Oxtail Ragu

This is a rich, rich, rich unctuous ragu with amazingly meaty flavour. My husband says it's fantastic, especially with some pappardelle and parmigiano. The method is like beef bourguignon but the cooking is slow and low. It is a fatty cut - get over it or make something else!

There is not a lot of meat on oxtail so use lots of it. Don't be tempted to supplement with beef shin as the shin cooks much more quickly.

Ingredients

2 kgs + of oxtail - 2 oxtails, trimmed of some of the fat
Flour for coating the meat
Oil for browning
2 chunky carrots
1 large or two medium onions
2 big celery stalks
2 big cloves garlic
2 T tomato paste
1 T thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
1 bottle red wine (I use Rioja)
Beef stock cube or pod.

Method

Preheat the oven to 120 degrees C .

Toss the meat in seasoned flour. Using a large cast iron casserole and some high burning point oil, brown the meat in batches on all sides and set aside.

Chop the vegetables and garlic using the Thermomix. I use speed 5 a few seconds at a time, scraping the sides down to make sure the chop is even.

In the same casserole, sweat the vegetable till soft. 

Then add the meat back and all the remaining ingredients. The meat should be just covered in liquid. Bring to a simmer on the stove. Seal in the liquid with a sheet of foil over the pan and under the lid. 

Put in the oven and cook for about 7 hours, until the meat falls from the bones. Fish the bones out and pull the meat apart with 2 forks.

You can cool it and put it in the fridge so you can skim some of the fat if you like. Season well and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Serve with mashed potato and a green vegetable, tossed through pasta with a salad or add to a risotto for real luxury.

Lie down.

Hot Chocolate (Thermomix)

Hot Chocolate                      by Fiona Mates

This is the thick, rich kind you get at Paul - a small amount goes a long way and it tastes so luxurious!

This is generous per person, it will take different lengths of time to cook depending on how many you are making it for. For small portions make this quantity for two people.

250g milk
30g dark chocolate
teeny pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
teeny weeny pinch of cinnamon
1/2 to 3/4 tsp soy lecithin
1/8 tsp or less xanthan gum
1/4 tsp cocoa powder
sugar to taste, try 1 1/2 tsps

Put in the TM bowl the chocolate, chilli flakes, cinnamon, cocoa powder, soy lecithin, xanthan gum and sugar, grind quickly, turbo 5 seconds.

Add milk , 6-7 mins (I haven't timed it for different quantities so keep an eye on the screen) temp 90, speed 3 but watch and just cook until it reaches 90 and then give it 1 minute. 3. Speed 10 for 20 seconds to froth . 

Asian inspired Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce (Thermomix)

Asian inspired Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce

by Corinne Rowe

Makes 15 cocktail skewers 

As a meal feeds 2 hungry or three average appetites. For four, increase chicken recipe by 50% but no need to increase peanut sauce recipe.

Equipment

wooden skewers soaked for 30mins in water

baking tray, covered in foil, oiled

Think ahead

Cubed chicken needs 30 minutes in the freezer before it goes into the TM.

Ingredients

Chicken Skewers

1 garlic cloves peeled

2 red long chilli deseeded

2 lime leaves, finely chopped ( I find they do not chop well in the TM)

20g caster or rock sugar*

350g chicken breast, cut into cubes and frozen for 30mins

Splash Japanese rice vinegar

20g Mirin

40g Japanese soy sauce

Peanut Sauce

knob of ginger peeled

1 garlic clove peeled

1 long red chilli deseeded

150g roasted peanuts without salt

20g brown sugar 

30g Japanese Soy

50g coconut cream

20g water

If using one TM bowl, make the peanut sauce first while the chicken is in the freezer.

Peanut Sauce

Method

Place ginger, garlic and chilli in bowl, chop 5secs/speed5 Scrape down sides, repeat. Add peanuts chop 2secs/speed6, add sugar, soy, coconut cream, 20g water, No MC cook 2 minutes/80c/reverse/speed2. 1sec/speed6 repeat if needed

rock sugar is used in Asian cooking and is not to be confused with sugar lumps. They are long solid blocks of cane sugar with honey produced with slow crystallisation. It gives a subtle sweetness.

Chicken Skewers 

Method

Place garlic, chilli and lime leaves, sugar in bowl chop 3secs/speed 4 for caster (repeat if necessary), 15 secs/speed 4 increasing to 7 for rock Scrape down bowl

Add partially frozen chicken and liquids to bowl chop 5secs/speed6. Transfer to a bowl.

With a damp hand place a golfball sized amount of chicken in your hand and place around bottom part of skewer covering end point. Work into a even small finger size. Place on lightly oiled baking tray covered with foil. Repeat with all skewer ends facing same way. 

Cook under preheated high grill turning once after 5mins (or steam in the varoma but grilling gives nice colour).

