tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48664932836952744912024-03-13T12:23:30.149-07:00TEdAMENU TuckertimeRecipes And Stuff. Stuff About Food.teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.comBlogger181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-57525789075416657222023-12-05T06:00:00.001-08:002023-12-05T06:00:00.189-08:00TEdGEREE Kedgeree<strong>NAME</strong>: _TEdGEREE Kedgeree<div>A British Colonial thingie, and people are re-inventing the recipe, really, there are so many emasculated homeopathic - <i>thingies</i> - but (<i>Argh I’m becoming a grumpy grumpy GRUMPY old guy</i>) originally it was someone in India thinking "I wish I had some smoked kippers or haddock for breakfas. . ." - . . . - "Boy! Please ask Cook to make something like that for breakfast! But make it a bit local, okay?" </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm paraphrasing a bit but this is a pastiche recipe - an Ayurvedic khichari style dish that included spices, fried onions, ginger, and lentils. As a result, if you'd like to also add ginger (<i>I leave it out because no Kedgeree recip[e really ever mentions it</i>) that's probably within the rulez. </div><div><br /></div><div>But it peeved me that so few recipes mention the lentils either. So yeah - GetchaKedgereeHere! </div><div><hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:</div><div><div>3-4 eggs</div><div>1c basmati rice (<i>or golden sella is also nice, or any other Asia/Indian rice, whatever you think they used</i>)</div><div>1 - 2 smoked cod fillets (<i>any nice smoked fish actually, haddock often gets a mention</i>) </div><div>1c milk / water 50-50 mix</div><div>100g butter</div><div>2 onions</div><div>1/4c lemon juice max (<i>you can use more - or less - or none - use your taste buds</i>)</div><div>Bunch of fresh coriander </div><div>1/4 - 1/2c frozen peas</div><div>1/4c red lentils</div><div>1tsp salt</div><div>3tsp curry powder</div><div>(or . . .)</div><div>2tsp curry powder, 1/2tsp cumin powder, 1/2tsp coriander powder</div><div>1tsp cardamom seeds or 1/2tsp cardamom powder</div><div>1/2tsp ginger powder (<i>oh so optional!</i>)</div>
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<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div><div>Hardboil the eggs. (<i>Or use yesterday’s hardboiled eggs. Whatever happened to just having a couple of hardboiled eggs? We had pumpernickel with cream chees, chives, beetroot, and sliced hardboild eggs. Delicious and quick. Should be more of it.</i>) Peel the hardboiled eggs. Quarter or six-way wedge them. Set aside.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cook the rice as you normally would (<i>with the exception of adding the red lentils along with the rice</i>) nice and fluffy and slightly on the firm side rather than tender. (<i>Don’t know how to make failproof rice? DON’T rinse it unless you buy really shyte quality rice. Use 2c water to 1c rice/lentils, DO add half a teaspoon of salt, bring to a boil with the lid on, then simmer and stir occasionally until the water’s evaporated. Keep putting the lid back on between stirs. When it gets to the “water almost entirely gone” stage turn off the heat and set it aside for 10 - 15 minutes. It’ll be lovely.</i>) </div><div><br /></div><div>Cut the smoked fish or break it into large chunks. You can skin if you like but the flavour’s in there. Try and get as many small bones out as possible along the way. Set aside.</div><div><br /></div><div>Peel the onions, cut off both ends, stand upright and slice lengthways into crescent wedges. Put the butter in a large enough frypan pan and add the onions, place over low-medium heat. (<i>Or a dutch oven or a wok, I have a big stainless steel wok and find it ideal, but you do you.</i>) </div><div><br /></div><div>Add the cardamom seeds if you’re using those. (<i>Actually, I put the cardamom seeds in the wok earlier, with a splash of vegetable oil and salt, toast them gently until they start popping, then carefully pour in a few tablespoons of water, simmer until most of the water’s gone, and by then the cardamom seeds are a bit softened. When most of the water’s gone I put that into a small bowl and wipe the pan out with paper towel and add the seeds and liquid back in a bit later.</i>)</div><div><br /></div><div>Once the onions start sizzling, drizzle a bit of water in (<i>again being very careful, it’ll try to spit</i>) and let that completely evaporate, then reduce the heat, check if the onions are soft. When they are:</div><div><br /></div><div>Add the dry powdered spices and salt and gently fry until the aromas start to stand out. (<i>If you’re still using slow gentle heat then this can be toasted for a bit longer than you think you need, just stop short of burning the powders.</i>) </div><div><br /></div><div>Once the dry spices are aromatic, add the cardamom & liquid if you did that the way I do, add the water and milk, and bring it to a gentle simmer. Add the peas. Add the fish chunks, stir very gently. If it looks like too much is evaporating, add a bit more milk. </div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote><span style="font-family: times;">(<i>Look - I know most recipes faff around with “poach the fish in milk and water, throw away all that flavour and the dairy fats softening the curry flavours…” - There’s a reason why so many curries and spicy foods have yoghurt or cream or sour cream as side dishes or include them in the recipe.</i>)</span></blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Add the cooked rice and lentil mixture. This will absorb the remaining liquid, which is why slightly firmer rice is good. Once the liquid is absorbed, gently fold in most of the eggs, some chopped fresh coriander, and serve. </div>
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<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>You can put aside a few egg wedges and some chopped coriander for dressing when serving. You can also sprinkle some red paprika powder over the dish. (<i>Indian paprika is slightly “sharper” in flavour than the usual red paprika you get at the supermarket but it’s worth it if you make this dish, other curries, and dips like dal and babaganoosh.</i>)<br />
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<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div>I put a lot of stuff in parentheses in the recipe above. Because this was a flexible recipe but it has some rules. Sorry. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's a dish that has curry, rice, smoked fish, coriander (<i>not parsley!</i>) and was usually made for breakfasts by a cook hired to the particular house. The eggs and peas were added because eggs are a breakfast dish to the British and peas were a familiar vegetable, the spices and coriander added the fillip of oriental spice that the expat British enjoyed. </div><div><br /></div><div>I make it for dinners rather than breakfasts. My one break with tradition. 😺 (<i>Actually, my breakfasts are <b>always</b> breaks with tradition - I'll probably put up an article here on what I do and why. Promise it's interesting...</i>)<br />
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ENJOY!
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</div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-83850855749702203042023-11-02T07:00:00.119-07:002023-11-03T05:24:38.817-07:00Aussie Icon Anniversaries
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Just last week I posted about the Aussie icon, Vegemite, reaching a 100-year anniversary, by whatever bumpy and often-offshore means. Now another icon has passed a milestone, but sadly it's not exactly what you might think...</h4><h2 style="text-align: left;">It's Not Vegemite</h2><p style="text-align: left;">So Vegemite was an Australian invention. It was modelled around some similar products but as far as I know it was Ausie. It was divisive, you either loved it or loathed it. And we lost it to overseas interests, then got it back.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Sara Lee</h2><p style="text-align: left;">Now Sara Lee is undergoing a shake-up. After more than fifty years, Sara Lee is in liquidation. Fair enough, Sara's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Lee_Corporation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">not a true Aussie</a> but the desserts company became part of the Australian food chain in 1971 when the <a href="https://www.bidfood.com.au/blog/the-history-of-sara-lee/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">first Sara Lee facility</a> opened in NSW. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Now we have the sad news that the Australian arm, <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2023/10/19/sara-lee-administration" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sara Lee Holdings</a>, has entered voluntary administration. Given the evil, greed-driven, and depressing state of the world's "economies," it seems almost like some kind of end-of-the-desserts-world knell of doom. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Aussies need a much more fair go than we're getting. The planet needs much more of a fair go than it's getting. Please share my articles to raise awareness of these sorts of stories. Wnat to find more of them to share? Click the newspaper in the graphic below to find a list of all the most recent of my articles. You'll find quite a few to enjoy and share, across all the different topics that the different blogs cover. The further the distribution the articles get, the more people will get these messages and start caring for our good companies, our beneficial organisations, and how to mitigate our impact on the planet that's creating the disaster we're sliding into.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><u>EDIT 3 Nov 2023:</u></b> <a href="https://www.streetinsider.com/magazine/american-companies-that-are-no-longer-american" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">At least our list isn't this long</a>...</p>
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teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-26534760743288662922023-10-24T07:00:00.032-07:002023-10-24T07:00:00.160-07:00Vegemite Scores A Century!<h4 style="text-align: left;">The iconic - and divisive - <a href="https://vegemite.com.au/heritage/the-vegemite-story/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aussie legend</a> has been in production for 100 years. (<i>Or out if you're one of those people who can't stand it.</i>)</h4><p style="text-align: left;">The iconic (<i>and no matter which side of the debate you fall, you can't deny its status as a slightly tarnished Aussie icon</i>) spread was born from a desire to make an Australian equivalent to the British Marmite, and was at various times up against (<i>and sometimes using</i>) such marketing gems of names like Promite, MightyMite, AussieMite, OzEmite - and my personal favourite but most regrettable, Parwill. </p><p style="text-align: left;">In 1922 Fred Walker directed Cyril Callister to come up with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegemite" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Australian version of Marmite</a> and Callister did it by autolysing spent beer brewer's yeast. A competition was held to name the new product, and Fred's daughter Sheilah chose the name Vegemite out of the pool because the name Fred had chosen, "Pure Vegetable Extract" apparently failed to set hearts alight or even suggest that the product was similar to Marmite. It was for a while renamed to Parwill (<i>Ma might? But Pa will! a really silly schoolyard pun</i>) but luckily the name was reverted to Vegemite or we'd have a whole new level of cringeworthiness to deal with. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Stop. Whoa. Dundee Time. </h2><p style="text-align: left;">I'd like you to reflect for a moment on the collected Australiana in that paragraph above. A really crappy Dad joke pun, a guy named Fred, another guy named Cyril, a sheila named Sheilah, beer waste turned to yet another beer product. Young Einstein eat your heart out. You're toast. Lastly, notice that it's the 100 year anniversary of that name, a century. And in cricket (<i>Yay for Aussie cricket</i>) a century is a score to be proud of. You get the Crocodile Dundee / Paul Hogan reference for free.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Good News Week</h2><p style="text-align: left;">In Australia there was a TV weekly comedy/news show called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_News_Week" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Good News Week</a>. It was a success, it was Aussie larrikinism at its best, and it included this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3MLY135xoU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">segment of video</a> that for me, cemeneted Vegemite as our most iconic icon ever. If you're eager to just see that iconinc minute and a bit of TV skip to 3:15 in the timeline, but I reckon you should just enjoy the plot developing. Reg Hunter's comment pretty much sums it up. <i>Every audience member knew that jingle.</i> You just don't get more Aussie or iconic than that. </p><p style="text-align: left;">So say "Happy Century Vegemite!" It's had a pretty checkered innings but it's still there and not out.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">And A Sad Departure:</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Another Aussie iconic product, <a href=" children's" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fantales</a>, sadly however won't be marking a 100th year, with manufacturer Allen's ending production earlier this year in July after a still-respectable 93 years of delighting children's tastebuds and curiosities about the stars of the world. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Footer</h3>
