Florentines

I have been wanting to make Florentines for years.  When I saw Annabelle Whites name on this recipe,  I knew this was the one.  I hate it when I see cornflakes in shop bought Florentines,  these are the real deal with flaked Almonds.
I tripled the recipe,  but will publish the original amounts.  The one in the photo was baked in a muffin top tray,  lined with silicon.

Ingredients
70g butter
75 g sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of sour cream
25 g mixed peel
50 g currants or sultanas
110 g sliced almonds
10 glazed cherries,  sliced into quarters
4 knobs of preserved ginger,  sliced into thin pieces
1 cup of chocolate buttons.

Method

Set oven 180 o C

Weigh butter and sugar into TMX bowl and dissolve sugar,  100 / speed 3 / 6 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients,  except for Cherries and Chocolate.
Set REVERSE, mix on speed 1 for 5 seconds.
Tip into bowl and fold gently so that all almonds are well coated.

These are best baked in silicon cup cake containers or containers lined with silicon sheets.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes.  The mixture should bubble and a few brown spots should show on some of the Almond flakes. 
They are baked and left to cool in the containers.  Then removed. And the chocolate added to the back.
The Florentine in the photo was baked in a muffin top tray.
The cherries were added just prior to placing in the oven.
Annabelle's instructions are for cup cake size Florentines.  A tablespoon on the mixture is placed in each cup cake and pushed down with your fingers.


Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

Melt chocolate in dish in microwave, stirring  every 30 seconds.
Spoon melted chocolate on to back of large Florentines or place liquid chocolate into small zip lock plastic bag with a tiny hole in corner and pipe thin threads of chocolate across top of Florentines.

Lemon Tea Biscuits

These 'freezer' biscuits are novel in that they are made with Lemon Flavored tea. The TMX is perfect for grinding the tea.  The original recipe did not suggest that they would be suitable to freeze,  but I tried it and they froze beautifully.
makes 30+ biscuits.
Set oven 350 o C FF

Ingredients
4 teaspoons of lemon flavored tea. ( I used 4 tea bags of Lemon Twist, Twinnings)
1/2 cup sugar
240 butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of Lemon Extract, ( I used food safe Lemon Oil )
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
2 cups of plain flour

Method
Grind tea and sugar, speed 10 / 20 seconds
Add butter and mix, speed 4 / 20 seconds
Add salt, lemon Extract and Vanilla and mix, speed 4 / 10 seconds
Fold in flour on REVERSE.
Look in the hole in the top and stop machine once incorporated.
Roll into 2 logs.
Firm up in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Slice of discs about 1 cm thick and bake for 15/20 minutes.

Or you can freeze logs to use later.

Spicy Cauliflower Fritters

Although there are several recipes for Cauliflower fritters or patties,  this is a little different.  The original recipe was in the Age and the recipe by Steven Manfredi.   It has a mild Middle Eastern flavour.

This is 1/2 the recipe , so can easily be doubled.  I shallow fried the patties and reheated in the Air Fryer.  The 1/2 mix made 12 small patties, 7x4 cm.  I served them with Sweet chilli sauce.

160 g cauliflower
60g plain flour
1 1/2 tablespoons of parsley ,
1 clove garlic
1/2  an onion
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 tablespoon of oil

Method
Cut cauliflower into small pieces
Steam cauliflower in Varoma until soft, ( 25 mins) set aside
Tip hot water out of bowl and rinse in cold water to cool bowl.
Add onion , garlic and parsley and chop, speed 5 for 10 seconds.
Add eggs, flour and spices and mix for 5 seconds.  Scrape down and mix, 2 seconds.
Add warm Cauliflower and mix on speed 5 for 2 seconds.  Mix should be a bit chunky.
Heat oil and fry until brown.  Flip and cook other side.
Remove and place on hand towel.

Prawn Toasts

Prawn toasts. made in TMX and baked in Air Fryer. « on: Today at 05:07:51 AM »

---

Love these, as they are so versatile.  Can be served as a nibble with drinks, entree,  main meal with salad, part of Chinese banquet,  or with soup.   Although Prawns are the traditional base,  firm white fish could be used.  A simple soy sauce or sweet chilli can be served with them.  They can also be cut into fingers, rounds or triangles.
They are traditionally shallow fried but to reduce the amount of oil , I have sprayed them with Rice bran oil,  and baked them for 5 minutes in the Air Fryer. 
I have used Jill Dupleix's prawn recipe and have adapted it to TMX.

Ingredients
12/14 slices of white sandwich Supermarket bread. Stale is best.  Important that it is not too thick as needs to be thin to crisp. Edges trimmed.
500g green (raw) prawn meat.
1 clove of garlic
3 to 4 rings of fresh green ginger,  should be approximately 1 Tablespoon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 Tablespoon of Chinese rice wine
1 egg white .
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 Tablespoons of white sesame seeds
Can of Rice bran Oil or oil for shallow frying.

Method
Add ginger ,garlic , cornflour, salt to TMX bowl and mix on speed 7/7 seconds, scrape down.
Add egg white , sesame oil  and Rice wine,  mix, speed 7 for 7 seconds. Check to see that ginger and garlic are very finely chopped.
Add Prawn meat and press TURBO button twice.  Check that there are no whole prawns in the mix.
This can be made the day before required.  Keep covered in refrigerator.

