Recipe Book Tweaking and Reviews!

[janeeknits]

Yes, it's hard to 'uncreate' a bad impression. There is little evaporation so liquids do need to be limited - without causing sticking.
You may have found organic rolled oats more suitable by the way. Did you use quick oats?

Actually we used actual oats that my dad freshly rolled in his grain mill.  These were chopped as per the porridge instructions and soaked overnight in water.

The problem was the instructions which say 8-9 minutes 90 degrees reverse speed soft - it wasn't long enough or hot enough or fast enough to do anything but produce lukewarm soup.

In the end I did about 6 mins at 100 degrees speed 1.5 and it produced a beautiful creamy result but that was a lucky guess.

These are seriously BASIC functions - I wouldn't call the correct settings to cook porridge a recipe and yet they are totally wrong.

The other one that really makes me angry is the instruction to chop onions carrots etc for 5 seconds on speed 7 - its total mush.  From experience I now do 3 secs on speed 5 for a nice fine chop.  But when you've just dropped nearly $2K on a bit of kitchen kit you expect the instructions for the basics to be accurate.

I've obviously got the old book which is sad

[Toni]

Yes, some things are surprizing - like the lack of consistency in the way recipes are listed in the index.
I gather the reason some of the recipes seem to be overprocessed is that they have been taken straight from the European books - these cultures have the habit of overcooking vegetables according to our modern palate - as a matter of course, I do just about less of everything - that includes less sugar and less time. I usually find the seafood recipes need alot less time. It's easier to add a couple of minutes if not satisfied.
I think that the soaking of the oats means that they need less time to cook. I don't think the TM recipe book is referring to soaked oats. I prefer them soaked too and it certainly reduces the cooking time - less cooking time = less evaporation time too = add less liquid.

[cathy79]

Hi Janeeknits - I was wondering whether freshly milled oats might have a different texture to bought rolled oats, and maybe that accounts for the "soup" result?  I don't grind or soak my rolled oats at all, as I like a bit of texture, but have found that 90 degrees reverse and speed soft always get a good result.  I think the time can vary dependent on how cooked you like your oats, and perhaps even the original temperature of the liquid?

Hope you start having some more positive experiences. 

[ronvw]

Chicken and Cashews
EDC page 107

I made this exactly as the recipe. I found the sauce a little bland-possibly I didn't put enough soy in it. To liven it up a bit I stirred some sweet chilli sauce through it.

4/5   Will make it again.

Thanks Cookie1, I cooked this last night and was not happy with the sauce, Will do a rerun tonight with the left overs and some more chicken.
This time I'm using an old favourite chicken marinade, Soy sauce, honey, vinegar,  brown sugar. Regards Ron

[naz]

Roulade of Spinach from GFCB
I made this tonight.....yes i like a challenge!! I think there is way too much oil as I had oil everywhere when I turned it out onto the damp teatowel. The recipe said 200g....I wonder if it should've read 20g? Anyway, next time I will put a heap less in it & see if there is much difference. It cooked well & rolled well but I got a bit impatient so unrolled it too soon while it was still a bit hot & it broke up a bit. Will know for next time.
Was a little bland tasting even though I added a touch of curry powder & parsley to the cream filling. Maybe some lemon pepper seasoning....it needs something else anyway so will have to play with that one.
All up I would rate it about 3 as it was fairly straight forward to make, just needs those tweaks applied. Served it up with a fresh tossed salad. Would be very impressive for a dinner party if we could improve the flavour!
Would love to hear from anyone else who has made it. (did do a search but nothing came up)

[Patricia]

Hi
I wanted to make plum jam - but the Everyday TM book is pretty vague. At what point do you take the stones out of the plums? I've resorted to using my CWA Cookbook for the time being, but I'm sure I could have used the TM.

Patricia

[judydawn]

Patricia, up the top where it says 1kg plums, it tells you in brackets to wash & remove the stones. My EDC is the May 2008 edition.

[Patricia]

Hi Judy

thanks for the reply. It doesn't say anything about the stones in my book (Jan 2009). In brackets is says (any red variety, washed) which wasn't particularly helpful. I'm not very confident in adapting things to the TM.

thanks again

Patricia

[NatMc]

I have made the strawberry tart twice now in small sizes and a large 24cm flan and both times have had rave reviews. I do agree with the gel it is way too much cornflour and looks like glue. I just added more liquid so i could use a pastry brush on it.

[matmob]

Gluten free book
 sesame slice

 hi there this didn't work out for me. It doesn't gel, just stays as a dry mixture.

can you tell me what is missing from it?