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teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-85486588384434482332023-09-19T08:00:00.001-07:002023-09-19T08:00:00.129-07:00Food Cooking The Green Way - part 2 of many
<h4 style="text-align: left;">I've posted about rice cookers as a very inexpensive way to cook and use less energy, make fewer dishes to wash up, and generally make your kitchen life a lot easier. I'll add a few more notes on them here, and continue on to a few related things.</h4><p style="text-align: left;">I know there are some bloody expensive rice cookers out there that have programs for everything. But <a href="https://substituteninja.com/cheaper-rice-cookers-vs-expensive-ones-whats-the-difference/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">do they make for better rice</a>? Undoubtedly - if you're new to cooking rice. Are they more versatile? Possibly. But even a cheap Big-W AUD$13 rice cooker is okay if you want to take the time to get to know them. </p><p style="text-align: left;">The biggest secret to rice is the rice to water ratio. The second biggest, and which affects that ratio the most, is what type of cooker you have. If you use a saucepan then 1 portion of rice by volume to 2 portions of water by volume is about right. If the saucepan has a tight-fitting lid, you can use less water, but you'll need to dial it in. If you have a AUD $400 computerised Ferrari of the rice cooker world, you might get away with a 1:1 ratio. Most of my rice cookers like a 1:1.5 ratio - 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water. </p><p style="text-align: left;">But also - in the saucepan, don't boil the guts out of the rice. Bring it to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Much nicer rice. Even my simple rice cooker can do that - it cooks until the water's all evaporated and the temperature internally goes above 100C, then reduces its heat to the keep warm setting. </p><p style="text-align: left;">So - you don't need the best appliances, just tips, tricks, and techniques - and I have plenty of those for you. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">But Wait There's More</h2><p style="text-align: left;">I'm assuming a small (<i>0.75litre or so</i>) so-called "mini" rice cooker here. They're the best for a single person or for preparing rice or beans etc as a side dish/carb for two.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Most rice cookers have a short period of time where the temperature can be above 100C before their thermostat kicks in. That's where a nice sautee comes in. Put in some peanut or vegetable oil, some choppped onions, meat, vegetables, whatever, and put the lid on and hit "cook." After a few minutes you'll hear sizzling, then the "click!" as it turns to the keep warm setting. Let it go another minute, open the lid, use a chopstick or other wooden implenet to stir and decide - another sautee? </p><p style="text-align: left;">If not, add softer vegetables and rice, stock, flavourings and seasonings, and let it cook the meal to the end.</p><p style="text-align: left;">This is a one-pot meal (<i>don't eat it from the rice cooker though, you'll mess up the coating</i>) and as simple as it gets. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I've also used rice cookers to prepare lentils and small beans like mung or field beans, you just need to put in less than a cup of the dry food and more water, you'll need to find your own ratio here or may even have to add a second lot of water for some.</p><p style="text-align: left;">You can also make cous cous or polenta, cook buckwheat, pasta, or boil two minute noodles. You get the idea - for a person who boiled eggs and pasta in an electric kettle in one's student days (<i>and we've all been there, right? Hunger and lack of funds produce ingenuity</i>) these gadgets are an eye-opener. I'd go as far as to say that I wish this was the first appliance I bought instead of an electric kettle and toaster. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Beyond The Rice Cooker</h2><p style="text-align: left;">Appliances I've tried and found multiple uses for:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Pressure Cooker:</b> This old gadget was a game-changer for cooking, reducing cooking times for difficult foods by an order of magnitude, and people developed a plethora of recipes to take advantage of the technological marvel of the day.</li><li><b>The Toaster:</b> These two devices I wasn't going to bother with but then I remember shared house days...</li><li><b>The Kettle:</b> Between the toaster and the kettle, we made entire dinners. So yeah, I'll include them both.</li><li><b>Sandwich Press:</b> Sandwich presses and panini presses are great little cooking gadgets that are so simple that they've become one of the more versatile ways to get stuff done. </li><li><b>Microwave:</b> This is pretty much THE modern appliance to start New Wave Of Cooking, after all. Ther were electric kettles and toasters, but they were just advances of existing devices.</li><li><b>Instant Pot:</b> This is one of those devices that everyone had to have a few years ago, but are now old hat. They do have a good range of uses though</li><li><b>Electric Pressure Cooker:</b> I have one. It pretends to be an IP but it has far fewer uses than the instant pot, is still a valuable part of my kitchen</li><li><b>Air Fryer:</b> in the last few years a new thing's arisen, the air fryer. There are so many variations and they're the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of current kitchen "healthy" appliances. I haven't used one but I have my doubts.</li><li><b>Steam Oven:</b> More recently I found out about these - their angle is that they're a tabletop oven (<i>like the AF mentioned above</i>) but they generate steam and circulate that to conduct heat into the food. </li><li><b>Tabletop Oven:</b> There were also many tabletop ovens and toasters, up to the size of microwaves and having one or two heating elements to them. </li><li><b>Tabletop Convection Oven:</b> A good cross between the AF and the tabletop ovens, these had a large thermal glass bowl on some kind of stand, and a glass lid with the actual heating gear in it. </li><li><b>Dehydrators, Vacuum Sealers:</b> Yep I consider dehydrating a kitchen and cooking hack, especially when making biltong or jerky, veg crisps, tomato (<i>and of course other vegetables</i>) powder, drying out bread cubes for <i>crouton</i> or dumplings. </li><li><b>Blenders, Food Processors, Stick Blenders, Stand Mixers, Hand Mixers, Juicers, Graters, Grinders, Mincers, Pasta Rollers and Presses, oh yeah and Ice-cream Makers:</b> You get the idea... These things are <i>designed</i> to be versatile and I don't think I'll be able to suggest recipes that push the envelope that haven't already been covered in the decades that we've had them.</li><li><b>Anything else not covered above:</b> There are of course slicers dicers and Flying Spaghetti Monster knows what else, I'll endeavour to cover all those I've found useful and versatile as well.</li></ul>For instance, mandolines and V slicers are great for making Julienne strips or fine dice, so are rotary slicers like the ones you see in delis. The old potato chip press has helped me make several sizes and styles of cubed vegetables, a potato ricer can, as it turns out, also squish over-cooked pasta or rice for thickening soups and stews. I'll get to these in future posts. Juicing vegetables and then putting both the juice and pressings into soups and stews produces incredibly flavourful meals. <br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">If you want me to research air fryers and steam ovens etc you could help me acquire them by scrolling to the footer and using my groovy graphic to make a donation or regular donation, and while you're there subscribe to my newsletter via the News Stand link. Also by sharing this article and others like it so I get a bit more of an audience and perhaps a new patron or donation... </p><p style="text-align: left;">For the moment - and to start the whole topic off - I'll put a few uses for pressure cookers that aren't totally according to "the rules" but still worth remembering. Pressure cookers are great at turning dried beans into cooked beans / meals or semi-cooked for use in other dishes. They're excellent for turning a tough cut into fork-pulled roast. I've used ours to extract bone broth for future soups, to cook vegetables soft enough to blitz and then add to soups and stews. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">A Quick Disclaimer and Claimer(???)</h2><p style="text-align: left;">If all you want are quick meals then I'll probably disappoint. I mean, I make my meal preps and cooking times as quick as possible using all these appliances, but my main aim is to extract every bit of value from the ingredients I buy, and make the meals as flavourful and tasty as I possible can. My wife calls me The Grand Poobah Of Soups / Stews / pretty much any meals I cook because of my focus on making the food good, nutritious, and so tasty that not a scrap is left after the meal. </p><p style="text-align: left;">And these days that's becoming more important again. Because food waste is quite often to a meal not being enjoyed and so thrown out, or "<i>oh, I can't cook those coriander roots / spring onion roots in this meal!</i>" when the truth is that those are "food waste" not "crap waste" and deserve a better fate than being dropped into the compost bag. Are you throwing out the prawn ("<i>shrimp</i>") shells and heads when you make that specialty garlic prawns main dish? Why? Put them on a baking tray in a hot oven for ten - twenty minutes, throw them in a pot with a pinch of salt and simmer for ten - twenty more minutes, then strain the broth and concentrate it, freeze it for the next seafood dish that you want to mega-boost the flavour of. </p><p style="text-align: left;">We never get a ready-roasted chicken but that the bones aren't immediately PC'ed for bone broth or stock. Ditto if I bone out a roast, or chops for the medallions. Ends of carrots / celery / onions / what-have-you? I sometimes gather those things in a silicone freezer bag and when I have enough, use the PC to pressure cook the he-l out of them, then concentrate the liquid, turning a few kilos of scrap vegetables into half a glass of frozen vegetable stock concentrate. Saves so much space in the freezer and it can happen in the background while I'm making dinner or whatever.</p><p style="text-align: left;">By using these (<i>mostly</i>) electric cooking gadgets I end up using the gas cooker (<i>that I can't change, being a renter</i>) a lot less and that means less greenhouse gases in the world. Unless the meal is a gassy vegetable meal and then all bets are off! 😼</p><p style="text-align: left;">Anyhow - see you next article or recipe!</p><h3>Footer </h3>
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teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-30812352489984352772023-09-05T08:00:00.003-07:002023-09-10T17:25:47.597-07:00Mushrooms. Gippsland. Mayhem.
