Creamy chorizo pasta (Thermomix recipe) / Pasta cremosa con chorizo (receta Thermomix)

*Spanish version further down / En español más abajo*

I have been playing with this dish for a while and tonight I finally got the Creamy chorizo pasta recipe for the Thermomix. The best part: it's cooked from start to finish in the Thermomix. I had a clean kitchen before the Thermomix's final beep.
y got the perfect

When I first got my Thermomix I discovered a wealth of Australian websites and Facebook pages with TM31 recipes where the acronym EDC kept on coming up. At first I had no idea what it was, until I asked. It stands for Every Day Cookbook, the book that is delivered with the Thermomix as standard down under. Then I kept on hearing about a creamy salami and courgette recipe on it that people raved about, a kind soul passed me the recipe and yes it is good but, as my friend Amanda put it, I cheated on chorizo!

Husband also complained about the salami. What? No chorizo? So I started playing with the recipe but chorizo releases its juices differently to salami and so I had to totally adapt it.

This is the perfect mid-week dish, also perfect for those nights when you want something tasty but are short on time and/or energy. I don't tend to cook many creamy sauces but this one is just so delicious.

It has been a long week for us, even the car broke down, given that I had just started beating my fear of driving, this week deserved to end with an indulgent creamy pasta!

If you are wondering what a Thermomix is, come this way.

Creamy Chorizo Pasta with the Thermomix
Serves 3-4 (it really depends on their appetite)

Marble cake for clumsy bakers (recipe)

Those of you who are baking experts, look away now as you will be absolutely appalled by this marble cake recipe. This must have been the first cake that needs an oven that I ever tried making, in fact I don't think I have tried any others ever since, I just stick to this one. This is perfect for clumsy inexperienced bakers like me, it's so easy.

I lie, I tried muffins, it was a disaster, anyone got a fail-proof recipe?

I digress, I can actually make one other chocolate cake, my no-bake biscuit cake. That's it. I don't think I was born to bake but I was clearly born to eat cake, above all chocolate cake so, every once in a while the need to bake rises (so do my toddler's requests for cake).

How to overcome the fear of driving

I haven't written about my fear of driving for a long time. When you have a fear so deeply rooted it can be difficult to find the words to explain how you feel about it, why you haven't driven for ages. What happened the last time you were at the wheel while going through a good driving phase that stopped you driving again.

For me the last time was a broken iPhone at the end of a long week when husband was away at a conference abroad. It was a Friday, I never leave the phone in my pocket outside of the house but I was tired from the long week alone with toddler and work. The phone fell out as I got out of the car and the screen broke. It made me think that I shouldn't be driving if I was so tired. Then I got thinking that I am always tired, a mother's exhaustion. That was September 2012.

When your fear lives strong, when you struggle to find the willpower to even find the car key and your hands start sweating at the thought of sitting at the wheel, it is easy to hold on to any little excuse.

So I did, hold on, just like I had been holding on to my fear for over two decades.

The thing is that I can drive, two instructors told me so quite clearly during my refresher lessons a year and a half ago, one even turned to me and said "You quite enjoy driving, don't  you?". Yes, I do, once I'm in the car I really enjoy it but then my brain would always find that little crevice where the fear hides.

Once I was out of the car, it was difficult to get back in it; no problem if other people were driving, if it was me behind the wheel it was a different kettle of fish.

Every once in a while my husband would get frustrated and ask: will you ever drive again? After Christmas that frustration seemed to increase but a friend had just died in a car crash and, although that was a wake-up call for us all close to her to get our lives and dreams in gear, it also accentuated that fear of "what if".

It took me a good 3-4 months to recover after that and to start to even consider driving again. But this time I was armed with a couple of extra weapons to fight my fear: a book and a method.

Crustless quiche in the Thermomix (recipe)

This crustless quiche is a new version of the Crustless Pie that I had adapted a while ago. I was keen to reduce the amount of olive oil and flour used, 100 g olive oil seemed excessive and the result is a spongier slice crammed with vegetables.

In fact, when it comes to the vegetables, I have started reducing the amount of red pepper and adding carrot, I actually think it could take more carrot and possibly tomatoes.

It's ideal for lunch boxes, sandwiches, parties and to have al fresco with a lovely salad. I particularly like it as a snack with a cup of coffee, elevenses anyone?

I don't have a quiche tin to try it in so, if you do, do try it and come back to let me know how you get on please. Next time I may make individual portions in the muffin tin to see how they turn out.

Recipe: Crustless quiche in the Thermomix
Ingredients

• 100 g cheddar

• 15 g cooked ham (yes, I may try it with chorizo one day), you can use any amount up to 150 g really, this time I was very short on ham

• 80-100 g onion
• 200 g courgette (some of you call it zucchini)
• 1 red pepper (some of you call it red capsicum)
• 50-80 g carrot (I think we all give it the same name)
• 6 tinned anchovies (optional)
• A couple of twists of the pepper mill

• 4 large eggs
• 35 g extra virgin olive oil

• 100 g plain flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• Baking paper

Features I wish the Thermomix TM31 had / Funciones que creo que le faltan a la Thermomix TM31

Bilingual post / Post bilingüe. En español más abajo

By now, you have probably gathered that I LOVE my Thermomix TM 31; however there are things that I hope they will incorporate into the next model (which hopefully won't be launched for a while as I only bought this one last August!).

