Dairy Free Condensed Milk & Dulce de Leche

The other day I asked on my Facebook page, "What's something you reeeeaaallly wish you had an allergy-friendly recipe for (and what's the ingredient/s that is stopping you make the original recipe)?" Well. I got lots of comments. Like about 180 of them. And one that was mentioned a few times was dairy free condensed milk, so I thought it was about time I had a go at it.

There are a few dairy free condensed milk recipes online - I had a quick look for Thermomix versions and found this one over at The Thermomix Diaries, which linked back to this one on the Thermomix Recipe Community. Of course, I had to have a play with the recipe to reduce the sugar (too much for me!), change it to a sweetener I prefer, and start with a creamier (dairy free) base instead of milk. And this is what I came up with... So delicious!! 

I've made it a few times now, each time a little different, so here's two different versions - one is just a basic dairy free condensed milk made with bought coconut cream, and the other is a dairy free dulce de leche (caramel) made from homemade coconut cream, inspired by this recipe over at the UK Thermomix FB page. I'm thinking you could use the dulce de leche recipe and just cook it for less time to make a 'from scratch' version of the condensed milk - that will be my next experiment! (Thought I'd better just hurry up and get this posted!!) 

By the way, great news - not once has it boiled over, or even gotten close. I know that's the dreaded danger when you make condensed milk or dulce de leche with cow's milk. (I remember the horror stories my friend Bel told me about the sticky mess all over her countertop and under her Thermomix! Eek!) Cow's milk has a tendency to do this when boiled, but I have never had a problem with dairy free milks and creams. (Hopefully no one proves me wrong!) 

Dairy Free Condensed Milk

Place ingredients in the Thermomix bowl and cook at Varoma temperature for 45 minutes on speed 4, with the rice basket on the lid (instead of the MC) to let the steam out.

- 1000g organic coconut cream (I used 18+% fat Spiral brand)

- 200g pure organic maple syrup

Leave to cool for a bit in the bowl, blend gently again on speed 3-4 for a few seconds (as it sometimes separates a little), then carefully scrape into a glass jar. This recipe will make about 400g, so it can be used to replace a tin of condensed milk in recipes.

[Note: When it's cold in the fridge you may notice little bits of coconut cream flecked through it that have kind of solidified - don't stress, if you whiz it up they disappear. And for most recipes, it wouldn't matter anyway as it will be cooked or blended with other ingredients.]

Okay, and now for the amazing Dairy Free Dulce de Leche!

Dairy Free Dulce de Leche

First make the coconut cream. Because it's going to be cooked anyway, just make raw coconut cream, it's quicker. 

[Note: If you're thinking of making this raw coconut cream to go in your fridge to be used for other things, just be aware that it will separate quite drastically - when you cook it, it stays 'together'. If it's going to be added to a recipe straight away it doesn't matter, but if you like it in your coffee (like I do), cooked is best. (Recipe for cooked coconut cream is here.)]

1. Grind up the coconut for 20 seconds on speed 9.
- 300g organic dessicated or shredded coconut 
(you can buy preservative free coconut from the health food shop)

2. Add water and blend for 1 minute on speed 9.
- 1000g (1 Litre) water

3. Strain coconut milk through a nut milk bag into a bowl, squeezing it out really well to get as much cream as you can. 

[Set the cream aside and tip the coconut pulp back into the Thermomix. Add another 300g water, blend once more for a minute on speed 9, re-strain into a separate bowl, and you have milk for another recipe. Freeze the coconut pulp, and when you have enough you can dehydrate it then grind it up to make coconut flour.]

