Tagged: dinner

Vialone Nano Risotto in the HotMixPRO

006

When I borrowed the HotMixPRO, I knew that I wanted to try some things that wouldn’t be possible in the Bellini or the other thermal cookers. One was this fudge recipe, the other was… risotto.

Yes, yes, I know that risotto is the first thing that any Thermomix demonstrator worth their salt will show you. And it’s the first thing that I made in the Bellini. Cooking your first risotto in a thermal cooker makes you think, “damn it, this thing is good”. Instead of standing over a stove for 30 minutes at dinner time, you can play with your kids (or if it’s been a trying day, check Facebook while they watch TV).

But thermal cooker risotto does have its critics. Continue reading →

Pasta dough in the Bellini Intelli Kitchen Master

009

I go through phases of making home-made pasta. It’s fairly simple to make gorgeous fettuccine or spaghetti (especially when you can throw the dough in the thermal cooker) and the taste is incomparable to the dried variety from the supermarket. Sauces tend to be super easy too – you want the flavour of the pasta to shine through, so stick to something simple like these recipes for the sauce. My pasta making phase usually ends when I attempt something like ravioli which always takes much much longer than I anticipate, and sucks all the enjoyment out of it. So if you are time-poor, stay away from ravioli.

I follow the basic 100g pasta flour to 1 egg recipe, which is easy to increase or decrease Continue reading →

Israeli couscous in the thermal cooker

israeli couscous and roast vegetables

I’m not a fan of ordinary couscous, which was a nuisance as it’s nice to have another grain/ carb to add to the dinner roulette wheel of potato/ rice/ pasta*. It’s the small grains that put me off. I don’t like the mouth feel – for me, it’s reminiscent of beach sand in your picnic. But Israeli couscous is a favourite with larger grains and a lovely chewy texture. It’s a foodie item (here in Perth at least), available at extortionate prices at local delicatessens and food importers. So I was amused to discover that in Israel, it’s usually served to children – the Hebrew equivalent of Alphabetti Spaghetti.

I make the dish in the picture regularly as it’s easy and very satisfying. Serve it as a hot meal, a warm salad or a cold salad. Continue reading →

White sauce in the thermal cooker

silverside2

I am a total convert to making sauces in the Bellini after trying a cheese sauce. It’s great to be able to throw all the ingredients in and walk away. This recipe was inspired by my sensible friend Serena, who shared a great recipe for silverside in the slow cooker. I made the white sauce to go with it and the vegies, and followed her suggestions for flavouring the sauce (v v good).

I seem to be specialising in spectacularly ugly pics at the moment – a combination of taking them on the ipad, and not using natural light. It tastes better than it looks. Continue reading →

Not-devilled sausages with apple and onion in the Bellini

This Thermomix devilled sausage recipe is a favourite on the Bellini Addicts facebook page.  I gave it a try (having never devilled a sausage in my life) but I found it too spicy and over-seasoned for my taste. I later discovered that devilled sausages are meant to be spicy -and my recipe tweaks had led me far, far away from the original (hence the title).

It’s not a pretty looking dish, but it got the toddler tick of approval. Mr Bellini and I cleared our plates too. The sausages are steamed then cooked in the sauce (sounds disgusting but tastes lovely). As they aren’t fried, there’s no room for a bad sausage in this dish so buy some nice (ie probably expensive) pork sausages for it. Continue reading →

Blending soup in the Bellini Intelli Kitchen Master

Apologies for the gap between posts. I thought I’d be all effortless and cool with my second newborn and keep up with the blog and all other normal life stuff. However, I have found to my disappointment that: a) it’s still bloody hard work the second time around, and b) waking up to find a missing teddy for a toddler, doesn’t prepare you for the mind-altering sleep deprivation of night feeding.

Anyway, a thermal cooker really does make a big difference when life gets busy. I didn’t do as much pre-newborn meal preparation as I should, but it’s still pretty easy to get a Bellini meal together quickly even when jiggling and shushing a baby.

Last week, I finally had a break through with soup in the Bellini. I’d read cautionary tales of burned hands and orange walls when blending soup in a thermal cooker. Continue reading →

One-pot creamy chicken penne

I really, really love a one-pot (or in this case, one-jug) meal. I’ve made pasta sauces in the Bellini before, but this is the first time I’ve tried cooking pasta in the sauce. I was a bit dubious about this technique but it’s seriously delicious. I used penne as I thought it would be more robust than some of the other types of pasta, and I also switched to the stirring (blunt) blade after chopping the garlic. The pasta stayed intact so it’s definitely not a mushy dish. If you are making this in the ThermoMix or HotMix Pro, then you might need to reduce the cooking times. For ThermoBlend, ThermoChef or SuperChef, the times should be the same.

Now, a confession about this one-pot thing. In the pics, I’ve shown that the broccolini steams at the same time as the pasta cooks (using the steamer basket on top of the jug). Continue reading →

Thai Pork Meatball Noodle Soup in the Bellini

My sis-in-law introduced me to the fantastic Leon cookbooks a couple of years ago. They are the sort of cookbooks that are a pleasure to flick through or sit down to a serious read. The focus is on food that is healthy, quick to prepare, and with the occasional nod to things like the raw food movement (but without being over-earnest or pretentious). This recipe is from Book 4: Family and Friends.

I picked this recipe partly because it looked like it would convert really well to the Bellini or other thermal cookers – and it did. The only tweak I would make is to reduce the amount of seasoning in the broth. Continue reading →

Cheese sauce in the Bellini

I’ve had my Bellini for a couple of months now, and it’s taken me that long to get around to trying a cheese sauce. It seemed a bit pointless – what could be easier than making it in a saucepan? I also make a pretty mean cheese sauce, so didn’t want to mess with it.

But sooner or later I had one of those nights when you just can’t be bothered cooking, and the toddler is whingeing, and you don’t have anything nice in the freezer, and you’ve already made risotto for dinner that week. Continue reading →