<h4 style="text-align: left;">This is just a fairly short post. I'm using a fairly topical and still under investigation because many people still want to know about what occurred here, but my lesson is VERY tangential to that, it's more of a question really - about us being very deliberately separated from our food knowledge.</h4><p style="text-align: left;">Okay - <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-14/mushroom-poisoning-leongatha-erin-patterson-police-statement/102725876" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the story</a> here is <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/fifth-person-went-to-hospital-after-mushroom-lunch/news-story/2d830a63eb508e58b0ce82d3e57a3585" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">that four people</a> (<i>possibly five</i>) were struck down with food poisoning, three passed away from the effects of the toxin, one is in a stable but still quite acute condition, and the 5th may be <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2023/08/16/erin-patterson-mushroom-cook/ " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the suspect</a>. This revolves around a media circus, a bunch of sometimes contradictory statements, a lot of supposition, and a handful of facts. You read it, be the judge. I say it's just not able to be decided on the few things that have been revealed. </p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><u>UPDATE: 11 Sept 2023:</u></b> One thing more to support my position that we've been dumbed down with reagrd to our food knowledge: A month or more after the events that prompted me to think about our relationship to food, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-04/mushroom-sales-fall-after-suspected-death-cap-poisoning/102811418" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mushroom sales are still down</a>. (<i>Also, sorry the article may have appeared disorganised before this update - in fact that was caused by me clicking the update button, without realising, before I'd re-assembled the article in its updated form.</i>)</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Why Is This A Subject?</h2><p style="text-align: left;">How many of you reading this are competent at mushroom foraging? I consider myself a bit of a forager but not with mushrooms. You can eat any mushroom once, not quite so many twice. You can make a mis-identification and realise it after consuming them - and by then it's too late as the toxins in the wrong mushroom start destroying your organs, all you can do is pray you can live without your liver and kidneys and half a stomach or whatever. They are unforgiving. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">So?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Well, I was born in Europe at the edge of Alps country, but all of that area for thousands of kilometres around has abundant crops of mushrooms to be had. And many of my family there lived on the land and identifying the right and wrong types was almost second nature to them. Had I stayed out on the farm, I'd have absorbed the knowledge of that imperceptibly, and now know the hundreds of species of mushrooms from Belgium to Sicily to France and back that are edible and more importantly, the ones that are not... </p><p style="text-align: left;">How many types of mushrooms are there in my local supermarket? Swiss Browns, White mushrooms, button mushrooms. If I went to herbs and spices and weird stuff section of that cooler, I might find styrofoam trays of Oyster, Shitake, Enoki, Pins, and maybe Straw mushrooms. There are quite literally thousands of others and many of them grow wherever you are. But unless someone shows you which ones are edible (<i>and more importantly, shows you all the local ones NEVER to try</i>) or you have an endless supply of test subjects and can wait for a fortnight for any to show ill effects, you won't know.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Point - </h3><p style="text-align: left;">is that my folks back there would have known all that and passed it on to me. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Someone</i> in the past may have paid the ultimate price for identifying the wrong ones, but that lesson was passed down through generations so as not to cause more deaths. It's one of the reasons we have traditions, teachings, and recipes. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I've just grabbed a stock photo thumbnail from a random image search, but you get the idea - for each species there, there are sub-species that are also okay, sub-species that are decidedly not, and a lot of other species that look similar but aren't. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvtT4Qi6odxGClcWgYWsPiAYw8cCYN1GG0Xa6t246RXganpTsUYRKDXwWU-PmlnBKs5FpSlP_B1IexS5xoGpM8n573kxP5m8Dbk2M5BKCOPPy53F02apGJH15kLHqARIg3ABksZ-4NMzQd4iWUonxWu1LsOguAA77zGXVCntIVH3sgSSMpYu7fN8FE97Ul/s800/asian-mushrooms-variety-philippine-market-33645623-3682578706.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvtT4Qi6odxGClcWgYWsPiAYw8cCYN1GG0Xa6t246RXganpTsUYRKDXwWU-PmlnBKs5FpSlP_B1IexS5xoGpM8n573kxP5m8Dbk2M5BKCOPPy53F02apGJH15kLHqARIg3ABksZ-4NMzQd4iWUonxWu1LsOguAA77zGXVCntIVH3sgSSMpYu7fN8FE97Ul/s320/asian-mushrooms-variety-philippine-market-33645623-3682578706.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>There are only two or three types there and they're likely to be non-toxic.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"> And how's that working out for the supermarkets? Just lovely, thank you. They have customers that wouldn't know an edible fungus from a hole in the ground so if they want safe mushrooms they have to buy them at the supermarket. Or they can go pick 30 edible ones and one look-alike, and then everyone will avoid free mushrooms like the plague. </p><p style="text-align: left;">There's a (<i>very short</i>) link to an article <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2022/07/no-hope-for-food-knowledge.html" target="_blank">here</a> before, the linked article is about food misinformation, long story short, things like kids thinking hot dogs and bacon and cheese are vegetables, popcorn is animal-based. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I also collect stories like the mother chiding her child's teachers for teaching that fish come from the sea because "everyone knows they come from the supermarket." Or the person berating a person online, who admitted to being a hunter, and the naive person told them off well and good telling them to stop going out and "killing animals, just get your meat at the supermarket where it's just there on styrofoam trays." </p><p style="text-align: left;">Have you heard that bacon isn't a meat but a garnish? I have. That cheese is vegan? I have. Follow me for more true facts like that . . . </p><p style="text-align: left;">And the supermarkets continue to try to foster food ignorance - from things like replacing <a href="https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/how-to-understand-deceptive-food-packaging" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"HFCS" with "sweetener"</a> and similar tactics. Food companies will also commit <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/compliance-enforcement-food/economically-motivated-adulteration-food-fraud" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">quite deliberate and bare-faced fraud</a>. Don't let <a href="https://www.eatthis.com/news-most-deceptive-food-label-terms-that-are-fooling-you/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">labels with great claims</a> (<i>"they wouldn't lie about it being organic, would they?"</i>) fool you, either.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJavX4XrR8pvF04MbMthNz3Ny7BMPlUeI-JZuxGyLbd1OpMnZmGqvv3BEuyOT3e0Qij3sg3-o1zmFzObsJeVghflsL7CU4E5CHiAQyTWKmv7CBqOPyrQYsrocynynNyesY9wOG6WRElChQl58o5y-67uAOfeAnXmPWU7GE0tIXClXVzK_cpU4eoeeKIUDZ/s800/Tabasco3yrsWTF01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="800" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJavX4XrR8pvF04MbMthNz3Ny7BMPlUeI-JZuxGyLbd1OpMnZmGqvv3BEuyOT3e0Qij3sg3-o1zmFzObsJeVghflsL7CU4E5CHiAQyTWKmv7CBqOPyrQYsrocynynNyesY9wOG6WRElChQl58o5y-67uAOfeAnXmPWU7GE0tIXClXVzK_cpU4eoeeKIUDZ/s320/Tabasco3yrsWTF01.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>What Does That Even Mean?</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">I present a well-known chilli pepper sauce with another meaningless term. "Aged for up to 3 years"</p><p style="text-align: left;">That can mean it was sold 3 weeks after being made. It's either aged for three years or it isn't. "Up to" is meaningless drivel, providing no assurance of any kind. And when you look at the ingredients you see that it's distilled vinegar and salt and chilli peppers. That doesn't generally tend to ferment any further as the acid and salt will inhibit fermentation bacteria. </p><p style="text-align: left;">The original sauce actually <i style="font-weight: bold;">was</i> fermented for a certain period of time, but the acid content was provided by lactic acid which is produced when you add just the right amount of salt to a vegetable to favour the growth of a <i>lactobacillus</i> bacteria. It's how sauerkraut and kimchi are made, and also properly fermented gherkin and other vegetable pickles. </p><p style="text-align: left;">So this is just an attempt to cash in on the mystique of the original product. Ah well... </p><p style="text-align: left;">On the subject of total drivel is another pet peeve of mine:- "New And Improved!"</p><p style="text-align: left;">Ah... No... No, it isn't. It's either new, in which case it can't have been improved upon, or it's an existing product that's been improved. I know it's technical hair-splitting but it points out the exact kinds of bullshit food corporations get away with. Because we let them off the hook. </p><p style="text-align: center;">KEEP THE BASTARDS HONEST!</p><h3>Footer </h3>
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<br />teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-49630867000455405382023-08-16T08:00:00.001-07:002023-08-16T08:00:00.133-07:00Food Autonomy- part 1 of many. <h4 style="text-align: center;">A Series Of Cooking Tips & Hacks For Sustainable Climate-Friendly Kitchens.</h4><p style="text-align: left;">Hi! I've started this series in my Tuckertime blog for sustainable, fossil-fuel-free, climate-friendly kitchens. With the soon-to-be-enacted banning of new gas installations on the horizon, gas and wood-burning stoves are also being phased out. Here are some transitional technologies that will allow you to ditch the gas stove and start living in the 21st (<i>and possibly even the 22nd</i>) Century. The first two articles were my <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2016/11/using-lumina-ice-cream-maker.html" target="_blank">Lumina ice cream maker article</a> and then the <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2020/10/rice-cooker-meals.html" target="_blank">rice cooker article</a>. Now dig in and enjoy this article. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Future Kitchens</h2><p style="text-align: left;">I firmly believe that "kitchens" as they exist today are going away. It's sad (<i>having beautiful memories of having spent many cold evenings in a warm kitchen as a child and young adult</i>) but with climate change sweeping over us, it's inevitable. The kitchen has undergone many metamorphoses in our time this last civilisation cycle, from a fire hearth in the open to caves then to communal hearths and once again private in huts and homes, then we've had markets and prepared food stalls and dining houses, and even now we have examples of all those types of eating/cooking facilities around the world.</p><p style="text-align: left;">But with climate change we're going to have to change once again. This article is part of a series on this blog, on ways that I see kitchens changing and things you can do if you prefer some food autonomy. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Food Autonomy</h2><p style="text-align: left;">I don't mean just that you grow your own food, although that's a cool goal. I don't mean just retaining your own kitchen, even though that's going to be an issue that I think has yet to be decided by the world at large. I mean being able to distinguish between bullshit foods and good foods, bullshit cooking utensils and and genuinely worthwhile ones. You'll find that some things are a valuable addition to your cooking equipment, others are just a good way to waste valuable resources by making a piece of crap that has no function other than extract some money from you and then some more when you have to pay (<i>one way or another</i>) for it to be recycled or it ends up as yet more plastic and heavy metal pollution. </p><p style="text-align: left;">So this series of articles is going to explore as many scenarios as my fevered fertile imagination can come up with, from Star Trek food replicators to community solar cookers, or even - if the situation becomes dire enough, and who knows if that won't come to pass? - survival cooking in the wilds. One just never knows, do one? </p><p style="text-align: left;">My articles are going to cover possible futures (<i>This article</i>) and then drill down to specific things as can be done right now. I'll maintain a list of them updated in this article, so when you come back in a week, the newest article will have become a link in the list below.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The List</h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2016/11/using-lumina-ice-cream-maker.html" target="_blank">Using Lumina Ice Cream Maker</a>. This is a very old article about getting a very simple ice cream maker and putting it to a few less usual uses. </li><li><a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2020/10/rice-cooker-meals.html" target="_blank">Rice Cooker Meals</a>. This really started me exploring alternatives. There are so many ‘Instant Pots’ and “Rice Cookers’ and ‘Eco Pots’ out there and I cover a few of them and also add a few recipes I've made with just rice cookers as the cooking device.</li><li>Food Autonomy. That's this article. </li><li>Small Hotplates. There are several kinds of hotplates, resistive element and induction, and of course, the old favourite, the camping gas cooker, using bottled or cartridge gas.</li><li>Ovens And Ovens. There are several varieties of tabletop ovens from the ridiculous to the sublime to air fryers and steam ovens. Any good?</li><li>Mixers Blenders Juicers. </li><li>Slicing and Dicing. </li></ol>These are going to come out at irregular intervals as I have time to write, and more importantly - money to test some options. You can help yourself by using the links in the graphic just below here to subscribe to my once a week newsletter where you can find out what I've most recently posted. You can also help me by using one of the support options to send a few bucks my way so that I can obtain more devices to test, pay for costs involved, etc.<p></p>