4. Measure the coconut cream back into the Thermomix bowl. Add other ingredients and cook at Varoma temperature for 55 minutes, speed 4, with the rice basket set on top of the lid (instead of the MC) to let the steam out.
- 1000g (1 litre) of coconut cream
- 200g organic pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (not essence)

That's it! Too easy. I was jumping around the kitchen in excitement when I opened the lid of the Thermomix after making this! And if you don't believe me, just ask my taste testers - they all agreed that it was totally amazing and exciting and were very happy they'd happened to stop by for a visit at just the right time!! ;)

This recipe results in about a little over a cup of dulce de leche. Sorry I can't be more definite than that - after eight people sampled it I realised I'd forgotten to weigh out the amount! Ah well, must make it again... :D

My taste testers... and the verdict was YUM!!

(You really should try dulce de leche on warm, freshly baked spelt bread rolls - mmmm!!)

Variations: 

- Try fresh grated coconut (brown skin removed) instead of dessicated coconut for the coconut cream.

- Try a different sweetener - honey, yacon syrup, rice malt syrup, rapadura, coconut sugar... different sweeteners will result in different colours, but they should all work fine. Adjust amount to taste.

- If you can't have coconut, you could use other dairy free milks, but make sure they're thick and creamy enough that you'll get a nice thick result, or just cook for longer if needed.

Spicy BBQ Chicken All-in-One Dinner

 



One of the things I love most about my Thermomix is that it makes super-delicious and super-easy 'all-in-one' meals! (You may have noticed that. There's quite a few on my blog.)

Who doesn't love a meal that's quick to put together, doesn't use up every pot in the cupboard, saves electricity by cooking everything at once, and tastes delicious to boot? Not to mention the fact that steamed veges are much better for you than veges boiled to death in a pot of water. So I tend to make a lot of these 'all-in-one' meals, just varying the layers to use whatever I have. When the cooking time is finished, if there's liquid in the bowl, I often use it to make a sauce to pour over the top so nothing is wasted.

Here's one I made up the other night - chicken thighs cooking in a spicy BBQ sauce, with veges and either rice, potatoes or quinoa cooking in the basket in the bowl, and a sauce made with the juices that are left in the bowl at the end. Very simple, a great mid-week meal. It's a little bit spicy, so adjust the chilli powder to taste!

Spicy BBQ Chicken All-in-One Dinner

1. Mince garlic in Thermomix bowl on speed 7 for 3 seconds:

- 2 cloves garlic

 

2. Add remaining sauce ingredients and mix on speed 5 for 10 seconds:

- 80g tomato sauce

- 60g apple cider vinegar

- 30g butter, ghee or oil

- 2 tsp seeded or Dijon mustard

- 2 Tbspns Tamari

- 2 Tbspns lemon juice

- 20g Rapadura or 15g honey

- 1 tsp herb salt

- 1-2 tsp chilli powder

- 2 tsp smoked paprika

 

3. Pour over chicken thighs in a bowl and marinate for half an hour. (If you don't have time you can just go ahead and cook them.)

- 1 kg chicken thighs, fat removed

 

4. Pour water into bowl, insert rice basket, and weigh in rice/quinoa/potatoes.

- 900g water

- 400g basmati rice

    OR

  350g quinoa (rinsed)

    OR   

  fill basket with thickly sliced potatoes (skin on)

5. Put lid on bowl, with Varoma on top. Add veges to lower Varoma tray, and place the upper Varoma tray on top. Line with wet baking paper, and arrange chicken on paper, drizzling with some of the sauce. Set remaining sauce aside for later.
- sliced veges: carrots, broccoli, green beans, red capsicum... or even just frozen peas and corn if you're in a hurry
- chicken in BBQ sauce

 

6. Start cooking for 20 minutes at Varoma temp, speed 4 for rice or quinoa, or 25 minutes for potatoes. When cooking time is finished, remove Varoma (set it on it's lid to catch drips) and remove rice/quinoa/potatoes and cooked veges to a Thermoserver or covered serving dish to keep warm. The chicken will need a little more time to cook.

7. If you cooked rice/quinoa, there won't be much 'juice' left in the bowl. Add some more liquid by carefully draining the juices off the chicken into the bowl. Also, add the reserved BBQ sauce to the bowl (from marinating the chicken). Replace lid and Varoma (bottom tray will be empty), and cook for another 10 minutes at Varoma temperature, speed 2. Chicken should be done - cut a thigh in half to check.

