Inner Solace

Apple Crumble and Lime Cardamom Frozen Yoghurt

Repost of {005} to accompany the recipe requested by theresalighton. :)

Warning, there’s a lot of approximation and ‘ish’ going on here. I was a bit lazy but I did use scales to make sure I had general proportions right.

Apple Crumble

Ingredients:

• 3 medium apples, peeled, cored, quartered and roughly sliced
• 1-ish tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1-ish tsp of cornflour
• 90g butter, cubed
• 100g plain flour (ish)
• 80g rolled oats
• 80g sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to around 200C.
2. Combine the cornflour and ground cinnamon and toss the apples through it. Place in an medium-ish oven-safe dish.
3. Combine the flour and sugar and mix well.
4. Rub the butter into the flour/sugar mixture cubes at a time until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add more flour if the dough is too wet/not crumbly enough.  Mix in the rolled oats towards the end because they don’t rub in as easily.
5. Top the apples with the crumbly mixture.
6. Bake for 30-40min or until the crumble is golden and looks like it might have some crunch to it.

Note: If you’re slack like I was last night, you can use a food processor (or Thermomix) to just whizz this up.  Add the oats towards the end so you don’t obliterate them entirely. The texture will be more dense and less crumbs, but if you spread it on top of the apples it still comes out about right, if less attractive.

I also use a deep dish so you end up with a thick layer of crumble on top of the apples so it’s like slacker apple pie.  A larger shallow dish will probably end up with a more crisp crumble. YMMV.

Lime & Cardamom Frozen Yoghurt

Adapted from Jeni Britton’s Lime & Cardamom Yogurt recipe. Couldn’t find a proper link, but if you Google it there’s a video.

Ingredients:

• 500g Greek yoghurt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup lime juice (about 3 limes)
• zest of one lime
• 7g gelatin
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 3/4 cup whipping cream (ish)

Method:

1. Pre-prep: Stick the Greek yoghurt in a muslin cloth (or as I discovered, a fine sieve) over a bowl in the fridge to drain over night. Greek yoghurt is thick, but it does have a lot of extra water.
2. The next morning/day, add gelatin to 2 tbs of lime juice in a small bowl. Stir and set aside.
3. In a small pot, combine the remaining lime juice with the sugar and heat on the stove at medium until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
4. Whisk in the gelatin/lime.
5. Combine the yoghurt, zest and cardamom in a bowl and mix well.
6. Whisk in the gelatin/sugar/lime mixture.
7. Refrigerate until cool (it will have a softish yoghurt pudding texture). If it’s too set, let it warm up a little on the counter-top.
8. Turn it into ice-cream using your desired method.

Makes almost 1L of mixture which churns up to just over 1L of frozen yoghurt.

Note: If you don’t have an ice-cream churn, you can spread it into a shallow container and take it out periodically to blend and re-freeze until it’s set. Or you can freeze the mixture into an ice-cube tray and throw those into a blender when you want to.  It might not be as smooth as if you used a churn, but y’know.

Sweetness Note: I used a 1/2 cup of sugar and that creates a pretty tart frozen yoghurt.  I don’t mind it, but it might be a bit strong for others. You can bump up the sugar to 2/3 cup or to taste depending on how sweet you like things.

Cream Note: I had about 1/4 cup of thickened cream left and mixed that in with some whipping cream. The consistency was pretty good. But I will never use more thickened cream than whipping cream because the fat content makes the ice-cream too hard. :/

Anonymous asked: Blonde question: can you put whole vegetables into the thermomix to chop? Thanks

They recommend putting in around inch-ish sized pieces (or thereabouts).  And that’s for everything, not just vegetables.

That’s probably quite important for hard vegetables, but I think things like onions you can probably quarter and throw in since they segment quite easily.

Just checked the book, it says rule of thumb is pieces no larger than the hole in the lid. And 2cm cubes are recommended. So there you go. :)

Anonymous asked: Hi, It has been a few months since you started cookiing with your Thermomix. I have read your blog entries and get the feeling that you are not very pleased with the results.
I am considering buying a TM, but I hesitate because I do not anyone that has one and have never tasted anything cooked in it. I have checked several sites and most people who have one are very enthusiastic about it. I think though that most people HAVE to find it fantastic after expending such a large amount of money. Am I being too cynical?
Please give me your opinion. I think it might help me with my decision. Matt.

Hi!

I wouldn’t say that I’m displeased with the TM.  But it depends on what you want it for.

Short Answer:

If you are a discerning foodie type who wants the TM to create incredible meals end-to-end, this is not for you.

If you think this is a silver bullet for everything kitcheny and you can toss all your other appliances, this is not for you.

If you don’t like to cook, or if you like to cook but sometimes you just want a home-cooked meal which is quick and easy to make after a long day that tastes alright (not omnomnomnomnom but maybe just nom), then sure, why not.

If you like to tinker in the kitchen and want a minion/extra set of hands to help you out from time to time, yeah, go for it.

Really Long Answer:

I bought the TM because I like to cook and it would help me out.  The fact it can do alright end-to-end meals is a bonus.

I have been blogging about the recipes for the TM that I’ve tried, but I haven’t really come across anything that’s outstanding.  It does however make delightful congee, a reasonable rendang (but you need to put it on for longer than suggested to make it tender), and effortless ice-cream bases and soups.  It also isn’t bad for kneading dough.  Oh and the temperature control means I can also do Japanese style ‘onsen eggs’ which are slow poached.  Love those.

