Category Archives: Combi Steamer

Pearl barley risotto

November 24, 2015 4:22 pm / 2 Comments /

Barley risotto

I have been wanting to try cooking pearl barley in the steam oven for sometime.  Such an under-rated grain and sometimes passed off as only being for soups, pearl barley has had a revamp as one of the new, healthy grains suitable for all sorts of dishes.  Although it does contain gluten in its current form I believe that the CSIRO have developed a gluten free barley grain that is currently being grown and marketed for commercial sale.  Keep an eye out for this 🙂

Cooking pearl barley in the steam oven is similar to that of brown rice.  It needs washing and picking over and the same amount of liquid as brown rice for cooking (1 to 1.25).  So much easier to cook this all in one pan.  I chose the base of my Le Creuset flat casserole but any cooktop to oven dish that will fit into your steam oven will do.  Great for serving in and less washing up.

I have added fennel and roasted pumpkin to this risotto but play around and change the flavours to suit what you have on hand.  Cooking in the steam oven retained the shape and texture of the grain which is perfect for risotto or salads.  I served it with crumbled fetta which gave it that little extra flavour and another texture.  Would be excellent served under any fish for a more substantial main course.

Fantastic the next day as a salad served at room temperature with rocket, quartered freshly cooked beetroot, goats cheese and a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients:  Serves 6

1½ cups pearl barley, washed
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small or ½ large fennel, thinly sliced
splash white wine (optional)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
pinch sea salt & ground black pepper
½ small butternut pumpkin, roasted prior
handful of fresh parsley or dill chopped
fetta cheese to serve

Method:

  1. Roast pumpkin, cubed with a splash of olive oil @ 200°C Fan forced for 15-20 minutes until browned.  Set aside.
  2. If your using your combi oven open it to cool down while you prepare the rest of the dish.
  3. In a deep, flat pan that will fit into the steam oven saute the onion & garlic in a splash of olive oil.
  4. Add drained pearl barley and very thinly sliced fennel and stir until coated with the oil and onion mixture.
  5. Add a splash of white wine and let it bubble away the alcohol for a couple of minutes.
  6. Add the stock.  It should just cover the vegetables and barley and cook @ 100°C steam for 40 minutes, stirring after 30 minutes.
  7. Remove from steam oven, taste for seasoning (I needed a pinch of salt even though I used commercial stock for this).
  8. Add the roast pumpkin, herbs and seasoning and stir well.
  9. Cover pan with lid and let it rest for 5 minutes.  This will warm the pumpkin through.
  10. Serve with crumbled fetta cheese if desired.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Healthy eating, Main Courses, Steam Oven, Vegetarian

Combi oven roast chicken

August 4, 2015 11:53 am / 2 Comments /

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As I have mentioned in the other posts and the Combi roasting table here there are two ways you can get a delicious, moist and tender roast chicken in a combi steam oven.

If you have a Miele there is an Auto Roast Chicken program but be aware it is only for a small, approximately 1-1.2kg chicken which isn’t very big at all.  By all means try the automatic program if you have a small bird as it really is the quickest and easiest way to use the combi.  Basically, season the bird, put it directly onto the oven rack with the solid tray underneath to catch the fat and set Auto: Roast chicken: Start.  The program should take about an hour.  Make a note if you were happy with the browning as next time you can set this to be more or less before you start.

We are having a casual Sunday, family dinner tonight with a roast chicken and I thought I would season with a little sumac, oil and salt and roast on the combination setting.  Serve with my pearl cous cous with dried figs and coriander here for a delicious and simple dinner.  The results were amazing.  The breast meat was so moist and tender and although the oven was dirty afterwards it was worth the effort of cleaning it the following day!

