Vanilla Custard

Silky smooth vanilla custard is one of those delicious comfort foods that can be poured warm onto a freshly baked fruit crumble or pudding or chilled and enjoyed straight from the bowl. I use this custard which is so easy to make in the Tefal Cuisine Companion to make custard scrolls adding frozen local berries for a delectable tea time treat.

Silky smooth custard 

Custard and frozen raspberry scrolls

Note: For a delicious pouring custard cook for 5-6 mins.

3 Egg Yolks
180 gms Milk
180 gms Thickened Cream
40 gms Caster Sugar
15 gms Cornflour sifted
Insert Whisk. Stopper in.
Sp7:1min30sec.
Stopper out.
Select Dessert:10mins or until thickened.

Beef, Bean, Chilli and Cheese Macaroni.

I love one pot meals in the Tefal Cuisine Companion, this is a combination of chilli beef and macaroni cheese alll cooked together in the Cuisine Companion bowl. A perfect quick weekday meal ready for the table in under an hour.

1 Onion peeled and quartered
2 cloves Garlic peeled
1 teaspoon dried Chilli or to taste
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
500 gms Minced Beef
1 tin Diced Tomatoes drained through fine mesh sieve
1 tin Kidney Beans drained and refreshed under cold running water
1 tin Cannellini Beans drained and refreshed under cold running water
200 gms Macaroni
700 mls Vegetable or Beef Stock
1/2 teaspoon Cumin or to taste
1 teaspoon smoked Paprika
Salt and Pepper
2 cups Cheddar Cheese grated
Fresh Parsley chopped
Extra Cheese grated
Fresh Chilli chopped
Fresh Herbs of choice chopped

Insert Ultrablade. Stopper in.
Add onion and garlic.
Sp11:20sec. Scraping bowl with spatula as required.
Add olive oil and dried chilli flakes.
Slow Cook P1:4mins
Add minced beef
Slow Cook P1:5mins
Insert Stirring Blade. Stopper out.
Add drained tomatoes, kidney beans, cannellini beans, macaroni, stock, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.
Slow Cook P2:30-35mins or until macaroni is cooked.
Remove Stirring Blade.
Stopper in.  Maxi position.
Add grated cheese, stir through and leave for 10 mins.
Serve with extra grated cheese, chilli and herbs of choice.

White Chocolate and Orange Liqueur Tart

This is a decadent orange liqueur flavoured dessert. It looks very impressive, tastes delicious and sets  quickly in the fridge and is so easy to make in the Tefal Cuisine Companion. If you don't have the Mini Bowl you can melt the white chocolate, butter and cream together on a low setting in the microwave stirring every 20 seconds. I've made this tart with both Grand Marnier and Cointreau and find you need less Grand Marnier to get the lovely orange flavour.

Note: You will need a loose bottomed tart tin that has been lightly greased.

200 gms White Chocolate broken into individual squares
60 gms Butter softened and diced
1/3 cup thickened Cream
1 teaspoons powdered Gelatine
30 mls boiling Water
250 gms Choc Chip Biscuits
85 gms Unsalted Butter melted
2/3 cup thickened Cream
50 mls Cointreau or 40 mls Grand Marnier

Add 700 mls boiling water to Cuisine Companion bowl.
Insert Mini Bowl. Stopper out.
Add white chocolate, diced butter and 1/3 cup thickened cream.
Select Dessert:2mins or until chocolate and butter have melted.
Empty contents into heatproof bowl and set aside until cool stirring occasionally.
Insert Kneading Blade. Stopper in.
Add biscuits.
Pulse until finely chopped.
Place into separate bowl, add melted butter, stir until combined and press into base and 3/4 up the sides of tart tin. Refrigerate.
Dissolve gelatine in boiling water and set aside until cool stirring occasionally.
Wash and dry Cuisine Companion bowl.

Insert Whisk. Stopper out.
Add 2/3 cup thickened cream and cooled chocolate, butter and cream mixture.
Sp7:45-50 seconds or until thickened. Time will depend on how cold and fresh your cream is.
Remove Whisk.
Gently fold through Cointreau or Grand Marnier until combined.
Taste and add more liqueur if required.
Gently fold through cooled gelatine mixture.
Pour into biscuit lined tart tin. Refrigerate.
Decorate with whipped cream, mandarin segments and grated chocolate.

Vertical Sponge

This is a fun way to serve a jam and cream filled sponge. The Tefal Cuisine Companion beats the sponge batter to perfection in minutes and you can further enhance the flavour of this cake by making your own seedless raspberry jam (recipe follows). Decorate as desired. I've decorated with chocolate ganache basket weave and white chocolate buttercream (recipe follows) piped flowers. I use a Wilton 1M piping tip for the flowers and Americolor food colouring gels.

Note: Place eggs in warm water for 10 minutes before beating.
Note: I use chilled eggs from an 800 gm carton of 12 eggs.

Sponge

Pre heat oven to 160 deg fan forced.
Grease and paper line 3 x 32x22cm swiss roll baking trays, grease and flour baking paper.

Place 3 tea towels on flat surface, these will be used to roll sponges.