TM Notes

I sometimes steam the chicken in the varoma with vegetables on varoma tray and rice noodles (packet sort in fresh food section) steamed on top of the vegetables for a couple of minutes. In a bowl mix the rice noodles, veg and peanut sauce and put chicken on top. Easy meal.

© thermiechef 2016

Menemen

This is served as a breakfast dish in Turkey, served in the pan it is made in. It is more vegetable than eggs and the eggs are very lightly cooked. A little chilli adds very much to it, we think. We made the waiters laugh when we regularly asked for eminem for breakfast!

INGREDIENTS                             

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon hot (smoked or unsmoked) paprika 
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
• 1 small onion, finely diced (about 3/4 cup)
• 3/4 cup finely diced shishito, padrón, or Chinese green long pepper
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh ripe peeled tomatoes or drained canned tomatoes
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• Minced fresh chives, for garnish 

DIRECTIONS

1. 1.
   In a medium non-stick or cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over low heat until barely warm. Add paprika, oregano, onion, and peppers. Season with salt and a very generous amount of black pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until very soft, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until deepened in color. Remove half of mixture and reserve.
2. 2.
   Return pan to heat and add eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until just barely set. Immediately remove from heat and gently fold in reserved vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with chives, if using, and serve immediately.

Fruit Crumble (Thermomix)

Topping

100g plain flour
80g butter, cut up into pieces and nice and cold
50g sugar
2 small handfuls porridge oats
1 small handful of desiccated coconut (my secret ingredient - oops)
flaked almonds to scatter on top

Fruit of your choice - apples, pears, plums, berries or a mixture

A rectangular pyrex baking dish or similar

Prepare the fruit, removing the peel and cutting into small chunks, and place it in the dish so it comes near to the top.  It is not necessary to precook the fruit. If the apples are not too sweet you might mix a little sugar into the fruit but I never do this.

Preheat the oven  to 180 deg fan

1. Place flour, butter and a small handful of oats in the bowl.
Pulse on Turbo, 1 sec., once.  You should get a reasonably evenly amalgamated mixture with maybe a few small lumps of butter.

2. Add to the bowl the sugar, coconut and remaining oats and mix
at speed 2 for 5 seconds. Check everything is nicely mixed together or swirl the bowl round to mix.

3. Spread the crumble evenly over the fruit. Sprinkle evenly and generously with flaked almonds.

4. Bake at the top of the oven for 40 minutes or until the top is pale golden and the fruit is bubbling.

5. Serve with thick cream.

Hummus (Thermomix)

No photo of hummus - we all know what it looks like and mine looks the same, but there the resemblance ends. Hummus but not as you know it. Hummus your way (as they say at BK).
This makes two tubs the size of the large supermarket versions.

Ingredients


1 jar Navarrico Garbanzos (chickpeas to you and me) - they cost more than canned chickpeas but the quantity is larger and the quality is just superb.  

1 large clove garlic

half a juicy lemon, juice only 

2.5 T tahini

1 t fine salt, black pepper

2 T good olive oil

water to loosen if needed or wanted


Method

1. Drop the garlic through the lid onto the Thermomix blades moving at speed 10 for a few seconds to finely chop the garlic.

2. Add everything else but the water and blend starting at speed 4 and increasing to 6 - be guided by how the sound changes. When it sounds as if the blades are not catching the mixture go up .5 of speed. Scrape down the sides if needed.

3. Look inside and taste. At this point it's up to you. A little water will loosen and make the hummus creamier. You may want to add more salt and pepper, lemon, or tahini. Play with your food children!  Get it just how you want it. A bit more blending and it should be smooth and incredibly creamy. 

Sweet & Sour Cucumber Dipping Sauce for Thai Fishcakes (Thermomix)

Sweet & Sour Cucumber Dipping Sauce for Thai Fishcakes

This is quite a sweet sauce, but the combination with the vinegar and chilli is wonderful for dipping thai fishcakes or spring rolls or even chipolatas. You could reduce the amount of sugar at a pinch. I served it the with fishcakes and coleslaw. I will put up the fishcake recipe when I am happy with it!

• 50 g  cucumber 
• 25 g  carrot 
• 25 g  onion or spring onion
• 1 red chilli, deseeded (two if you're brave)

• 50 ml  white wine vinegar (I haven't weighed this yet)
• 100 g  caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tables water (ditto)
• 2 tsp Thai fish sauce (nom pia)

Place the first four ingredients in the bowl and chop very finely: speed 6 for about 5 seconds, scraping down if necessary. Remove to another small bowl.

Now place the next three ingredients in the bowl and cook 4 minutes, 100deg, spoon speed.

The sugar should be dissolved and the liquid should have a slightly syrupy consistency. If not give it another minute.

Add the liquid to the chopped vegetables and stir in the fish sauce.