You can also try cutting out the backbone and cooking my Spiced Chicken if you want a little more flavour and a reduced cooking time.  Cooking the chicken flat in the solid tray also reduced the ‘spitting’ factor in the oven so not as much cleaning needed afterwards.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

1 x 1.5kg chicken
splash of olive oil
1 tsp Sumac
½ tsp salt & ground black pepper
few slices lemon & fresh herbs (optional)

Method:

  1. Prepare chicken by rinsing out cavity, removing any giblets and excess fat and pat dry.
  2. Drizzle the chicken on both sides with a little olive oil.
  3. Mix together the seasoning ingredients and rub all over the chicken.
  4. Put the lemon slices & some fresh herbs if you wish into the chicken cavity and tie the legs together with a little piece of string.
  5. Place breast side up directly on the wire rack with the solid tray underneath and cook on Combination Mode Stage 1: 200°C + 95% moisture for 40 minutes then Stage 2: 200°C + 30% moisture for 20 minutes.  If your chicken is larger than 1.5kg then you will need to alter the time or temperatures you are cooking at.  Check the roasting table and also look at the temperatures I used when cooking the Tarragon roast chicken here.
  6. Rest the chicken before carving.  This will be the most delicious and moist roast chicken ever with a crispy skin!

Afterwards remember to do a soak program to help with the cleaning.  You can find this in the ‘Maintenance’ programs in your appliance.

Posted in: Chicken, Combi Steamer, Main Courses

Mexican beef short-ribs

July 6, 2015 1:54 pm / 3 Comments /

Mexican beef short-ribs

This is Neil Perry’s recipe which hit the top 2013 list here. The difference is that I have converted it to cook in the steam or combi oven.  Neil firstly boiled the short ribs for over an hour in a pot on the stove, changing the water twice then baked them in the oven for about an hour and a half so that the meat was falling off the bone. No need for all that messing around with a steam oven.  You can steam them instead of simmering (no need to bring to boil, replace water and wash up another pot) and then either cook them in the combi with extra moisture if you want a thinner sauce or if you only have a steam oven, bake them covered in a conventional oven.  Only one dish to wash up and preparation time is less.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

1 kg beef short ribs (ask the butcher for the thick, meaty end)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 long green chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
large pinch sea salt
freshly ground white pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground all-spice
400g tinned tomatoes, chopped
1-2 tbsp pickled jalapeño chillies, chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
350ml chicken stock (I have reduced it, use more for a thinner sauce)
juice of 1 fresh lime
1 bunch coriander, leaves picked

Method

  1. Start this preparation a day ahead if possible.
  2. Place the ribs in the solid steamer tray.  Steam @ 95°C for one hour.
  3. Drain and set aside to cool.
  4. While they are cooking make the sauce:
  5. Heat the olive oil in a deep frypan that will fit into your oven or combi.
  6. Add the green chilli, garlic and spices and saute for 1 minute until fragrant.
  7. Now add all the other ingredients except the lime and coriander.
  8. Return the cooled ribs to the sauce and marinade overnight if possible.  Neil didn’t do this but it’s bound to give the ribs more flavour 🙂
  9. Next day cook in the combi oven on Combination mode 160°C + 30% steam, uncovered for 2 hours.  Stir and turn occasionally.  If you don’t have a combi then cook, covered in a conventional oven at 150°C.   I wanted a thick sauce that stuck to the ribs so I cooked mine, covered in a conventional oven for 3 hours.  They were delicious and the meat was falling off the bone.
  10. To serve stir in the lime juice and sprinkle with fresh coriander.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Main Courses, Mexican, Party Food, Steam Oven

Bread & butter pudding

May 29, 2015 2:44 pm / 2 Comments /

Bread & butter pudding

This is the ultimate pudding if you have a combi oven as it really is quicker without the need for a water bath, just pop it into the oven on Combination mode and in just under an hour you have the perfect bread and butter pudding.  This is almost half  the cooking time than a conventional oven.  Amazing!

This version is also little quicker to whip together by using buttered raisin bread.  There are other versions you can do with this standard custard base.  Brioche is delicious, as is Panettoni or an artisan fruit loaf.  Another option includes spreading with marmalade after the butter but I prefer just a dusting of sugar.  If you use marmalade just spread some on the middle layer of bread and cover with more buttered slices.  This will stop it burning on the top.  If your using plain bread then sprinkle with a few sultanas over each layer.  Also delicious with dark chocolate chips!

