Lemon Delicious Pudding in the Thermomix

Dessert is always popular in our house and in recent times I haven't had to make much as Isobel is quite the keen baker, however there are occasions when I will make a non ice cream dessert for everyone. Spencer wasn't really a fan of this one, he said it was too lemony.  This recipe was taken from the Fatmumslim website that you can find here. It was done in the Thermomix, though I did have to use the Kitchen Aid as well (or hand held beaters would be fine) as the egg whites needed to be done separately.

INGREDIENTS
 
150g white sugar
2 medium lemons, both juiced, one zested
20g butter
2 x 55g free-range eggs, separated
35g self-raising flour
200g full-cream milk
double or whipped cream, to serve



Heat oven to 175ºC and grease a 1-litre ovenproof pudding dish.

Weigh the sugar in the mixing bowl, and add 10g of lemon zest. Blend for 10 seconds on Speed 9.

Scrape down the bowl, add the butter and blend for 10 seconds on Speed 5.

Separate the eggs, placing the egg whites into a completely clean bowl so they can be whisked later. Add the yolks to the mixing bowl.

Add the flour, milk and squeeze 70g of lemon juice into the mixing bowl. Mix for 5 seconds on Speed 5.

Whisk the egg whites using a hand-held beater until they hold firm peaks (or Kitchen Aid) .

Insert the Butterfly, and add the egg whites to the Thermomix mixing bowl. Blend for 15 seconds on Speed 2. The mixture should have no visible streaks of egg whites. Use the spatula to break up any egg remaining egg whites.

Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Standing the dish in a deep roasting tray, and pour hot water until it comes half way up the sides.

Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the pudding is golden brown and has slight cracks in the crust. Allow to cool slightly, and then serve with double or whipped cream.

This is very much like a self saucing pudding, though you don't have to add any liquid on top of it before putting in the oven. So light and fluffy. I cooked it for 43 minutes, but I think 40 would have been enough.

Lentil Salad with Mustard and Tomatoes

Some years ago I bought It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow after I read an article about the difficulty someone had living like Gwyneth for a week. The article was quite hilarious, but some of the meals sounded good, so I bought it. I had completely forgotten about it when I found it in the spare room and decided I should finally use it.

Ingredients

1 cup of du Puy Lentils
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of coarse seeded mustard
Juice of a lemon
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 cup halved yellow cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup roughly chopped Italian parsley

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the lentils, turn the heat to medium, and cook just until the lentils are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Drain the lentils place them in a large mixing bowl, and set them aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the mustards, lemon, vinegar, olive oil and a large pinch of salt. Add the vinaigrette to the lentils along with the onion, tomatoes and parsley. Season the salad to taste with salt and more lemon and olive oil if you like. This salad is best if it's allowed to sit for at least half and hour and served at room temperature.

Serves 4

I had this salad with a piece of grilled salmon. When I make it again, I will probably only add one tablespoon of vinegar as I thought it was just a little strong.

Creamy Pasta

Finding a meal that everyone in the family will eat is a constant challenge. There are no allergies to consider, but there are preferences. I don't eat red meat, neither does Isobel, but she also won't eat fish, which is something I love. Philip likes vegetarian meals, but does like a steak or a rack of lamb from time to time. It's not often I am able to make something that everyone loves. This meal has been made twice now and it will be on regular rotation, especially since it's so quick and easy. This recipe comes from the book Quick Dinners in the Thermomix by Alyce Alexandra. 
I highly recommend this book, it was one I only added to my cart, when buying other accessories, to spend a certain amount so I didn't have pay for shipping, as I have banned myself from buying anymore cookbooks, however I am so pleased I got it as it's got some great recipes in it and they're quick!

Ingredients

500g Penne Pasta
75g Parmesan, roughly chopped
Handful of fresh basil, leaves only
2 garlic gloves, peeled
40g olive oil
250g cream
1 tsp cornflour
Salt, to taste
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
50g rocket

1 Cook pasta according to packet directions
2 Place Parmesan and basil in TM bowl, grate for 2 seconds, speed 8. Set aside.
3 Without cleaning the TM bowl, add garlic and chop for 2 seconds, speed 6. Scrape down bowl.
4 Add oil, sauté for 4 minutes, Varoma, speed 1.
5 Add cream, cornflour and salt, cook for 3 minutes 100°, speed 3
6 Add Parmesan mixture, cook for 30 seconds 100°, speed 2

Toss pasta with cream sauce, cherry tomatoes and rocket to serve.


