• • 
  • • kac12 said
    • 07 Dec 2012
      4:38 pm

  ---

  another winner for dinner!

  Well, after welcoming my father-in-law, who is here for a long holiday, I decided I had better cook a delicious dinner for him. So, I thought I would retry the delicious Chicken Tikka Masala. The Homecooer worked wonders again, and a delicious meal was had by all. I didn’t have any fresh spinach, so used frozen spinach instead, but this was the only part of the meal that wasn’t so good. The frozen spinach went a but mushy and chewy – so I will stick with Jamie’s fresh spinch idea next time! I am really looking forward to testing some new meal ideas on my in-law, and seeing if he is as impressed as I am! I think I now feel I know the Homecooker well enough to try out a few of my own ideas. Will kepp you posted…

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • leisa1210 said
    • 07 Dec 2012
      2:37 pm

  ---

  Curry was a crowd pleaser!

  Forgot my photo on the last review!

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • leisa1210 said
    • 07 Dec 2012
      2:16 pm

  ---

  Curry was a crowd pleaser!

  Last night we had a get together at my Mum’s house as my brother is back in town for a few days. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out another of Jamie’s recipes so I decided to make the creamy chicken Korma. I have never really made curry from scratch before and I have to say, this is one the easiest things I have ever cooked! I loved having the home cooker for this, setting the timer for each step and using that time in between to cut things up and wash up what i had used. The end product was fantastic, my whole family loved it, my brother took the leftovers home for lunch today and has already asked me for the recipe. I would definitely do this again and maybe mix it up with the curry pastes and types of meat! Thanks Jamie 🙂

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • caela said
    • 07 Dec 2012
      10:55 am

  ---

  LOVING IT

  Well I ma now cooking just about anything in this cooker. Risotto is a breeze and also is multi cooking/playing or cleaning.

  Last night I cook dinner for my children as well as a different dinner for us and got dinner preped for the next night as I was able to set the homecooker going with it’s timer and it would beep for the next stage of cooking.

  My kids love the food that is cooked in it and I love cooking with it!

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • wend said
    • 06 Dec 2012
      9:22 pm

  ---

  Jamies chutney is DELICIOUS!!

  The preparation for this recipe was quite drawn out but once it all went into the cooker and the stirring arm did it’s thing I sat back and enjoyed the aroma filling my kitchen! I am planning on taking a ploughman’s lunch to my hubby at work tomorrow….that’s if I can stop tasting the relish. It is so yummy, I only put 3 chillies in, not 10 as recipe suggests (WOW!) Can’t wait to try it with some bitey cheese tomorrow.

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • kahl said
    • 06 Dec 2012
      4:35 pm

  ---

  Mastered!

  Well we have mastered the rosemary potatoes! they are so easy & delicious to make that the boys have suggested we make them every night! LOL……have to say that a good hard waxy potato is the best to use to hold its shape & doesn’t get shaved by the stirring arm. Just love to add the ingredients & walk away, come back later to delicious crunchy roasted potatoes. All smiles in this household.

  Have been using the HC to make our Japanese curry. Its so easy now as I’m not constantly running back to stir the sauce & ingredients. No more sticking to the base of the saucepan because I’ve forgotten to stir. Love that I have a “little helper”.

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • annette1964 said
    • 04 Dec 2012
      10:23 pm

  ---

  Can the Jamie Oliver Home Cooker help me not to burn chocolate while I try to melt it?

  My daughter wanted to take strawberries dipped in chocolate as her contribution to her classes last day of school lunch. I grabbed some cherries too as they were not to expensive. I still have not mastered the art of melting chocolate with out burning it. I thought I would start off on the lowest temp & work up until it started to work. I took ages as I was desperate for it to work with out wasting the chocolate. I think we managed to get a enough done for her group’s snack. I think I need to do some more research on melting chocolate. I am not sure if they worked out. Still 11 year girls won’t care too much.

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • annette1964 said
    • 04 Dec 2012
      10:16 pm

  ---

  time to cook something that is not like a stew

  We quite often eat small chicken rolls stuffed with apricots that the man of the house buys from the Central Markets. I normally cook these on the stove top in a small fry pan. I decided to try & cook them he JO Cooker & steam some veggies on the top while I was at it. Worked out great.

