Glazed Kiwi & Lime Tart with Pistachio Crust - with photos

[JulieO]

Amanda, this is my camera, has an excellent macro feature that lets you get up close and personal without blurring. 

http://www.dpexpert.com.au/archives/2007/07/reviewcanon_powershot_s5_is.html

Thermomixer, please anyone that can simplify a converted recipe please do so, am still new and learning so I'm sure there are steps that can be shortened etc, and I don't mind anyone noting those simplified steps, please bring it on! 

[whisks]

ooooh, julie, as always, you know how much i adore your recipes - always so well thought out and explained so there's no guesswork involved.

another recipe i can add to my collection which i'll be trying soon - i've loved everything you've recommended - they all work because your instructions are so clear.

thanks again.

ETA: i don't think there's too many steps in this recipe - i just think you've explained it well. i think it would have too many steps if i didn't have a themomix to make it with, though... mwah!

[Amanda]

Amanda, this is my camera, has an excellent macro feature that lets you get up close and personal without blurring. 

http://www.dpexpert.com.au/archives/2007/07/reviewcanon_powershot_s5_is.html

Thermomixer, please anyone that can simplify a converted recipe please do so, am still new and learning so I'm sure there are steps that can be shortened etc, and I don't mind anyone noting those simplified steps, please bring it on! 

Thanks for the info, Julie.
I have been using 'high-end' digital camera with a macro function, but because I cannot control the aperture, the results are a bit hit-or-miss!
I have just ordered a DSLR - Olympus - so I hope to improve markedly, soonish!

[JulieO]

Thankyou Whisks, I hope you like it. 

Amanda, sounds good.  I'd be interested to hear what you think of the new camera when you get it, and I hope we'll get the oppurtunity to see of your shots once you're familiar with it. 

[Thermie007]

ooooh, julie, as always, you know how much i adore your recipes - always so well thought out and explained so there's no guesswork involved.

another recipe i can add to my collection which i'll be trying soon - i've loved everything you've recommended - they all work because your instructions are so clear.

I too say that myself & look forward to any recipe JulieO' has converted.She puts love into her food and it shows in her posts as well as in her photo's.Keep it up JulieO you are an asset to this forum and I hope to see your recipes in a future thermomix cookbook.Another  :-*from me.

[JulieO]

Aww thankyou Thermie, what a nice thing to say. 

[Thermomixer]

Great to see you logging in and commenting again Thermie007.  I can only say that I wholeheartedly agree about JulieO’s recipes being well thought out and her being an asset.  She really is one of my heroes.  When Thermomix Australia develops a group for home testing recipes JulieO would be among those that I would strongly recommend as being a suitable person for this program.

For some reason my comment about possibly reducing the steps and placing solid, rather than melted, butter into the mix appears to have upset some forum members.  It was in fact not my idea.  Over thirty years ago I purchased my first Magimix and a couple of books to go with it.  One by a wonderful lady from the UK, Marika Hanbury Tenison, who was married to a writer and explorer.  She had written another little book that I cherished during my college days, “Leftover for Tomorrow”.  The jacket of the book states that “The only problem is how to make the most of its infinite possibilities, ...”, and the same may well be said of the Thermomix.  The last recipe in the book is for a Magimix Cheesecake, where she places roughly chopped digestive biscuits and cubes of butter into the bowl and processes them until well mixed.

The following came from my “Wizz in the Kitchen” cookbook from the early 1980s. 



The Breville company was keen to promote the wonders of being able to make a crumb without melting the butter.  Melting butter to add to biscuit crumbs is a relic of the bad old days when the crumbs were made by creating biscuit crumbs by crushing biscuits with a rolling pin and then adding melted butter.  Thirty or forty years ago food processors ended the need for smashing biscuits with a rolling pin and melting butter to add to the crumbs.

I find it hard to understand why people would want to zealously cling to using melted butter in the Thermomix for making crumb crusts when an inferior food processor can very successfully make a crumb without the need for a microwave or stove.

Yesterday I was invited to attend the demonstration in Sydney organised by Thermomix Australia, hosted by Lindy Milan, with Mark Best (the chef from three-hatted Marque Restaurant who did the pear soufflé video on the TMX website).  The day was a promo for professional chefs and restaurateurs and some of the Sydney journalists.  The dish that was most passionately received was the crème anglaise.  A dish that normally requires numerous steps when made in a restaurant, but is made so much easier by simply throwing everything into the TMX and setting it to cook and stir.    Mark was keen to point out that there are endless possibilities and his team are improving and developing recipes all the time.  He gives his chefs an idea and lets them find the most effective means of producing the result.

I was talking to Grace Mazur and Tenina and it was agreed that recipes for the TMX are developing every day due to the machine having only been recently available.   Tenina stated that the recipe books, including the most recent Taste of Vegetarian, need  to be tweaked and that she would now use different methods for recipes that she published 12 months ago.  It is an evolving process and input from users is important in the system.  There are many recipes that I have written and would now approach completely differently.

As a thank you I was given a copy of the new My Way of Cooking cookbook and it is amazing to see how many recipes in there have been simplified from previous similar recipes.  It really is worth getting a copy, whichever way you can.