This is a smaller recipe to serve four.  For six serves and a bigger pudding increase the eggs to 5, sugar to ½ cup and milk to 3½ cups.  Cooking time would be approximately a further 10 minutes.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

6-8 slices raisin bread or fruit loaf, buttered
3 eggs depending on their size
¼ cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Sugar to sprinkle over

Method:

  1. Grease a shallow, ovenproof dish with butter.  The pic shows my small Le Creuset 8cm x 26cm.
  2. Cut the bread if necessary and place tightly in the base of the dish with the buttered side down.
  3. Add another layer with the buttered side up.  It should be tight – no gaps so cut your bread the way you need to make it fit.  You should have at least three layers.
  4. Beat the eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla together.
  5. Pour over bread, pushing down so that it sinks in the custard.
  6. Sprinkle with sugar.
  7. Bake on Combination mode 160°C + 80% steam for 50 minutes.  It will come out of the oven puffed but will drop.  This is normal.

Serve warm with fresh cream 🙂

 

 

 

Posted in: Baking, Combi Steamer, Desserts

Chinese combi pulled pork

May 6, 2015 12:41 pm / 4 Comments /

Chinese combi pulled pork

This is my revised Chinese combi pulled pork recipe adaped from Dan Lepard’s article here.  As the combi cooks with a large percentage of moisture for this recipe I wanted the flavours to be similar but I didn’t want to cover it as that will stop the moisture getting into the meat.  I don’t need the sauce from Dan’s recipe (even though it sounds wonderful) as I will have the added moisture from the cooking process that will make my sauce.  As different cuts of pork have different fat content I now recommend adding half a cup of water to the pan before slow cooking and, if available, covering the meat with the rind of pork to retain extra moisture.  Quite different to a lamb shoulder, pork seems to need a little more help…

The paste is very strong but you end up with a delicious, spicy diluted sauce which can be mixed through the pork before serving.

Ingredients:

1.4-1.7kg pork shoulder or boneless ‘eye roast’, rind removed and a little fat left (see comment above)
50g red miso paste (dark coloured)
knob of fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2tsp smoked paprika
½tsp chilli powder
2 tsp five spice powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp peanut oil

Method:

  1. Mix all the ingredients into a thick, almost dry paste.
  2. Smear thickly all over the pork, using it all.
  3. Place into the solid steamer tray, cover with the pork rind & half a cup of water and cook on Combination mode 110°C + 80% moisture for 4½ hours.
  4. Turn half way through cooking.  You can remove the rind at this stage if you like.
  5. Remove, shred and place into a large bowl.  Add some of the liquid, it does need this.  Set aside until you are ready to fill the steamed bao here.  Delicious served with sliced spring onion, cucumber and Hoi Sin sauce 🙂

Absolutely delicious!

Posted in: Combi Steamer, Dumplings, Party Food, Pork

Combi steamer pulled pork

March 2, 2015 9:37 am / 4 Comments /

Combi steamer pulled pork

There are a few pulled pork recipes around but not for a combi!  I wanted those smokey, mustard flavours that go so well with pork but I also wanted that caramelised crust and juicy meat.

The combi is fantastic at giving you all the cooking techniques; you just need to add a little of the flavours yourself and marinade it overnight.

I have removed the rind for this dish but if you wish to serve some crackling on the side then place the skin which has been scored onto a plate, without covering and let it dry out in the refrigerator overnight.  Next day, before serving rub with a little salt and bake alone in a hot oven @ 200°C until crisp and bubbling.  If you are cooking roast potatoes then add the crackling at the same time but in a separate dish.

