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Do I love my thermomix now? An update 15 months later….

September 24, 2014 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged feeding the family, freezer, lunchbox, thermomix, wheat-free

Someone just posted on my old post – Do I love my thermomix (you might be surprised), asking for an update on how I’ve settled in with my machine. I was fairly strident in my skepticism back then, so it seems only fair to fill you in on how I’ve gone, long term. It’s been 15 months now, so the novelty has worn off and I can assess its usefulness without my mind being swayed by the TM hype.

So here’s the truth…. I don’t use my thermomix very often. But when I DO use it, it’s fantastic. But I can get by without it for days on end.

My husband calls it the $2000 egg poacher, since I’ll go for a couple of weeks doing nought with it but bunging on a bit of breakfast. ‘But what a breakfast!’, I say. Perfectly soft-boiled eggs. Almost. Every. Time (colder water temps in winter meant I had to up the cooking time – learned that the hard way one morning, cracking open an almost raw egg).

Needless to say, husband raises an eyebrow and checks out the space on the wall where his $2000 television could have been proudly mounted. He’d probably have watched that for more than 5 minutes every week or so.

BUT. (And there’s always a but, isn’t there.) I LOVE TO COOK. So pots and pans are a bit joyful for me. Stirring sooths my soul. Chopping calms me down. Cooking is some strange therapy. I totally understand, though, that many people hate cooking and feel the nightly need for food production as a weight of concrete pulling them into the depths of mediocrity. And for those people, then the thermomix is a brilliant device. You need no kitchen flare to produce a good meal. Apparently the new model even tells you what to do next, so you need not even worry yourself with the tedium of recipe reading. GOLD.

And I’ll confess that mid-week, when all the shite is flying everywhere, the TM has saved my skin on many occasions. For me, this is where the machine shines and this is the theory behind the recipes that I chose to convert for my Thermomix ebook (check it out here). It’s perfect for those mid-week food production nights when you just want everyone to just shut up, eat and go to bed.

AND WHAT ABOUT ALL THAT OTHER WHIZZERY-BANGERY THAT IT DOES?
Yes, it does do it, and it does do it well. If you are dealing with food allergies and creating everything from scratch then I can see how much you would love your thermie. I have used it to mill sugar and I use it to mill brown rice into flour. And it’s absolutely-freaking-fantastic at all that. Yesterday, I used it to easily make a fantastic strawberry jam out of some soggy old cheap berries that were definitely no good for eating. GOLD.

But if you’re thinking about buying a thermie, I would keep in mind that rarely does a contraption truly change our behaviour. If you think that a TM will help you eat more vegies, you’re wrong. If you think a TM will allow you enough time to bake bread from scratch, you’re wrong. If you think a TM will save you money, you’re wrong.

If you’re making broader lifestyle changes, then a TM might assist you with those. Going gluten-free is a little easier. Cooking every night from scratch is a little easier. But a thermomix is a lot like a gym membership – forking out the money is NOT ENOUGH to motivate you to truly change your lifestyle if you’re only half-hearted.

If you want to make bread, a breadmaker is a wonderful thing. A $40 rice cooker is essential and does a wonderful job, as does a $40 mini-food processor. For less than $200 I can have all the kitchen help I need to make lasting changes in my lifestyle.

I’d recommend giving some of those gadgets a go before making the big thermomix commitment.

Oats, but not wheat. And quite yummy, too.

Wheat-free blueberry muffins

1 cup brown rice flour (brown rice, milled in the TM on 9 for 30 seconds)
1 cup oat bran
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
2 tsp chia seeds
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup fat (either oil of your choice or melted butter, cooled)
1 punnet blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180C – line 12 muffin holes with paper cases.

In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl or jug, whisk the egg, milk & fat together. Pour into the dry ingredients. Combine well then mix in the blueberries.

Use spoons to divide the mixture evenly between the muffin holes. Bake for 30-35 minutes until firm and golden.

Makes 12.

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Great ways with… mince (no, truly!)

