how it goes for you. Prep time should be 15 minutes and only 15-20 minutes cooking time. Can't quite beat Jamie Oliver for speed (but who is really finished in 15 minutes...reveal yourselves!)


INGREDIENTS 
For the Sauce
3 cloves garlic 
1/2 large or one small brown onion
1 carrot cut in 5
1/2 celery stalk 
60g ExtraVirginOliveOil
1 tsp chili flakes
Handful of herbs (mostly parsley and thyme, tiny bit of rosemary and basil if have it)

2 tins organic diced tom's (800g total)
1 Tbsp vegetable stock concentrate 
100g water

 For the vegetables 
2 zucchini peeled into strips
1 carrot peeled into strips
large handful of beans topped and tailed
~125g feta cut into small cubes

 2-4 pieces of fish 
Piece of baking paper

 Seasoning for both the veggies and the fish: 
Dash of EVOO
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp garlic powder if desired
Squeeze of lemon juice

 METHOD:
Place garlic in TM bowl and chop for 2 seconds speed 7.
Add chili, onion, carrot, herbs and celery and chop for 5 seconds speed 5.
Add EVOO and cook for 3.5 minutes, Varoma temperature speed 2. 

Add tomatoes, stock and water and blend for 5 seconds speed 7. Cook for 5 minutes, Varoma temperature speed 2. 

 Meanwhile, wet a piece of baking paper, scrunch and place on top rack of Varoma. Place fish on paper and season.
Put all the vegetables in a bowl and season - get your hands in and massage the veggies!

 When the TM is done, place the Varoma in place (with only the fish) and cook for 5 minutes Varoma temperature speed 2. 

The cooking time will vary according the the thickness of your fish. My thin pieces of barramundi took a total of 12 minutes - but thicker pieces would have been 17-20.

 When the fish is half cooked, place the seasoned vegetables in the bottom tray of the varoma and scatter the feta pieces over top. Cook for a further 5-8 minutes (depending on your fish), Varoma temperature, speed 2. 

 To serve - A bed of the vegetables with 2 large spoons of sauce, and then the fish with another spoon or two of the sauce. Extra black pepper and chili to taste.

Pumpkin Soup

Hello everyone, Tonight I cooked some creamy basic pumpkin soup. It was also safe for my brother to eat. I love cooking, because I like making food that tastes good and pleases people. I'm not into food that looks good and tastes horrible. 

I needed lots of help from my sister Isabella, but my Mum only told me where the ingredients were so basically it was me who made it! 

My sister helped me chop the pumpkin and Sam helped with the leeks. I made some changes to the recipe because my brother is FAILSAFE, and can only tolerate moderate salicylates (thanks mum). So, instead of onions I used leeks, and instead of stock, I used some salt and garlic powder. 

When I'm cooking for my family, it feels as important as cooking for the famous Master chef people in the final round. When I get the recipe right then I feel like I won the car and the million dollars. When it doesn't work out the way I wanted, I just shrug my shoulders and hope it doesn't taste terrible. Next time I can improve. How does this soup taste - "like golden sunshine" says my big sister.

     

Chilli and Ginger Jam

You know - sometimes you just want to have fun...and play with flavours that get the salivation really rolling.

This little jam was inspired by Dani Valent's "In The Mix" Apricot and Cardamom jam. So many options....
A little bit with grilled fish, or BBQ'd lamb, or my Thai steamed fish. Go on, you know you want to!

Chilli and Ginger Jam:

Toast 3-6 dried red chillies (to taste – we love HOT)

And 20g of dried coriander seeds

TOAST 5 minutes 100 degrees speed 1.

Mill for 2 minutes speed 8-10 (turn it up as the bowl cools down)

They won’t be perfect powder – don’t worry.

Add 190g crystallised ginger, chop for 8 seconds speed 8

Add 50g sugar and 50g water and cook for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 2.

Blitz for 10 seconds speed 6, repeat if necessary to form a coarse paste.

I have experimented with a dash of lime juice and fish sauce, a slug of sesame oil and it is seriously moreish

Steamed Fish with sticky sauce and crunchy garnishes

This is a 'test the limits' recipe. It's about discovering the cool things you can do with your thermomix, like making crunchy garlic garnishes as well as steaming your fish and your rice all at once.

There are a lot of sections to this recipe, but they are all simple and you can just cut down the time by preparing the garnishes on the stove top while the steaming is happening. Just be aware - you need to soak your sticky rice for 6 hours before cooking. (just factor that one in :)

INGREDIENTS:

Fish and Sticky Rice

2+fillet firm white-fleshed fish,e.g. barra, up to six pieces
2+banana leaves ,for steaming and serving
2+cups of sticky rice, (SOAKED FOR 6 HOURS)
pinch salt and pepper for seasoning fish

Crunchy Garnishes

80g vegetable oil
2 clove garlic,finely sliced
handful thai basil leaves,washed and dried
few coriander leaves,washed and dried
1/3MC of Fried Asian Shallots
1/3MC of sesame seeds

Sticky Sauce

5cm piece of ginger,peeled and halved
2long red chillies,halved, deseeded optional
100g palm sugar,roughly shredded
60g lime juice
60g fish sauce
2 tablespoon tamarind paste (40g)

Preparation

Rice Cover the rice with water generously and leave to soak at least 6 hours

 

Crunchy Garnishes

Toast sesame seeds for 5 minutes, Varoma Temperature, reverse speed 1. Tip out and wipe TM bowl. 