Truth be told, the recipes I’ve tried for the TM are quite lacklustre.  A few other people I’ve found online also share this opinion.  I don’t know whether that’s due to the recipe or the machine.  I’ve seen a few things like on youtube which are made using the TM and created by actual food professionals that I’m keen to try but hadn’t had a chance to yet.

There is also a very active blogging community and forum where people post all sorts of recipes which might even be better than what’s in the books.  Got an incredible salted caramel maple ice-cream recipe from there.

It does occur to me now though, that while I have written about some of the end-to-end meals, I haven’t really written about how it does at other things.

• Sautéing
  Not so good.  Too much steam is trapped inside which makes it sweat instead of sauté.
• Stir-fry
  Ditto.  And really, a wok is much faster and easier to clean.
• Anything where you don’t want excess steam.
  Even with the little cup off, the hole is too small to let a lot of steam out and if this is important to your dish, it can really screw it up.  I’ve seriously considered sitting a CPU fan on top to act as an extractor.   But it’s another thing I haven’t had time to experiment with yet.
• Steaming
  On purpose, not accidental. Does pretty well. But I have steamer baskets that I use on the stove as well, so it’s much of a muchness.
• Steamed rice
  I think it sucks. Too squishy and wet for my liking.  Other people think it’s awesome.  But like all sensible Asian folk, I have a dedicated rice cooker.
• Blending things
  Awesome.  I have burned out three different devices which were designed to be able to grind spices, and make pastes for curries and things.  I didn’t abuse them either. Short periods of pulsing and not overloading the container.  They just couldn’t take it.  The TM on the other hand makes this an absolute breeze. And they recommend you blend ice in it once every few months to resharpen the blades. It’s part of the tech.
• Simmering
  Ace. I don’t have to mind these things on the stove anymore. (eg. custards, sauces)
• Doughs for bread and pastries
  Pretty good. And if you put it on 37C while you’re doing the yeast-based ones, it makes it rise better/faster too. And you could even leave it in there for the rises because the bowl is still warm.
• Chopping things
  If you don’t care that they’re uneven sized bits.
• Whipping things
  I was surprised that it does this pretty well too.  Whites and cream are definitely doable.  But I hate cleaning the butterfly whippy attachment.  Pain in the bum.  I have a blendy stick with the whisk attachment. I much prefer washing that.
• Heating milk
  This is a weird one to add to the list, but I got into making flavoured milk based drinks like novelty lattes and chai.  I have a coffee machine with the steamer thing, but if you want to add spices to steam through the milk it that clogs up the thingy.  For two drinks, stick the lot in the TM, heat it at 70-80C for about 5 minutes on speed 4, et voila flavoured latte.

Appliances I still have despite owning a TM:

• Stick blender
  Mine has whisk and food processor attachments.  Don’t really use the stick blendery bit now I have the TM, but the whisk is easier to clean than the butterfly and food processor still has its uses (the bladed disc attachment, for one).
• KitchenAid
  I bought this after I got the TM.  Because it’s shiny, and because I prefer doing my cake based baking with it.  Biscuits are okay in the TM, just don’t over process.
• Hand mixer
  Okay, I don’t really use this one anymore because I have the KitchenAid.  But it’s small so it’s just going to sit as backup.
• Bullet blender
  I think this one is still alive, just barely.  Quick and easy for drinks like smoothies and milkshakes for one.  And less to wash.

I’m a cynic too, so I see where you’re coming from with the idea that people might rave about it because of the money they dropped on it.  But if you’ve ever attended one of the periodic classes they hold from time to time for people who have one (mainly for them, but for people who are thinking about getting one as well), you’ll see the affection they have for their TM is quite genuine.  Kinda scary at times actually…

My suggestion to you is to find your local TM agent and organise a demonstration.  Call the head office in your country/region and tell them you’re after a demo.  They’ll find an agent for you.  They’re free and zero obligation.  You just provide the ingredients and the agent will bring the TM.  It’s like a Tupperware party but you don’t get any host gifts unless you buy something.

You’ll need a minimum of three households to attend, so grab a neighbour, and a parent or sibling and you’re set.  Suggested size group for the amount of food they’ll prepare at the party is probably about 6-8.

And find out from one of the agents when the next regional class is going to be held.  Those cost about $15pp but you get fed pretty well and you get a demo of a few different things dishes.  One I went to had bread, butter, dips, cake, ice-cream, non-alcoholic margaritas (I think), soup, and at least two other things I don’t remember just now.

Check it out, see how you feel not just about the resulting food products, but also what the TM is being used to do.  And see if you can ask one of them to demo an ice-cream or something (sorbets are standard for the basic demo, but you might get lucky). Those are fun.

I didn’t feel pressured at all by the agent or at the class, they seemed pretty laid back and friendly. Just very enthusiastic about their Thermomixes. :)

I myself am trying to find some time to get the agent over to demonstrate the Varoma steamer stuff to see what else I can do with it.

I’ve blabbed a lot here because I don’t know much about you or your cooking background, but I hope you find at least some of it useful to help make your decision.  If you have any other questions about the TM, just let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them.