May 25, 2014 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences

Great… in so many ways.

This week’s blog post title is a tribute to one of my favourite cookbooks, “Great ways with steak & chops.” Published in 1974, it has it all – gorgeous layouts and fashionable recipes full of innovative ingredients, like this “Veal Oscar”. Essentially a veal schnitzel, they jazz it up a bit with canned asparagus spears, lobster meat and some bearnaise sauce… mmmmmmmm… I bet your mouth is WATERING right now.

And served with a lovely side of plain iceburg lettuce. Tres gourmet!

So why did this cookbook pop into my consciousness as I contemplated a post about mince? Well, hey, mince isn’t a glamorous ingredient and something about it does transport me back to the 1970s. It really is one of the daggier meat options – one that I never bought before having my fussy little precious offspring. These days it ends up in my trolley most weeks since it’s versatile as you like and extremely affordable.

Judging by the size of the mince section, I’m guessing that a lot of you are buying it too, so I thought I’d gather up a bunch of more interesting options for how you might like to cook it this week. Something other than spag bol or tacos. You know… adding in a few schmancy ingredients to jazz it up a little.

And yes, I know, all of you with a thermomix would never dream of buying the disgusting supermarket mince, you all make it in your dream machine. It was one of the things I thought I’d do all the time in mine, too. But I don’t.

Chicken mince in sang choy bow

Ma po dofu with tofu & pork mince (trust me on this one!)

Beef savoury mince. Good alone, with rice on on baked potatoes.

Lamb mince & feta in meatballs.

Enjoy dinner-time thrills and empty plates

May 4, 2014 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, ideas, vegetarian

Mealtime stress often causes us to lose our perspective, doesn’t it? Caught up in the angst of kids rejecting food we’ve slaved over, the misery of power plays over whether or not they are going to EAT THAT PEA or worried sick over whether our child is getting their nutritional needs met from one mouthful of meatloaf last Tuesday, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that food should be nourishing, happy and FUN.

I was reminded of this last week when I had a super-poshy dinner out at Sepia Restaurant. It was one of those Masterchef-y type places with foams and odd concoctions and food bordering on art and theatre. The dish that stands out was the mid-course sorbet, which arrived as a little perfect white globe on a huge dark blue dish scattered with icing sugar. It was the galaxy on a plate. Unsure how to approach it, or even what it was, I pushed my spoon into the sphere and it, like, EXPLODED. Sherbet-like substance in a range of colours sprinkled over the plate in a food event so fun and gorgeous that apparently I squealed. By that stage I was onto wine number 4, so possibly I can’t really tell you what it tasted like (it was citrus, I do recall), but the event was so memorable and damn fun that it was worth every extravagant penny.

And it reminded me, that sometimes it’s good to step back from nutrition and focus instead on food being fun. Make dinner enjoyable and you’ll have a much better chance of success when feeding your kids, too.

Sometimes it’s as simple of giving a slightly ugly dish a fun name, like this witches stew – a green split pea soup that my kids adore. Serve it in a black dish like a cauldron. Or place three of these traffic light swirls on a plate in a row and let them decide which colour they’re going to scoff first.

Simple presentation ideas can help your cause.

With the last of the basil (yes, gorgeously perfect out of my vegepod), I whipped up a pesto. My kids love it and it was even more fun when served through some squid’s ink pasta. Adults might baulk of the look, but the kids thought this was awesome and spent the meal scoffing it while trying to decide if it was monster’s intestines, mermaid hair or giant snot.

Food from Atlantis? Or deep space? Your kids can decide.

Possibly not the most flattering appraisal of my cooking, but a success, nonetheless.

The original pesto recipe is here. I also blitzed in a cup of cooked broccoli florets. It’s a super fantastic addition, an idea I stole from Collette at Cut out the Crap. Works brilliantly.

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What are you cooking this Christmas?

December 9, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News · Tagged celebrations, cooking techniques, feeding the family, recipe

Gloriously home made good cheer.

