The Mad Scientist recently had the opportunity to try cooking with the simply incredible FlavorStone non-stick pans. This recipe is a variation on one of the dishes featured in the cookbook and the TV ad demonstration.
Ingredients:
500g lean beef mince
825g can of peeled tomatoes
One sachet of tomato paste
440g can of red kidney beans (washed and drained)
Teaspoon of wet chopped garlic
Teaspoon of wet chopped chilli
Dry spices to taste e.g., basil, oregano.
Five squares of dark chocolate
Four sheets of "instant" lasagne, broken into approximately 4cm squares.
One large onion, chopped into small pieces.
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Method:
Cook the mince, onion, garlic and chilli together over a high heat until the onion is softened and the meat browned. Add the peeled tomatoes and mash until they lose their consistency. Add the tomato paste and dry herbs as per your own preferences. Add the noodles and red kidney beans stir through mixture. Turn down heat and leave to simmer until the noodles are softened. Just before serving add the chocolate and cheese and stir through until melted.
Serve in a bowl accompanied by crusty bread (the Mad Scientist's homemade bread is ideal!).
Sunday, September 29, 2013
The Mad Scientist's Mocha Cherry Muffins
The Mad Scientist was looking for a suitable afternoon tea treat to take to the AFL Grand Final a few days ago, and came up with the following winning recipe!
Ingredients:
1 packet of chocolate Devil's Food Cake mix
1 jar of pitted cherries (checked for pits)
Substitute the water in the cake mix with an equivalent amount of strong black coffee (e.g., plunger coffee).
Method:
Mix together cake mix as per imstructions (Ninja appliance used for smooth mix and aeration).
Add cherries and gently fold through mixture.
Spoon into muffin pans (silicon trays used here).
Do not overfill - leave room to expand.
Cook as per imstructions.
(In this case cooked at 180degrees C for 20-25 minutes until the cake sprung back and a skewer came out clean).
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 packet of chocolate Devil's Food Cake mix
1 jar of pitted cherries (checked for pits)
Substitute the water in the cake mix with an equivalent amount of strong black coffee (e.g., plunger coffee).
Method:
Mix together cake mix as per imstructions (Ninja appliance used for smooth mix and aeration).
Add cherries and gently fold through mixture.
Spoon into muffin pans (silicon trays used here).
Do not overfill - leave room to expand.
Cook as per imstructions.
(In this case cooked at 180degrees C for 20-25 minutes until the cake sprung back and a skewer came out clean).
Enjoy!
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The Mad Scientist's Bread Factory
Rye Pumpernickel Bread
This is a very dense bread that is best eaten reasonably fresh and goes well with cheese and other strong-tasting accompaniments.
50% wholemeal rye flour
50% white bread mix flour
(Weights of flour and amounts of water and yeast as per your preferred recipe size)
Mix the two flours together in the weighing bowl. Place the water, flour and yeast in the bread maker bowl. As this is a very dry mixture, add extra water and some olive oil gradually as needed to allow the dough to take on a smooth enough consistency for kneading and rising. Make sure all the mixture is taken up into the dough ball (I use a spatula for this so as not to damage the non-stick coating of the bowl). Select the "Whole Wheat" program on the bread maker.
Easter Fruit Bread
600g white bread mix
360mL milk (in this case 2% fat)
2 1/8 tsp yeast
1/2 cup dried fruit medley
1/2 cup dried sultanas
1 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp dried blueberries
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Add milk, flour and yeast to the bread maker bowl. Start "Sweet" program. Make sure all the mixture is taken up into the dough ball (I use a spatula for this so as not to damage the non-stick coating of the bowl). Add dried fruit at the appropriate chime. (I was not happy with how the fruit was getting mixed into the dough so I took it out and hand-kneaded it for a while to improving the mixing of the fruit and then returned it to the bread-maker.) The bread maker does the rest.
This makes a delicious sweet and fruity loaf which can be eaten in all the usual ways e.g., plain or warmed or toasted and spread with butter, margarine or jam.
Light Wholemeal Rye Bread
100g wholemeal rye flour
400g white bread mix
300mL water
1 3/4 tsp yeast
Mix the two flours together in the weighing bowl. Place the water, flour and yeast in the bread maker bowl. Make sure all the mixture is taken up into the dough ball (I use a spatula for this so as not to damage the non-stick coating of the bowl). I used the "Basic" setting in this instance and it grew into a nice fluffy and tasty loaf.