    If you cooked potatoes in the basket, there'll be lots of water left in the bowl. Tip all but about 2 inches of water out. Add juices from chicken and reserved sauce, replace chicken in Varoma tray, and cook as above.

 

The juices left in the bowl - BBQ marinade is added and it is thickened to make sauce.

8. Remove cooked chicken to another Thermoserver or covered serving dish. Make the sauce by adding cornstarch/arrowroot mixture to bowl and cooking at 100C for 4 minutes, speed 4.
- 2 Tbspns cornstarch or arrowroot, mixed with 2 Tbspns water in a cup

 

 

9. Serve chicken, veges and rice/quinoa/potatoes together, drizzled with the sauce.

 

As you can see, it's very handy to have more than one *Thermoserver!

They'll keep your food hot for up to three hours, so you can make dinner ahead of time and keep it in the servers until everyone's ready to eat. No more cold dinners.

 

* A Thermoserver is a double insulated stainless steel serving dish valued at $60, available only through Thermomix home demonstrations in Australia. 

 

* Special Deal for January 2013 *

You can receive TWO Thermoservers for free by purchasing a Thermomix in January,

and holding your home demonstration before the end of February!

Visit the Thermomix website for more details.

Bolognese Sauce in the Thermomix

I've heard people say they don't like bolognese sauce made in the Thermomix, because it's bland, and turns to mush. Well, I beg to differ. You can't blame the Thermomix for lack of flavour - that depends on what you put in, just as it does when you cook in a saucepan on the stovetop. And if it's the texture that's bothering you, let me reassure you it doesn't have to be 'mush'!

This is basically how I make my bolognese sauce; you can add to or subtract from it to make it the way you like it. You can use lamb, turkey or chicken mince instead of beef if you like. Or if you want a vegetarian version, leave out the meat and add extra veges (eggplant and/or orange sweet potato is nice), and more mushrooms. For a grain free version, serve on raw zucchini 'noodles', or steam thin strips of cabbage in the Varoma while you cook the sauce in the bowl.

If you like, you can mince your own meat first. I find I can often get a bulk rump cheaper per kilo than minced beef, so this is a great way to save money. It also means you can get a 'chunkier' sauce if that's what you want. (And it's also good to know that your mince is just 'meat', and doesn't have lots of fat, gristle and water mixed in to bulk it out... and maybe other hidden additives and preservatives as well!)

To mince your meat: Cut the meat into 2 cm cubes (semi-frozen is easiest), weigh in 300-400g, and mince by setting the speed dial to the closed lid position and pressing the Turbo button 3 or 4 times. This will be chunkier than you probably want it, but remember it will break down a little during cooking.

Serves 6-8.

1. Chop onion & garlic on speed 5 for 3 seconds:
- 1 large onion, halved
- 3 or 4 cloves garlic (to taste)

2. Add oil and cook for 3 minutes at 100C, reverse, speed 1:
- 30g olive oil

3. Add vegetables & herbs and chop roughly - speed 5 for 8 seconds; or chop longer for 'grated' veges:
- 500g vine-ripened tomatoes, halved
- 150g carrots, quartered
- 1 celery stick, quartered (including leaves)
- 100g zucchini, quartered
- half a red capsicum (opt)
- a large handful fresh basil, some fresh oregano & a sprinkle of fresh rosemary
OR 2 tsp of dried Italian herbs

4. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 25-30 minutes at 100C, reverse, speed soft:
- 400g minced beef (or lamb, turkey or chicken)
- 100g thickly sliced mushrooms
- 60g semi-dried tomatoes (opt.)
- 100-150g sliced Kalamata olives (opt.)
- 120g tomato paste
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbspn Rapadura
- 2 Tbspns vegetable stock paste (or a meat stock paste like the one in this recipe)
- 50g red wine or water

While the pasta sauce cooks, I cook the pasta on the stovetop. Or if I'm doing a grainfree version, I use my Benriner to make zucchini 'noodles', or thinly slice cabbage and steam in the Varoma while the sauce cooks. (Use Varoma temp and add 50g more water, cooking for 25 minutes.)