I use baby spinach rather than rocket, I love rocket, but it's not a favourite of everyone, so I use what they will eat and there is certainly not thing wrong with spinach. The first time I made this I used Penne and it was fine, however I have since discovered Casarecce pasta, which I find to be superior to Penne, but that's an individual choice, I'm sure you could do it with Spaghetti if you wanted to. I also used cherry tomatoes of multiple colours just to add a little more colour to the finished dish. The olive oil I choose to use, particularly for this recipe is Cobram Estate Basil Infused.

Bucatini with Salsa Verde

I was not able to find Bucatini in  our local supermarket, so I used Penne, which is Philip's preferred pasta. Philip really enjoyed this one, me not so much, I think I should have really rinsed the olives. This recipe came from 5 Of The Best by Delicious Magazine and is also available online here, Bucatini with Salsa Verde.

 I don't think I will be making this in a hurry any time soon, just not really to my taste, but I guess you don't necessarily like everything, so there will be the occasional meal I'm not the biggest fan of.

Ingredients

• 8 anchovy fillets
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tablespoons small salted capers, rinsed, drained
• 2 tablespoons seeded mustard
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced lemon zest
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
• 1/2 cup pitted green olives, chopped
• 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 375g bucatini or pappardelle pasta
• 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves 

Method

• 1.
  Place the anchovy fillets and garlic on a chopping board and use a mezzaluna or sharp knife to finely chop until you have a paste. Place in a bowl and add capers, mustard and lemon juice and zest. Stir to combine. Gradually whisk in oil until it forms a thick emulsion. Stir in the tomatoes and olives.
• 2.
  Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and return to saucepan while you finish the sauce.
• 3.
  Roughly chop parsley and basil and stir into the sauce. Ladle the sauce into the pasta and toss to combine.
• 4.
  Serve immediately.

Stir-fry Chicken with Pesto

Spencer is doing schooling from home and the one subject he is most enthusiastic about is Food Tech. He has recently chosen what he wants to make and we've had brownies and chocolate chip cookies. His teacher asked if we could something savoury, so I suggested the Stir-fry Chicken with Pesto as I thought it looked great. Spencer wasn't overly keen, but that's what we've done this morning, it will make a fabulous lunch!

The recipe we used was taken from the cookbook, I also found the recipe online here Stir-Fry Chicken with Pesto

We have a selection of photos as we were cooking so that Spencer could submit them to his teacher.


Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 small skinless chicken breast fillets (about 160g each), thinly sliced
• 1 red capsicum, cut into thin strips
• 225g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
• 200g baby spinach leaves
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
• 150ml thin cream    

• 1.
  Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frypan over high heat, cook chicken for 5-6 minutes until golden and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
  
• 2.
  Add the remaining oil to pan with the capsicum and mushrooms, and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Add the spinach and tomato, and cook until the spinach just wilts. Combine cream and pesto in a small bowl, then add to pan and cook until just heated through. Sprinkle with basil and serve with rice.

 

 The one ingredient I did not have was the basil leaves, but it's certainly fine without it. We used two capsicums as the ones we had were quite small and we used yellow and red tomatoes just for a little extra colour.  I did have a little taste and I have to say this is pretty delicious and very quick and easy to make, great dinner to put together if you don't have a lot of time.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup Thermomix

I think this is probably my most favourite soup, so tasty and so quick and easy to make. As cauliflower was priced at only $2.50 each today when I went shopping, I bought a couple. This recipe comes from The Convenient Vegetarian by Tenina Holder and you can find it on her website here, Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Ingredients






200g parmesan, cubed
30g butter
1 leek, white part only, cut in pieces
600g cauliflower florets
500g liquid stock of choice
200g cream
salt and pepper to taste
chopped chives for garnish

1. Place parmesan into TM bowl and mill 10 seconds, speed 10. Remove from bowl and set aside.
2. Place butter and leek into TM bowl and chop 5 seconds, speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl and saute 5 minutes, Varoma, speed 2.
3. Add cauliflower and stock and cook 15 minutes, 100°, speed 2. 
4. Add cream and parmesan and puree carefully, 1 minute, speed 8. Taste and adjust seasoning. 
5. Serve immediately garnished with chives. 

I have made this soup many times now and I always tend to use less cheese, tonight I used 130g which I find gives plenty of flavour. The first time I made it I did use 200g and Philip thought it was a little too cheesy. The parmesan I buy is quite strong which is why I feel I don't need to use as much. I have also made it with a brown onion if I didn't have a leek in the fridge and that works just as well.