How are your kids faring in the lead up to Christmas? Mine are nearly jumping out of their skins with excitement. Me? Not so much. For the grown ups, it’s a bit more stressful, don’t you think? So much to do! So much to remember!

To negotiate it all with the minimum of fuss, I resort to LISTS. And I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’m a chronic planner. Long ago I learned that my brain is unreliable, so don’t be surprised to walk into my kitchen and find I’ve got a running sheet for Christmas day, which starts at the time we want to eat and works backwards all the way to what time I need to preheat the oven. Sure, it’s a bit uptight, but for me it means that I don’t have to think, just do, which I find easier after an early afternoon glass of bubbles!

My menu for Christmas day is nearly set. Is yours? I’ll love to see your recipe links and ideas. Shall we do a bit of recipe sharing? You all pop yours in the comments below and here’s what I’m cooking this year…

Christmas Eve – I get off lightly, just turning up to my side of the family with a green salad and the traditional pudding, which is already in the fridge, ready to go.

This year, the other side of the family is coming to our house for Christmas day. There are only 9 of us, so I can do the traditional lunch without too much trouble. I’ll serve a starter platter of good crackers with smoked salmon, capers, chives, and lemons. Freeform sounds good to me – everyone can compile their own morsels. (If you like these flavours, and want a more formal starter, check out this smoked salmon & cheese tart recipe – it’s REALLY good).

For main, it’s a roast turkey. I’m going to use this recipe from Taste. I tested the stuffing on a roast chook last weekend and it was delicious (I used sourdough breadcrumbs). On the side I’m thinking that this green salad with mango looks good and some hassle back potatoes.

For dessert, I’ll crumble meringues into parfait glasses, along with chunks of Christmas cake, ice cream and some poached cherries (I’ll cook them in a sugar syrup with vanilla & cinnamon).

To nibble afterwards? Well, it’s gotta be rumballs. My gorgeous granny used to make them and as soon as I pop one into my mouth I’m bombarded with happy memories of childhood and love.

A cuddle in a recipe.

Rumballs

1 packet plain biscuits (I like Milk Arrowroot)
395 g can condensed milk
1 cup desiccated coconut, plus ½ cup extra, for rolling
3 tbsp good-quality cocoa powder
3 tbsp rum

Line a plastic container with baking paper. Tear some extra sheets so that you can store layers of the balls easily.

Place the biscuits in a large plastic bag and use a rolling pin or your fist to smash them up into crumbs. Tip into a large mixing bowl.

Add the condensed milk, coconut, cocoa and rum. Stir to combine. Use your hands to roll bite-sized balls. Toss in the extra coconut and place in your container. Seal and refrigerate for 2 hours.

MAKES ABOUT 60

ps….**CHRISTMAS DELIVERIES**

Wanting to buy Vegie Smugglers cookbooks as gifts? Make sure you place orders within the next couple of days – especially if you’re far flung. Of course e-books can be bought anytime – you’ll be sent an automated download link at the time of your purchase.

pps… **I’M ON HOLIDAY!**

After nearly 4 years of regular blogging, I need a break. The shop is still open and I’ll still be checking Facebook & emails, but to replenish my creative juices I’m taking a few weeks off (in the background I’ll be finishing off my new cookbook and Thermomix e-book).

Thanks to all of my regular readers – I hugely appreciate your ongoing support of this blog and my business! So have a wonderful Christmas, happy New Year and I’ll see you at some stage in January. xxx

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How to make friends with salad

November 12, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged competition, feeding the family, recipe, salad, vegetables

Hopefully, over the winter you’ve accumulated a repertoire of accepted (and even enjoyed) meals that contain enough vegies and nutrition to keep you achieving your status as an awesome-parent. But the casseroles and bakes that you’ve come to rely on may hold less appeal as the weather warms up.

It’s time to lighten the menu, and traditionally it’s the time when the BBQ gets trundled out and parents are faced with the screwed up faces of little kids who are not friends with salad.