If you're cooking for less people, you can halve the recipe, add 100g water, and after 10 minutes cooking time add 250g raw pasta to the sauce and cook for 8-10 minutes more. (Make sure it's on reverse, or you WILL have mush!)

So there's some bolognese-sauce-making hints - tweak to taste!

Thermomix Gravy

Okay, I just want to say that I LOVE how quick and easy it is to make gravy in my Thermomix. No dashing back and forth to the stove, stirring gravy madly with one hand so it doesn't stick, go lumpy, or bubble out of the pan onto the stove... whilst desperately trying to slice the roast without hacking it, letting it go cold, or losing half of it to picking fingers!

That's all I wanted to say.

I hope you weren't expecting a recipe.

You were? Oh. Well, this is my gravy 'recipe'...

When you make a roast, cook it in at least an inch of water, with some garlic cloves, a quartered onion, and all the veges sitting in it. Sprinkle the roast with herb salt and pepper, and herbs if you like, then cover it with foil. (Or cook it in the crockpot - same deal.) Basically, you want lots of yummy juice left over when you're done.

When it's cooked, tip the juices into the Thermomix (with the mushy garlic cloves and bits of onion) and add a couple of heaped tablespoons of cornflour (or arrowroot or rice flour). Yep, straight into the juice - no need to mix it into water in a cup and all that kind of nonsense. Then add a few sloshes of tamari (or soy sauce), and cook at 100 degrees on speed 4 for a few minutes - maybe 5 - until as thick as you like it. Season it if you like. I know, not much of a recipe, but that's what I do, and it works! :D

And while it's cooking, you can carve the roast and arrange the veges, and slap the picking fingers and generally feel quite peaceful and unstressed.

Love my Thermomix. :)

[Note: I just wanted to see if I could do a blog post in 15 minutes or less - I did it!! No excuse for slackness in posting now...]

Barbeque Sauce

Homemade barbeque sauce has so much more flavour than bought sauce. And I love that it doesn't have to be full of sugar and additives. I often use the cherry tomatoes that grow wild in our backyard - a cheaper and healthier alternative to bought barbeque sauce!

This recipe is delicious on steak or chicken, or poured over meat and slow-cooked.  If you like it spicier, just add some more fresh chilli, or cayenne pepper.  If it's the wrong season for plums, I just use some tinned ones; about four or five since they're small.

Makes approx. 1 litre of sauce.

1. Weigh the veges and plums into the Thermomix bowl and blend for 30 seconds on speed 9:
- 950g fresh tomatoes (very ripe), halved
- 2-3 dark red plums, deseeded
- 150g red onion
- 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded
- 2 or 3 garlic cloves 
- 1 red capsicum, halved
- 50g dates, pitted

2. Add remaining ingredients, mix on speed 6 for a few seconds, then cook at Varoma temperature for 45 minutes, speed 3, with the rice basket on the lid instead of the MC. (This lets the steam out so that the sauce reduces, without letting it spit everywhere.)
- 4-5 heaped tablespoons tomato paste
- 100g balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp green stevia powder OR 50g Rapadura or coconut sugar
- 2 tsp worchestershire sauce or tamari sauce
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp ground smoky paprika
- 2 tsp liquid smoke seasoning (opt.)
- 2 tsp sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper

3. Blend for 30 seconds on speed 9.

4. Pour into sterilized bottles or jars and keep in the fridge. Use within a month. For longer storage time, you can use the waterbath canning method to ensure removal of bacteria, then keep in the pantry for up to a year.

