Archive for the 'Tips' Category

I think a great many of us have had to live on a very small food budget for at least some part of our lives. I know I have, and not too long ago either (a few weeks at most). Luckily I have an entire family history´s of recipes which are cheap and cheerful whilst not sacrificing any flavour or nutritional value!

This is why I have decided to highlight ckmhome.co.uk – currently offering two free book downloads of meals which help you live well on a very tight food budget.

Go check out their site now and if you have some lose change to spare donate it to their chosen charity.

Eggs are used to bind a dish and, when whipped incorporate air, making a cake or pudding very light

Vegan egg replacement powders are available from health food shops. These can be useful, especially for foods like meringues. Many recipes can be adapted using one of the suggestions below. Just remember to bear in mind what the final dish is, ie is it sweet or savoury and add an appropriate substitute

Replacement for one egg:

• 1 tbsp soya flour and 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp arrowroot, 1 tbsp soya flour and 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp flour, ½ tbsp shortening, ½ tsp baking powder and 2 tsp water
• 50g tofu blended with the liquid portion of the recipe
• ½ large banana, mashed
• 50 ml white sauce

Alternative raising agents:

• self-raising flour
• add extra oil and raising agent – for example baking powder
• use about 2 heaped tsp baking powder per cake
• instead of baking powder, use ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda and 1 dessertspoon cider vinegar – good for chocolate cakes
• sift the flour and other dry ingredients, then gently fold into the liquid to trap air

Alternative binding agents:

• soy milk
• mashed banana
• plain silken tofu
• soya cream
• sweet white sauce (soya milk, Vegan margarine, sugar and cornflour)
• agar-agar – vegetarian alternative to gelatine

Are you interested in Thai Food? Then check out Thai Recipes, one of our most recent discoveries. From Satay Chicken to Tom Yum, the first has a whole collection of recipes which are are both tasty and easy to create.

For the sweet toothed amongst you check our there selection of delicious sweet things at the bottom of the page.

Flour Рthis can be used in three ways to make a roux, a beurre mani̩ or simply mixed with water or milk.

• Roux – this is made by melting the butter and mixing in the flour then cooking over a medium heat for 5 minutes. The “classic” recipes tend to call for equal quantities of fat to flour but many prefer more fat than flour which not only gives a richer flavour but also allows the roux to be combined with the liquid far easier. I prefer a lighter sauce and on average use 37 grams of butter to 30 grams of flour per half litre of liquid.
• Beurre manié – basically as above but normally used to add to sauces already made that may need extra thickening. This is a French term ie Beurre – butter, manié – handled – so named as it is normally made by mixing the flour and cold butter together to form a paste.
• Water/milk – flour and liquid combined – water is mainly used to thicken gravies for roast meats, milk to for a quick and easy way to thicken milk based sauces, ie for a simple cheese sauce where you do not have sufficient time to make it using the traditional classic white sauce.

Cornflour – mixed with water or other liquid, this may be used for thickening most sauces, but normally reserved for reduction sauces ie sauces where the liquid (stock, wine etc) is simmered until reduced. Once the liquid is ready and has boiled, removed from heat then add the mixture slowly, while whisking quickly; it will thicken almost instantly so take care not to add too much.

Arrowroot – this is used in the same way as cornflour with the added advantage that it will add a nice “sheen” to the sauce and will not dilute the sauce’s colour. Arrowroot does tend to “clarify” liquid into which it is introduced. This is especially good for fruit sauces but may not be so effective for a sauce of gravy that is meat-based. Many also think It gives the sauce an artificial appearance.

It is extremely difficult to thin down sauces thickened with either arrowroot or cornflour, so it is wise to take care.

In addition to the above, many who do not like sauces thickened with flour resort to using dried potato flakes. When the sauce is nearly read, potato flakes are sprinkled onto the cooking liquid and whisked or stirred in. The sauce must not be left on the heat after it has begun to thicken as apparently it ceases to work and the sauce will become thin again.

Making your own pastry at home is relatively simple provided you follow a few key rules

• Keep the pastry cool
• Handle the pastry lightly
• Bake the pastry at the correct oven temperature

Cool hands – a cool pastry board or worktop and water as cold as possible help to produce the best results. Use the fingertips, as they are the coolest part of the hands.

Lift the flour well out of the bowl to incorporate as much air as possible when rubbing in the fat. Always mix with a round bladed knife.

Add water gradually, a little at a time, to achieve the correct consistency for each type of pastry.

Avoid adding more flour after the water. In making pastry try to incorporate as much cold air as possible so that in baking this air expands and produces light pastry.

In Shortcrust this is done by rubbing in and light handling, and in Rough Puff and Flaky Pastry, the air is incorporated into the pastry by folding and rolling out.

