Hello,

I would like to make Floating Islands for a dinner party this weekend, and thought it would be perfect for the Thermomix. I have the older model: TM 21. The only hitch is that the recipe I found on the French Vorwerk site is for a TM 31. Normally, it's not a big deal to convert, but in this recipe you are supposed to whip the egg whites with the butterfly at Speed 3.5. However, with the TM 21, you're not supposed to go faster than Speed 3 when you are using the butterfly. Any suggestions?

Here are the original directions in French with a rough English translation:

Insérer le fouet dans le bol. Ajouter les blancs d’œufs avec une pincée de sel et régler 6 mn à 70°, vitesse 3,5. Cette opération permet de monter les blancs en neige et de les cuire en même temps.

Insert the butterfly into the bowl. Add the egg whites with a pinch of salt and cook for 6 minutes/70˚/Speed 3.5. [Note: The recipe calls for 6 egg whites.] The method allows you to whip the egg whites at the same time that you cook them.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Tanya

Thank you, Judydawn and Thermomixer! I'm not sure if my first attempt at natillas is thick enough to hold the weight of a cookie. I still have a little leftover, so I'll try when I get home tonight. I wonder if the reason that the custard wasn't thicker is that I used yolks straight out of the fridge. Perhaps I should have let them come to room temperature first. I'll try that next time and let you know!

Hello everyone,

I am working on converting a recipe for Thai-style Chicken with Basil to the Thermomix. The original recipe instructions have you mince your own chicken in the food processor:

"Pulse chicken and 1 tablespoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is chopped into approximate 1/4-inch pieces, six to eight 1-second pulses."

I am afraid using turbo will mince the meat too finely. I'd like to get the mincing right the first time, as I wouldn't like to waste the meat! Would you mind providing suggestions for speed settings and time to mince the chicken in the TM? (I have a TM21, but I can make do with your suggestions even if for a TM 31! )

Thanks in advance!
Tanya

Name of Recipe: Best Cocoa Brownies - adapted for Thermomix from a recipe by Alice Medrich
These are my favorite brownies. They are fudge-like and dense and full of rich chocolate flavor. Thanks to all the forum members for helping me convert this recipe!

Number of People: Makes 16 to 25 brownies

Ingredients:
- 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter (145 g butter)
- 280 grams sugar
- 85 grams unsweetened cocoa
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cold large eggs
- 60 grams all-purpose flour
- Special equipment: An 8-inch square baking pan (20cm x 20cm)

Preparation:
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F/160˚C. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Cube butter and add to the TM bowl along with the sugar. Heat butter/sugar mixture at 50˚C/5 min/Speed 2. Add cocoa and salt to the bowl and mix 10 seconds/Speed 3. Scrape down the sides of the TM bowl. Mix an additional 5-10 seconds/Speed 3 until cocoa is incorporated. Mixture will be very thick and look somewhat gritty.

Add the vanilla to the TM bowl. With the blades running at Speed 3, add the eggs one at a time through the hole in the TM lid for a total of 30-45 seconds. Batter should look shiny and well-blended. Add the flour and mix 30 sec/Speed 3. Insert the spatula and turn in a counterclockwise direction to help incorporate it. The batter will be very thick. Use TM spatula to spread batter evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Photos: coming!

Member's comments
Amanda - I used a good quality Dutch cocoa and they are rich and gorgeous and deserving of a place as a formal dessert with a berry coulis and some good cream!!
Because of the density of the batter, I didn't use the butterfly.
I melted the butter, added the sugar, cocoa and salt  Speed 4/30 seconds.
Added vanilla and eggs, then flour, then baked them.
\Am now going to gaze adoringly at what is left of the
The batter is very thick! You may need to unscrew the blades and let them fall out with the batter like you do with bread dough.
It is easiest to cut the brownies with a plastic knife.

Leej - Well, I had to try them. I have a tried and tested cocoa brownie recipe we use weekly.
And this was amazing... My brownies are more cakey, this was fudgy gorgeous goodness!
Thank you so much for telling me about the home-brand cocoa!! I got some, it is amazing! So different to the cadbury one! I know what I'll be buying from now on. Thanks so much for the recipe.

My favorite brownie recipe is Best Cocoa Brownies by Alice Medrich.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Best-Cocoa-Brownies-108346

This afternoon I tried to convert the recipe to the TM and it was a complete disaster. I didn't even get past the first step. At least, the TM was easy to clean up! I will tell you what the original instructions are, what I tried, and what happened. I would love some suggestions on how to properly convert the recipe. Thanks!

Ingredients needed for step 1:
135 g butter
250g sugar
40g unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt

Original
combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, an salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture smoth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test.

What I tried and the result
I cut the butter (cold from fridge) into cubes and tossed into the Thermomix along with the rest of the ingredients. I set the TM to 3 minutes/50 degrees/speed 2. After the timer went off, I checked and the butter and chocolate mass were not combined at all. It looked pretty unpleasant. I tried faster speeds, higher temps., inserting the butterfly, but nothing worked. It could be that I had already ruined it from the initial attempt and there was nothing I could do to salvage it.

Anyway, I hope someone might have suggestion for how to start out this recipe.

Thanks in advance,
Tanya 

Name of Recipe: Red Kidney Bean Curry - converted to TM from a Smitten Kitchen recipe

Number of People: 6

Ingredients:
5 cm ginger, peeled and cut into coins
125-150g onion, quartered (1 medium onion)
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 serrano chili (optional)
70g extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
8 ounce can of tomato sauce (about 225 g)
1 plum tomato, diced
3 cups boiled red kidney beans, drained--reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid, or 30 ounces canned red kidney beans, undrained*
chopped fresh cilantro and yogurt for garnish

Preparation:
Mince the garlic, ginger and chillies by dropping them on the running blades at Speed 8. Chop the onions by dropping them on the running blades at Speed 4 1/2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the spatula. Add the oil. Sauté 3 minutes/Varoma Temperature/Speed 1/MC off.

Add the tomato sauce, salt and remaining spices and sauté 5 minutes/Varoma Temperature/Speed 1/MC off.

For TM 21 users, insert the butterfly. Add the kidney beans, 1 cup water or bean cooking liquid, and chopped tomato and cook 15-20 minutes/100˚C/Speed 1/MC off. If you have a TM31, I think you could use the reverse blade direction instead of the butterfly. If mixture starts to fly out of the lid, set steamer basket over hole. Serve over rice or with naan, garnished with yogurt and cilantro.

Photos: No photo yet. I'll take one next time because I'll definitely be making this again.

Tips/Hints:
* I used dried Christmas lima beans that I prepared in my slow cooker. Soak 1/2 lb beans overnight in a brine of 1.5 tablespoons kosher salt to 2 quarts water. After soaking, drain and rinse beans. Add beans to slow cooker with 1 bay leaf and 4 whole garlic cloves. Add enough water to cover beans by an inch or two. Cook on low until tender, about 8 hours.

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome! Yes, my TM 21 is in ounces and Fahrenheit. Since every recipe is in grams, it's just easier for me to set my bowl on my kitchen scale to weigh. And thankfully, converting from 100˚C to Fahrenheit is easy! I'm trying out a recipe I converted for the Thermomix tonight. If it goes well, I'll post it.

How much water should you add to the bowl when you steam clean it?

Thanks!
Tanya