Mango macadamia smoothie

So, as you might have guessed by the recent chutney & ice cream recipes, we have had a major oversupply of mangos here at the moment! Mangos are definitely one of the upsides to a Queensland summer!! Unfortunately one of the downsides at this time of year is having a mango tree in the front yard!!! Our mango tree is at that annoying stage - the bats and possums have their seasonal passes in full swing, and every morning there are what feels like 10,000 half eaten mangos scattered about the front lawn, garden and driveway - the remnants of a midnight feast. Then there is the added bonus of 'what goes in must come out!' with bat droppings all over my car, front steps and garden path. So charming - wash the car one day and the next morning it looks like it's never been washed in its life - bits of mango and bat droppings splattered all over it. 'Only another few weeks' is what I must keep chanting to myself at this time of year...as I step in another half eaten mango on the way out the front gate. It's such a lovely old shade tree and goodness knows how ancient.... Soon enough the pain will be over & the bats and possums gone for another season.

One of my friends asked me for 'frozen mango options!!' when I was in the middle of my mango recipe frenzy recently. Apart from the obvious mango daiquiri (sure helps cope with the wildlife mess out the front!) we have been loving these mango & macadamia smoothies!  Mr almost 3 & I have been having them for brekky all week, as I too have a freezer full of frozen mango. This recipe inspiration came from my gorgeous friend & fellow Thermomixer Amy Welsh. We were doing some Christmas cooking together last month & she whizzed us up a quick mango macadamia smoothie - it was so delicious and filling - I came home experimented with her ingredients.

Mango macadamia smoothie

Ingredients:

300gms diced frozen mango

30-40gms whole raw macadamia nuts

500gms coconut water

Method:

Simply add all ingredients to your Thermomix bowl and blend 1 min speed 9. 

This makes 2 large or 4 small smoothies. 

If these are a little thick for you, add some filtered water and blend on speed 4 for 10 seconds. 

Enjoy!! 

Creamy Mango Ice Cream Bars

I usually get someone to roadtest my recipes before I post, but this one is pretty simple, so fingers crossed you like it! 

WHY do I get someone to road test my recipes?! It's pretty simple. 
I never measure anything. 
I never write anything down. 
I never time how long I cook anything for.... it's just the way I've always cooked. 

I measure by eye. 
I cook by memory,
and I judge readiness by taste, smell and sight. 

So sometimes while I'm merrily jotting down a recipe for here, I do a few things intuitively and forget to write them down... so in order for you to avoid disaster, I try to cook my own recipes as per my own instructions, once I've drafted them on here. Then, to be sure to be sure.. I have a few lovely friends who are happy to be my guinea pigs!

A big part of the reason I started this blog, is because I'm often asked for my recipes - and they are almost always in my head... or if I've followed someone else's recipe, I usually look at the ingredients list and the picture, and then change it according to what I've got in the cupboard or what I think will work better! I can't even count how many times I've given out my spinach pie recipe (it's coming..) or my Tuna Pasta recipe... so this blog now means I have a record of things and I can point everyone in this direction!

Creamy Mango Ice Cream Bars

Ingredients

5 large ripe mangos*

1 cup water (200gms)

1 cup raw sugar (200gms)

the juice of half a lemon

250mls pouring cream (250gms)

*If you have mangos in the fruit bowl that are still a little firm, it's worth waiting a few days until your mangos are nice and ripe, especially if you are planning to omit some/all sugar (see note below)

TM Method

1. peel and slice mangos, set aside

2. weigh 200gms sugar and 200gms water in the TM and cook 

5 mins | 100 deg | speed 2

3. add mango slices you set aside in step 1 to TM bowl and blend 20 secs | Sp 9

4. Set aside 1 cup of blended mango puree from step 3 in the fridge 

5. line a baking tray or a square cake tin with baking paper, you need the paper to come up the sides of the tin by about 2.5cms or an inch (this will make it easier to get your slice out in one piece in the end)

6. pour remaining mango puree into the tin and put in the freezer to set

7. once the first tray of mango has set, add the reserved cup of mango plus 250gms pouring cream into the TM bowl and blend 20 secs | Sp 5

8. Pour on top of frozen mango tray and put back into the freezer to set. 

9. Once the top layer has set, remove tray from freezer, upturn onto a board and rub a cloth thats been rinsed under hot water and wrung out, all along the bottom of the upturned tray. This will soon slightly melt the bottom of the mango mixture making it easier to remove from the tray. 