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<h2>The Preferred Options</h2><h3>Food Authenticity</h3><p>It's difficult for us to keep up a good diet when forces of capitalism and money are involved. It invariably comes down to the most inexpensive. If a manufacturer can shave a cent per kilogram off the cost of a food or add one cent's worth of extra value to the pric</p><p>e of it, they will make more money - and that makes them a more successful predator than their competitor. One of the ways this always plays out is with the health-promoting and nutritional values of foods. There's no way around this, cheaper is less nutritionally valuable, less beneficial to health - all the way down to Soylent... </p><p>So buying a ready-made meal is always a throw of the dice. Going to a fast food outlet is a gamble. Even going to a restaurant or cafe or diner can have poor outcomes. The more processed a food is, the more processors are operating on that food on its way to you. Each one shaves a cost, takes a shortcut, adds an adulterant. Cumulatively, the result is something that isn't 100% food any more, which can in fact be far less nutrition than you'd be led to believe.</p><p>For instance, when the entire world consistently produces only enough olives for the preserved olive market (<i>which are hard to fake</i>) and one hundred million litres of olive oil (<i>which <b>is</b> easy to fake</i>) and yet year after year sells two hundred and fifty million litres, you know that one hundred and fifty million litres aren't actually olive oil. </p><p>Your job is to guess which brand is genuine 100% olive oil, which ones have the least corn oil added, and which ones are just any crap oil which has been boiled with olive pits or in some other way made to smell and taste a bit like olive oil... </p><p><b><i>THAT</i></b> is what I mean by food authenticity.</p><p>And it isn't just the bottle of oil for your pantry in this case. Those pickled vegetables in 'olive oil' you just bought - what oil are they floating in really? The pasta <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_aglio_e_olio" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">aglio e olio</a></i> you just got served at your lunchtime restaurant - where did they get their oil from? And so on. </p><p>And this train of thought gets infinitely worse when you consider another particularly revolting trend that at this stage <i style="font-weight: bold;">seems</i> to be mainly concentrated in China - '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu6yJyi97ZI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">grease trap oil</a>.' And it's every biut as revolting as it sounds. Restaurateurs (<i>or someone they buy their cheap cooking oil from</i>) who go around skimming the oil off rubbish skips and bins of restaurant food waste, from the grease traps in the kitchen sewage, and anywhere else that they can, sometimes filtering or boiling it and then re-selling and re-using it. </p><p>That's also what I mean by food authenticity... Don't forget that some of your olive oil may have even come from this inexpensive source. If you buy some lesser-known brands of Asian cooking oil, there's even a possibility that they're selling reprocessed grease trap oil directly and not just as an additive.</p><p>So our kitchens are a place where we can do our best to only have wholesome authentic food cooked in ways that preserves the nutritional value. To me that's one of the most important functions of a home kitchen and so I hope we keep having that room in the house. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Food Preparation</h3><p>As the world currently stands, many (<i>mostly, the developed</i>) countries are living a lifestyle where a kitchen almost doesn't make sense any more. They wake, get dressed, and have breakfast at a diner or stall on the way to work, then have lunch at an eatery local to their workplace before picking up a cooked takeaway meal on the way home. The kitchen gets used to re-heat leftovers and make a snack now and then, and is almost a wasted room. This is saddening because it indicates a swing away from home-cooked meals and with that, a departure from the 'nuclear family' which in this case means a family forming a nucleus, not the Jetsons.</p><p style="text-align: left;">That's not to say that this is entirely unknown. In ancient Greece and Rome there's evidence that there were a lot of fast food places - almost certainly indicating that people below a certain income ate almost exclusively food prepared by street vendors or people who cooked meals in their homes and took in diners much as a restaurant does. There's evidence that families sent the children away to apprentice, or to work at farms or other businesses, or to get an education. </p><p style="text-align: left;">So we're used to families being a somewhat fragmented concept. Don't forget that early families often bred profusely precisely because limited local resources would either kill children or force them to move away (<i>or be sold, indentured, or just chased away</i>) and so the best course of action was to keep replenishing the youthful workforce by having more of them. </p><p style="text-align: left;">We've also had 'stone age nuclear' families - in the stone age - where we probably had a hearth and kitchen wherever we happened to be, but the child was valuable and so was kept along with the family to learn the skills and become a new successful hominid. Sorry to bring families into this essay about kitchens but the fact is that partially, the things we do around kitchens and food is to do with one other uniquely human thing, our extremely long upbringing of our children. That ties in with culture and education and is another reason that kitchens are one of the focii of our civilisation. </p><p style="text-align: left;">But also - and if managed properly and operated with a focus on quality over profit or cost - the idea of abandoning the home kitchen altogether makes some sense. We got to our current state of technological and cultural achievement through specialisation - one person farms, one person logs timber, another person makes furniture and utensils for the kitchen, a miner mines metals, a smith makes the pans and metal utensils, and so forth. Remember those ancient fast food places? They were operated by specialists too. </p><p style="text-align: left;">In a few days there'll be a <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2023/09/mushrooms-gippsland-mayhem.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">post about</a> corporate food BS, look for it after Sept 6th. For now, I'll close this with a hint to the next part: What Are You Cooking With? If you rent or are cost-conscious, the old-style electric range consumes far too much energy for what it does. Induction cooking ranges are more energy-efficient but costly to buy. And electric ovens still have to have resistive heating elements. But there are appliances that will allow you to try these things out and bypass gas or resistive electric cooking and big expensive-to-run whitegoods. See you on the next one!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
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teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-2655630136162078962023-08-09T08:00:00.001-07:002023-08-09T08:00:00.149-07:00Dual ReBeans<strong>NAME</strong>: _ReBean<hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div>1 small onion</div><div>2-3 cloves garlic</div><div>1 small tin black beans</div><div>150g approx green beans</div><div>1 beef stock cube</div><div>1/2tsp each ground cumin, coriander, currypowder, raw sugar </div><div>Olive oil</div><div>water</div><div>cooking salt<br />ground black pepper<br /><hr />
<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>Wash the green beans and cut into 2-3cm pieces, set aside.</div><div><br /></div><div>Peel and cut the onion into thin longitudinal wedges, (<i>about 16 - 24</i>) place oil and a sprinkle of salt in a frying pan, add the onion and drained black beans (<i>retain the liquid for other recipes if you like</i>) when the oil is hot, fry gently until onions begin to brown and beans to soften and become almost refried.<br /><br /></div><div>Add the spices and green beans and gently fry for another minute or two, add enough water to cover, crumble the beef stock cube in and stir.</div><div><br /></div><div>Peel and mince the garlic, add and stir, then let gently simmer for about 20 more minutes.<hr />
<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>Serve as a side dish for something like my <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2023/08/ted-style-corn-chips-meaty.html" target="_blank">Ted-style "Corn" chips</a> (<i>which are actually beef coated in fine polenta</i>) or similar. </div><div><hr />
<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div><div>The flavours go with Mexican, Spanish, or Indian/Curry cuisines.</div><div>Serves 2 - 4 depending on sides</div><hr />
ENJOY!
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</div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-57750435436377371992023-08-02T08:00:00.009-07:002023-08-02T08:00:00.147-07:00Ted-style "Corn" Chips (Meaty!)<strong>NAME</strong>: _Mex Flavours Thin Rissoles<hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div><b>Rissoles</b></div><div>250g not too lean minced beef</div><div>1/2cup quick oats flakes</div><div>2 eggs</div><div>2 tbsp mayonnaise</div><div>2-3 tbsp dried crumbled onions</div><div>1 tsp salt</div><div>1 tsp raw sugar</div><div>1-2 tsp garlic powder</div><div>1 tsp smoked paprika</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Breading"</b></div><div>2cups fine ground polenta</div><div><div><br /></div><div>Olive oil for frying.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div><b>Sauce</b></div><div>Jar of salsa (<i>I got mine at a "good. different" supermarket chain.</i>)</div><div>splash of olive oil </div><div>pinch of ground cayenne, cumin, coriander</div><div><br /></div></div><div><hr />
<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>In a suitable mixing bowl, add the beef, oatflakes, break in the eggs, add the rest of the "Rissoles" ingredients and mix well. I suggest spoon mixing for a few minutes, letting it sit for a few, mixing again. You're aiming for a slightly thicker consistency than sugar cookie dough. </div><div><br /></div><div>Keep it cool (<i>maybe in the fridge</i>) until ready to make. (<i>You could make this a day ahead.</i>)</div><div><br /></div><div>When ready, put about two cups of fine polenta in a deep plate, take rissole mixture and form into balls about 3cm diameter, then roll them in the polenta and flatten them into thin disks. Pat more polenta onto both sides, shake off, then in batches fry crispy on both sides in olive oil and set aside. </div><div><br /></div><div>Make sauce by simmering salsa, olive oil, and spices in small saucepan, drizzle over rissoles and toss to coat. <br /><br /><hr />
<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>Serve with rice and a few sides. (<i>See later recipes, I'll add recipes for some reasonable side dishes.</i>) <br />Serves 2 - 4 depending on other dishes / side dishes.<br /><hr />
<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div>As noted in Method, the rissole mix can be made up to a day ahead of time if covered and refrigerated.</div><div>Refried beans, spicy green beans, and spicy fried cabbage are all good matches to these. You don't need to coat them in the salsa but damn - it makes them sing. I suspect they'd also go well with my <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2023/07/green-tomato-chutney.html" target="_blank">Green Tomato Chutney</a>.<br /><br /><hr />
ENJOY!