Lay trimmed bread on bench and spray lightly with oil.
Turn slices over.
Place 1 rounded dessertspoon on Prawn mix on each slice and spread to the edges of each slice.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Spray prawns lightly with oil.
Bake in Pre heated Air Fryer for 5 minutes.  (the time will depend on how thick the paste is spread.)
I baked full slices and then cut them. 
2 full slices fit into wire basket.
Can bake several lots and keep warm while cooking more.

If you haven't an Air fryer you could preheat a heavy frying pan to hot and brown the base of the bread and then finish off in the oven under the grill.  Being careful not to over cook the Prawn mix.

Rum and Raisin Banana Cake

Best banana Cake ever, says DH.  I had given up making banana cake as they somehow always seem to taste the same.  This one doesn't.  This is not what it is called in "Country Living" where the inspiration came from.  There it is called, Coffee, Banana and Cardamon Loaf.   I have adapted it to the TMX and made other minor changes.
Ingredients
225 Raisins
150 mls hot water
2 generous teaspoons of good quality Instant Coffee
2 Tablespoons of Rum
110 g butter softened
140g Dark brown Sugar
generous teaspoon of ground cardamon
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, ( 180 peeled weight)
225 Self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon of Bi carb soda.

Set  Oven to 180 o or 160 FF.
Method
In a bowl, place Raisins , coffee and Rum and pour boiling water over and stir.
Collect together rest of ingredients and line a loaf tin.
Into TMX bowl place butter, sugar ,eggs  .and cardamon
Mix speed 5 for 1 1/2 minutes.
Scrape down sides and mix, speed 5 for 15 seconds
Add banana and mix speed 5, 20 seconds.
Add carb soda and flour and mix on KNEAD until incorporated.  Just a few seconds.
Add raisin mixture  and mix for 5 seconds, or until mixed through.
Scrape into lined baking dish.
Bake for 1 hour, testing and for further time if needed.

Ice if required
275g. Icing sugar
2 teaspoons of Rum
1 teaspoon of coffee dissolved in a little boiling water.  Enough water to make asoft but not runny icing.

Herbed Sour Dough Rye Noodles

This is a most unusual recipe for pasta,  but it certainly works and is much more versatile than I expected.  It can be a base for both simple and complex sauces. 
I have adapted the recipe , to TMX, from one found in  "the Nourished Kitchen", by Jennifer Mc Gruther.
Need to start the simple process the day before needed.
Will make 6 generous serves.

Ingredients
2 cups of bread flour
1 cup rye flour
a good handful of fresh herbs , such as parsley, dill and chives.
3 whole eggs
1 cup of sour dough starter

Method.
Add fresh herbs to TMX bowl and mince on speed 7 for 7 seconds
Add eggs, mix, speed 5, 5 seconds
Add starter and flours and knead for 4 minutes.
Leave in TMX bowl and stand over night in a warm place.

Next morning,  remove from bowl and divide into 3 equal portions.
 Form into disks. ( each disk will make pasta for 2 generous serves.).
let sit on bench for 15 minutes before folding through pasta machine.

Process as for any pasta and boil in salted water until it rises to the top of the water.
Cooks in about 4 minutes.
Strain and place in bowls and top with sauce.
I made a sour cream sauce with garlic and crab.

Sour Dough, Rye and Wholemeal Full Flavored Loaf.

I wanted to make a wholesome loaf of bread.  This loaf fits the bill but with the added bonus of being FULL of flavor.  It is slightly sour as the Rye and Sour Dough predominate, but if you have a savory palate,  you will like it.   If you like things a bit sweeter,  then add 1 Tablespoon of Golden Syrup, Honey or molasses to the dough.
Remember that Sour Dough Bread cannot be hurried.

Ingredients
400g  of active Sour Dough Starter
300g Rye flour
200g Wholemeal flour.( I used Laucke BioFort Golden Wholemeal)
250g warm water
If you do not use Laucke flour that has sugar and salt added, then add 1 teaspoon of each.
Optional, 1 level Dessertspoon of Honey, Golden Syrup or Molasses.

Method
Place all in TMX bowl and Knead for 4 minutes.
Leave in bowl and allow to double in a warm place. Mine took 17 hours.  My starter was not fully active and it sat in a cool room over night.
Sit bowl back on base and knead for 1 minute.
Turn out on to a well floured Sil Mat and fold over several times.
Roll into a sausage shape and place fold down in a lined tin.
Spray with water.
Cover with a plastic shower cap or plastic wrap.
Place in warm spot to rise and double.  (there will be very little oven bounce)mine took 2 1/2 hours in front of combustion stove.
It is ready for baking when small bubbles or holes appear on top of dough.
Spray with water and sprinkle with seeds.
Bake in center of oven, 200 O for35 minutes. Turning half way.
Remove from tin and place back in oven 15 minutes .

I test with Thermometer , 200 F, if cooked.  If not give it another 5 minutes in oven and test again.
cool on wire rack. 
it will slice into thin slices without crumbling

The best taste test is a thin slice with very good sweet butter.