Homemade Mayonnaise

This is how I make my mayonnaise in the Thermomix.  It's quick and easy, and tastes delicious!!  I like to use garlic, shallots and seeded mustard in mine to add flavour and texture, and a little honey to sweeten it.  You can keep it plain if you like - just leave out the garlic and shallots, and use dijon mustard.  I also use white wine vinegar - you can use lemon juice instead, but it's a bit more 'iffy' - the acidity of the lemon juice is variable, so some batches of mayonnaise may work better than others. 

I have hardly ever had this recipe fail - it's very easy.  Just don't forget to let the egg get to room temperature before you begin - or better still, use a nice, fresh egg collected straight from the chook pen!  If you do have a batch of mayonnaise that fails, don't throw it out...  Start again, with another room temperature egg yolk, mustard, vinegar, honey, etc - then instead of drizzling in oil, drizzle in the failed mayonnaise, and hopefully it will work out better the second time.

All ingredients should be at room temperature, especially the egg!!!

1. Weigh oil into the jar the mayonnaise will be stored in and set aside.
- 250g macadamia oil (or grapeseed oil, but macadamia is better for you)

2.  Chop in Thermomix bowl on speed 7 for 5 seconds:
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 shallot, chopped in a few pieces

3.  Separate the egg, and add to bowl with other ingredients:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 rounded teaspoon seeded mustard (or dijon mustard)

- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

- 1 tablespoon raw honey

- salt & pepper

4.  Place butterfly on blades and mix for 1 minute, speed 4.  After a minute, with butterfly still spinning on speed 4, start drizzling oil very slowly onto the upside down MC (cap).  The oil should drizzle down into the bowl at a steady rate.  This stage should take about 3 minutes.

5.  When all the oil is mixed in, open the MC and tip in the egg white, and allow it to mix in for another 10 seconds, then turn off machine.  Your mayonnaise should be lovely and thick!  Remove butterfly and fold in any mustard that didn't mix in, and remove mayo to jar. 

* Note:  If you don't think you'll use the mayonnaise within a week or so, you can store it in a ziploc bag and squeeze the air out of it - this will help it to keep longer.

Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)

Homemade tomato sauce is very simple to make in the Thermomix, and contains a lot less sugar than the bought stuff, plus no preservatives and colours! Here's how I make my sauce (or 'ketchup'), which we use just as an everyday tomato sauce and also as a baking sauce for chicken, ribs, roast, meatloaf, etc. 

When I've got to go out for the day, I often just throw some chicken pieces or beef ribs into the crockpot, pour this sauce over, and leave it to cook until tender (usually 4 hours on high, or 8 hours on low - except beef ribs which take about 6 hours on high and I add a bit of water so they don't dry out). Adjust seasonings to taste, and try some of the variations below the recipe to get it just how you like it.

Note: This sauce won't be quite as red as bought tomato sauce, but tastes very rich and delicious!

Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)
Makes 1 litre

2 brown onions, halved
1/2 a head of garlic (about 6-8 cloves)
50g olive oil
800g tomatoes, halved
200g tomato paste or sun-dried tomatoes
80g apple cider vinegar
100g tamari or gluten free soy sauce
100g Rapadura or coconut sugar or chopped dates
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Place onions and garlic into mixing bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 5.

Add oil and saute 3 mins/100C/speed 1.

Add remaining ingredients and blend 30 sec/speed 9.

Cook for 30 mins/Varoma/speed 3.

Puree 30 sec/speed 9, turning dial up slowly to speed 9.

Variations:

You can play with the flavour, adding in one or more of the following if you like, and adjusting the sweetness (and sweetener) to taste:

fresh basil and/or oregano or chives
a little rosemary or thyme
black pepper
smoked paprika
a red chilli or chilli powder
a few sprigs fresh parsley

Note: In the fridge this will keep a few weeks. Or if you like you can put it into glass jars or bottles with screwtop lids that will seal well, then boil the sealed jars for 15-20 minutes to vacuum seal. This way you can keep it in the pantry indefinitely until opened. (After opening store in the fridge.) Thanks for this tip Bee!