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</div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-73180167188227151722023-07-13T21:04:00.003-07:002024-01-31T03:39:10.941-08:00Green Tomato Chutney<strong>NAME</strong>: _Green Tomato Chutney a la Ted<hr /><strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div><div>For every:</div><div>1 kg green (un-ripe) tomatoes </div><div>Use:</div><div>2 - 3 onions ~~450 - 550 grams, diced a bit chunky</div><div>4 tsp salt un-iodised table salt</div><div>2.5 - 3 cups raw sugar</div><div>95 ml Ezi Sauce *see my recipe for <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2023/06/home-made-pickling-vinegar-ezi-sauce.html" target="_blank">clone Ezi Sauce here</a>.</div><div>1 teaspoon mustard powder</div><div>1 teaspoon curry powder</div><div>1 teaspoon cornflour</div><div>1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric</div><div><br /></div><div>Also needed:</div><div>Quantity of pickling jars with lids, washed and sterilised, enough for the quantity you intend to make. </div><hr /><strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>Chop tomatoes to roughly 1cm - 2cm. Keep seeds and gel with them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Chop onions roughly around 1cm - 2cm. Add to the tomatoes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Use a bowl big enough to hold those quantities of ingredients, add the required amount of salt, stir through, then cover and leave in a cool place or the refrigerator for 12hrs at least. </div><div><br /></div><div>Put the tomato/onion mix into a pot, keeping all the liquid that the salt drew out as well, bring to the boil over low heat. </div><div><br /></div><div>Add relevant amounts of sugar and Ezi Sauce and stir together, then simmer it uncovered over low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Make sure it doesn't catch and burn. <div><br /></div><div>Turn off heat, add remaining ingredients (<i>curry and mustard powder, turmeric, cornflour</i>) and stir then turn heat back on for ten minutes to simmer and combine. </div><div><br /></div><div>Put into the prepared sterile jars, put lids on, let cool. </div> <hr /><strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>Look up uses for chutney, hehehe. I cook with it sometimes, and we definitely have cheese/chutney and cold meat/chutney sandwiches regularly. <br /> <hr /><strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div>A weird and late start to my tomato plants gave us around five kilos of green tomatoes towards the end of the season, and you can only eat so many fried green tomatoes . . . So I dug around in my recipes and found an old recipe I've used in the past (<i>also works for apple cucumber chutney BTW, just adjust cooking times and cornflour a bit</i>) and then realised it used Ezi Sauce so I hunted down a recipe online, tried it, realised it wasn't the way I remembered Ezi Sauce, and put <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2023/06/home-made-pickling-vinegar-ezi-sauce.html" target="_blank">that recipe</a> on here as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Make sure your jars are well cleaned, sterilised, and boiled for this, get the chutney into them very hot and seal immediately, and they'll keep a few months in a cool place. (<i>Ours won't last long enough to be a problem...</i>) We had around 4kg of tomatoes and used 12 jars of 210ml size with a bit of chutney left over. <br /> <hr />ENJOY!<hr /><h3>Footer</h3>
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<p><br></p>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-24420601294036021702023-07-02T08:00:00.002-07:002023-07-11T21:19:34.799-07:00Home Made Pickling Vinegar (Ezi Sauce clone)<strong>NAME</strong>: _Home Made Pickling Vinegar (Ezi Sauce clone)
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<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div><div>15 grams whole cloves ---------------\</div><div>15 grams whole black peppercorns---- (See Note 1)</div><div>7 grams chilli flakes mild</div><div>30 grams ginger fresh, washed, scraped, and chopped (See Note4)</div><div>400- 500 ml double-strength white vinegar 8% acidity</div><div>1 tsp un iodised cooking salt </div><div>1 litre double-strength white vinegar 8% acidity (See Note 3)</div>
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<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>Use a glass jar with tight-fitting lid that's 1.2 - 1.5 litres in size. Put in the vinegar, salt, and sugar/molasses if using, stir or shake until dissolved. Add in the other ingredients, put the lid on tightly and shake. Leave it to stand for at least 12hrs, 24hrs preferred, then strain through some fairly fine weave like calico or handkerchief cotton into a clean glass bottle. It'll keep for ages, months, if left unopened. (Note 5)</div><div> <hr />
<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>It's not actually a serving idea <i>per se</i>, instead it's used in pickles and chutneys etc. I've also added a small splash to a salad vinegar/oil vinaigrette for interest. <br />
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<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div><b>Note 1:</b> Purists will say "whole" black peppercorns and cloves, I say put them in a piece of parchment paper then into a teatowel and crack them with whatever you have. Don't pound them to dust, just break them open a bit. <br /><b>Note 2:</b> Experiment - I've improved over the original recipe by adding 1 tsp of crumbled cinnamon bark as well. Also 1 tsp raw sugar or molasses (molasses preferred) adds "body" to the end product. </div><div><b>Note 3:</b> DON'T be tempted to use the normal white vinegar, pickling needs more acidity that only double-srength can provide. Usually only a half litre is used for the amount of ingredients but I've found that the flavour is overpowering at that strength so I opted to add half a litre more vinegar. Start with the 500ml, taste test after 12hrs, and if, like me, you found it unpleasantly strong, add 250ml - 500ml more double strength.</div><div><b>Note 4:</b> I don't peel the ginger, rather wash and scrape lightly with a spoon, also thin slices with a mandoline are as good as chopping.</div><div><b>Note 5:</b> The vinegar goes dark - it's meant to. Also - keeping it in a dark brown bottle will retain the colour, clear glass lets light in and that fades the colour after time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Also, you can find my recipe for <a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com/2023/07/green-tomato-chutney.html" target="_blank">Green Tomato Chutney</a> here where I've already used the vinegar to make several batches.</div><div><br /><hr />
ENJOY!
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</div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-77522913443405203532022-10-26T06:03:00.000-07:002022-10-26T06:03:23.310-07:00Really Quick Potato Breadlings<strong>NAME</strong>: _Really Quick Potato Breadlings<hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div>250g mashed potato only - no butter etc, just mashed spuds</div><div>250g AP flour</div><div>2tsp instant yeast</div><div>milk (see recipe)</div><div><br /></div><div>24 x mini muffin baking tray, two if you have them. <hr />
<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>Mix the potato and flour in a stand mixer for about 5min using the dough hooks. Add the yeast, mix a bit more. </div><div>(<i>I know, I know, you mix the yeast with some warm water yada yada yada. Do you use your yeast? Did it work last time? Was that last time less than six months ago? It'll probably still work. Or you can use the clever technique in the Notes.</i>)</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_3VpFZ6cLrp1i1CWDn4-37A-qnnYsVtRqmK-xCLD6vNLF3MB-JrC91ZC56jAtPqcFE7d8JyemoLhfHBPF9iwTTY5BQj6WFsbDt6VIVF64oj3Zj6TOXvHsDuWG8RLYuwd0RgBNpGoYbIZ9fVnBmEVfo11CjZdCHj4HsE796iWj5A6zRdawNzEbnb-3Q/s4080/20221026_172203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="2296" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_3VpFZ6cLrp1i1CWDn4-37A-qnnYsVtRqmK-xCLD6vNLF3MB-JrC91ZC56jAtPqcFE7d8JyemoLhfHBPF9iwTTY5BQj6WFsbDt6VIVF64oj3Zj6TOXvHsDuWG8RLYuwd0RgBNpGoYbIZ9fVnBmEVfo11CjZdCHj4HsE796iWj5A6zRdawNzEbnb-3Q/s320/20221026_172203.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The first batch was in the oven<br />about 4 minutes too long. And <br />yep we ate a few just to test them.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Add milk a bit at a time, you want a consistency softer than bread dough but a fair bit firmer than pancake batter. </div><div><br /></div><div>Keep kneading the dough in the mixer for about another 5 - 10 minutes. You want it to start pulling the skirt away from the bowl as it kneads, then it's just about right. </div><div><br /></div><div>Whack a tea towel over the mixing bowl and let it sit and rise for an hour or two, in which time it should just about almost sorta double. Oil the muffin tin while you decide if it's about doubled in size or not. Maybe preheat the oven to 220C - 230C about now, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Decide "what the heck!" and go for it anyway. Now this stuff will be sticky so - use two teaspoons and try to fill each muffinette spot about 1/2 full with batter then put the tray in the oven for about 10min. They go quickly so stick around and check.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you only have one 24pc tray then you'll notice you have a lot of batter left, probably enough for another 24pc tray. . . Hmmm . . . When the tray comes out of the oven turn it over. The muffinettes will fall all over the floor, probably should have told you to invert it over a clean solid surface with a tea towel on it. Sorry.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let the tray cool, oil again, and the remaining batter should fill the tray again. Return to the oven and do it all again. <hr />
<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>Serve warm or cold ad sides or as the carb in a meal. They take only a few minutes for the inside to firm up.</div><div><br /></div><div>(I made some pulled pork and shredded ham fried with fine chopped onion, some caraway seed, and eventually about a tablespoon of flour stirred in and then splash a bit of water over and adjust until the meat has a slight moist saucy glaze to it. And some sauerkraut in a very similar way. Then we chopped muffinettes in half and used them like baby potatoes as the main carb in the meal.) <hr />
<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div>So you didn't keep your instant yeast in the fridge and nothing rose. Add 2 tsp of baking powder and mix that in, then proceed as if the yeast had risen. Or add 3 tsp and some more milk, and fry them in butter in teaspoon-sized portions to make pikelets... <hr />
ENJOY!</div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-75158905294247553602022-08-05T02:43:00.000-07:002022-08-05T02:43:52.553-07:00Mushroom Season<strong>NAME</strong>: _Mushroom Season<hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div>500g fresh local mushrooms (about 700g if you remove stems, see Notes)<br />50g salted butter</div><div>1 tsp yeast flakes</div><div>1/2 tsp Vegemite</div><div>2 tsp AP flour</div><div>1/2cup - 1 cup water</div><div>salt and ground black pepper to season<br /><hr />
<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>Slice the mushrooms (with or without stems) and fry medium hot in butter until they start to smell mushroomy then reduce the heat. (Sorry, I don't know a better way to describe this. Cooking fast initially starts browning the mushroom and gives some nice flavour, and you can smell it.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Keep the mushrooms stirrring for about five minutes then add the flour and stir it into the mushrooms, add water, reduce heat further, add yeast flakes and vegemite, taste and season if needed. </div><div>
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<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>As a side dish to many meals, or on toast, just get those mushrooms into your belly! Yumm!<br />
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<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div>Some people find the stems of field mushrooms a bit woody, and yes, if they've lived part of their life in a plastic tray in a chiller room or left to grow too long then they may well be. I often cut half the stems back before slicing, and sometimes, with the store bought white and Swiss mushrooms, the whole stem has to come off. (But don't throw them away! Give them a quick wash/brushoff and freeze them in a ziplock bag to use in a future stock! Don't waste such a flavour resource.)</div><div>
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ENJOY!</div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-8871792009758573302022-07-28T03:39:00.000-07:002022-07-28T03:39:31.880-07:00No Hope For Food Knowledge<h1 style="text-align: left;"><span>Just Scary News</span></h1>