There’s often not much smuggling potential in salads. They are, after all, full of raw and highly-recognisable ingredients. To get the kids interested in them, they need to be particularly tasty. While a good dressing helps a green salad to be more agreeable, there are a couple of more creative salad recipes that are a good starting point when you’re trying to instil a BBQ & salad culture.

Start simple and convey the whole concept of cold side dishes with a couple of particularly tasty examples that they can’t resist. Our favourite noodle salad works well, luring them in with flavour and crunch. Another sure-fire hit will be this Japanese-style potato salad that uses a mayonnaise-based sauce to entice them.

Dou itashimashite.

Japanese potato salad

Sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard

4 medium mashing potatoes, peeled, quartered
1 carrot, peeled, grated
4 spring onions, finely sliced
250g corn kernels, drained
1 cucumber, sliced into rounds

Combine the sauce ingredients well and set aside.

Pop the potatoes into a large pot of cold water and bring to the boil (adding them cold stops the edges from disintegrating). Reduce the heat to a strong simmer and leave for 15 minutes until soft enough that you can easily push a skewer through. Drain and add to a large bowl. Use a fork to roughly mash, but leave heaps of texture with lots of large chunks.

Stir the carrot and spring onions through the hot potatoes (this cooks them slightly). Season with plenty of salt & pepper. Pour over the sauce and mix thoroughly.

Leave to cool then combine in the corn and cucumber. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

Serves 2 adults & 3-4 kids as a side dish (leftovers make great lunches).

_______________________________

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How to guarantee vegie-smuggling success (and a giveaway)

October 21, 2013 · Filed under Food experiences, Ham/pork, Red meat, The best way to smuggle... · Tagged beef, cooking techniques, feeding the family, freezer, ideas, recipe, vegetables

Some people like to smuggle vegies by cooking them, mashing them and re-adding them to dishes where they get cooked again and served to unwitting children. Have you heard of this method?

Unless your child is severely vegie-resistant and you’re looking for a starting point that guarantees success, I would avoid doing this. Why?…
1. By the end of this process, most of the vegie’s nutritional benefits are gone.
2. It’s too much work for time-poor parents to manage.
3. The kids don’t learn how delicious healthy eating can be.

I prefer a ‘chop chop’ method. Start with gorgeous fresh, raw produce and grate it or chop it into such small pieces that kids can’t easily identify or pick it out of their dinner.

People have complained to me, ‘but you’re not hiding the vegies – I can see them!’ to which I’ll reply, “yes, because you want your kids to realise that vegies are there, but to still eat them anyway’. If the little bits are all cooked together into a delicious and tasty whole meal, the kids will eat it (of course there are exceptions!) Mostly though, if they can’t identify exactly what vegie is what and if they’re enjoying the meal then their motivation to protest will be low.

The aim is to eventually get kids eating the way you do, so you might start off grating everything, but after a while you can move on to chopping and dicing things finely. Then the pieces can get bigger and bigger until you’re just cooking like normal. This process can take a couple of years and possibly you’ll have to backtrack if you push them too far (if you see them crying, with a huge chunk of zucchini on their fork, you’ll know that you need to go back to grating for a while).

So I recommend everyone take the time to buy a good kitchen knife and learn to use it (there’s a stack of videos online showing you how). You don’t need to be a whizz, just competent and safe. Buy yourself a good grater, too.

And also rely on gadgets to do the work for you. I use my mini-stick blender all the time. I use it to make breadcrumbs, chop vegies, whizz up homous and even make banana ice cream.

You can WIN this baby.

Luckily for one reader, today I’ve got an Avancer food processor to give away. In the larger machine you can make coleslaw, combine meatball mixtures, blend soups – all bound to give you vegie-smuggling success.

This meatball mix will be a doddle in it…

Hidden veg meatballs in an ALL VEG soup. Genius. And delicious.

Italian meatballs

Make a double batch of these meatballs and freeze. They work great in all kinds of tomato soups and pasta sauces (like this one).