30 gms Butter diced
120 gms Milk
6 Eggs placed in warm water for 10 minutes
240 gms caster sugar
225 gms S.R. flour
Jam
600 mls thickened Cream whipped

Place butter and milk in heatproof bowl. Microwave on low heat setting until butter is almost melted, stir with spoon until butter is fully melted. Set aside stirring occasionally.
Insert whisk in CC. Stopper out.
Add eggs and caster sugar. S8:18min.
Sift S.R. flour into CC bowl. S4:10sec
Select S4:15sec pouring butter/milk mixture through hole in lid. Remove blade and gently fold through with spatula any unmixed flour.
Pour into prepared tins.  Bake 12-14 mins or until sponges spring back when tested. Do not open oven door for the first 10mins.
I use a knife to cut any crusty bits around the edges of the sponge before turning out.
Turn out onto prepared tea towels and roll up starting from one short end, place on wire cooling rack until completely cooled.
Gently unroll when cooled and cut each sponge lengthways and place end to end on flat surface. Spread with jam and cream and staring from one end roll up like a large swiss roll. Upend on cake serving plate and decorate as desired.

Raspberry Jam

300gms frozen raspberries
190gms sugar
Insert mixing blade
Stopper out but place paper towelling over hole in lid to prevent splattering.
Add raspberries and sugar
Sp3:120deg:15mins
Check if jam is set to your liking (jam will continue to set upon standing).
Strain through sieve to remove seeds by stirring and pressing down with a metal spoon.

White Chocolate Buttercream

200 gms white chocolate. Melted in microwave and cooled to room temperature 

230 gms unsalted butter softened 

240 gms icing sugar mixture 

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

20 mls thickened cream or omit cream if using this buttercream with a Russian piping tip. 

Insert Kneading Blade. Stopper in 

Add butter, icing sugar mixture and vanilla extract. Sp10:30 sec scraping bowl with spatula after 15 sec. (This may take longer depending on how soft your butter is). Mixture should be soft and creamy and paled in colour. 

Add cooled white chocolate. Remove Stopper. Sp10:15sec scraping bowl with spatula after 10sec. 

Add cream Sp10:5sec. Remove blade and stir through with spatula. 

Add gel colours if desired and mix through with spatula.
Frosting might need refrigeration before piping. 

Pipe or spread Buttercream on to cake or cupcakes and refrigerate until firm.

Beef and Spinach Lasagne

Lasagne is one of those classic dishes that is often requested by my family.. This recipe is an adaptation of my Lasagne/Cannelloni recipe where the tomato and meat filling are cooked separately then mixed together. In this recipe I've cooked the meat and tomato filling together to save time and save on washing the Tefal Cuisine Companion bowl, in fact there is no need to wash the bowl after making the meat filling, just rinse and dry and continue with the cheese sauce. The addition of cottage cheese imparts a beautiful creaminess to the sauce and can be store bought or made from scratch using my recipe on this blog.

TIP: Always pre bake your prepared lasagne for 20 minutes then set aside for at least 1 hour before topping with cheese and baking. I sometimes make in the morning or the day before, pre cook then refrigerate before topping with cheese before baking.

Note: For convenience I use frozen spinach thawed overnight through wire mesh sieve sitting over a bowl and squeezed through a clean tea towel to remove excess liquid when ready to use.

Note: Australian spoon measurements used - 1 tablespoon = 20 mls. 1 teaspoon = 5 mls

To Assemble

Dried lasagne sheets.

Grated Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese or pre packaged grated pasta bake cheese.

Meat Filling

1 brown Onion peeled and quartered

2 Garlic Cloves peeled

1 tablespoon Olive Oil
4 rashers short cut Bacon diced

500 gms Minced Beef

1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
1 tin crushed Tomatoes
150 gms semi sundried Tomatoes roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried Italian Herbs or 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs or to taste. I added 1 tablespoon each of fresh basil and oregano.

250 gms frozen chopped Spinach, thawed and well drained.

2 tablespoons Cream
1/2 cup fresh Basil or mixed fresh Herbs roughly chopped extra

Insert Ultrablade. Stopper in.

Add onion and garlic

Pulse until finely chopped scraping bowl as necessary

Leave Ultrablade in throughout cooking. Remove Stopper. Place a piece of paper towelling over the hole in lid to prevent splattering.
Add olive oil and bacon to chopped onion and garlic.

Slow Cook P1:7mins  scraping bowl with spatula as necessary.

Add minced beef and stir through with spatula.

Slow Cook P1:5mins scraping bowl with spatula as necessary

Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh or dried herbs. Stir through with spatula

Slow Cook P2:20mins scraping bowl with spatula as necessary
Remove Ultrablade

Add cream, well drained chopped spinach, fresh basil or herbs of choice and stir through with spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.
Set aside mixture in heat proof bowl.
Rinse and dry Cuisine Companion bowl.

Cheese Bechamel

This is an adapted recipe from the Million Menus cookbook

750 gms milk

75 gms Plain Flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

75 gms butter diced

250-300 gms cottage cheese blended smooth using Tefal mini bowl Speed 11 or stick blender or pushed through a fine wire mesh sieve
Insert Whisk. Stopper in.

Add milk and flour

Sp7:1min 20sec

Remove Stopper
Add diced butter, salt and pepper

Sp4:90deg:10-11 mins or until thickened

Add cottage cheese

Sp4:1min or until smooth

Set aside 15 mins.

Lasagne assembly

Grease a rectangular lasagne baking dish. Mine measured 25x20cm

Add a layer of meat 

Add a layer of dried or fresh lasagne sheets

Add a layer of Bechamel cheese sauce

Repeat all layers ending with cheese sauce

Bake 170 deg for 20 mins then set aside for at least 1 hour before topping with cheese and baking 170 deg for 20-25 mins or until golden.