<p>Seems we're STILL not getting food education right. The only point I disagree with <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/40-percent-of-american-kids-think-hot-dogs-and-bacon-are-plants-61593">this article</a> on is that I reckon the adults in those kids' lives aren't really a full bottle on food origins either. </p>
<p>Seeing how mothers go to war with teachers for telling kids that fish come from the sea when she knew <i style="font-weight: bold;">for a fact</i> that fish came from the supermarket.</p>
<p>Score one more point for food ignorance.</p>
<p>Game over.</p>
<p> </p>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-83184044900639420462022-06-16T04:00:00.000-07:002022-06-16T04:00:27.336-07:00Recipe/News Roundup 01<h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Another Block Roundup</span></h1><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">Yeehar. This is going to be exciting. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Did you notice my enthusiasm? No? Good. This is meant to be my recipe blog and I've been so busy that I've dug up new recipes and ideas to try but haven't had time to truly get into the Cooking Zone and experiment.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">However, you'll still get a giggle and some inspiration from the bunch of food links I've collected and curated over the last year or so.</span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Today the "Enjoy!" comes first.</span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/4-minute-microwave-passionfruit-lemon-curd-recipe/u72dce8s" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/4-minute-microwave-passionfruit-lemon-curd-recipe/u72dce8s</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/mini-caramilk-rice-puddings-recipe/ptr8uq0o" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/mini-caramilk-rice-puddings-recipe/ptr8uq0o</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://commonsensehome.com/canning-oranges/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://commonsensehome.com/canning-oranges/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-427ed974-7fff-c37a-b9b5-830df94cf98b" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A few recipes to start off with, and now a story that I've heard with a dozen variations but always the same message - we're becoming "food dumb."</span><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Can't Possibly Be True</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In a study published in the December issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, researchers from Furman University asked children ages 4 to 7 to identify whether certain foods come from plants or animals, and which things were OK to eat. The results were shocking, as Oddee.com reported: About a third of the kids thought eggs came from plants. Forty percent thought hot dogs and bacon were vegetables. Almost half thought french fries were animal-based. More than a third thought chicken nuggets were plant-based, even though the word "chicken" is right there in the name. Another third said fish were not OK to eat. Seventy-six percent said cows were not OK to eat. We have some work to do, folks. [Oddee.com, 11/10/2021]</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.uexpress.com/oddities/news-of-the-weird/2021/11/12#:~:text=Can%27t%20Possibly%20Be,OK%20to%20eat" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://www.uexpress.com/oddities/news-of-the-weird/2021/11/12#:~:text=Can%27t%20Possibly%20Be,OK%20to%20eat</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A few more recipes:</span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/one-pan-teriyaki-beef-rice-recipe/gvz9kmpb" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">One-pan teriyaki beef and rice recipe</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/5-ingredient-spanish-chicken/4fb1bb4a-1fae-4ff0-85ac-f0895cfa1983" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">5-ingredient Spanish chicken</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://comfortablefood.com/best-cheeseburger-pie/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Best "Cheeseburger" Pie - Comfortable Food</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/potato-recipes-aloo-recipes/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/potato-recipes-aloo-recipes/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">And now a big block more of them:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2022/01/05/four-plant-based-foods" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2022/01/05/four-plant-based-foods</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://coorowseeds.com.au/seed/lupins-for-human-consumption/dehulled-lupins/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">http://coorowseeds.com.au/seed/lupins-for-human-consumption/dehulled-lupins/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://misskabaki.co.ke/how-to-cook-lupin-bean-stew/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">How to Cook Lupin Bean Stew | Miss Kabaki</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.thespruceeats.com/bread-machine-recipes-a2-3051778" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">30 Delicious Recipes for Your Bread Machine</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/jamu_indonesian_turmeric_ginger_drink/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Jamu (Indonesian Turmeric Ginger Drink)</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_ginger_switchel/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">How to Make Ginger Switchel</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.simplejoy.com/chicken-noodle-casserole" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://www.simplejoy.com/chicken-noodle-casserole</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.simplejoy.com/philly-cheese-steak-casserole/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Philly Cheese Steak Casserole Recipe</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.simplejoy.com/little-smokies-recipe/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Crockpot Little Smokies - Simple Joy</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.simplejoy.com/cowboy-caviar/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Cowboy Caviar Dip - Simple Joy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I'm not sure how many links is too much. I think this already is, but I'll welcome discussion.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">As you probably know by now, I'm not a chef and the closest I got to commercial cooking was helping a then-local food co-op with preserving excess foods. My real passion is writing up good recipes (<i>and please note the fact that I've included the above links based only on me wanting to check them and develop "my style" recipes based on them</i>) and the rest of my passion is writing about unjust and fraudulent food practices and politics, unjust politics, the state of the planet and the mountains of waste we've wastefully created, technology both good (<i>I praise and extol that kind</i>) and bad (<i>where I just tell you why I think it's bad and then hope everyone boycotts it</i>) and how to use technology to recover from the waste and weather problems we're having.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">If you want to see what I mean, dive into the Footnote just below. </span></p><h3><a name="footnote">Footnote:</a></h3><p>In addition to writing these articles I'm also experimenting with ways of recycling waste that can be done at the cottage industry or community hub levels, not so much because it'll magically convert 100% of local waste into recycled useful articles, but because people who are <i>doing</i> these sorts of activities are likely to <i>talk about them</i> to people in their community, and so raise even more awareness of the issues and dangers.</p><p>So please - if you can at all spare some time, take a look at my <a href="https://ptec3d.com/URL/news_stand.html" target="_blank">News Stand</a> where you'll see live updated links to everything I publish; And take some time and share the links to the News Stand and this article with your friends and readers. </p><p>Take a <a href="https://www.subscribepage.com/tedamailxpress" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">subscription</a> to my weekly newsletter where you'll receive the same information; </p><p>Or maybe <a href="https://ptec3d.com/URL/contact_form.html" target="_blank">contact me via the webform</a>; Or <a href="<mailto:prawnheads@proton.me" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">email</a> me;</p><p>You can also donate either <a href="https://paypal.me/teddlesruss" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">directly</a> or at my <a href="https://ko-fi.com/ptec3d " target="_blank">Ko-Fi page</a> for the price of a coffee, or even make a regular monthly donation there.</p><p>All donations are put towards keeping these websites online, and for developing devices, machines, and techniques to easily and safely recycle materials on a tiny scale.</p><p><br /></p>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-31909567259009428142022-06-03T20:07:00.002-07:002022-06-03T20:08:01.725-07:00An Overlooked Anniversary<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I've just noticed that give or take a few months, TEdAMENU Tuckertime is over fifteen years old! </span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">That is all. </span></div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-15805617420060088202022-05-22T02:29:00.002-07:002022-05-22T02:29:22.548-07:00News Special: Food Shortages Are Coming<h1 style="text-align: left;"><b>The Food System Is Set To Implode</b></h1><p style="text-align: left;">Many small things are coming together to collapse the food system. That's the chatter coming in from all over the place. Get ready for 'shrinkflation' and inflation and outright stock runouts. Maybe this is a good time to get gardening, too, and I have <a href="https://zencookbook.blogspot.com/2022/05/ive-got-worms-and-thats-good-thing.html" target="_blank">one tip for you</a> to get up and running quickly here.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">This is a break from the usual recipe format, I'll put food news and occasional 'linkdumps' of food/foodie links I've been following here now from time to time, so I'll also have to go back and tag all my old posts and set up the search facility on the blog.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">George Monbiot has a good explainer <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/food-inflation-hits-decade-high-amid-war-weather-and-pandemic/101034790 " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, which I highly recommend. Various others have article explaining shrinkflation (where an item is quietly downsized but the packaging - and the price - remain the same, and sometimes the price even goes up. </p><p style="text-align: left;">As discussed in that article above, food's grown into a monopoly or duopoly in many cases, with the various players all connected, colluding, and collaborating. In the middle of last century the various food corporations managed to drive a wedge between their customers and their suppliers. The disconnect left us with people unable to tell if chicken was an animal or vegetable, people swearing that fish didn't come from the sea but from supermarkets, and in general most people can no longer tell a mallow plant from a lawn any more. </p><p style="text-align: left;">(<i>Which is sad because mallow is a widely-growing plant that likes disturbed poor soil so it's a good fit for cities and in fact grows in a lot of them, it's nutritious, and can be cooked with like a spinach or other green - for free. You can see how well this plays to the Big Food playbook, can't you? On the way to the supermarket, to pay a dwindling supply of your income, to an ever-wealthier supermarket corporation, for ever-more-expensive spinach, you walk past three mallow plants and perhaps even kick them over because "damn weeds"...</i>)</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is It A Purge? A Purification? (Spoiler: Nope.) </h3><p style="text-align: left;">It seems like everything's come together in an almost-too-perfect storm: COVID, hyperinflation, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61336659" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">food systems under attack</a>, and monkey pox. "Them" seem to be trying to kill us, starve us, give us one weird epidemic after another . . . But it actually IS a perfect storm. And it's mostly come about due to some very different reasons than we may be thinking.