Thermomix buckwheat & spelt tortillas with chilli con carne.

So this dish I've used a few different recipes to create the meal.
Starting out I made some buckwheat and spelt flour tortilla wraps, made the dough first then out aside to rest while I got onto the "chilli con carne " usually chilli con carne has quite a bit of sauce to it but I wanted this to be a little dryer so the wraps would not go all soggy and fall apart. So instead of using a can of diced tomatoes, 1 fresh tomato is better.
Once I've made the chilli con carne I put that in my thermoserver , then move onto making my " mock sour cream" I do not have a problem or intolerance to dairy but I found this recipe on one of my favourite blogs " Quirky cooking  " and it's literally called dairy free sour cream. I actually like this recipe better taste wise than normal sour cream.
Lastly I make the guacamole which I used the EDC book recipe. It's fabulous!

Spelt & buckwheat tortillas

Weigh into bowl 100g buckwheat groats
Then mill on speed 9 for 1 minute
Weigh into bowl 300 g white spelt flour
Add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Add 2 teaspoons baking powder

Add 1 teaspoon sea salt
Mix together 5 seconds speed 3
Turn dial to 6 then while blades are spinning , slowly add about 1 cup of water until it forms all together.
On Thermomix mat sprinkle about a tablespoon spelt flour and remove dough from bowl onto Matt and shape into a ball. Then I lightly wrap it up and set aside to rest while I prepare everything else. I find this makes it easier to roll out later once it has been left to sit.

Next I move onto the chilli con carne , you can so easily mince your own meat in the Thermomix , but I already had some premium mince I'd bought on special.

Peel and add to bowl 4 cloves of garlic ( we love the stuff) you can add to taste 

I then add about 5 driedchillies  and mince on speed 9 for about 20 seconds 

Then peel and quarter 1 brown onion and chop in bowl on speed 4 for about 3 seconds, 

Slice into thick slices half a red capsicum and add to bowl 

Measure and add :

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

1 teaspoon cumin ground 

1 teaspoon coriander ground 

1 teaspoon paprika ground 

1 teaspoon turmeric ground 

1 teaspoon oregano 

Close the lid and cook on varoma reverse speed 1 for 2 minutes 

Once time is up add to bowl :

500 g minced beef 

1 can red kidney beans or 400 grams of cooked red kidney beans ( I buy the raw beans and cook in slow cooker with water for about 5 hours then freeze in small portions ) 

2 tablespoons Tomato paste   ( I make my own and again freeze in small tablespoon portions but jarred paste is fine ) 

1 tablespoon Thermomix veggie stock paste 

1 fresh tomato chopped ( I had run out of tomatoes so I used about 12 cherry tomatoes and I cut them in half.

Close the lid and cook on varoma temperature for 15 minutes reverse speed soft. 

While the chilli mince is cooking I grate some carrot , tasty cheese and slice and wash some fresh lettuce, then go check my Facebook or Pinterest ;) 

Once the timer is up place the chilli mince into your thermoserver and put aside.

 Prepare guacamole from the EDC cookbook and set in small bowl. 

Another great little side dish / sauce to go with this meal is tomato paste mixed with 1 teaspoon of " Harissa paste " it adds a bit of bite to the tortillas. 

For the "dairy free sour cream " the recipe I found on quirky cooking says to soak the seeds and nuts over night , but I am way to unorganised to do that tonight so I just go ahead and make with out. I adapted this recipe a little and combined a few ingredients from 2 that are listed on the quirky blog. 

Dairy free sour cream 

Add all ingredients into the Thermomix bowl and blend on speed 9 for 1 minute. Open lid then scrape down sides and blend again 

40 g pine nuts 

40 g sunflower seeds 

100 g water. ( if you have a pura tap or filtered water would be perfect) 

35 g fresh lemon juice 

1 clove of garlic 

1 teaspoon sea salt 

1 teaspoon fried onion ( I bought a big container of it from my local Asian grocery store for about $4) 

Pour the cream into another small bowl 

Lastly for the buckwheat and spelt tortillas. Heat a fry pan over high heat. No need to spray any oil or anything I cook them on a dry pan. 

While the pan is heating , sprinkle some spelt flour onto the thermomat or cutting board and separate a very small handful of dough and squish it onto the mat and turn over and do the same on othe side to ensure flour is covering it. Then with a rolling pin roll out dough into a round shape. I can never get mine perfect shaped but its ok they still taste the same. Roll out to a little bit thicker than paper thin thickness ( I hope this makes sense). Then carefully peel off the dough and pop into the hot pan. Stand by it as you only need to cook for about 3-5 seconds per side. You will notice small bubbles rising on the surface, that's when I usually flip it over using a big spatula. Once both sides have cooked I pop the tortilla in a plastic bag with a tea Towel on top to keep the warmth in. Even if the tortillas feel a bit stiff once sitting in the bag for a while they soften up, but be carefull not too over cook otherwise they will crack when trying to roll up.