Baked Chicken with Cashew Satay Sauce

This is my favourite 'satay' sauce ever - it's so quick to make, and very tasty! If you don't have time to bake the chicken, you can just add the cashew sauce to stir-fried chicken and veges, or even just veges (and leave out the extra chicken stock).

1. Place chicken skin side up in roasting pan & brush with butter/oil:
- 1 large chicken, cut into pieces, or chicken thighs/breasts
- 2 Tbspns melted butter/ghee/olive oil

2. Bake for about 2 hours at 180° (350°) while preparing sauce.

Cashew Satay Sauce

3. Grind up in Thermomix for about 30 seconds on speed 7:
- 130g raw cashews
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled

- 2 inch piece of fresh red chilli (or to taste)
- 1 large bunch cilantro / flat leaf parsley / coriander (or mixture)
- 1 Tbspn extra virgin olive oil
- 40g Tamari
- 40g rice vinegar

- 1 Tblspn chicken stock paste (or some chicken stock powder - eg. Massel brand)

4. Add and blend on speed 8 for 10 seconds:
- 400ml coconut cream/milk

5. When chicken is baked and golden, remove to a pre-heated platter and keep warm. Add to roasting pan and scrape bottom of pan to remove drippings:
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 Tbspn gelatin (optional)
6. Pour juices into Thermomix (with cashew sauce) and cook for 5 minutes at 90 degrees, speed 4. Season to taste.

7. Serve chicken on rice with cashew sauce poured over, and stir-fried veges, steamed veges, or salad on the side.

[Note: picture shows sauce which is not as green as usual as I only had a small bunch of coriander - make it as 'green' as you like!]

Dairy-Free Sour Cream

Here is my quick and easy dairy-free substitute for sour cream!  We also use this as a dip - it's especially nice with raw veges.


The best way to make it is to soak the nuts and seeds overnight (or for a few hours) before you make it - it's easier to digest.  But if you forget, you can use the unsoaked nuts and seeds.


I use organic or insecticide-free ingredients, so the pine nuts can be very expensive, which is why I came up with a cheaper version using almonds - they're both very yummy.  If you don't have a Thermomix, grind up the dry nuts/seeds first, then blend everything in a powerful blender. 


(Original recipe from "Rejuvenate Your Life" by Serene Allison; variation by me.)

Soak nuts and seeds overnight in water.  Add all ingredients (including soaking water) to Thermomix and blend for 1 minute on speed 9, scrape down sides, blend again until smooth:
- 85g (1/2 cup) sunflower seeds

- 85g (1/2 cup) pine nuts

- 250g (1 cup) filtered water

- 1 tsp sea salt

- 75g (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice

- 1 small clove garlic, or dash of garlic powder

- 1 tsp onion powder

If you want to use this 'sour cream' in sweet dishes, leave out the onion powder and garlic!

Or, my own version (which is cheaper!)...

Soak nuts and seeds overnight in water.  Add all ingredients (including soaking water) to Thermomix and blend for 1 minute on speed 9, scrape down sides, blend again until smooth:
- 100g blanched almonds (you can blanch your own by pouring boiling water over raw almonds, leaving to sit for a while, then popping the skins off)
- 50g sunflower seeds
- 1 tsp herb/vege salt
- 3 tsp dried onion flakes
- 1 tsp *savoury yeast flakes
- 60g fresh lemon juice
- 250g filtered water


* You can buy savoury yeast flakes from the health food shop - they add a bit of a 'cheesey' flavour.

Dairy-Free Raw 'Cream Cheese'

I love this tasty substitute for cream cheese - use it whenever you want a dairy-free, savoury, cream cheese. For example, try it on pizzas instead of cheese (pre-bake pizza without toppings, then spread with cream cheese and top with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capsicum, salad, etc). Use as a dip (or as a substitute for dairy cream cheese in dips) with raw veges, crackers or corn chips. You can also use it as a tasty substitute for sour cream by adding a little more water.