</p><p style="text-align: left;">It would be easy to blame our exploitation of the Earth's resources - without remediation or seeming care for the consequences - for the problems. After all, it's our craven greed that got us into contact with bats and monkeys carrying odd viruses. Isn't it? </p><p style="text-align: left;">I'm convinced it's the very very VERY <b>VERY</b> large wealth inequality in the world today. 1% of the population hold somewhere between 70% and 80% of all the wealth in the world; Then a small middle class owns 80% of what's left; and then the lowest and largest segment own just a few percent of the world's wealth. </p><p style="text-align: left;">It kicks everyone's survival instincts into high gear - "must on more! Must own more!" and that breeds greed, and that means we must use whatever means are at our disposal including dishonesty, exploitation, and killing others (<i>including the planet</i>) to survive. In a bit of a remarkable study I've read about, <a href="https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/equity-vs-equality/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">justice</a> appears to result in a world <a href="https://www.science.org.au/curious/earth-environment/how-many-people-can-earth-actually-support" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">where everyone can have enough</a>. I can't locate that study but it'll be one of those in the table on the latter page.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Our survival imperative is to survive long enough to pass on our genes to a new generation. In the world that has existed until very recently, that was fair enough in a number of ways:</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>There were plentiful resources but it was hard for a single person to get enough.</li><li>There were plentiful threats to survival and therefore massive overbreeding was needed.</li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">But we're now in a situation where everyone on Earth can have any resource they need. There are fewer and fewer existential threats to our existence. (<i>Except ourselves...</i>) But the old ways of thinking still rule us, and so we have inequality and injustice.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Because deaths are more common if you're of lower economic status, you need to breed more offspring in order to ensure your genes survive. But whereas before, this meant you had more peoplepower for gathering resources, now you have fewer resources so each person has less. </p><p style="text-align: left;">In short: If everyone had been prepared to live a modest and adequate life, we could all have lived on the production of the world. There's more and more clean energy coming online, we <i style="font-weight: bold;">waste</i> more food each year than could comfortably support the entire poulation and overconsume the rest so that it feeds only a small upper percentile, and everyone is looking over their shoulder because for sure someone is coming after <i style="font-weight: bold;">our</i> share...</p><p style="text-align: left;">All because we still think <i style="font-weight: bold;">we</i> are the most unique and fit-to-survive organism on the planet.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">What's The Solution?</h2><p style="text-align: left;">You're not going to like it. Give up the idea of fast foods, give up on owning a car or a house or a boat, forget mindless seasrching for that one perfect entertainment. Give up on unbridled greed for money.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Instead, look forward to free housing, free food, free transport anytime and anywhere you need it for any purpose whatsoever, turning your hand to anything you feel you have a knack or talent for, and forget about a system that created a world where over half had to live in abject horrible conditions to give you a fraction - a mere fraction (<i>less than 16% of the world's wealth overall shared between 30% of the population</i>) - of what's in the first paragraph. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Well - let me correct that. McDonalds and Wendy's and Subway <i>et al</i> feed a relatively huge portion of that middle income band and a smaller portion of the lowest. But the 1% - aside from a few notable exceptions - don't eat junk food like that. But if you could have <b>great</b> tasting healthy food without the hassles, I imagine most people wouldn't be too put out by those big food chains to subside into the background.</p><p style="text-align: left;">But - <i>right now</i> - we can already get a taste for this. Form a 'community dinner club' locally - everyone chips in some amount for fresh food, some for the energy cost, and some for the cooks. You name the cooks, the buyers, wait staff, and recipients. Food ingredients are kept all around the community, brought to whoever's the cook place for the day, the people nominated as staff for the day get busy cooking the meal(s) and the person whose home is being used for cooking gets a bit to put towards the energy bill. </p><p style="text-align: left;">For maximum economy see if anyone can grow some ingredients, and buy them for the cooperative. Everyone gets meals for the family, fresh and tastier than fast food, and no doubt also a lot cheaper. And that's how food would work in the future, except for the part about money.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Because, given the choice of working for money and working for a community, I'd rather work for the group. If I was good at putting up housing, I'd ask someone who's good at drawing house plans for a plan, then ask the guys down at the hardware for all the bits, then go and find a group of us and make a house.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The guys down at the hardware would ask the guys at the fittings factories to send more hardware and fittings, and someone that enjoys driving a truck could sit in the mostly self-driving delivery truck and deliver all the stuff.</p><p style="text-align: left;">If someone wanted to create art - create art! If someone wanted to go fishing - go fishing! And so forth.</p><p style="text-align: left;">If that sounds a whole lot like a fairy tale to you, it's because we've had the fairy tale beaten out of us. Deliberately, because to some people there's never enough, and it's never enough to have enough, you also have to have extreme 'have-nots' to compare and measure yourself against. If you think hard enough, I'm sure you can think of several billionnaires who could end world hunger and housing shortages using just a tenth or a quarter of their enormous fortune that they'll never ever use - and aren't doing it. </p><p style="text-align: left;">The fact that this attitude is prevalent at all strata of human society doesn't mean it's right - it just means the top 1%'s propaganda's still winning.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Stuff to be aware of:</b> Living in the country and a breadbasket region as my wife and I do, we don't have as many worries sourcing food. And the region is still sending as much of the produce to the city so everyone has enough.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Except. </p><p style="text-align: left;">When the pandemic created chaos in the supermarkets, the people from the city would basically send 'raiding parties' down the coast and buy everything out from under us. That's set to start becoming a feature of food shopping here when this particular famine hits. One person hoarding triggers hoarding behaviour in others. And then the few that have held back must hoard too or starve. And THAT is also all down to money, greed, and the imperative to survive better than anyone else, at any cost</p><p style="text-align: left;">And funny, but 'famine' is going to be the exact right word to use, and as mentioned elsewhere in this article, climate change has been one of THE triggers for this FoodApocalypse. The Climate Food Apocalypse of the Early Anthropocene, it'll be called in the history books. <b>IF</b> we have anyone left to write history books, anyway. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Also funny is that every famine has come down to our actions or inactions. Here's a <a href="https://www.rescue.org/article/equality-everyone-planet-how-do-we-get-there" target="_blank">site where you can make a difference</a>.</p><p style="text-align: left;">There ARE things we can do now - I'm not going to make this a huge long article, but I hope it's given you some news about food that's becoming important and will become VERY important VERY soon. If you can help in any way, get in touch with me. If you have a crop going to waste let people around you know and let them come pick some up for others to use to survive on. Use every buy-swap-sell page, every social media, every noticeboard, but don't let a largely engineered food shortage develop.</p><p style="text-align: left;">And I'm writing this stuff up here and on my other blogs, and will help coordinate efforts where I can.</p><p style="text-align: left;">So please - if you can at all spare some time, take a look at my <a href="https://www.ohaicorona.com/teds-news-stand/" target="_blank">News Stand</a> where you'll see live updated links to everything I publish; Or take a <a href="https://www.subscribepage.com/tedamailxpress" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">subscription</a> to my weekly newsletter where you'll receive the same information automatically once a week; Or <a href="<mailto:teddlesruss@pm.me>" target="">contact me via email</a>; Or donate either <a href="https://paypal.me/teddlesruss" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">directly</a> or at my <a href="https://ko-fi.com/ptec3d " target="_blank">Ko-Fi page</a> for the price of a coffee, or even make a regular monthly donation there. </p>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-44725450973495195512022-04-17T02:37:00.000-07:002022-04-17T02:37:26.811-07:00Korean BBQ Hoki Poki [tm]<strong>NAME</strong>: _Korean BBQ Hoki Poki<div><br /></div><div>I invented it so I get to name it and this sounds so 'shonky-Aussie pretending to know Korean' that I knew I had to almost trademark the name... 😁 It was just a recipe that I pulled out of my hat at the last moment and it came out glorious. Do you hate recipe blogs that go into five pages of some ripping yarn before the recipe? So do I - so here's the recipe already. (<i>Oh and a pic... </i>)</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEian9E3dr0bm4LHlWITjjuExbxQX-V-EtR9Y0BwCKz24NqyAByeNzfzltjbO2kg6TZYfaOSzRYWxaU-rKzKKfhABnvzwfH4kHytkuNv6xl05bDeDpp0EkI-NcT14c4xwwB-vHa02OAhWYH_jzK-R7cZITPQHzDhPyExHCdBoIoffUBvTLkHQkD7nd1PIw/s2048/20220417_192242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEian9E3dr0bm4LHlWITjjuExbxQX-V-EtR9Y0BwCKz24NqyAByeNzfzltjbO2kg6TZYfaOSzRYWxaU-rKzKKfhABnvzwfH4kHytkuNv6xl05bDeDpp0EkI-NcT14c4xwwB-vHa02OAhWYH_jzK-R7cZITPQHzDhPyExHCdBoIoffUBvTLkHQkD7nd1PIw/w400-h225/20220417_192242.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forgot to take a pic before we devoured it...</td></tr></tbody></table><div> <hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div>500 g Hoki fillets (see Notes) </div><div>150 - 200 ml Korean BBQ Sauce</div><div>Medium/large brown onion</div><div>pinch of powdered ginger</div><div>4-5 cloves garlic</div><div>3-4 tbsp peanut oil (see Notes)<br />Salt as per Method</div><div>Juice of around 1/2 a lemon</div><div><br /><hr />
<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>Cut the fillets crosswise into slices about 4-5cm wide and place in a bowl. (<i>I buy frozen fillets and only partially thaw them for this as it gives firmer chunks. Fresh Hoki would also be firm enough for the recipe.</i>) Drizzle the BBQ sauce over and stir pieces about to coat evenly. Return to this periodically as you prepare the rest of the recipe.</div><div><br /></div><div>Peel and cut the onion into fairly chunky pieces, close to 1cm is good. Peel the garlic cloves and make chunky cubes around 4-5mm by slicing lengthways to that dimension, then cut the slices lengthways and then cut the sticks into cubes. Gently fry the onions until glassy, add the garlic and keep frying until some browning takes place then lift it out and set aside. </div><div><br /></div><div>Lift the fish pieces out of the sauce and allow to partially drip off then fry until the sweet BBQ sauce starts to develop light brown spots then add back the onions and garlic, sprinkle the powdered ginger over. Reduce heat, cover with a lid and let cook very gently for ten minutes or just turn off heat and stand for about 20 before serving.<br />
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<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>We served it with a fried rice with fresh garden veg, instant winner dinner for three people. <br />