Continue rolling out and cooking the rest of the dough. 

As you can see mine are far from your perfect round tortilla shape. But as I said they still do the job all the same. Since making these for the first time I haven't yet wanted to buy the shop pre packaged ones! They are delicious!

Set your table with all ingredients and tuck in and enjoy! Such a satisfying meal knowing most of it is prepared from scratch! We usually have quite a bit of the chilli con carne mince left over so I pop it in the freezer for those nights I'm held up working in the salon late.. Makes a super quick meal served with rice or quinoa. 

Enjoy! :) 

Tomato paste

Creamy Honey Mustard Chicken with Cauliflower Rice

Last night I needed something relatively easy to make for dinner as I had a Ton of my business weekly book work to go sort, and I finished up with my last customer in the salon a bit later than expected. 

So this meal I created using a few ideas from other recipes and combined all into one. And let me tell you it was a success and absolutely om nom nom! 

I had a kilo of chicken thigh cutlets in the freezer I wanted to use up so I popped that in the microwave to defrost while I quickly scanned through some recipes I've tagged to get some ideas 

I made some "cauliflower rice" as a side dish, and if you are yet to try out this mock rice I highly recommend you do. It's fantastic as a rice substitute if you are watching your carb intake and just another great way of sneaking some extra veg into your life! At first my partner Daniel didn't even realise what he was eating the first time I made it. But admit-tingly the first couple of times I added a bit of basmati rice to the cauliflower mixture till he got completely used to it. Now we just have cauliflower. If you wanted to use just rice I recommend adding a extra 400g of water to the bowl, as rice absorbs more liquid than cauliflower.

Cauliflower rice 

So while I was waiting on the cutlets to defrost I got started on the cauliflower rice. It's so easy to prepare , chop up in small rough pieces the heads of 1 whole cauliflower be sure to remove any of the stalks , rinse under water then place in the Thermomix bowl. Close the lid and set to reverse speed  and chop on speed 4 for about 5 seconds. Or until it resembles rice. 

Pour mixture into the steamer basket. 

I don't bother to rinse out the bowl I leave all the left over cauliflower crumbs in there. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add

400 g coconut cream 

Then fill the empty can of cream with water and swirl around to get all the left over cream out and pour in the water into the bowl. So you have added about 400 g water too. 

Place steamer basket with cauliflower in the bowl and put on the lid then place the varoma dish on top. 

Set temperature to varoma and set dial to speed 3 and cook for 20 minutes. 

Place the chicken thigh cutlets in the varoma tray snugly and drizzle about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over the chicken. I leave on the skin as we are a little bit naughty and don't like to miss out on all the glorious DELISH crispy skin! ;) but you can remove if you like.

While the rice and chicken are beginning to cook preheat oven and place thermoserver in to warm, then I start on the vegetables.

You can use what ever you have handy in the fridge or even frozen veg would be fine. 

I used :

1 carrot thinly sliced

1 red onion thinly sliced 

1/2 a zucchini roughly chopped 

1/2 a red capsicum thinly sliced 

1/2 a cup of frozen peas 

About a cup of roughly chopped broccoli heads

Once the timer is up , remove the steamer basket from the bowl and put the rice into the pre warmed thermoserver and put on the lid to keep warm. 

Leave the oven on. 

Add the chopped vegetables to the varoma dish, place the tray with chicken back on-top, the chicken needs to be cooked longer. 

Cook for another 20 minutes on varoma temperature speed 3. If you like your veggies to be a bit crunchier and on the firmer side you can remove them when you wish and cooked to your desire! 

Then relax await till the time is up or as I did quickly tidied the kitchen up and made a start sorting through book work. :) 

After the 20 minutes, remove the chicken thigh cutlets and place into a slightly oiled oven tray and brush the skins or tops with a bit of whole grain mustard. Pop into the pre warmed  oven set on temperature 190 degrees or 200 degrees if fan forced. To crisp up those skins! 

Remove the veggies from the varoma and keep aside somewhere warm. I just add to thermoserver and mix in with rice. 

Leave the remaining liquid in the thermo bowl and start on the sauce 

Creamy honey mustard sauce 

Add to bowl :

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard 

2 tablespoons honey 

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 

1 tablespoon veggie stock concentrate

Large hand full of raw almonds 

1 large clove of garlic 

Pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional ) 

1 and a 1/2 tablespoons white spelt flour ( or any flour you would prefer )

 

And blend on speed 9 for 1 minute . Remember to put the measuring cup on the lid to prevent any hot splashes! ;) I usually hold the cup in place with oven mitts. 

Once all blended cook on 90 degrees for 10 minutes speed 3 

When time is up remove lid and scrape down sides. 

Remove crispy chicken from the oven and start to serve up on plates with the rice and veggies. Then pour the sauce over the top.

Enjoy!