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • kac12 said
    • 03 Dec 2012
      11:52 pm

  ---

  delicious porridge with maple syrup!

  After all these delicious dinners it was time for a quick and nutritious Sunday morning breakfast. This was so easy to make, and delicious with the maple syrup and toasted flaked almonds. All the children LOVED it and my fussy 3 year old even had seconds!! I didn’t have any spare bananas to use, but will certainly use them in the porridge next time, to give it even more flavour. The Homecooker was brilliant for this recipe as it stirred the milk and oats together for me – so I had time to do exciting things like set the table and get my toddler dressed! I was very impressed with the ease of this recipe and loved the fact that it was a filling and healthy breakfast that everyone enjoyed! Generally, I am really really impressed with the Homecooker and find it such a help to try interesting and delicious recipes that I wouldn’t normally experiment with.

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • hannah said
    • 03 Dec 2012
      9:44 pm

  ---

  HomeCooker vs slow cooker

  Quite a few of my friends have asked me what the difference between the HomeCooker and a slow cooker is, and if I preferred one to the other. I guess the answer is that they are quite different, although there are some things you could cook in either. There are lots of recipes you would cook in the HomeCooker that your definitely would not be able to cook in a slow cooker (risotto, porridge etc.) and the HomeCooker obviously does things a slow cooker can’t like steam food, and cook rice or pasta.

  I love my slow cooker so I won’t be giving it away now that I have the HomeCooker but I do see them living side by side in my kitchen. The slow cooker gets a workout (especially in winter) when I am at work, as (if I am organised enough) I can pop it on before I go to work and come home to a cooked meal. The problem with the slow cooker is if you aren’t organised and put it on early in the morning you have no meal. The Homecooker meals don’t take as long in cooking time but you do need to be at home as the longest you can “set and forget” is 99 mins. This is fine for popping out to the shops to pick up something you forgot you needed, or doing the school run, but not for days you are out all day. The meals that are best in it (and definitely the Jamie Oliver recipes) are a little more involved that simply throwing everything in the slow cooker and forgetting it (they also taste better!).

  I do find with a slow cooker that the food gets stuck on the sides and often requires a lot of soaking and scrubbing to get off. One of the best things about the HomeCooker is that it is really easy to clean. The constant stirring means that no food gets terribly stuck to the bottom of the pan, and even when there is some discolouration on the bottom of the pan, it seems to come off really easily in the wash. Most of the time I just throw all the bits of the Homecooker and cutting tower in the dishwasher and it always comes out clean as a whistle (which doesn’t happen all the time with my other saucepans). Sometimes, when I want to use the HomeCooker again straight away I just handwash it, and it is always really easy to get spotless.

  Tonight I cooked Jamie Oliver’s slow cooked Hungarian goulash in the Homecooker. This recipe took 4 hours in the Homecooker but there was very little work involved. Very similar to the the type of recipe I would normally cook in the slow cooker so would be interesting to try this recipe in the slow cooker and see if there was any difference to the final taste. Once again, the dish was absolutely delicious. Have not found a dud recipe in the cookbook that accompanied the Homecooker yet! I only used one chilli as my 4 year old son does not like anything spicy. There was not really any spice to it but a hint of heat at the end of each mouthful so it was perfect for him. He announced it “really yummy” and it definitely was. The beef was melt in the mouth tender and the sauce, delicious. I thought it might have been a bit heavy for me but the lemon zest and parsley that was added at the end really made it taste nice and fresh. It was a lot cooler in Sydney today than it has been over the last few days so a good day to try such a hearty meal. It would not have been so good in the 38 degree heat a couple of days ago!

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • ishita said
    • 03 Dec 2012
      10:13 am

  ---

  A fish curry made simple with Home cooker!