500g pork/veal mince
1 slice stale bread (any type)
2 tsp Italian herbs
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 carrot, peeled, roughly chopped
1/2 red capsicum, roughly chopped
1 egg, lightly whisked

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line your largest baking tray with foil and spray well with olive oil spray.

Use your food processor to make breadcrumbs with the bread. Also add in the garlic and herbs and blitz to get heavenly, fragrant breadcrumbs.

Quickly blitz the carrot, then the capsicum. Pop in the mince; toss the egg on top and pulse to bring the mix together. Pop on some kitchen gloves and roll meatballs and place on the tray. If you have the time and patience, keep them nice and bite-sized (plus they cook faster).

Spray the meatballs with more oil spray and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tray, carefully turn them over and return to the oven for 10 minutes more until golden outside and fully cooked through.

Makes enough for 2 adults and 2-3 kids, depending on what you add them into.

_____________________________________

WANT TO WIN THE FOOD PROCESSOR? You need to be a Vegie Smugglers subscriber, based in Australia. And since Avancer have given me the prize, you might want to check out all the Avancer products here. Simply enter by commenting below about which vegies you find the hardest to get your kids to eat. Entries close Thursday Oct 24, 8pm AEDT. ****THANKS FOR YOUR ENTRIES! AVANCER HAVE PICKED THE WINNER – CONGRATULATIONS ALISON WHITE, HOPE YOU ENJOY THE FOOD PROCESSOR!

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Holiday treat – rocky road

September 24, 2013 · Filed under Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged chocolate, cooking techniques, feeding the family, ideas, kids, recipe, treats

Last week I promised chocolate. Being a woman of my word, here’s a fab little chocolate treat just in time for the school holidays.

Cooking with the kids can be a ~~fun~~ educational way to spend a couple of hours together. If your kids aren’t naturally inclined towards the kitchen (like mine), then the best way to get them involved is to cook treats. Unlike the marble cake or chocolate slice from previous holiday posts, this recipe has the advantage that it’s a no-oven winner, which means that you’ll have the recipe wrapped up before anyone can stutter “I’m bored” or “what time can I play PS3?”.

And unlike those showy-offy sponges or uber-posh macarons, rocky road’s charm is in it’s randomness. Each piece is special, just a little bit ugly and best of all you can’t really get it wrong, which all appeals to a down-to-earth lass like myself.

Bumpy and imperfect, just like life.

Rocky Road

4 full cups of chunks –choose any or all of…
Marshmallows, cranberries, goji berries, sultanas, currants, dried strawberries or pears, shredded coconut, nuts (peanuts, pecans, pistachios, macadamias) turkish delight, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas
200g block dark chocolate, broken into pieces
1 tbsp golden syrup
25g butter
¾ cup dark chocolate melts (or more dark chocolate, roughly chopped)

Line a 18x28cm slice tray with baking paper.

Mix your choice of chunks in a large bowl. Place the 200g chocolate, syrup and butter into a small saucepan over gentle heat and stir to melt. Remove from heat, tip in the extra chocolate (I like melts, since they quickly stick into the mix, but they’ll stay chunky enough that you’ll get good chocolate chunks through the finished mix). Pour into the dry ingredients. Combine well, tip into the tray and refrigerate.

MAKES 24 SQUARES

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Is your toddler a fussy eater? Here’s how to solve it

August 13, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family, feeding toddlers, fussy eating, parenting, recipe

Won’t eat vegies. Will lick mixing bowls.

By far the most common email I get is from stressed parents (actually it’s always mothers, but I’m being PC) of toddlers aged 2-3 who refuse to eat anything much and particularly won’t eat vegetables.

Getting the little darlings to put food into their gobs isn’t generally the problem. Ice-creams, lollies and chips usually disappear without any delay whatsoever, but finding a way to get any amount of fresh produce down the hatch is a constant and miserable drama that is starting to impact the family wellbeing (and mum’s sanity).

Does this sounds like you? Have dinners become miserable? Is your toddler holding you to food ransom?