Honey Porridge in the Thermomix

Ingredients

100g rolled oats (not instant)
300g water
100g milk
40g butter, or to taste
30g honey, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Pinch fine salt
Your choice of toppings (fruit, nuts, seeds, yoghurt)

Place oats, water, milk, butter, honey, vanilla and salt in the TC bowl, cook for 11 minutes, 90°, reverse speed soft. For a thicker porridge, allow to stand in the TC bowl for 5 minutes before serving.

I added some seeds to mine and it was really delicious. I was actually sad when I finished as I could have just kept eating it. Philip said it was a little too sweet for him, so I think I will use less honey when I make it again. I think this will be a regular for Sunday morning breakfast. This recipe is from Alyce Alexandra's book Everyday Thermo Cooking.

Brioche in the Thermomix

 Ingredients

20 g milk
20 g fresh yeast, crumbled or 2 tsp dried instant yeast
350 g baker's flour, plus extra for dusting
4 eggs
60 - 100g sugar
1 tsp salt
170 g butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, for glazing

Preparation

 
Place milk, yeast, flour, eggs, sugar and salt into mixing bowl and knead 7 min

Add butter and knead for a further 2 min

Transfer dough to a large bowl. Dough will be stretchy and sticky. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and leave to prove in a warm place for 1-2 hours. Then place covered bowl in refrigerator for a minimum of 3-4 hours or overnight.
Grease a loaf tin (approx. 28 cm long) and set aside. Transfer dough onto silicone bread mat or floured surface and gently flatten with floured hands to form a rough rectangle. Roll the rectangle of dough into a log shape the length of the loaf tin. Place dough into prepared loaf tin seam side down and cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Leave to prove in a warm place for 3 hours or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Brush surface with egg yolk and bake for 30 minutes (180°C) or until dark golden brown. Remove brioche from loaf tin and allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving.

This brioche was delicious! I made French Toast with it and it was also great just on its own with butter. 

One Bowl Mushroom Spaghetti

This is a specific Thermomix recipe from Alyce Alexandra's book, Everyday Thermo Cooking

Ingredients

5g dried porcini mushrooms

2 garlic cloves

1 brown onion, peeled and halved
40g olive oil
250g mixed mushrooms
200g cream
600ml stock
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
400g spaghetti
50g rocket
Fresh parsley to serve

1. Place porcini mushrooms in TC bowl, mill 10 seconds
2. Add garlic and onion, chop 5 seconds, speed 5. Scrape down sides.
3. Add oil, cook 5 minutes, 100°C, speed 1
4. Add mushrooms, cream, stock, mustard and salt, cook for 8 minutes, 100°C, reverse speed 1
5. Remove MC and add spaghetti through the hold in the lid. Cook for 4 minutes, 100°C, reverse speed soft.
6. Remove lid and submerge spaghetti into sauce using spatula. Replace lid and MC. Cook for 2 minutes, 100°C reverse speed soft
7. Gently stir spaghetti, folding the top spaghetti to the bottom. Replace lid and leave standing for 10 minutes in the TC bowl to complete cooking

Serve topped with rocket and parsley leaves. 

I didn't bother with the rocket, but did have the parsley on hand. This is such a simple dish to make and is so tasty. The porcini mushrooms certainly add plenty of flavour. The mushrooms I used were button and Swiss Brown. 

Challah

This is the Challah I recently made, just because I woke up one day and felt like eating this delicious sweet bread. My braiding skills could use some work, but the flavour of this did not disappoint. The recipe I used was taken from the Thermomix Recipe Community, therefore it is a Thermomix recipe. you can find the recipe here Challah Bread

Chargrilled Chicken and Vegetable Stacks

Me not working at the moment means I have more time to actually go through my cookbooks and make something other than the standard meals the family are used to. This was something that I really enjoyed, though I made my own changes to suit myself. I took this recipe from Donna Hay's Book The Instant Cook which was published in 2004. 

Ingredients

4 chicken breast fillets, halved lengthwise
2 red capsicum, quartered
1 eggplant, sliced lengthwise
2 small zucchinis, sliced lengthwise
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
sea salt and cracked black pepper
80g rocket
1 tablespoon pesto
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Preheat a char grill or barbeque over high heat. Place the chicken, capsicum, eggplant, zucchinis, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a bowl and toss to coat. Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes on the grill before adding the capsicums, eggplant and zucchinis and cooking until the chicken is golden and cooked through and the vegetables tender. To serve, place the chicken, vegetable and rocket in a stack on plates and served topped with the combined pesto and mayonnaise. Serves 4.