  I made this very simple fish curry which goes perfectly with any fish grilled or steamed.
  First soak some tamarind in a bowl of hot water.now grind around half a cup of dessicated coconut and half a onion and a 1cm cube of ginger together to a fine paste.start the home cooker on medium heat ,90 degrees.and put some oil around two table spoons ,and add the fine paste to it let it be golden brown with stirrer on. now mash the tamarind well soaked in water removing the seeds and add too. put 1 tsp of coriander powder,1tsp cumin powder,and 2 tsp of dry chilli powder to it ,you can add 1 tb sp of tamato purree as well ,to add sweet and sour kind of taste to it,and now mix it well let it simmer for 5 minutes on slightly high temp control like 130 degrees.finally add around a liter of water to make a curry and let it boil and simmer too for 10 minutes more,andmy most amazing fish curry is ready to eat.garnish it with coriander leaves.while making this curry in my home cooker ,a stirrer hand help me a lot.also the temperature setting made it easier and even more flavoursome.

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • ishita said
    • 03 Dec 2012
      10:01 am

  ---

  test of stemer!

  this week end I tried the steamer arrangement of my Jamie Oliver home cooker to steam the fish cutlets and also made a fish curry to go with it.it looks deliciously tempting too.

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • annette1964 said
    • 02 Dec 2012
      10:43 pm

  ---

  Saves times when cooking late on a Sunday afternoon

  I had been out all day with my daughter & we arrived home at about 5.45. I had some chicken leg fillets in the fridge. I put the JO Cooker on at 175 and used the cutting tower to julienne the garlic & onions. While that was happening I chopped up the chicken into small pieces and looked in the fridge for things to put into the meal. I got a couple carrots, celery and red capsicums. I put the chicken in after about 10mins and put in some verjuice and italian dried herbs. After the chicken was cooked I added the other vegetables that I used the cutting tower to chop and turned down the heat put in a can of chopped tomatoes and let them cook for about 40mins. My partner cooked some rice and we had a nice easy meal on a Sunday night.

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • hannah said
    • 02 Dec 2012
      10:17 pm

  ---

  Beef stroganoff experiment

  I had planned to cook another Jamie Oliver recipe in my HomeCooker tonight “Hungarian Beef Goulash” but I didn’t check the recipe until about 90 mins before I needed to serve dinner and discover it needed 230 mins to cook so that was out the window! Instead decided to make Beef stroganoff as I had some mushrooms to use up and sour cream that I had bought for the goulash. This was my first big experiment with the HomeCooker cooking something other than recipes from the Jamie Oliver cookbook that comes with the HomeCooker. I have made various meals for my baby in it that we’re my own recipes but nothing yet for the family. Having had a fair bit of practice on Jamie’s recipes though, I thought it was time to be brave and branch out on my own!

  Tonight’s recipe was a bit of a mash up of two strog recipes and the end result was a big success with beautiful tender meat and a lovely tasting sauce. The stirring arm was a help for the cooking of the meat as I didn’t need to stand there the whole time, however I did need to use some tongs to turn a few bits of the meat that didn’t seem to be getting brown on all sides. I wasn’t making a huge quantity tonight so I would say if you were cooking more meat than I was (about 400g) you would probably want to do it in 2 batches. I was worried that the meat looked like it was stewing a bit but as I said the beef was really tender at the end so there was no problem there! Once again, I used the cutting tower to slice the onions. It is awesome for doing that. Here is the recipe (served 2 adults and 1 child, increase quantities of beef and mushrooms if feeding more):

  2 tablespoons olive oil
  1 onion, cut in half
  150g button mushrooms, sliced
  2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
  1/4 cup plain flour
  400g lean beef stir-fry strips
  1/2 cup dry white wine
  3/4 cup reduced-salt beef stock
  2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  2 tablespoons light sour cream
  300g cooked rice or pasta, to serve
  steamed green beans and carrots (or veggies of your choice), to serve

  Set temperature on HomeCooker to 130 degrees. Once pan has heated up, add half of the oil. Slice onion into pan using cutting tower. Set timer for 5 minutes. Increase temperature to 175 degrees. Add mushrooms. Cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and set timer for 2 minutes or cook until mushrooms are tender. Take out of pan and set aside.

  Meanwhile, place flour, paprika and salt and pepper into a shallow dish. Lightly coat beef strips in flour mix. Add rest of oil to Homecooker. Add the beef. Set timer for 8 minutes. Once timer goes off, check to see if meat is brown, turn over any pieces that don’t look cooked on all sides. cook for a few more minutes if needed. Remove beef and set aside.

  Deglaze HomeCooker with wine and cook off for a couple of minutes. Return beef, onion and mushrooms to frying pan. Add stock and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to 130 degrees. Set timer for 8 minutes, sauce should thicken slightly. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Stir through sour cream.

