Ice Cream!

Nothing better to eat on a hot day than ice cream! I have had a life long love of ice cream and now appreciate that making it myself is soooo much better than the bought stuff (even the gourmet bought stuff). The favourite ice cream for this household comes from the fabulous book  For Food Sake by Tenina Holder, which has recipes for use with a Thermomix. It is the Rich Choccie Ice Cream and it does not disappoint, this is seriously good.

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, in pieces
3 eggs
170g caster sugar
350 cream
250 milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Pinch sea salt

Method

Place chocolate in TM bowl and chop 5 seconds/speed 8
Remove from bowl and set aside
Place eggs and sugar into TM bowl insert Butterfly. Beat 4min/37°/speed 3
Add remaining ingrdients, including chopped chocolate. Cook 6min/80°/speed 3
Pour into large metal loaf tin. Cool
Place in freezer for approx 2 hours or until frozen around the edges
return to TM bowl and 30sec/speed 9
Return to loaf pan and freeze overnight

I find that if I make it in the morning there is no need to wait for overnight, it will be ready that evening. I also bought some cheap silicone jelly molds with lids (that look like this) that I put the ice cream into so it makes 8 individual portions, this was to stop certain little children going to the freezer to help themselves just for a quick mouthful. :)

With regard to the chocolate I use, it has always been the Lindt Excellence range, but I have used different flavours. The most popular ice cream here is the one I make with the Mint Intense, which comes in 100g blocks (I stock up when it's on special). I have also used the Cherry Intense, Orange Intense, Chilli and A Touch of Sea Salt. I found the kids didn't like the Cherry and I have to admit it wasn't my favourite either, but you won't know unless you try. I couldn't taste any of the sea salt when I used that block, like I can when I just eat a piece of chocolate, but it did make for an incredibly smooth ice cream. The Chilli was unlike anything I had ever tasted before it was cold as ice cream is, but thad that little bit of heat from the chilli.

We just don't buy tubs of ice cream anymore and it's great to hear the kids say that the best ice cream is the one that I make.

Tagliatelle with spinach, mascarpone & Parmesan

Ah, Pinterest, where would I be without my Pinterest! At first I had no idea what the point of Pinterest was, but I now do and love being able to 'pin' what appeals to me.

This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver, I've not really made anything of his before, but this looked simple and appealing. I made a couple of changes, no grated nutmeg and I used thickend cream as opposed to double. I added a bit of smoke salmon because I could. I also used penne as opposed to my preferred linguini or tagliatelle as Philip isn't good with the long pasta. Very easy dinner to put together quickly, I'll definitely be making this one again.

Mushroom and Leek Quiche

I really quite like frittatas, they're quick and easy. However, Philip likes quiche, he likes pastry. So after cleaning out my pantry on Sunday afternoon, I thought I would make individual quiche with salad for dinner. This is the recipe I used, but I did make my own shortcrust pastry, recipe from the Thermomix EDC.

I sliced the leek and the mushrooms, then after blitzing the garlic TMX style I added them with a bit of butter. Cook for 5 minutes on 100,  speed 1. While that was happening I whisked the other ingredients together. The first time I made this I did blind bake the pastry, but this time I thought I would see if I could get away with not doing it and I did. I rolled out my pastry and put into individual quiche/tart tins and spooned the leek and mushroom mixture on to the pastry and poured the sour cream mixture over the top. Baked for 35 minutes in a 180° pre heated oven. 

The salad was a spinach and rocket with thinly sliced pear, scattered with walnuts and shaved Parmesan. Dressed with balsamic and olive oil. 

Roasted Sweet Potato and Goat's Cheese Gnocchi

Searching for a particular book downstairs a few days ago, didn't lead to the book I was after, but picked up a little cookbook I have had for some time, so that came upstairs with me. The book is Good Food 101 Healthy Eats and I chose something that looked delicious that would do nicely for dinner that night. After dropping Isobel off at jazz, I went to my favourite little gourmet food shop, Gourmet Living to get the Meredith's Dairy Goat's Cheese as it is far superior to the supermarket varieties.

Ingredients

450g butternut squash (or as we say here, butternut pumpkin), peeled, seeded and cut into small chunks or as I did, peel and cut a sweet potato into the same size chunks
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp olive oil
500g pack fresh potato gnocchi
200g baby spinach leaves
100g soft goat's cheese 

Preheat the oven to 200°. Tip the squash into a roasting tin with the garlic and oil, add some salt & pepper and mix well. Roast for 20 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through, until tender and golden. I actually forgot about the garlic, so didn't use it and used basil infused oilve oil and baked for about 35 minutes, but I have a dodgy oven.  

Meanwhile, boil the gnocchi according to the packet instructions. When the gnocchi has a few seconds to go, drop in the spinach, then drain the gnocchi and spinach together. Tip them both into the roasting tin, then mix everything together well, masing the softened garlic. Spoon out on to warm serving plates, then crumble over the cheese to serve.  I rarely do exactly what a recipe says, so I only cooked half the spinach and left the rest raw, I also stirred through a little more basil infused oilve oil and crumbled the goat's cheese before I had served, so it melted slightly. 

Italian Wonderpot

Pinterest is often a great source of inspiration for food, though I have to admit I have pinned far more than I have made, but this is where this recipe came from. The idea that you can just add all the ingredients in one pot and cook for 15 minutes is certainly very appealing. However, since I bought my Thermomix I have not taken the big pot out f the drawer and I wasn't going to this time. This is the recipe for Italian Wonderpot I used, but this is what I did for the Thermomix. :)

First of all I halved the recipe, I didn't want to be making for six and changed slightly, so that meant the ingredients were as follows:

2 cups vegie stock
1 tbsp olive oil (I used basil infused oil)
170g of Linguine, broken in half
150g fresh baby spinach
1 can diced tomatoes (I didn't feel the need to only use half a can)
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon Italian herbs
shaved Parmesan to serve

Place onion and garlic in bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7.

Add the rest of the ingredients, though only half the spinach and cook for 10 minutes on 100 reverse, speed soft. Add the rest of the spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes. Great to do on a lazy Saturday night when takeaway could be on the agenda. I dedcided not to add Feta, mainly because I didn't have any, but generally always have Parmesan. Mine version has a little more liquid than in the picture from the Budget Buys website, but that's because I used the whole can of tomotoes. There is less liquid in the left overs next day.

Choc-Orange Brownies

Ingredients

200g butter
350g Lindt Orange Intense Chocolate
3 eggs
200g caster sugar
50g SR flour

I made this in the Thermomix, however it's easily done with out one.

Melt the chocolate and butter together. Whisk eggs and sugar together, fold into chocolate mixture, add sieved flour. Pour into brownie tray and bake at 180 for 20 minutes. They should be crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside.