The Kitchen Playground

Delicious little morsels, perfect for finger food or piling into lunch boxes. Very bento friendly.
Just in case you were wondering, the recent lack of photos is a gesture of disgust at the hideous lighting in my hideous house. Photography will resume when the house has been demolished. Which will happen soon should the universe care [...]

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This is a nice, easy, budget friendly change from sandwiches. I just can’t speak kindly of sandwiches, I need to move past that.

Pumpkin & Feta Fritters with Avocado
350g peeled and diced pumpkin
30g water
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
200g feta, crumbled
oil and butter to cook
avocado slices to top

Place pumpkin in TM [...]

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These are an old favourite at the Kitchen Playground and frankly I’m surprised I haven’t blogged them before. They work equally well with chicken, pork or turkey mince.
Steamed Curry Cakes
500g chicken, pork or turkey mince
250ml coconut cream
1/3 cup red, green or yellow curry paste*
1 egg
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 teaspoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon roughly chopped peanuts
1 [...]

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This afternoon, I discovered a glut of pears needing to be used in the fruit bowl. I also needed an after school, pre-swimming snack for tomorrow. That is how this pear slice was born. It would be easy enough to make without the thermomix, just soften the butter first for easy reaming with the sugar [...]

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School holidays are upon us and I am taking great delight in being home long enough to play in the kitchen. There simply isn’t enough time for that during term anymore. Part of the fun is my annual cookbook and recipe cull. As I am hoping that a move will be on the cards within [...]

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Part one introduces my thoughts on why only whole spices should grace your pantry and parts two, three and four feature the beginnings of my essential spice list.
Part 5 concludes the Kitchen Playground essential spice list.

Saffron threads
At the Kitchen Playground, saffron is used a lot in Spanish cooking as well as appearing in Middle [...]

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There is something incredibly satisfying about an entire meal produced in the thermomix. When it is as wonderfully healthy as a meal steamed in the varoma, the satisfaction levels can only increase.

Chinese Style Steamed Chicken
1 chicken, cut into breast, wings, thighs and drumsticks
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sherry
2 teaspoons cornfour
2cm piece ginger, finely grated (10 [...]

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Part one of this discussion introduces my thoughts on why only whole spices should grace your pantry and part two features the beginning of my essential spice list.
Part three is a continuation of the Kitchen Playground essential spice list.

from top, left to right, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, garlic
Cloves
Powerful little beast clove. They [...]

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Here is a quick and healthy meal to cheer your tastebuds. All cooked in the thermomix with the help of the varoma. Of course, without a thermomix, the same could be achieved with a saucepan and steamer.
Steamed Fish with Tamarind & Ginger Sauce
4 small whole fish or 4 fillets, any firm white fish will do
a [...]

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Fast and delicious. I whipped this up in 15 minutes flat for the sole purpose of work lunches. It will freeze nicely into 4 lunch sized portions. Perfect for a cold day. Easily adaptable to a saucepan and food processor or stick blender too.

Spinach and Parmesan Soup
1 large chunk parmesan
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 potato, peeled
1 [...]

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