  Spoon pasta or rice onto plates. Spoon over stroganoff. Serve with steamed veggies.

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • nanna1off said
    • 02 Dec 2012
      3:36 pm

  ---

  End result for potatoes

  Here’s another pic of the roast potatoes when cooked. That’s 3 large potatoes used which I thought would be ample

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • nanna1off said
    • 02 Dec 2012
      3:30 pm

  ---

  Roasted potatoes

  Well today I thought I’d try the roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic. I have to say I am a little disappointed. The potatoes, like others have also stated, stuck to the bottom of the pan and thus reduced the quantity of the dish, as much of the potatoes was glued to the bottom. They smelt lovely and looked nice but could have done it in the oven with less mess and less time. Sorry jamie but this one was a thumbs down. Also the recipe book does not say whether or not the lid should be on and for this recipe, or any of the recipes actually and i think it probably should be off as the condensation produced is probably the reason they stuck. I took it off about have way through but too little too late. I think Jamie should also include some basic instructions and times for steaming vegs etc as this too is all experimental and as each veg differs in cooking time it is hard to coordinate

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • 3xamum said
    • 02 Dec 2012
      1:13 pm

  ---

  so much you can cook!

  So yes i have been a bit slack again posting, so this is going to be a big one. since i last posted i have used JOH quite a bit. i have made more granola, used the cutting tower to cut up vegies for a stir-fry. so whilst i am on the cutting tower, i have come to the conclusion that it is great for vegies like carrots and zucchini but not really that good on other veg. i find that onion cuts fine on the coarse grater and julienne but just juices on the fine grater and every time i have used onion it always leaves about 1/4 behind which is quite a bit of waste. so if you wanted to cut endless amounts of carrot and zucchini the cutting tower is great, so therefore i think it is really an unnecessary piece due to the limits of what it will do.
  i made a tomato sauce from scratch in it which was perfect and nothing stuck to the bottom which was brilliant, i removed some of the sauce and then added some mince, used the cutting tower and added some carrots, zucchini and swiss brown mushies and made a bolognaise for dinner. yum! 2 dishes at once, dinner and a back up of tomato sauce for a rainy day in the freezer. Time Saver!!! i have luckily not had any problems with anything burning or sticking to the bottom, so this is a big positive for me.
  So i have been talking a lot about JOH and mentioned it to all the girls at playgroup who have all been very interested in JOH and what it can do. lots of questions and i have happily been able to positively talk about JOH and what he can do etc. So with so much interest i decided to invite a few of the ladies around for a lunch whilst i did my video review of JOH.

  So filming day was yesterday and i was lucky enough to have 6 ladies come around for lunch. there were a few disappointed ladies who couldn’t come but some very eager ladies as well who couldn’t wait.

  so i wanted to show how much JOH can do and how many different ways JOH can be used.
  i started out serving the ladies some steamed Prawn dumplings and Vegie Dumplings with dipping sauces, a Spinach and Cream cheese stuffed Chicken Roulade wrapped in Proscuitto with Pesto (the roulade i poached in the cooker and then wrapped in the proscuitto and sealed in the cooker) but my favourite dish of the which was also served with the starters was a tea smoked duck breast which i smoked in JOH and then sealed in JOH and i served it up with a caramelized onion relish. unfortunately i didnt take any photos but hopefully some pics will appear in the video review.

  so with starters served and the ladies happily eating i started on the main course Paella. i used Jamies recipe from the cookbook as a base and omitted a couple of items and added a couple like smoked paprika, and fish.
  the Paella was very easy to make but was more like a risotto than a tradional Paella, as there were no crusty edges like a yummy tradional paella, but all in all it came out beautifully and was super easy to do and tasted great.
  whilst the ladies were eating this i washed up the JOH base and added some water and started to steam some banana puddings for dessert. this is the second time i have made the puddings too and of course so easy to do and these were served to the ladies with butterscotch sauce and butterscotch cream. double decadence!!!!

  so in conclusion i was able to serve up 3 courses to my guests all from the Homecooker with no fuss. i am absolutely loving the ease of this machine and the almost non existent washing up and the multitude of extra ways i can use JOH, especially for poaching and smoking!!
  if i could change anything about the Homecooker, it would be the preset cooking temperatures. i must say when i read that it was able to go from 40 – 250 degrees i was so excited. so as you can imagine i was extremely disappointed to find out there were only preset temps on it. for me it limits so much that i can do in it. so not sure why they would bring it out with only preset temps.