I attempted to make some mayonnaise, but it didn't quite work out according to plan, think I added the oil too quickly, so we went without the mayo. I also included pumpkin as well as the other vegetables and used baby spinach instead of rocket. I also topped it with a bit of Yarra Valley Cheese Persian Fetta.

 My grill not big enough to do everything at the same time, so I cooked the vegetables ahead of time and just kept them warm until it was time to cook the chicken.

 The finished stack!

Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding

This recipe did not come from a cookbook, this one came from my friend, Jo, way back in 1999, just when I was starting to get into cooking. It has been used lots with great results every time.

Cake Ingredients

3/4 cup SR flour
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
113g butter
2/3 cup of caster sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1-2 tablespoons milk

Sauce Ingredients

2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup hot water

Method

Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla essence, mix well. Add slightly beaten eggs and mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix in with milk, if required. Pour mix into greased dish.

Add together in a separate bowl the sauce ingredients. When combined pour liquid over the cake mix. Cook for approximately 40 minutes at 180degrees. Don't overcook as cake should be moist when done and have the hot sauce underneath. Serve with double cream or on its own.

You can also use chopped walnuts/pecans if you wish.

Roasted Pumpkin and Persian Feta Ravioli with a Creamy Mushroom Sauce

I used to shy away from buying a whole pumpkin as I thought it would be too difficult to cut and I wouldn't get through it all, now, I buy and I make sure I use it for as many different things as I can.
Pumpkin had already been used to make two different pumpkin soups, so I wanted to try something new. My beetroot ravioli turned out well, hopefully pumpkin would be the same.

Ingredients for ravioli

Pumpkin roughly chopped into similar sized pieces  
100g Persian Feta
Wonton wrappers
Oil

Ingredients for sauce

120g sliced mushrooms
15g butter
Italian herbs
50ml white wine
1 cup stock
1/2 cup cream
1tb cornflour
salt to taste



I didn't weigh the pumpkin, just chopped it into smallish pieces so roasting would be quick, I used basil infused olive oil to roast with, about half an hour on 200°. Then let it cool down before mashing. I have previously bought Southcape Persian Feta, however chose a different brand because it was cheaper, I won't do it again, I think the Southcape one is better. Lesson learned. I mixed the cheese in with the pumpkin. Then it was just a matter of spooning the pumpkin and cheese mixture onto the prepared wonton wrappers and sealing them with a little water. 

I cooked the ravioli in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes and removed individually with a slotted spoon. 

Sauce

Melt butter over low heat, add mushrooms and cook until soft and dark. Stir in herbs, salt, and stock. Increase heat to medium and cook stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, stir in cream until smooth, stir in cornflour and simmer for a minute to thicken. Pour over pasta. 

This sauce is probably not this best fit for the ravioli, works really well with a bowl of penne, but I used it as I knew Philip would like it and I wasn't wrong. Overall dinner was very nice. 

Roasted Beetroot and Goats Cheese Ravioli with a Walnut and Brown Butter Sauce

About five weeks ago I took my grandmother out for lunch, we went to a lovely little place in Riddells Creek called Seasons Bistro Bar and Deli. I really like it as they have some great food, traditional things like pies, that suit my Nanna and more modern things like the Beetroot & Goats Cheese Ravioli with Walnut Butter that I had.

This was my lunch.

I loved it, so thought I would try and make it at home.

Ingredients

2 fresh beetroot
100g goats cheese
wonton wrappers
butter
walnuts

I wrapped the beetroot in foil, placing a teaspoon of water in with it.  Roasted it for about 40-45 minutes on 180°. Tested it will a skewer to see that it was done and peeled it while wearing disposable gloves so my hands didn't turn pink. I then finely grated the beetroot into a bowl and mixed in the goats cheese. Then it was just a matter of spooning the beetroot and goats cheese mixture onto the prepared wonton wrappers and sealing them with a little water. 

I probably should have roasted my walnuts in the oven, but I didn't. I heated the frypan and did them on the stove top before the butter. Once they were done, I put them aside and started on the butter. As it had been a while since I had made something with a brown butter sauce I thought I had better check the net and make sure it's done right. I used this for the brown butter sauce. 

I wasn't really sure how long I should cook the ravioli for and I was terrified that it would all fall apart, but after about 5 minutes in boiling water, I was able to serve it still intact. Removing from the water with a slotted spoon helped. Then I just added the walnuts and sauce. 