Firstly, let me assure you that I feel your pain. This site exists due to my own experiences dealing with these issues. Back in 2006 when my daughter started causing me these headaches, I looked everywhere and really didn’t find too much helpful information. There were ‘cooking with kids’ books, which focused around getting them to bake treats and top pizzas. And there were ‘healthy kids’ books, written by nutritionists who insisted that all I had to do was serve my kids burgul salad and all would be well. Considering the short list of foods that were acceptable at the time, this idea was beyond laughable.

These days, there are a lot of good resources to help parents out, but I like to think that I’ve got some great ideas and recipes here to help you, in fact enough that I wanted to collate them into one toddler-specific post.

The good news is, that I’m living proof that this toddler behaviour is manageable and that you can overcome it. Now aged 8 and 6, both my fussy eaters are fantastic and will eat most things. It’s been a long but worthwhile road, one I would do all over again to achieve the outcome of healthy kids, without food issues who enjoy flavours and will take a food adventure with me.

I truly believe that if I had indulged them, to keep the peace, and maintained our limited menu, I would still be dealing with children who ‘won’t eat that’. Because one thing is certain, children who aren’t offered healthy food, definitely don’t eat it.

SO LETS’ BEGIN!…

• Why do I create my recipes the way I do? Click here to see a list of ten tips for smuggling vegies.

• Feeling overwhelmed? If this toddler behaviour is all new, read this post “Please help Vegie Smugglers, my child only eats…”

• More specific help. And if you need more help about dealing with toddler food behaviour, read “How to get fussy kids to try new foods.”

• Find inspiration. Click here for more of my personal story, and a great toddler tinned-spaghetti recipe.

• Recipes. Then of course you’ll need more fabulous recipes suitable for toddlers. As with most of my recipes, I aim to make them interesting enough for the whole family (no one wants to cook twice a night). Often I’ll suggest ways to ‘adult up’ a meal, by adding extra ingredients once you’ve served the kids. I’ve got a post about that, and a recipe for tomato & lentil pasta, both for you and your toddlers here.

• Even more recipes! You can see a selection of meal ideas here. Also, browse this entire blog. There are over 150 recipes on here that are all aimed at feeding fussy kids.

If you find all of this info helpful, and want even more recipes, you may want to buy the books or ebooks. Your purchase will benefit your family AND keep me afloat and able to whip up even more great ideas for you in the future.

Good luck and keep me posted on how you go!

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Ok, confess, how often do you eat McDonalds…

July 23, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, Food experiences · Tagged chicken, Fast food, feeding the family, parenting, recipe, vegetables

The food stylist’s food porn.

For us, McDonalds goes hand in hand with long car trips. It’s firmly entrenched as a family tradition and is just the enticement the kids need to KEEP IT TOGETHER on those long haul car trips. Like the other day, when we drove from Tenterfield to Newcastle. Turned out that Armidale was just the perfect time for a Maccas lunch.

Are you shocked that I feed my kids McDonalds? Usually it’s a twice a year treat, but so far this year, they’ve already eaten it three times. And I don’t really care. I don’t like the concept of taboo foods. I’d prefer to raise food-savvy kids, educated and able to enjoy everything without guilt. They just need to learn how often they should eat certain things.

Do you know parents who say, “We NEVER feed our kids fast food”? Such smugness bugs me. It’s right up there with those parents who also survive wonderfully without TVs and video games, who never yell at their kids or have a bad parenting moment. I’ve never mastered such parenting perfection. My kids and I live in the real world full of temptations and things that are bad for us. If I keep those lures magically out of reach, I can only imagine the rebellion, when as teens they can take their own money and scoff as many burgers as they want.

Did my kids enjoy their McDonalds cuisine? Not really (they prefer my nuggets which are apparently tastier) and part of me is always happy when we get to the end and the kids haven’t really been into it. Except for the toy. They always love the crappy toy.