The more reasonable features I would like to see include:

• A delay start function: sometimes I would love to programme things to start later. For example, sometimes I set it up with vegetables to steam for dinner but I don't want to steam them just yet, so I go up to my office to do some work or to do something around the house and have to go back down to the kitchen at the right time to get the Varoma started and then come back up. Although, to be honest, if I was being demanding, being able to do it remotely through an iPhone/iPad/Android app would be even better but I guess that that won't happen for another 20 years... or will it? 
• A way of stopping the beeping at the end or shortening it or lowering the volume or cancelling it from the start because you know you're not going to be right next to the Thermomix when it stops. It keeps beeping at me and sometimes I'd rather it just stopped on its own (that app would come in handy here too, wouldn't it?).
• I would like it to include, as standard, brushes and other cleaning devices for the small crevices I can't get to easily, although there are nifty little ones that can be bought and the edge of a towel does the job nicely. I am being picky now.

 So, who fancies sending Vorwerk some feedback? Go on, don't be shy, I'm sure they'll love to read it.

Don't forget you can find my Thermomix recipes and posts here.

Español:

Ya sabéis que me encanta mi Thermomix TM31 pero sí que hay cosas que creo que deberían de incorporar en el próximo modelo (que por cierto espero que no lancen hasta dentro de unos añitos que solo tengo la TMX desde agosto).

Entre las funciones que me gustaría ver: 

• Poder programarla para que empiece unos minutos, una hora, dos horas, etc. después. Si es que hay veces que preparo por ejemplo unas verduras para hacer en el Varoma, las coloco en su sitio y me vuelvo a la oficina a trabajar un ratito más (las ventajas de trabajar en casa) y no quiero que empiece de inmediato. Una app para el iPhone o el iPad o para Android vendría genial en estos casos, ¿verdad?
• Alguna forma de evitar que pite al final porque lo de que siga no me gusta, o que pite un ratito y pare o de bajarle el volumen o de cancelar el pitido al programar la TMX porque sabemos que no vamos a estar a su ladito cuando pare (¿a que mi idea de la app vendría bien en estos casos también? Para parar la Thermomix dándole a un botoncito del móvil).
• Me gustaría que incluyese, de serie, cepillos y otros accesorios para limpiar los huequitos que se van ensuciando, aunque esto se soluciona rápido con cepillitos y hasta con el borde de un trapo de cocina.

Os toca a vosotros: ¿qué otras funciones creeis que le hacen falta a la Thermomix? ¿Le hacemos unas cuantas sugerencias a Vorwerk?

Podeis encontrar mis recetas para la Thermomix aquí, muchas están en inglés pero también las hay bilingües. Si os apetece que traduzca alguna que solo esté en inglés, no teneis más que pedírmelo.

A day in court: Hampton Court / Un día muy British en el Palacio de Hampton Court

Bilingual post. English in normal font, Spanish in italics.  
Post bilingüe, inglés en letra normal, español en cursiva.

Easter 2013, a 4 day weekend, the Tapas family was on the move, to London to be exact, first to see friends, then to see the in-laws, then to spend the night at my mother-in-law's. I felt ill that night, so unbelievably ill (this is something that happens quite often when I finally get to have a rest) that I thought I would not have the energy to go spend a day in court at Hampton Court Palace, as planned for the next day. I was massively disappointed.

Semana Santa 2013, un fin de semana de 4 días en el Reino Unido (donde los días festivos son el viernes y el lunes), metimos los bártulos en el coche y rumbo a Londres nos fuimos. Primero visitamos a unos amigos, luego a la familia política y, ya de paso, pasamos la noche en Londres en casa de mi suegra. Esa noche me puse malísima (me suele pasar cuando por fin descanso, si es que no paro), tan mala me puse que creí que me iba a perder la visita al Palacio de Hampton Court que teníamos prevista para el día siguiente. Menudo disgusto me llevé.

You may remember I am a translator... Well, because I specialise in Tourism, Hampton Court Palace comes up a whole lot in my translations. The way it is always described, the photos... I have been wanting to go for years. So, despite not feeling great, there I went, dragging my aching body to the Southwest of London, right by the river Thames.

Como muchos ya sabeis, soy traductora especializada, entre otras cosas, en turismo. Los textos que traduzco hablan del Palacio de Hampton Court MUY a menudo. Ya llevaba años con ganas de ir. Así que me vestí y, a pesar de que me dolía todo el cuerpo, allá fuimos todos (suegra incluida) al suroeste de Londres, junto al río Támesis.

Thermomix noodle stir-fry (recipe)

I love noodles, whenever Chinese or Thai food is involved, there have to be noodles! It's not something I grew up with but it is something I have come to adore ever since I live in the UK.

Making them in the Thermomix means that you can do the chopping and stir-frying in one bowl, saving a lot of time and cleaning. Perfect for when speed and taste are of the essence.

For those who are a bit incredulous about doing things like these in the TM31: nothing turned to mush, courtesy of the Reverse speed function. Perfect.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

 - 100 g rice noodles, cooked according to packet instructions (I like rice noodles the best, you can use whichever you prefer). You can add less noodles if it's just you and you don't want leftovers.

- Half onion (cut in two chunks)
- 1 garlic clove
- Half red pepper (cut in big chunks)
- Handful coriander
- 1/4 or 1/2 red chilli (depending on how much you can cope with the heat!)
- 1-2 cm ginger
- 15-20 g soy sauce / tamari
- 1 lemon or one lime (just not both), one half juiced, the other one to serve.

- 15 g olive oil (EVOO preferably, extra virgin olive oil)

- 6-7 shiitake or oyster mushrooms, sliced chunkily