10. run a knife under hot water and dry and slice your mango icecream into whatever sized bars you like. 

I wrap mine in baking paper and store in a container in the freezer so they are easy to remove and don't all stick together. 

Conventional Method

1. peel and slice mangos, set aside

2. add 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a small saucepan and simmer, stirring frequently until all sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool

3. once your mixture is cool pour into a blender with the set aside mango slices from step 1 until it's completely smooth

4. Set aside 1 cup of mango puree in the fridge from step 3

5. line a baking tray with or a square cake tin with baking paper, you need the paper to come up the sides of the tin by about 2.5cms or an inch 

6. pour remaining mango puree into the tin and put in the freezer to set

7. once the first tray of mango has set, add the reserved cup of mango plus 250mls pouring cream into the blender and blend until combined

8. Pour creamy mixture onto the top of the frozen mango tray and put back into the freezer to set

9. Once the top layer has set, remove tray from freezer, upturn onto a board and rub a cloth thats been rinsed and under hot water and wrung out, all along the bottom of the upturned tray, this will soon slightly melt the bottom of the mango mixture making it easier to remove from the tray. 

10. run a knife under hot water, wipe dry and slice your mango icecream into whatever sized bars you like. 

I wrap mine in baking paper and store in a container in the freezer so they are easy to remove and don't all stick together. 

*If you have mangos in the fruit bowl that are still a little firm, it's worth waiting a few days until your mangos are nice and ripe, especially if you are planning to omit some/all sugar

NOTE:

I do this for my almost 3 yr old without the sugar, using a similar method, except I pour into popsicle trays in reverse. So I set aside the water/mango/lemon mixture, and blend the cream and reserved cup of mango, and pour this into the bottom of the popsicle moulds, just a tiny amount. I let this set in the freezer and then fill to the top with pureed mango. There are no complaints!

If you are dairy free or vegan, you can swap the cream for coconut cream following the same method.

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

When I was 21 I packed up everything, quit my job, sold my house and went on an adventure. I landed at JFK airport and after a week in New York City, flew to San Francisco where I spent 7 months as a nanny to four very delightful and very busy boys, they were 9,7,4 & 18ths at the time. One day, when I was grocery shopping in Draegers, I found a cute little cookie cutter set, which I thought was gorgeous, so I bought it and tucked it away in my suitcase. Years later when I finally opened it, there was a recipe in the tin for 'sugar cookies'. It soon became ritual at Easter time to make these cookies using the tiny shaped cutters I bought in the States. Over the years I have slightly changed the recipe and now converted it to the Thermomix. It's a great recipe for kids baking, as it rolls out well and is great for cookie cutters. The dough is very forgiving and is easily able to be brought together again numerous times after it has been used to cut out the first lot of shapes.

I think of my time in the Bay Area whenever I make these. The four cheeky boys are now handsome young men and just as delightful as they were as children. 

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
125 grams Butter
200 grams sugar, (raw, caster or white)
300 grams plain flour
1 egg
half vanilla bean, or a dash of vanilla essence
1 pinch salt1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

1. If you are using raw sugar, mill for 5 seconds to make caster sugar.
2. Add butter and sugar to TM bowl, cream for 20 secs | sp 4
3. Scrape vanilla seeds from vanilla pod into the bowl (if  using) add rest of the ingredients and bring together 10 secs | sp 6, scrape down sides and then mix for a further 10 secs | sp 6  again.
4. Turn to closed lid and mix on wheat setting for 20 seconds - mixture should resemble bread crumbs but wont be brought together entirely.
5. Tip out onto Thermomat or a floured board and gently bring together into a ball. Put into a zip lock bag or wrap in glad wrap and rest in the fridge for minimum of an hour.
6. Take dough from fridge cut into into 4 and keep out 1/4 of the dough, putting the rest back into the fridge. Roll out on a floured board with a rolling pin to approximately 5 ml thickness. Cut shapes and place onto a cookie tray lined with baking paper ready to bake. 
7. Cookies can be decorated with a scattering of sugar or coloured cashou balls or left plain. 
8. I use a small start cutter and get approximately 80 cookies out of a batch. Bak for 5-7 minutes, 180 degrees on a fan bake and cool on a wire rack.

Note: For a larger cookie cutter, your cooking time may vary and need to be adjusted accordingly. The star cutter I use is 5cms wide. 

If you are doing different sized shapes, try to keep similar sizes on the same tray or you will have some smaller ones burning while the larger ones are not quite done. 

We made a batch this afternoon & had our very own tea party.