I told Philip when I gave it to him that this dish was experimental and that if it wasn't any good I would make him something else, but he was very pleased, thought it was very nice and worthy of a place in a restaurant.  That was nice of him to say.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Isobel is obsessed with animals, she loves them very much. On Sunday she wanted to go to the Animal Aid shelter in Coldstream, just to look as we are not in a position to adopt at this stage. I got Philip to drop me and Spencer off at the Yarra Valley Dairy while he took Isobel to the shelter. I was hoping because it was such a cold and wet day that no one bothered to venture out, but I was wrong. We had to wait a little while for a table, so I did some cheese and wine tasting, looked around at the products you can buy and picked up a pack of Yarra Valley Crumbs Gourmet Biscuits, Triple Chocolate. Funnily enough Spencer wasn't interested in the cheese and wine tasting so I bought the pack of biscuits while we waited.

I hadn't be to the Yarra Valley Dairy for quite some time and while they still do their fabulous cheese platters, meals seem to be a thing of the past. I ordered the cheese platter and a glass of wine. The cheese platter was huge, but oh so delicious!

This was after much of the cheese had been consumed. It came with a lovely selection of breads and crackers and included an onion relish. Goats cheese is a favourite of mine and I had plenty, thankfully Philip and Isobel arrived so he could help with the cheese.

Isobel spotted the the biscuits and started to rave about how good they were. Spencer had put a half eaten biscuit pack in the pack so Philip polished it off and also raved about what great biscuits they were. I believe that when it comes to biscuits/cookies, nothing is as good as home made. Much later in the day I had one to see if they really were as good as they said. They were nice, but as I said, not as good as home made.

To prove my point I decided that on the first day of the school holidays I would make my own Triple Chocolate Cookies. It was complete pot luck when choosing the recipe, I Googled and chose to make the first ones that came up, which was this one from Taste. I had all the ingredients required, so went ahead and made them. The recipe says it makes 30 and it probably does if you make them slightly smaller than I did, I made about 25.

Isobel told me they were the 'best cookies ever!' and were clearly better than the bought ones. I think Spencer was being cheeky when he told me that the other ones were better. After dinner Philip got himself a couple of cookies for dessert, he said, in a surprised tone, that they were very good. I said to him, 'I told you I could make better than bought', he didn't deny it. :)

Risotto with Roast Pumpkin, Spinach, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Fetta

Once a month Philip and I get to go out to dinner, without the kids, lucky us! Considering how often we used to go out for dinner pre kids, I still find it hard to be somewhat restricted to once a month. However, my sister, Amber, is kind enough to come over with her boys and look after Isobel and Spencer. I make dinner for them before we go out and it was usually pizza, but recently Amber had taken a liking to a risotto she had as a take away from Deganis, so I did my best to recreate it.

I used this Donna Hay Basic Baked Risotto recipe and added roasted pumpkin (about 600g) , a couple of handfuls of baby spinach, about 8 sun dried tomatoes (cut in half)  and about 100g of fetta.
I think they were happy with the result.

Coffee Ice Cream

My sister wanted me to make coffee ice cream, she had been on about it for a while, she has a slight obsession with coffee now after being a long term tea drinker. I finally got around to buying the coffee liqueur that was needed so I decided to make this "One Step No Churn Coffee Ice Cream" from Nigella Lawson's book Nigellissima.

Ingredients

300ml Double Cream
175g Condensed Milk
2 x 15ml Tablespoons Instant Espresso Powder
2 x 15ml Tablespoons Espresso Liqueur

Method

Whisk all ingredients together until soft peaks form, and you have a gorgeous , caffe latte coloured airy mixture, and then fill airtight container/s, and freeze for 6 hours or overnight. Nigella's One Step No Churn Coffee Ice Cream

This ice cream is one of the best I have ever tasted and it really is that easy. I did make some changes though. I have previously made the orange ice cream that was featured in Nigella Bites, which also used double cream. I find double cream to be too much, I have made the orange with double and just thick cream and I got a much better result using the thick cream. So for this one I didn't even attempt to use double cream, just went with the thick or thickened cream. I used Kahlua as the liqueur as I couldn't think of another 'espresso liqueur' and I used instant espresso coffee dissolved in a bit of boiling water. Whisked up in my Kitchen Aid so it doesn't feel obsolete with the Thermomix in the kitchen.  Unfortunately my sister wasn't overy impressed, she was after a coffee sorbet rather than ice cream, but I personally think it's divine!

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.