  Thumbs up for the Homecooker, Not so much the cutting tower attachment.

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • casper24 said
    • 30 Nov 2012
      3:47 pm

  ---

  Pork with Apple and Mushroom - love the cutting tower

  I’ve made an effort to use the chopping tower and must say I love it! It is so quick and easy to use and very easy to clean up, I used it to julienne some carrot for a salad the other day and it was done in seconds with less residual carrot than my food processor and everything just rinsed off and didn’t take up room on my bench.
  I must say I think it should clip to the home cooker as I did manage to accidentally bump it and send veges over my bench whilst using it with the cooker.
  I googled Jamie Oliver home cooker recipes and came up with Pork with Apple and Mushroom and served it with mashed potato – it was scrummy and easy to make – also definately going on the winter menu. I added some extra celery as I had some in the fridge – you could add all sorts of veges and the apple made it very kid friendly. It was all sliced in seconds.
  I can see my cutting tower getting lots of use – wish it was height adjustable to be more flexible (had to hold the salad bowl up to it when cutting salad ingredients).

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • kac12 said
    • 29 Nov 2012
      11:35 pm

  ---

  Lovely Jubbly Chicken Tikka Masala Curry!!

  Wow, wow, wow!! I have to say that this has to be the NICEST meal I have EVER made!! The fusion of different flavours and textures were amazing!! I decided to try Jamie’s Korma curry from his recipe book, but adapted it to Chicken Tikka Masala. Following the recipe was a breeze and the homecooker worked its magic again! Everything from the toasted flaked almonds to the fresh spinach leaves and chopped coriander made this absolutely delish!! It was a mouthwatering meal that the whole family loved!! I was a bit cautious about using the Homecooker again after my previous disaster with the sticky beetroots, but I needn’t have worried. The stirrer did all the work for me, leaving me time to sort out nappy changes and cuddles for baby! This is a dish I will absolutely use again and again and I would easily have it as my signature dish when entertaining!

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

• • 
  • • leisa1210 said
    • 29 Nov 2012
      8:41 pm

  ---

  Pasta master...? more like pasta disaster!

  Unfortunately I am not entirely happy with my home cooker experience tonight. I decided to make Jamie’s Bolognese, thinking that this would a good easy meal, kids love Bolognese etc…. however I was a little disappointed with the end result. Following on from my previous review of the cutting tower, the meal obviously didn’t start off so ‘grate’ (pardon the pun) Once I got everything cut up and into the cooker I broke up the mince and put it in for 10 mins to brown. I found that I had to keep getting my spoon and breaking it up more as it was browning chunks that looked more like meatballs. Now, I didn’t have any red wine so decided to use a little white wine instead, chucked in everything else and set the timer to cook. The smell was delicious, and again, love the fact I didn’t have to stir, but still found myself bashing out small lumps of mince all the way through. I tasted and seasoned every so often but didn’t really feel like there was a huge amount of flavour (I did use a mixture of pork and beef mince for the first time, so that could have impacted on it) i thought perhaps once it was done, the fresh basil and grated parmesan at the end would add the bit of flavour that seemed to be missing. Much to my dismay the end result was not the delicious Bolognese that I had been smelling and drooling over for the last hour and a half. I ended up grating 2 different kinds of cheese and adding salt and pepper to my bowl of pasta, and it was ok. My husband (who never says anything directly bad about my food) said “It tastes fine, you have definitely made a lot better than this but it’s fine” I have to agree, I think next time I attempt a Bolognese sauce in the cooker, I will use my own recipe and break the mince up a bit more because even with my consistent bashing, there were still some flavourless lumps of mince left at the end. At least my two, very tired, grumpy but gorgeous kids ate almost all of theirs so I guess it can’t have been that bad!

  

  Would you recommend to other mums?
  Versatile & suitable for lots of recipes
  Saves time & makes my life easier
  Simple to understand & easy to use

  ---

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