Dust rolling pin with flour and work lightly to prevent sticking. Roll out quickly, always rolling away from you and not from side to side. Turn the pastry, not the rolling pin.
Avoid stretching the pastry as this causes shrinkage in baking. Roll evenly and do not roll over the ends of the pastry.

Pies, tarts, pastries and turnovers should be brushed over with a suitable glaze before baking.

Always bake in a hot oven and for rich pastry a very hot oven.

Different Types of Pastry

The three basic rules and foregoing hints apply for the following types of pastry:

• Shortcrust Pastry
• Suet Pastry
• Rough Puff Pastry
• Flaky Pastry

The following pastries are made by completely different methods:

• Hot Water Crust Pastry
• Choux Pastry

Type of flour:

Suet – use Be-Ro Self Raising Flour.

Shortcrust/Rough Puff/Flaky/Hot Water Crust/Choux – use plain flour. While this is generally recommended, good results may be obtained using self-raising flour – the pastry will be more crumbly and softer texture.

I was so intrigued to be asked this question via email that I just had to answer. I have only made butter once or twice in my lifetime, but both times it was so easy and the results so effective that I was sure I would never go back to bought butter again.

Butter, as you are probably aware, is produced by churning cream until the fats separate from the liquid (buttermilk) and the butter is in a semi-solid state. Now the butter you buy in the supermarket is more often than not made by extracting small amounts of cream from whey, a by-product of cheese-making, using large centrifuges. The butter made at home, on the other hand uses the cream directly from whole milk.

The common misconception among many is that you would need specialist equipment to make butter, but this is not the case – your regular food processor, for example, would work just as well.

Ingredients

2 cups heavy whipping cream, or double cream

Method

1. First fit the food processor with a plastic blade or whisk.
2. Add the cream, and turn on. The cream will become sloshy, then frothy, then take on the appearance of whipped cream. Eventually the cream will seize and it will become less smooth. Keep the food processor running until the glob of yellowish butter seperates from a milky buttermilk.
3. Drain the buttermilk, and you are left with a light tasting but eatable butter. Add 1/2 cup of ice-cold water and bled. Discard ice water, and then add another 1/2 cup. Continue doing this until the water comes away clear. Work the butter to remove all water.
4. Place in a crock or roll in waxy paper.

I have received so many hits for this I thought I would address it with a few handy tips for cooking this under-rated vegetable [besides utilising it in my cottage pie recipe of course]

Preparing Swede

Always handy to have a potato peeler to hand for this. Peel it the same way as a potato, slicing off the root end first with a knife. Then just cut the swede into suitably sized chunks.

Mashed Swede

Cut it into 1 inch dice and steam for about 10 minutes, or until tender, then whiz to a puree in a food processor, or mash with a fork, adding a knob of butter, salt and lots of freshly milled black pepper.

Roast Swede

Cut the chunks larger 2 inch pieces, place the cubes in a bowl, adding a drizzle of olive oil and salt & pepper. Toss the swede around to get all the pieces coated in the oil. Pace them on a baking tray and roast in a pre-heated oven 220°C for about 35 minutes. The swede should by tinged with light golden brown at the edges.

Hope this helps! I´ve always had a passion for swede since it was a vegetable my Grandfather would grow in abundance. Its vastly under-rated purely and simply because people often fear it – believing it bitter or difficult to prepare. Neither is the case if done properly. Do you have any swede recipes to share? If so, I would love to hear them.

An interesting question which I found in my webstats this morning, and I thought I would attempt an answer.

Basically, it all depends on the recipe. Evaporated milk is whole milk that has been cooked to remove some of the water and make it thicker. Basically it is thicker and subsequently sweeter than whole milk, and contributes a great deal more to a dish. While there is no law that says you cannot replace the evaporated milk in my family’s rice pudding with whole milk, it would be less rich than with.

I sometimes find when a recipe calls for evaporated milk. Here are a few alternatives

1. Homemade Evaporated Milk :- Try combining powdered milk with half the normal of liquid to make a thicker version. To make it even richer try combining a measure of powered milk with a half measure of whole or low fat milk.
2. Half Cream / Half Whole Milk :- Useful for replacing evaporated milk in some pumpkin pies.
3. All cream :- Useful for a lovely rice pudding – replace all the evaporated milk with single cream. Makes a whiter rice pudding.

Next time you have a barbecue try soaking wood [the sweetest smelling the better] in water and placing them on the coals. The soaking of the water slows down the burning, and allows the wood to work its magic on your food.

Place some peaches or any fruit you fancy on the griddle and cook as normal. You will find your fruit has a wonderful vanilla flavour when done.

Why?

The molecular and chemical structure which gives Vanilla its flavour also exists in wood. By soaking your wood thoroughly and adding it to the coals when hot you are allowing the wood to release this flavour via the smoke into your food.

But who cares about the science when the food tastes so good?