Feeling brave, I ordered a sweet chilli chicken wrap. Safe to say that it was disgusting. All oozy and inedible. Have you noticed the current trend for fast-food ooze? The final food shot in all the ads has burgers and wraps oozing sauce. Looks gross to me, but it must be popular, so I’m jumping on the bandwagon, oozing away with my own version of a sweet chilli chicken wrap. Of course mine has pumpkin, spring onion and bamboo shoots in it, which means that it actually tastes good, too.

Thai style chicken chilli wraps

500g chicken mince
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs, (I make fresh ones from stale bread)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon grass (or lemon rind)
4 spring onions
225g can bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained
1 cup grated pumpkin
1 egg, lightly whisked
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
0-2 tbsp Thai red curry paste (NOTE: To appease everyone in my household, I skip the paste, to keep them blander for Miss F – then I add extra toppings in the wraps for adults. But if your whole family likes spice then add in some paste – it’s yum.)

To serve: Store bought wraps of your choice, spinach leaves, grated carrot, coriander, sweet chilli sauce.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Pop the mince into a large mixing bowl.

Use a mini food processor to whizz up the breadcrumbs, garlic and lemon grass/rind. Tip into the bowl.

Blitz the spring onion, add to the bowl and repeat with the bamboo shoots. Also add in the pumpkin (you can blitz it, but I actually prefer the texture of it grated) and the egg and all the sauces/pastes.

Wear kitchen gloves and use your hands to combine everything really well. Note that the mixture is SLOPPY! It will firm up during cooking. Form small patties, or long ‘chicken tender’ shapes and place on the tray.

Spray with cooking oil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and carefully turn over. Spray with more oil and cook for another 15-20 minutes until cooked through (break one open and check that the mince is no longer pink).

Serve with salad on wraps, with an extra dollop of sweet chilli sauce and lashings of coriander for the adults.

Serves 2 adults and 3 kids.

USE LEFTOVERS THE NEXT DAY… make a lunch salad with bits of chicken patties, spinach, carrot, fennel, avocado, sesame seeds and a sprinkle of brown vinegar – I just ate it and IT WAS DELICIOUS.

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The Youtube culinary institute…

June 21, 2013 · Filed under Food experiences, News, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged cooking techniques

Armed and (mildly) dangerous.

I never hide the fact that I’m not a trained chef. Considering my recipes are all for everyday family life, I’ve actually considered my lack of formal training to be a bit of an advantage. It means that my cookbooks are full of recipes that can be cooked by anyone – I never make an assumption that you know how to make a roux or whip up pastry.

But as I’ve cooked more and more, I’ve obviously gotten pretty good in the kitchen and as I’ve built confidence, I’ve given myself more challenges. Whenever I want to tackle something I’m unsure of, I’ll just do a search online and find some instructional video that gives me the confidence to HAVE A GO (ya mug).

The quality of online videos varies wildly, from the great to the hideous, so in the interest of giving you a red hot go in the kitchen, here are some links to good videos showing you how to tackle some everyday kitchen skills…

The basis of nearly every dinner – how to dice an onion.

If you love making casseroles in your slow cooker, you might want to know how to cut up a raw chicken into eight pieces. If that makes you squeamish, you might prefer this video – how to carve a roast chicken, which is also handy (mine never look like this!).

Have a perfect ‘mom’ moment by knowing how to perfectly cream butter and sugar.

Then you might want to separate eggs. And then of course you’ll need to know how to beat eggwhites. (You can also watch this one in Italian, just for something a bit exotic).

Take your patisserie skills even further and learn how to make choux pastry. If you’re feeling like pickling some pickles or jamming some jam, you’ll need to know how to sterilise jars. And for the ultimate Donna-Hay-presentation-moment, here’s five ways to finish your pie crusts.

For a bit of celebrity, here Gordon Ramsey cooks a cheese sauce. And here Curtis Stone shows us when fish is cooked (and let’s face it, we’ll avidly watch ~~pretty~~ Curtis do pretty much anything).

For lovers of japanese food, here is how to cook perfect sushi rice. And finally, a wacky one from my favourite Youtube channel – Cook with Dog. How to make a bento box.

Happy learning!

Vegie Smugglers