What are you been cooking today

[judydawn]

I actually made this today, pretty hot in Adelaide and it went down a treat.  Can't believe 2 oranges made 2 large glasses of orange juice. Had to look up Joy's website again to see exactly how she made it.

[Amanda]

I, too, have been making this almost daily.  Last night I made it for 4 of us using 5 oranges and about 12 ice cubes, but only about 100 mls of water.

[Amanda]

Today - orange juice, dough for pizza scrolls for lunchboxes and then Coconut Brownie Slice.  I have adapted a recipe from New Idea and will post it when we make sure it turns out ok!

[judydawn]

Tonight for tea we had Trudy's Coconut & Coriander Chicken Skewers from Mains  - only did 1/4 of the recipe for the 2 of us (3 skewers each) & didn't want to open a can of coconut cream just for 1 tablespoon so I put a few drops of coconut essence into a bit of light cream which did the trick). They were moist and delicious.  Steamed some potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and asparagus to go with them.

[cookie1]

Did you use the Varoma for the steaming Judydawn? If so how long do you normally steam them for please? I haven't had much success.

[judydawn]

Yes I did Cookie1 and they were perfectly cooked.  Depending on the size you cut them I guess but I did mine for 30 minutes and put 1 litre of boiling water in the TM bowl - my steaming book says 500g but I went for 1 litre because I think I read somewhere that it works better. I cut the potatoes into 1/8ths, carrots 2cm slices, cauli into medium sized florets (they all went into the varoma dish) and the thin asparagus I placed on the varoma tray on their own and did them all for the same time.  Must admit, this is my first time just cooking vegies on their own and was surprised I got it right.  So much tastier than boiled vegies.

[cookie1]

Thanks, I will have to get brave and have another go.  Especially if we're taking it away with us in May.

[UnConundrum]

Made the mushroom risotto out of the book today (couldn't find the one that used to be posted here).  It was terrible.  Way too much parsley.  That's all you could taste.  The recipe called for 20g.  Guess I should have known better.

On the bright side, I played with my recipe for multi-grain bread and adapted it over to the TM.  You can find the recipe by clicking here

[brazen20au]

mmmm bread looks fabulous!

[judydawn]

I second that   Nice to see you back on air Unconundrum.  Don't know what book you are referring to as far as the mushroom risotto goes, my recipe book (pge 85 everyday cookbook) doesn't have any parsley in the recipe whatsoever. DH didn't like this one either though so next time I will try Joys idea of substituting half of the mushrooms with sundried tomatoes and only using 430g rice so will see if that improves it.  Makes heaps though, only going to do 1/2 qty next time.

[brazen20au]

we aren't mushroom fans so we've only ever made pumpkin risotto so quick and easy and everyone eats it so a great backup plan

[UnConundrum]

It was page 87 of the "Fast and Easy Cooking" book.  I made the one that used to be posted here before, and really enjoyed that one...  I was really disappointed with the one I made today.

I haven't been gone, just not much to say.  My wife has been trying out her new slow cooker, so I haven't been cooking as much.  It's just her and me, so there's a limit to what we can eat.  I really have to pare down some of my soup recipes to fit the TM.  I usually make many quarts at a time and freeze it (make all my own stocks too).   The recipes all greatly exceed the capacity of the TM, and it's really not great at browning meats.  The fond from browning is important to the soup/stock, so it's easier to make in a pot, but I want to do more experimenting.

[cookie1]

When we have risotto I only ever make the 350g amount, although I am very seriously thinking of doing even less as that is too much for us. I've been doing my own thing re flavours for the risotto and just following the times and speeds etc from the book.

[judydawn]

I actually got out my huge slow cooker this morning to cook up 8 lamb shanks which I was going to share with my daughter but a friend rang and I invited them to tea tomorrow night as I had the perfect meal slowly cooking in the background. Poor daughter and husband will miss out but they didn't know it was going to be offered anyway.  Obviously this is a dish that can't be done in the TMX but I will be doing the mashed potatoes and steamed vegies in it of course.

[Amanda]

I have been mincing chicken and then cooking both chicken mince and rice for a very sick little puppy who has had a bad reaction to her vaccination.  I hope she recovers soon as the mess has been daunting - to say the least!!