Ingredients:

Piece of rolled pork shoulder 1.7-2kg
1 tbsp. smoked ground paprika
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. Olive oil
large pinch salt

Method:

  1. Remove the string from the pork and trim off the rind leaving a thin layer of fat.  See above if you wish to cook crackling.
  2. Mix all the other ingredients together to form a thick paste.
  3. Spread all over the pork, cover and marinade overnight.
  4. Cook on Combination Mode 110°C + 80% steam for 3-3½ hours.  Turn over half way through the cooking time.
  5. Shred with a fork to tear into pieces to serve.
  6. Strain the cooking liquid into a separate bowl and add a little to taste to the pork.
  7. Delicious served in fresh bread rolls with more mustard and coleslaw.  I served this as a plated main course with Roasted pumpkin and curry leaf salad here.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Gluten free, Main Courses, Pork

Barramundi with Syrian red pepper crust

January 25, 2015 11:37 am / Leave a Comment /

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The great thing about a combi is that it will bake as well as steam.  One thing I love to do is use something that I have made in one form and transform it into something else.  That’s always a good way to do menu planning so there is no waste.  Don’t forget about that delicious dip you made last week which you can find the recipe for here, turn it into a mouth watering main course.

The baking effect with the steam actually ‘bakes and infuses’ this flavour into the fish.  It doesn’t have a lot of texture but if you like you can sprinkle some extra toasted walnuts over the top before you serve.  I haven’t done this in the picture but it would be delicious.  A perfect Summer meal that only needs a side salad.

Ingredients:

Thick barramundi or other white fish fillets, cut into serving size portions
½ cup Syrian red pepper, walnut and pomegranate dip
¼ cup extra toasted walnuts
Fresh parsley or coriander to garnish

Method:

  1. Cut fillets into thick, serving size pieces
  2. Preheat oven on Fan Plus 170°C
  3. Place fillets on a stainless steel tray lined with baking paper.
  4. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
  5. Spread with a generous layer of dip.
  6. Let sit to come to room temperature for about 5 minutes.
  7. Place in combi steam oven.
  8. Select Combination Bake and cook 170°C + 90% moisture for 5-8 minutes or until cooked.  The timing will depend on the size and thickness of your fillets.  Mine were only 5 minutes.  Try to have all the fillets the same thickness, turn under tail sections if necessary.
  9. Serve with roughly chopped toasted walnuts and a parsley or coriander garnish.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Fish, Gluten free

Fruit & cinnamon swirls

September 8, 2014 9:21 am / Leave a Comment /

Fruit & cinnamon swirls

Every afternoon when it’s wet outside I feel like baking.  I have become addicted to afternoon tea so it’s always a good excuse to cook something that I can eat at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon when the craving strikes!

Always on the lookout for a yeast dough that I can cook in the combi oven this is a recipe that is similar to a scone dough cinnamon swirl I use to make when I was a teenager.  Adapted from the Miele book, I have changed the recipe to suit and converted it to cook in the combination mode.  There wasn’t the auto program in my oven that was described in the book.

Remember the combi is the equivalent of having a commercial bakers oven in your own kitchen, so do try to cook these as it an easy recipe to get you into cooking with yeast at home.  A great way to start before moving into serious bread territory!

Ingredients: Makes approx. 20

Dough:
500g strong white or plain flour
2 sachets of dried yeast
200ml milk, warmed
40g sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
40g melted butter

Filling:
100g raisins
1/2 cup currants
2 tbsp. rum
50g softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Method:

  1. Pour the rum over the raisins and currents and set aside.
  2. Heat the milk and add the dry yeast, stir to combine.
  3. Sift the flour into a large bowl or a mixer with a dough hook attached.
  4. Pour in the milk mixture now add the egg, sugar, salt and butter and mix or knead until it comes into a ball.  If you have a mixer keep kneading it for another 5 minutes or so or tip onto the work bench to knead it well.  It should be smooth and silky.
  5. Grease a large bowl, place the dough in with the smooth side up.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap.
  6. Put into the combi on Auto program – Prove yeast dough setting.  This setting takes 15 minutes, when it is up just turn the combi off and leave it sitting there in the warm oven for another 15 minutes to prove.  It should have doubled in size.
  7. For the filling mix the butter and brown sugar together, add the cinnamon and soaked dry fruit and any remaining rum and mix well.
  8. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle and spread with the butter.  Now roll up into a long sausage.  Cut into 1.5cm slices.  Arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper and return to the combi to prove for another 30 minutes so they expand a little more and join up to each other.  There is no need to do another proving setting it will still be warm enough.  If not you can heat the oven to 30°C
  9. Brush with milk.
  10. Bake on Combination mode Stage 1: 190°C + 90% moisture 15 minutes plus Stage 2:  160°C + 30% moisture 5 minutes.