Light Wholemeal Rye and Three Seeds Bread
100g wholemeal rye flour
500g white bread mix
360mL water
2 1/8 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
1 tbsp brown linseeds (flaxseed)
Mix the two flours together in the weighing bowl. As an experiment to see if I could avoid the uneven additive mixing issue encountered with the fruit bread, I also mixed the seeds in with the flour at this stage. Place the water, flour mixture and yeast in the bread maker bowl. Make sure all the mixture is taken up into the dough ball (I use a spatula for this so as not to damage the non-stick coating of the bowl). Also as an experiment, I selected the "Whole Wheat" (rather than "Basic") program on the bread maker as this allows additional time for proving and rising. The bread turned out nicely, soft and fluffy in the centre with a crisp crust. I suspect it would have worked just as well on the "Basic" setting so I will try that next time. It would also be quite OK to add a greater amount of seeds as the amount used this time added character but did not dominate in any way.
This is a very dense bread that is best eaten reasonably fresh and goes well with cheese and other strong-tasting accompaniments.
50% wholemeal rye flour
50% white bread mix flour
(Weights of flour and amounts of water and yeast as per your preferred recipe size)
Mix the two flours together in the weighing bowl. Place the water, flour and yeast in the bread maker bowl. As this is a very dry mixture, add extra water and some olive oil gradually as needed to allow the dough to take on a smooth enough consistency for kneading and rising. Make sure all the mixture is taken up into the dough ball (I use a spatula for this so as not to damage the non-stick coating of the bowl). Select the "Whole Wheat" program on the bread maker.
Easter Fruit Bread
600g white bread mix
360mL milk (in this case 2% fat)
2 1/8 tsp yeast
1/2 cup dried fruit medley
1/2 cup dried sultanas
1 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp dried blueberries
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Add milk, flour and yeast to the bread maker bowl. Start "Sweet" program. Make sure all the mixture is taken up into the dough ball (I use a spatula for this so as not to damage the non-stick coating of the bowl). Add dried fruit at the appropriate chime. (I was not happy with how the fruit was getting mixed into the dough so I took it out and hand-kneaded it for a while to improving the mixing of the fruit and then returned it to the bread-maker.) The bread maker does the rest.
This makes a delicious sweet and fruity loaf which can be eaten in all the usual ways e.g., plain or warmed or toasted and spread with butter, margarine or jam.
Light Wholemeal Rye Bread
100g wholemeal rye flour
400g white bread mix
300mL water
1 3/4 tsp yeast
Mix the two flours together in the weighing bowl. Place the water, flour and yeast in the bread maker bowl. Make sure all the mixture is taken up into the dough ball (I use a spatula for this so as not to damage the non-stick coating of the bowl). I used the "Basic" setting in this instance and it grew into a nice fluffy and tasty loaf.
Light Wholemeal Rye and Three Seeds Bread
100g wholemeal rye flour
500g white bread mix
360mL water
2 1/8 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
1 tbsp brown linseeds (flaxseed)
Mix the two flours together in the weighing bowl. As an experiment to see if I could avoid the uneven additive mixing issue encountered with the fruit bread, I also mixed the seeds in with the flour at this stage. Place the water, flour mixture and yeast in the bread maker bowl. Make sure all the mixture is taken up into the dough ball (I use a spatula for this so as not to damage the non-stick coating of the bowl). Also as an experiment, I selected the "Whole Wheat" (rather than "Basic") program on the bread maker as this allows additional time for proving and rising. The bread turned out nicely, soft and fluffy in the centre with a crisp crust. I suspect it would have worked just as well on the "Basic" setting so I will try that next time. It would also be quite OK to add a greater amount of seeds as the amount used this time added character but did not dominate in any way.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
The Mad Scientist's Debonair Chicken, Dried Tomato and Spinach Pasta
This recipe is loosely based on a marvellous risotto that I had many years ago. I thought the combination of chicken, spinach and dried tomato was delicious.
This version uses pasta, chicken mince, sundried tomatoes, frozen chopped spinach, chopped onions, garlic and chill and a jar of Italian-flavoured pasta sauce.
The sundried tomatoes, onion and spices were coarsely chopped together in a food processor and then added to the chicken mince in a wok.
Once the chicken mince was cooked through the defrosted spinach was added.
Serve in individual bowls and place a generous dollop of the sauce on top of the cooked pasta.
The Mad Scientist's Classic Römertopf Christmas Turkey
When you get home from singing at Midnight Mass at about 03:00, food is not the first thing on your mind, and the Mad Scientist usually likes to have a fairly quiet Christmas Day, eating the traditional Christmas feast in the evening. In Australia the old English traditions of roast turkey with vegetables followed by plum pudding and custard are still nobly "hanging in there" despite the often hot weather and an increasing predilection for "putting another prawn on the barbie"!
This is the Mad Scientist's simple version of roast turkey with vegetables. Take one boneless turkey roast (available in the supermarket freezer), one packet of frozen vegetables, one onion, some chopped potatoes and two jars of apple, balsamic and cinnamon chutney.
Place the chutney, onion, potatoes and turkey in the bottom of the pre-soaked Römertopf and then place the frozen vegetables on top.
