As Thyme Goes By: Thyme Infused Crème Brûlée & Thyme For Love Knots
Last weekend we went to Loseley Park to The Grow Your Own Show to see how Thermomix could fit in to the show’s mission of “Grow it. Cook it. Eat it.” Thermomix not only steams vegetables and fruit while keeping in their natural nutrients, its blade is designed to efficiently cut rather than bruise herbs, vegetables, fruit and whatever else you have grown. In this way, Thermomix helps retain colour, texture and flavour in addition to nutrients. Then when you combine the speed at which Thermomix not only processes ingredients but cooks them, too – while you are out tending your garden, for instance – Thermomix is the perfect partner for gardeners and all of you who wish to Grow Your Own.
While we were there we signed up for Riverford Organics’ home delivery programme to receive a weekly selection of organic vegetables delivered right to our doorstep. The Riverford box scheme began when Guy Watson started delivering vegetables locally to 30 friends in Devon. They now deliver around 47,000 boxes a week to homes around the UK from their regional sister farms. Our first box arrived on Wednesday and among other things, it contained a big bag of fresh thyme which we have been enjoying in many delectable ways ever since.
On the more traditional side, we roasted a whole leg of salt marsh hogget from The Thoroughly Wild Meat Company with garlic, anchovies, chilli and thyme, and served it with Jersey Royal new potatoes, stir-fried Spring Greens and pan drippings made into gravy in the Thermomix.
Also relatively traditional were my Thyme For Love Knots. These were simply made from bread dough to which I added a large handful of thyme leaves which I stripped off the stems. I divided the dough into 16 pieces and rolled and tied each piece into a love knot. We ate these with a beautiful thyme and vegetable soup that John made for lunch.
Our most luscious creation this weekend was Thyme Infused Crème Brûlée. I infused the thyme into the cream for quite a while, and it really paid off with a strong yet delicate thyme flavour.
Thyme Infused Crème Brûlée
Based on the recipe in Fast and Easy Cooking by Janie Turner, the 300-recipe cookbook that comes with every Thermomix TM31 sold in the UK. Serves 6 to 8.
Ingredients
15 g fresh thyme
450 g double (heavy) cream
4 extra large (US jumbo) eggs or 8 extra large (US jumbo) egg yolks, at room temperature
sugar for topping (caster, granulated, Demerara/raw, or brown all work well)
Method
- Weigh the thyme leaves and the double/heavy cream into the Thermomix bowl. Cook 90° C/10 minutes/Speed Spoon/Reverse Blade Direction. Let sit for a further 10 minutes to infuse the thyme into the cream.
- Remove the bowl with the thyme-infused cream from the Thermomix and replace it with your second bowl. Insert the Internal Steaming Basket and press the built-in weighing scales button. Pour the thyme-infused cream through the basket to strain it while weighing 400 g into the bowl. (If you don’t have a second bowl, place the Internal Steaming Basket into a large bowl and strain the thyme-infused cream through it. Remove any remaining thyme from the Thermomix bowl and replace it in the machine. Then weigh 400 g of cream into the bowl.)
- Add your egg yolks or whole eggs and cook 90° C/10 minutes/Speed 3; cook longer to thicken if necessary, remembering that it will thicken more when cooling.
- Check that the crème looks perfectly smooth and not grainy at all. Janie Turner’s Rescue Tip: if the crème has gone grainy or become scrambled, it is easy to rescue. Just add 30 g cold milk or cream and blend 30 seconds/Speed 8. Repeat if necessary. (This works really well. I used really big eggs the last two batches and my crème was slightly grainy. I rescued it the first time but this batch I must have gotten lazy as you can see from the photos!)
- Pour out immediately into individual ramekins or a large dish. Leave to cool to room temperature, then chill in fridge. Dredge thickly with sugar and then caramelise the sugar by heating it under a very hot grill/broiler or with a kitchen blowtorch.
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Bon appétit !
Sounds great, Pat! I spent many many lovely weekends in a wonderful old hunting lodge in Recey-sur-Ource in the Côte d’Or so I know your region well. Let’s keep in touch and who knows, we can meet up sometime here or there 😉
Happy New Year to you, too!
Thank you for your quick reply. We are in haute Cote D’Or in Burgundy, a little too far for a workshop although I would certainly have been interested. We have been here 10 years but have only had a Thermomix for 18 months. I will check out French Cooking for Expats. Happy New Year!
Oh dear Pat you’re quite right!! I apologise, I absolutely had left out when to put in the eggs or egg yolks. And after all these years, you’re the first to notice 🙁 You put them in the TM bowl just after straining in the thyme-infused cream and just before starting cooking. I have amended the recipe thanks to your eagle eye!
Where are you located in France? I organise Thermomix cooking workshops in my home near Maintenon in the Eure-et-Loir. Check out French Cooking for Expats on Facebook. I see you have already discovered my Why is There Air FB page 😉 Maybe we can get together!
Many thanks for letting me know about the missing eggs and Happy Thermomix Cooking!
I think I have missed something as I cannot find when you add the egg yolks.
I’m delighted to inspire you, Marivi! There are many Thermomix cookbooks produced by Vorwerk and its affiliates in countries around the world. You can find a great selection of English-language Thermomix cookbooks at http://www.ukthermomix.com/recindex.php. And look out for one of my recipes in a new cookbook to be published in Australia next year!
Thank you for replying to my comment. I got my thermomix a couple of years ago and I’m always looking for ideas, so I was very pleased when I found your blog recently packed with them! Thanks for sharing them.
Yes, Marivi, the love knots are so easy to make and they really do dress up your dough. I was a tiny bit skeptical about infusing thyme into the crème brûlée because of the savoury/sweet mixture, but it really worked. Great flavour, and so easy in the Thermomix. Thanks for your comment, and happy reading!
Love your knots – I need to remember the next time I make bread. And what an original idea to add thyme flavour to the creme brulee. Thanks for sharing them with all of us.