Serve warm from the oven, with tea of course 🙂

You can drizzle with a little icing if you like or perhaps a glaze like my Hot Cross Buns but I think they have enough sugar.

 

 

Posted in: Baking, Bread, Breakfast/Brunch, Combi Steamer

Slow roasted lamb with garam masala

September 3, 2014 11:47 am / Leave a Comment /

Slow roasted lamb with garam masala

This is a recipe adapted from Karen Martini where she used similar ingredients for the marinade and then slow cooked it, covered in a conventional oven.  As anyone with a combi steamer knows, slow baked lamb is even better with the added moisture a combi can provide see here.  Karen’s recipe was good but had too much yoghurt for a combi slow cook.  There is no need to cover the dish so the marinade needs to be intensified and baked with less liquid as the steam will add to the moisture in the pan.  I have reduced the yoghurt to only enough to marinate and the results were excellent.  Melt in the mouth lamb that fell off the bone with those delicious Indian spices that had seeped into the meat overnight.

A lovely change from the traditional garlic and rosemary that I used before.  Serve it with the meat juices, some Red cumin lentils, tomato and onion salad and some thick yoghurt with a little garlic and grated cucumber.  Yum 🙂

Ingredients:  Serves 4-6

1 x 2kg lamb shoulder or leg (shoulder is better)
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
knob of ginger, grated
1½ tbsp. garam masala
2 tsp ground cardamon
1 lemon juice and rind grated finely
2 tbsp. Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp. sea salt

Method:

  1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together, including the salt.
  2. Trim the lamb of any large pieces of fat that you can remove easily and ‘spear’ the meat all over with a sharp knife at random intervals so that the marinade may permeate into the meat.
  3. Rub all over the with marinade and place it into a plastic bag, tie it up and place it on a plate in the refrigerator overnight.  You should use all the marinade and it should just be enough to cover the lamb thickly without any excess.
  4. Remove from the fridge 1 hour before baking.
  5. Make sure your fan cover is installed on the back of the combi if you have one, place the lamb into the solid steamer tray and bake on Combination mode @ 120°C + 80% moisture for 4 hours.
  6. Remove from the solid tray and place onto a large, warmed serving platter.  Remove the bone if using a shoulder.
  7. Strain the juices into a jug and remove the fat.

There is no need to rest the lamb when cooking like this.  The bone should just fall out of the meat if you use a shoulder and be meltingly tender.  I used a leg this time around so after the meat was carved I poured over the meat juices before serving.

Enjoy.

 

Posted in: Combi Steamer, Gluten free, Indian, Main Courses

Combi steamer roasting table

August 23, 2014 5:32 pm / 4 Comments /

Roasting table - pork rib roast

Well it’s still Winter here in Australia so it’s time to use your combi oven for one of its best advantages – roasting meat!

I have had a lot of response to the ‘Bread baking table’ here so thought that you are all crying out for a quick reference guide for cooking the perfect roast! It is as simple as weighing your meat, seasoning it and setting the combination setting to allow for radiant heat and moisture.  This will give you mouth watering results and a crisp top.  Yes, the best roasts you have ever had!

Many brands have lots of Automatic functions and these are great too.  Sometimes it is difficult to decide “Do I use this auto program which is one hour” or “Do I add the times manually myself, which if I work it out on the table below would be 1.5 hours?”.  The answer is simple; it depends on the weight of the meat.  The auto programs can only be designed around joints or cuts of a certain weight so if you have a piece of meat or a chicken of that size then by all means use the Auto program but don’t try to put a huge chicken in it as it will not be cooked.  My Miele oven has the ability to add or reduce the ‘browning’ but not the time.  Adding browning does not add time either so be aware of that one…. If you have small, expensive cuts of meat then don’t chance it to an Auto program.  Have a look at my Perfect Rack of Lamb recipe here for a guide for the weight/cooking time.  You can find other recipes in the Combi steam cooking section and I will be adding more from time to time.