Pour oil in TM bowl and set to 14 minutes, varoma temp, reverse speed 1

After 2 minutes, drop the garlic in and allow to fry

When there is 4 minutes to go, drop in the thai basil leaves.

When finished, pour onto a piece of paper towel over a small bowl.

Add the ginger, take the reverse button off ans chop 4 seconds speed 7, add chilli to the TM bowl chop for 3 seconds speed 7

Pour back 20g of the reserved oil and sauté for 3 minutes varoma temp speed 1

Weigh in the sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind paste and cook for 6 minutes, varoma speed 2.

Tip into a small jug or bowl and wash out the TM bowl

The remaining oil is a beautiful seasoned basil and garlic oil for stir fries.

NOTE: If you don't mind using the stove top and want to save time - you can prepare the garnishes in a pan while the fish and rice are steaming. Simply fine slice the garlic, chiffonade the chilli and grate the ginger.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over high heat. Add garlic and cook until golden (don't burn it or it will be bitter). Transfer to paper towel. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil and fry the basil until crispy and reserve on baking paper. Tip out all but 1 tablespoon of oil and add the ginger and chilli and stir fry for 1 minute. Then add the sugar, lime juice, tamarind and fish sauce (you may need extra tamarind, lime juice and fish sauce if cooking in a pan) and cook until syrupy. Transfer to a jug.

 

Fish and Sticky Rice

Season the Fish with a little of the reserved oil, salt and pepper and a little of the sticky sauce, sprinkle with half the toasted sesame seeds and wrap in the banana leaves.

Rinse out the rice, and put in the bottom tier of the Varoma, shaping into a donut to allow the steam to pass through well.

Put 1000g of water into TM bowl, set to 28 minutes, varoma speed 2

Place fish in the top layer of the Varoma, and place all levels on top of the TM.

Stir the rice 1-2 times in the cooking time.

To serve – place cooked fish on banana leaves, pour a small amount of sauce on top and sprinkle with the crunchy garlic, basil leaves, remaining sesame seeds, shallots and fresh coriander. 

Madame Pa's Signature Thai Green Chicken Curry - for the Thermomix

Madame Pa’s Green Chicken Curry

Blue Elephant Royal Thai Cuisine

Original recipe here:

This is just one of those magic recipes. That one you perfect and feel it's your own signature dish...except of course, it's some one else's! I would love to know more about this Madame Pa, as my journey into Thai food (beginning 15 years ago) was made all the more exquisite by the Blue Elephant cookbook. I'm sure there is many a story to tell.

I would love to hear your experience with this dish - I think it's an exciting and rather different way to use the Thermomix. 

Ingredients:

·      1 cup fresh coriander leaves


·      3tbsp vegetable oil
; just over ½ line on MC - use upside down til oil is needed.

·      1 ½ Tbsp green curry paste


·      pinch freshly ground coriander seeds

·      
1 pinch freshly ground cumin seeds


·      370ml/13fl oz/1 ½  cups coconut milk


·      1 boned and skinned chicken breast, sliced into bite-size pieces


·      2 green aubergines (eggplants),

·      quartered 
sprig pea aubergines (eggplants)


·      1tsp sugar


·      1 ½  Tbsp fish sauce


·      2 kaffir lime leaves, torn in half


·      6 Thai basil leaves


·      1/2 fresh red chilli, thinly sliced



For the garnish


·      2tsp cream of coconut milk

·      
fresh Thai basil for sprinkling

Thermomix Method

Toast cumin and coriander seeds for

2 ½ mins 100 degrees speed 2, cool 1 min

In the meantime wash and spin/pat your coriander leaves

Put a tissue just under the MC and grind

1 min speed 8-9. When finished, lift bowl out and gently tap lid on bowl to loose spices, then tip into the tissue. The coriander will still have shape.

Put coriander in and blitz

2 seconds speed 7. Scrape and remove into a small bowl.

Place oil in TM bowl, set to

23 mins, varoma speed 2 heat for 1 min

At 22mins add the coriander through the hole in the lid and fry 1 min

At 21mins add the paste and ground seeds and fry for 2 mins

At 19 mins press 90 degrees and start adding the coconut milk through the lid ½ a cup every 30 seconds

At 17 mins, press REVERSE, add the chicken through the hole in the lid, press 80 degrees, speed to 1.

At 5 ½ mins add your

·      eggplants (or zucchini and squash as replacement – can add a handful of snowpeas in the last minute)

·      sugar

·      fish sauce (I measure 1/3 of the MC)

·      kaffir lime leaves

·      thai basil leaves

·      chili

When finished, check balance of flavour. If you have used coconut cream instead of milk you will need to add lime juice to cut through the cream and balance the tartness. Otherwise, just balance the salty/sweet/hot and turn on for 1 min 80 degrees reverse, speed 1.

Serve with garnish in thermoserver.