Again, I think that JulieO’s recipe is great and for me it is not a problem to have all the steps, but I made a crumb base with all the ingredients thrown into the TM bowl and blitzed for 10 seconds to show that for those who want a simpler, faster method, then it is possible.  The crumb can be done in one step.





Once more, congratulations to JulieO for being a Hero member.  Not only are you to be congratulated for the wonderful recipes and fantastic photos, but your willingness to make comments, respond to comments, support others and be an active member of the forum, is very much appreciated by me, and I am sure many others.

[judydawn]

Thanks for that information Thermomixer - anything to make cooking easier is welcomed by me.  Delicious looking dessert by the way.  I now understand what TAC means - bet you had a laugh at my PM    It is great to see recipes being made easier but as far as HO is concerned and any recipe book that has been sold, I feel they should let us know of any improvements & changes (via this forum eg).  This has been done previously and must continue to be done - these books are not cheap.

In regard to what you said about JulieO, don't think any of us would disagree with your comments there.  We all love her too.

[JulieO]

Thankyou so much for all your comments, such nice things to say.  I guess with the TM being such a unique machine that quicker methods of doing things will start to surface.

I guess a lot of us are at fault for sticking to what we've always done and I for one will be trying the butter-in-with-the-biscuits next time I need to.  As long as recipes turn out how I want them I don't mind the less-steps thing.  I think it's experience that tells us that certain things can be done in a different way, which when starting out converting recipes aren't that obvious to us (well me anyway).

I'm learning every day with this great machine and everybody's feedback is another way to do so. 

[Thermomixer]

My comments about your activities here are completely justified.  You are a great help with developing recipes and testing recipes and interacting to improve our understanding and use of the TMX.

I really wish that HQ would find a way to utilise the talents of people such as yourself to improve and increase utilisation of the TMX.

All time-saving and money-saving tips should be stored in their website to help promote the TMX.  Currently this forum would be the most useful sales tool for many potential customers, with photos such as yours being a big selling point.

There have been discussions about a testing panel and people like you are essential.  I am more like brazen (and sure she would agree) and fly by the seat of my pants and don't necessarily follow the recipe to the letter.  So not the best for testing.

So, again, THANKS 

[CreamPuff63]

I quite agree with cookie that HO should be advising their customers when they find a better way of doing things.
When they email their consultants they can put in the latest amendments to their cookbooks. If consultants are emailing their clients they can include this information to update their books if they want that they have purchased.

Nice looking little pie TMR - is the recipe on this forum?

[Thermomixer]

The pie is JulieO's alternative with strawberries instead of kiwi fruit and the pie crust done by blending everything in together. 

[I Love Bimby!]

Such wonderful input and feedback. Yes Julie, I completely agree with Thermomixer. Your dedication to trying, converting and so wonderfully presenting recipes is inspiring!

it's a real shame to read TMX's comments about HO realising new ways of doing things and not passing this on. Surely customer news letters, consultant training etc would be so benificial to HO and to the customers. It's a huge change in cooking styles to move to thermomix, so any improvements would be wonderful to share with customers.

As for your suggestion on the butter Thermomixer - any improvement in reduction of steps is wonderful. I recently tried crushing biscuits, then adding butter and trying to bring the temp to 50C as an alternative but it wasn't that successful.

And Thermomixer is an amazing advocate for this forum and Thermomix users, recipes etc. I hope HO are looking after you. 

[meganjane]

These tarts look divine, my mouth is watering!! Great idea of butter into bickie crumbs without having to melt!

[Depome]

I made this tart in its original form for dinner with friends last night. I thought I pop back with some feedback/things that I did differently.

I too melted the butter then added it to the biscuit crumbs. I think this may have been a negative. The crust set VERY hard, despite being thinner than those that I see here. I did make it the day before (another downfall I think) so it was well-set too. I am thinking that adding solid butter will reduce the presence of the butter and may help to keep the crust softer

I used a 23cm ceramic fluted quiche type dish. I spread the crust quite thin I think as once I'd combined the filling and examined the quantity, I decided that I could afford to trim the top of the pie crust, leveling it neatly and removing the most cooked parts. So despite this, the crust still set far too hard. I think making it on the day would be an improvement.

I used only 3 limes to get about 140ml of juice, which really surprised me. They were as small as ever, but at room temp (which helps).

I only need 3 kiwi fruit for the topping, despite slicing them quite thickly, I thought.

I think the glaze was a little runny. I think it could be improved by substituting with lime marmalade, warmed and sieved. I am assuming that adding more cornflour would make the glaze more opaque, defeating the object. Having glazed my tart, I left it in the fridge overnight, and found the kiwi fruit were quite soggy and a bit transparent the next day. It didn't look that great  Again, I think making on the day, or topping it on the day would improve this a lot.

The flavours are lovely, just like a lime continental cheesecake recipe that I have, but next time I would:
Make it on the morning of the day that it will be served.
Put the fruit on top and glaze it about an hour before serving.
Glaze it with sieved marmalade.
Buy 3 limes and 3 kiwi fruit!

Julie, I didn't find it too sweet, and I'm not really a sweet tooth either, I thought it was fine.

I served it with homemade coconut ice cream (TMX) sprinkled with chopped left-over pistachios.