My best advice apart from using your appliance as much as possible would be to make sure you cover the fan.  If your combi comes with a fan cover – use it!  The oven will get dirty cooking roasts.  See cleaning the combi here.  Don’t leave it too long before cleaning in the traditional way (check your manufacturers instructions).  I would do a soak cleaning program and a traditional clean after say three roasts.

Now weigh your meat and work out the time per kilogram from the timing in the chart and then convert that to the Combination settings from the table.  The general ‘roasting weight times’ however are based on cooking in a moderately hot conventional oven so reduce the time or temperature in the combi.  You can always add another stage of cooking if it is not cooked enough which is better than overcooking.  Have a look at a few of my recipes for a guide.  For example I have used different temperatures for roasting chicken and both had great results.

It is easy once you get the hang of it as you can see which timing is starting (Stage 1), main cooking time (Stage 2), resting time if there is one (Stage 3).  Remember to always rest your meat before carving.  Some people say it should be rested for as long as you cooked it but with the combi you don’t need to do it that long.  On slow roasting settings like the lamb here you don’t need to rest it at all.

ROASTING: Combination mode. Est times, temperatures & moisture level
This is a guide only and can be varied according to taste.
Stages Temp
(Degree C)		 Moisture % Time
Adjust Below		 Core Temp
Pork joint with crackling 1 100 95 15 65-80
2 220 30 20
3 160-180 50 Time/weight
4 130 30 Time/weight
Pork neck fillet 1 200-225 30 20 65-80
2 180 50 Time/weight
3 130 30 Time/weight
Cooking times: Without crackling: 25-30 min per 500g plus 25-30 min extra
With crackling: 220C for first 20 min then reduce heat
Beef Joint 1 200-225 30 35-40 55-70
2 100 30 Time/weight
Beef fillet 1 210-225 30 20-25 45-70
2 100 30 Time/weight
Cooking times: 10-20 min per 500g depending on doneness & cut of meat
Veal fillet 1 200-225 30 20-25 50-85
2 100 30 Time /weight
Cooking times: Similar to beef
Rack of lamb 1 225 30 20-35 45-70
2 100 30 Time/weight
Leg 1 200-225 50 25-30 60-80
2 150 40 30-50
Boned leg 1 180-200 30 30-40 60-80
Cooking times: 15-20 min per 500g plus 15-20 min depending on doneness & cut. Boned and rolled joints add 5 min extra per 500g
Whole
chicken		 1 200 95 40 75
2 200-225 30 10
Drumsticks 1 200 95 20 75
2 200-225 30 10-15
Cooking times: 20 min per 500g plus 20 minutes. Chicken is cooked when thickest part of thigh when pierced has clear juices
Whole turkey
up to 4 kg		 1 120 30 180 75
2 190-210 30 15-25
Turkey breast 1 190-210 95 20-30 75C/165F
2 100 30 Time/weight
Cooking times: Up to 5.5kg allow 15-20 min per 500g (stuffed weight).
Up to 9kg, 10-15 min per 500g (stuffed weight).
Turkey breast/roll allow 20-25 min per 500g.
Whole
duck		 1 100 95 30 75
2 130 30 60-90
3 180 30 10-20
Cooking times: 40 min per kilo
 Duck breasts:  See Tips & Tricks here.
* The lower the temperature Stage 2 is the more tender the meat will be.

This table has been adapted from Miele’s book and general roasting times and temperatures so obviously check your manufacturers times and recommendations that apply to your combi steam oven.  It is meant as a guide only.  Some of you may find that you need longer cooking times and this also applies to how you like your meat (rare, medium or well done?).

I would love to have your feedback whether this table made it easier for you?

Image: www.donaldrussell.com

 

Posted in: Combi Steamer, Main Courses