For best results, cover the nuts and seeds with water and soak at room temperature for a few hours. If you don't have time to soak them, you can start with dry nuts & seeds, grind them in the Thermomix, then add the remaining ingredients and blend. You'll need to use the larger amount of water for this method. Experiment with the amounts of water until you get the consistency you like. If you don't want the flavour quite so strong, add a bit less lemon juice.

I use my Thermomix for this recipe, but you could use a regular blender or food processor, although it will take longer to blend to a smooth paste, and you'll need to scrape it down a few times.

'Cream Cheese' used as a pizza topping with salad

  

- 180g (1 1/4 cups) blanched almonds
- 180g (1 1/4 cups) sunflower seeds
- 160g (3/4 cup) lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic
- some freshly ground black pepper
- 1 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 100-300g water

Soaked version:

- Soak nuts and seeds in water overnight, or for a few hours. Drain off water and discard.
- Place all ingredients in Thermomix bowl using 100g water, slowly turn dial to speed 8. Push mixture down into the blades with the spatula while mixing. Add a little more water if needed until you get the texture you like. Blend until you get a super smooth texture - takes 1-2 minutes.

Unsoaked version:

- Grind dry nuts and seeds on speed 9 for 10 seconds.
- Add remaining ingredients, using 200-300g water, depending how thick you like it, and mix on speed 8 until well mixed and super smooth. Use the spatula to help mixture along as it mixes.


Variation:
For a high protein, super-food 'green cheese', you can also add 1 bunch of parsley, 1 tsp spirulina powder and 2 TBS flax seed oil.

Fish Cakes with Creole Mayonnaise

A delicious fish cake recipe using fresh fish. You can use any inexpensive, coarsely grained fish in this recipe. (Adapted from Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions".)

1. Fill Thermomix bowl with 500g water, then steam fish in the Varoma on top for 15 minutes, Varoma Temp, sp 2 (or until just cooked - depends on thickness of fillets):
- 700g (1 1/2 lbs) fresh white fish
Empty water from Thermomix bowl and dry. Set fish aside.

2. Grind up bread, cilantro/parsley and lemon zest on speed 9, until fine:
- 1 slice wholemeal spelt bread (or gluten free bread)
- 1 bunch cilantro or flat leaf parsley
- zest of 1 lemon

3. Add remaining ingredients, chop on speed 5 for 3 seconds, and season to taste:
- 2 eggs
- 2 small onions, halved (or onion & shallots)
- 2 Tblspns Dijon mustard
- cayenne pepper (to taste)
- sea salt or fish sauce and pepper

4. Add fish and chop 3 seconds on speed 3:
- steamed fish

5. Form mixture into patties. Saute until golden in butter/ghee and oil:
- about 1/2 cup butter/ghee
- about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
(or can be steamed in Thermomix steamer)

6. Serve with Creole Mayonnaise:
Place ingredients into food processor/Thermomix and blend thoroughly on speed 7:
- 2 egg yolks (room temp)
- 2 Tblspns fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tblspns whey (opt.)
- 2 tspns raw honey (opt.)
- 1 tspn Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tspn sea salt
- 1/2 tspn dried thyme
- 1/2 tspn dried basil
- 1/2 tspn dried oregano
- 1/4 tspn paprika
- 1/4 tspn tabasco/chili sauce
- 1/8 tspn cayenne pepper
Scrape down lid and sides.

7. Insert the butterfly, and with Thermomix running on speed 4, slowly drizzle in oil:
- 2/3 cup oil (olive oil / sunflower oil / grapeseed oil or mixture)
Season to taste - may need more salt or lemon juice.

If you added whey, let sit (well-covered) 7 hours before refrigerating. Will keep at least 5 weeks refrigerated. Without whey, will keep about 2 weeks.