Cook in a 180 degree Celsius oven until happily bubbling and you are fairly sure that the turkey is cooked through.
Place the potatoes and onion in one serving bowl and the remaining vegetables in another bowl.
Slice the turkey thinly and serve with the two types of vegetables (and have the other two serving bowls handy for those who might like seconds). Place some of the exquisite gravy (which formed naturally in the bottom of the Römertopf during cooking) on top of the turkey and place the remainder in a serving vessel (the Mad Scientist did not have a gravy boat handy so used a trusty Ikea bowl).
This was a wonderful combination of flavours, tender succulent turkey and vegetables just bursting with character. Long live the traditional Christmas roast!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The Mad Scientist's Chicken, Capsicum and Mushroom Curry
This was a lovely slow-cooked curry combining potatoes, onion, red and green capsicums, fresh button mushrooms, chicken breasts, wet garlic, chilli and coriander and cashews with a commercial Korma simmer sauce.
I know some people recommend against it, but I do like to rinse all the vegetables (including mushrooms) in clean water.
The capsicums were cut into small chunks, as were the potatoes, mushrooms and chicken. The onion was sliced.
These ingredients were then combined in the slow cooker.
A teaspoon of each of the wet spices was added to the mixture and combined.
The Mad Scientist's Blueberry, Pear and Yoghurt Smoothie
This very refreshing beverage combines soy milk, blueberry yoghurt and canned pears in natural juice. Blend these together (a conventional blender jug was used) to make a spectacularly purple fresh and frothy drink. If the soy milk, yoghurt and pears have been chilled in the refrigerator this will make a nice cool (and healthy) drink for a hot day.
The Mad Scientist's Antipasto Mashed Potato
To your basic mashed potato add some hot chilli sauce, sliced onions, sliced stuffed olives and Parmesan cheese. Heat through thoroughly.
Delicious when served with a steaming hot chunky beef pie and sauce.
Delicious when served with a steaming hot chunky beef pie and sauce.
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Mad Scientist's Brilliant Beef Wellington
The Mad Scientist's Individual Beef Wellington and Sauteed Sweet Potato Shavings
Ingredients:
Cut eye fillet into chunks of approximately 250g per person.
Saute chunks in a pan with olive oil until sealed and slightly browned on all sides. Ideally rest for a while until the beef has cooled down a bit. If it is too hot when you put it on the puff pastry it can 'melt' and stretch the pastry and bits of the beef will start poking through.
Fold the sheet of puff pastry around the piece of beef and seal on all sides. This can be as simple or as artistic as you desire. It is a nice touch to cut a couple of puff pastry leaves for each fillet (cut a long leaf shape and lightly score it down the middle) and roll a little ball of puff pastry to put between the leaves on top of the pastry bundle.
Glaze each packet with egg or milk (easiest using a pastry brush). Place into an oven tray. The bundles will be easier to serve if there is some oil spray on the bottom of the pan before putting them in to cook.
Place into a fan-forced oven at 180 to 200 degrees Celsius and keep an eye on it so that the puff pastry casing does not burn. If you want the pieces of eye fillet fully cooked, about 45 minutes should do it. The less cooking time, the rarer the beef will be, but of course you want the casing to have at least a golden hue to it before you take it out of the oven.
Sauteed Sweet Potato Shavings with Leek, Garlic and Ginger
Shave a generous piece of sweet potato using a vegetable peeler. Cut a leek into thin circles.
Using the pan juices from searing the beef, mix these with approximately half a teaspoon of each of the wet ground ginger and garlic. Heat in an open pan on the stove top. Then add the strips of sweet potato and the leek. Mix together and leave to sweat in the pan but stir on a regular basis until the texture of the sweet potato has softened and all the fluid from the juices has more or less evaporated. Add a small amount of olive oil and saute (stirring regularly) until you are happy with the texture of the sweet potato and the degree of caramelisation.
Steamed Broccoli
Cut the broccoli into small flowerets and steam until the colour has changed to bright green and you are happy with the degree of softness for eating. Be careful not to overcook.
Mashed Potato
As a general rule, allow around 1.5 medium-sized potatoes per person. Peel and chop into small chunks. Boil until potato is softened. Drain water off and mash potato together with your preferred additives. In this case, milk, some ground black pepper and a handful of grated tasty cheese was used.
The individual Beef Wellingtons are the star of the plate! Place the vegetables separately around the puff pastry packet. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- Beef eye fillet - approximately 250g per person
- One sheet of puff pastry per piece of beef
- Milk or egg for glazing
- Spray for bottom of oven pan
- One piece of sweet potato
- One leek
- Ground (wet) ginger
- Ground (wet) garlic
- Olive oil
- Potatoes
- Milk
- Handful of shredded tasty cheese
- Ground black pepper
- Flowerets of broccoli
Cut eye fillet into chunks of approximately 250g per person.