The recipe doesn't say anything about baking this - but I did just until it went slightly brown and I found it much better.

[ClareN]

I've only had my TM for a week and have made a few things with varying degrees of success!

Recipe Name: Chocolate Sauce
Book Name: EDC
Tweaking details: None
Review: Fantastic!
Score: (out of 5*) 5


Recipe Name: Strawberry Sauce
Book Name: EDC
Tweaking details: None
Review: Delicious!
Score: (out of 5*) 5


Recipe Name: Ginger Beer
Book Name: EDC
Tweaking details: A lot less ginger and more sugar.  I only used 150g of ginger but it was so strong we couldn't drink it.
Review: Too strong and not nice
Score: (out of 5*) 0


Recipe Name: Creamy Traditional Ice-Cream
Book Name: EDC
Tweaking details: Maybe a bit more cream and less milk as it gets icy after a couple of days.
Review: Very nice flavour and very light and creamy.
Score: (out of 5*) 4 (would be 5 but it doesn't keep well)


Recipe Name: Veal Pizziola
Book Name: EDC
Tweaking details: Made it twice and the second time I blitzed the oil, oregano and added garlic for the marinade.  Also marinated it for 5 hours for more flavour.
Review: Very nice.  Guests were impressed    Meat is very tender and veggies are nice in the varoma.
Score: (out of 5*) 5


Recipe Name: Butter Chicken
Book Name: EDC
Tweaking details: Not sure.  But it doesn't taste like Butter Chicken at all.  Needs less spice and more butter I think.  Also the chicken wasn't properly cooked, so I don't think 25 mins is long enough.  Think the chicken would be better marinated as well, and it produces WAY too much sauce.
Review: Not one I will try again.  We couldn't even eat it as the chicken was still raw in the middle!
Score: (out of 5*) 0


Recipe Name: Bolognaise Sauce
Book Name: EDC
Tweaking details: None, though quantity is small when making the lasagne.
Review: YUM!  We made it for lasagne and it was delicious.
Score: (out of 5*) 5


Recipe Name: Bechamel Sauce
Book Name: EDC
Tweaking details: None. 
Review: Made the double lot for Lasagne and it was delicious!
Score: (out of 5*) 5


I think after reading here, I might get more recipes from you guys.  I made a Chocolate Ice-cream from here the other day and my husband LOVED it!

[faffa_70]

Great reviews ClareN - I wonder though if perhaps your chicken cut too large as it should have been well and truly cooked in the 20 min.

[judydawn]

You've done well in a week Clare and we'd love you to try some of our recipes on here.  I had no problems with either the ginger beer or the traditional ice-cream - loved both of them but our taste buds are not all the same so there will be different responses from people all the time.  Have fun browsing our recipes and let us know what you do and what you think. If you only knew how hard it was to get people to do reviews in the early days of this forum    Things are different now and this forum is all the better for it.

[KatieV]

Hi all,

I'd back ClareN's comments on the Butter Chicken, very disappointed in total lack of flavour.  I didn't have the issue with the chicken pieces being raw in the middle.  My chicken cooked ok, just the lack of flavour was the issue.  I have the Indian cookbook and will make the version out of that one to see what the difference is.  Other feedback:

Tuna Mornay
Budget Bu$ter$
No tweaks needed.  Lemon juice gives it a real zesty zing - but not too overpowering
5 out of 5

Mashed Potato
Everyday Cooking
No tweaks needed - but found I needed to keep the measuring cup out of the lid as the liquid bubbled up and out if left in place.  Quantity was too much for 2 people, but I have frozen extras and have no issues with reheating, but you must remember to stir to get smooth consistency back.  This is a weekly must have from my husband.
5 out of 5

Beetroot Salad
Everyday Cooking
No tweaks needed - loved the crunch of the raw vegies - loved this one
5 out of 5

Baked Choc-Cinnamon Pudding
Budget Bu$ter$
Rice not completely cooked in steamer - didn't soften after being baked in oven.  Will remake and stir rice half way through cooking, as rice on base of steamer was perfect.  Chocolate flavour good.
3.5 out of 5

Cheers & happy cooking everyone.

KatieV

[judydawn]

Thanks for the reviews KatieV.  Good idea about stirring the rice halfway through.  If you've seen 'Brons garlic rice' on the forum, that is what she advised us to do several times during the cooking.  I've never frozen mashed potato - it obviously freezes well then?  I always have leftovers but it gets used the next day normally and TMX mash heats up beautifully in the microwave.
I tasted the beetroot salad at the demo I went to when I bought my machine and after 2 years, I still haven't made it