Saute chunks in a pan with olive oil until sealed and slightly browned on all sides. Ideally rest for a while until the beef has cooled down a bit. If it is too hot when you put it on the puff pastry it can 'melt' and stretch the pastry and bits of the beef will start poking through.
Fold the sheet of puff pastry around the piece of beef and seal on all sides. This can be as simple or as artistic as you desire. It is a nice touch to cut a couple of puff pastry leaves for each fillet (cut a long leaf shape and lightly score it down the middle) and roll a little ball of puff pastry to put between the leaves on top of the pastry bundle.
Glaze each packet with egg or milk (easiest using a pastry brush). Place into an oven tray. The bundles will be easier to serve if there is some oil spray on the bottom of the pan before putting them in to cook.
Place into a fan-forced oven at 180 to 200 degrees Celsius and keep an eye on it so that the puff pastry casing does not burn. If you want the pieces of eye fillet fully cooked, about 45 minutes should do it. The less cooking time, the rarer the beef will be, but of course you want the casing to have at least a golden hue to it before you take it out of the oven.
Sauteed Sweet Potato Shavings with Leek, Garlic and Ginger
Shave a generous piece of sweet potato using a vegetable peeler. Cut a leek into thin circles.
Using the pan juices from searing the beef, mix these with approximately half a teaspoon of each of the wet ground ginger and garlic. Heat in an open pan on the stove top. Then add the strips of sweet potato and the leek. Mix together and leave to sweat in the pan but stir on a regular basis until the texture of the sweet potato has softened and all the fluid from the juices has more or less evaporated. Add a small amount of olive oil and saute (stirring regularly) until you are happy with the texture of the sweet potato and the degree of caramelisation.
Steamed Broccoli
Cut the broccoli into small flowerets and steam until the colour has changed to bright green and you are happy with the degree of softness for eating. Be careful not to overcook.
Mashed Potato
As a general rule, allow around 1.5 medium-sized potatoes per person. Peel and chop into small chunks. Boil until potato is softened. Drain water off and mash potato together with your preferred additives. In this case, milk, some ground black pepper and a handful of grated tasty cheese was used.
The individual Beef Wellingtons are the star of the plate! Place the vegetables separately around the puff pastry packet. Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The Mad Scientist's Spicy Tuna and Mushroom Pasta
This is a really quick and easy dish to make with lots of zingy flavour.
Ingredients:
1 cup of dried pasta per person.
1 jar spicy pasta sauce
1 large tin of tuna (strained)
1 tin of sliced mushrooms (strained)
Around a dozen chopped stuffed olives
A squirt of hot chilli sauce
Black pepper
(For service) Freshly grated parmesan cheese
(Note: Storing the parmesan cheese in the freezer and taking out what you need and allowing it to thaw out just before serving works really well in terms of keeping your cheese fresh and avoiding all that yucky mould and wastage!)
As far as the Mad Scientist is concerned, due to having a microscopic-sized kitchen, it is often too much trouble to cook something on the stove, so it is surprising just how much you can cook using a microwave.
First cook the pasta - one cup of dried pasta per person accompanied by two cups of hot water (just boiled in the kettle). Place a plate underneath the microwave container to catch the drips if the water "boils over". Cook for around 13 minutes on "high".
Slice the stuffed olives into two or three pieces and combine them in another microwave container with all the other ingredients (except the cheese). Mix well. Heat through on "high" for 5-6 minutes.
Place the pasta in the bottom of each serving bowl and ladle a generous dollop of pasta sauce over the top. Serve with the freshly grated parmesan cheese. Garlic bread is optional.
Ingredients:
1 cup of dried pasta per person.
1 jar spicy pasta sauce
1 large tin of tuna (strained)
1 tin of sliced mushrooms (strained)
Around a dozen chopped stuffed olives
A squirt of hot chilli sauce
Black pepper
(For service) Freshly grated parmesan cheese
(Note: Storing the parmesan cheese in the freezer and taking out what you need and allowing it to thaw out just before serving works really well in terms of keeping your cheese fresh and avoiding all that yucky mould and wastage!)
As far as the Mad Scientist is concerned, due to having a microscopic-sized kitchen, it is often too much trouble to cook something on the stove, so it is surprising just how much you can cook using a microwave.
First cook the pasta - one cup of dried pasta per person accompanied by two cups of hot water (just boiled in the kettle). Place a plate underneath the microwave container to catch the drips if the water "boils over". Cook for around 13 minutes on "high".
Slice the stuffed olives into two or three pieces and combine them in another microwave container with all the other ingredients (except the cheese). Mix well. Heat through on "high" for 5-6 minutes.
Place the pasta in the bottom of each serving bowl and ladle a generous dollop of pasta sauce over the top. Serve with the freshly grated parmesan cheese. Garlic bread is optional.
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