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<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div>I use ALDI frozen Hoki skinless Hoki fillets, and about half a pack feeds three people with rice additional. I also only half thaw before proceeding as per method as it results in much finer portions, see Method.</div><div><br /></div><div>Peanut oil is good but vegetable oil will do. Peanut has a better smoking point and I find it releases out of foods better than most other oils and fries cleaner.<br />
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ENJOY!</div></div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-60348945065995012302022-03-29T21:42:00.000-07:002022-03-29T21:42:27.183-07:00Garden Stuff Quiche<strong>NAME</strong>: _Spinach'n'Stuff Quiche<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_83FM1o8sEmVeVwBmE0DDgpZ13wneRDYbGew8OH1PrueTiGMiziARJlRRU3xaRYduQDcHOyp4-2b2glfOg97tGx8w2gj2Q-gFA7QEqbDXrik-kg91U06nl9NebHsZSQElcelwAeDH3P4VKKwIL83eve6PQf4ux1INBzo6AJt22PHSnGGMkdg2u0pAjQ/s3264/IMG_20220328_190400_009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_83FM1o8sEmVeVwBmE0DDgpZ13wneRDYbGew8OH1PrueTiGMiziARJlRRU3xaRYduQDcHOyp4-2b2glfOg97tGx8w2gj2Q-gFA7QEqbDXrik-kg91U06nl9NebHsZSQElcelwAeDH3P4VKKwIL83eve6PQf4ux1INBzo6AJt22PHSnGGMkdg2u0pAjQ/s320/IMG_20220328_190400_009.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A quickie quiche</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div>Spinach</div><div>garlic chives</div><div>silverbeet</div><div>rocket</div><div>a carrot </div><div>(I don't grow those, had to use a supermarket one, and everything below this is store-bought as well.)</div><div>sheet of puff pastry</div><div>a tomato (optional)</div><div>eggs</div><div>cream cheese</div><div>cream</div><div>grated cheese</div><div>salt and pepper to taste<br />(See Notes: for why this is so open ended.) <hr />
<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>Cut the stems out of the spinach, silverbeet, and rocket leaves. Wash everything and shake dry. Chop all the stems into 1cm slices and throw in a frying pan (I had the wok out and used that, it's hardly critical) with about a tablespoon of olive oil, start on low heat. </div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, chop all the leaves up and get them ready to go, grate the carrot into longish shreds. About now I generally sprinkle a bit of water over the stuff in the pan and let it evaporate, then add the leaves and carrot, toss everything until it starts to wilt, sprinkle a bit more water. When the desired wiltedness is reached (hint: I prefer a bit of body left in the veges, you may, too. Keep an eye on it.) turn off the heat and move the pan to the side, put a lid over and let it cool down./</div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to save time, then while the above is happening, use your second pair of hands to line a pie dish with baking paper and then the puff pastry, and then put it in the oven at about 190C long enough to part bake the pastry. Take it out at that stage but leave the oven on. </div><div><br /></div><div>In a bowl mix about four eggs, two spoonfuls of cream cheese, and a spoon of thickened cream. Mix well or even use a mixer. Salt and pepper to taste can be added at this stage, also your grated cheese. Adjust the cheese mix to taste (I generally use a few spoons of tasty cheddar and about half as much parmesan) and mix that into the egg with a spoon, then still with a spoon mix in the wilted vegetables and fill the pastry with the mixture.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you're wanting to make a nice appearance, slice the tomato into 2mm thick slices and dot them around on top of the filling, and then, also optional but highly recommended, a light sprinkling of some more of whatever cheeses you used. </div><div><br /></div><div>Put back in the oven and give it 25 - 35 minutes until it gets browned on top, leave to cool and set for 10 - 15 minutes before cutting and serving. </div><div>
<hr />
<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>A few extra leaves of rocket on each plate make a nice touch.</div><div>
<hr />
<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div>I found that for two of us, the vegies I collected were under a kilo, and what I had was just what I picked before cooking. One pack of frozen spinach would do much the same thing and not need pre-preparation. But not taste half as nice... </div><div><br /></div><div>I had a dozen leaves and stems of an Asian spinach of some sort with leaves + stems being some 15cm in total, some young leaves of silverbeet about the same size, a few of rocket, and a single bunch (one plant) of garlic chives.</div><div><br /></div><div>The pie filling mixture generally doesn't need much seasoning, but you may want to try different cheeses depending on the green ingredients. I had garlic chives to impart a strong flavour. <br />
<hr />Today, I'm going to ask you to please visit one of my other blogs and have a read:</div><div><a href="https://ptech3d.blogspot.com" target="_blank">PTEC3D Blogger</a> is about 3D printing and recycling </div><div><a href="https://tedadynes.blogspot.com" target="_blank">TEdADYNE Systems</a> read about EVs and AIs and techie stuffs</div><div><a href="https://tedalog.blogspot.com" target="_blank">TEdALOG Lite II</a> a general sort of blog </div><div><a href="https://zencookbook.blogspot.com" target="_blank">The Body Friendly Zen CookBook</a> more focused on sustainable and renewable</div><div><a href="http://ohaicorona.com" target="_blank">O Hai Corona WP</a> health and freaking out about the 'rona</div><div><a href="https://grumps.substack.com" target="_blank">Grumpy Old Guy Substack </a>pretty much what you may think it is . . .</div><div>or subscribe to a newsletter at</div><div><a href="https://www.ohaicorona.com/teds-news-stand/" target="_blank">Ted's News Stand</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>I wouldn't normally ask but I'm hoping that by getting a bit more of a readership I can afford to cover the server fees and materials costs for the recycling project and traffic will help. Also you can <a href="https://paypal.me/teddlesruss" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">directly donate</a> or do a monthly donation at HTTP://ko-fi.com/ptec3d </div><div><br /></div><div>And as always,</div><h3>ENJOY!</h3></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-38507042390267206592022-03-12T00:19:00.003-08:002022-03-12T00:19:53.586-08:00Sourwhat? And is it an animal?<div>I'm going to make a few people who've perfected their sourdough skills over the last two years, angry. Probably. But I have a bread maker machine, it's 15 years old or more, and it still hasn't taught me any of the breadmaking skills i acquired myself - but is used quite regularly in our house. And we buy bags of premixed bread mix for it. There. I've 'fessed up. </div><div><br /></div><div>And fair enough - I <b>can</b> bake bread in the oven using more traditional techniques, and the only problem with my sourdough is that I always kill it because I'm scatterbrained and forget it. I could put it in a more prominent position but then I'd lose some of my valuable kitchen real estate for other cooking & processing projects. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm going out on a limb here but: the bread machine's electric, I don't need to run my gas oven for an hour to make a loaf. We'd pay between $3 and $8 for a loaf of bread depending how 'artisanal' the originating company imagines itself to be, and the bread mix works out at $1 a loaf. The loaves keep much better than store bought if wrapped in a clean tea towel and then sat in a bread bin, it's a far better size than commercially-baked loaves for two of us, and it works out that we get between six and eight weeks' worth of bread on demand out of each bag.</div><div><br /></div><div>The procedure for handmade bread, on the other hand, uses the gas oven as previously mentioned, a stand mixer that I have to find room for and then wash and put away plus a bowl and a proving basket, it's dependent on the vagaries of the weather and temperature, and therefore I don't do it as much and then without the good old Breville we'd end up buying commercially baked bread.</div><div><br /></div><div>Okay - enough of that. I've said my piece, and with all sorts of stuff getting expensive due to climate and pandemic it's a viable option for saving a few bucks that I thought I should point out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now on to another thing that worries me - the way we've become and are becoming disconnected from our food sources and food knowledge. I present just one story from News Of The Weird:</div><div><br /></div><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-963961e0-7fff-5152-2907-32fead269a2a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can't Possibly Be True</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a study published in the December issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, researchers from Furman University asked children ages 4 to 7 to identify whether certain foods come from plants or animals, and which things were OK to eat. The results were shocking, as Oddee.com reported: About a third of the kids thought eggs came from plants. Forty percent thought hot dogs and bacon were vegetables. Almost half thought french fries were animal-based. More than a third thought chicken nuggets were plant-based, even though the word "chicken" is right there in the name. Another third said fish were not OK to eat. Seventy-six percent said cows were not OK to eat. We have some work to do, folks. [Oddee.com, 11/10/2021]</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-- </span><a href="https://www.uexpress.com/oddities/news-of-the-weird/2021/11/12#:~:text=Can%27t%20Possibly%20Be,OK%20to%20eat" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.uexpress.com/oddities/news-of-the-weird/2021/11/12#:~:text=Can%27t%20Possibly%20Be,OK%20to%20eat</span></a><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, NotW is a great source of off-the-wall and offbeat news, almost as good as going to my <a href="https://www.ohaicorona.com/teds-news-stand/" target="_blank">News Stand</a> and subscribing to a newsletter there so you can keep up with ALL my blogs and posts. </div><div><br /></div>
ENJOY!teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-27693724521013228912022-02-12T22:25:00.000-08:002022-02-12T22:25:03.356-08:00Ted's Secret Shish Recipe<strong>NAME</strong>: _Ted's Secret Shish Recipe<div><br /></div><div>I grew up for four or five lovely years on Bahrain island and enjoyed the food - a lot. We left when I was almost nine but the flavours stayed with me. Then a few weeks ago we were walking through our local Coles supermarket and saw these electric shishkebab makers and spouse asked me "Would you use one of these?" She's really lovely like that - because she knows anything cooking-related she presents me with ends up making our dinners deliciouser and deliciouserer, to paraphrase Alice.</div><div><br /></div><div>I checked it out and liked it. But. Price. Ack! Not what I'd spend on a whim, so I said something like yes I would but I was expecting something half the price mumble <i>mutter mumble</i> greedy bas....ds. . </div><div><br /></div><div>The following week I went solo shopping and there was the rotisserie - <b>AT HALF PRICE!</b> </div><div>So you bet I grabbed one and brought it home cos - sign from the Gastronomy Gods, people! I was <b>meant</b> to have this thing!</div><div>Then I got busy and this is the result - these yummy shish, and this recipe.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuZlpPIVqGWh-dapWItMVSy9Iqr9zVHdykxpBhIrvBoULppZzCPnWncsEoD3fNUIJDk1zgU7ZMEILlf7YOI0FP-ynSc5h38bL-j5vfWnFtVp_gZloZLQN-kUirs97W9fjAusBdVZk1p7Ep5jka_t4FvEzCOFAYlLhT5PZnpu11pIcjYU_U4V40XGOZJw=s3264" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuZlpPIVqGWh-dapWItMVSy9Iqr9zVHdykxpBhIrvBoULppZzCPnWncsEoD3fNUIJDk1zgU7ZMEILlf7YOI0FP-ynSc5h38bL-j5vfWnFtVp_gZloZLQN-kUirs97W9fjAusBdVZk1p7Ep5jka_t4FvEzCOFAYlLhT5PZnpu11pIcjYU_U4V40XGOZJw=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>(<i>Also, we went back the following week and </i>they were back to their old price... <i>I think maybe someone at the shop overheard me and decided to give me a chance... Curioser and curioser...</i>)</div><div><br /><hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:<div><div>Starter:</div><div>1 level tsp cooking salt </div><div>2 tsp sugar (raw if you have it, or use honey even) </div><div>1/2 tsp ground coriander </div><div>1/2 tsp ground cumin </div><div>1/2 tsp mustard powder </div><div>Take about 4 large cloves or 6-8 small ones, mash really fine, needs to make about 1 level tbsp and a bit more, two normal spoons(ish)</div><div>(optional) 1 tsp powdered dried mint</div><div>Add:</div><div>1/2 cup - 1 cup water</div><div>1/4 cup white wine vinegar (or malt, or brown, just not that white distilled rubbish)</div><div>about a tbsp of lemon juice.</div><div>Last Add:</div><div>1 cup olive oil.</div><div> </div><hr />
<strong>METHOD</strong>:</div><div>In a suitable sized bowl put the salt, sweetener, coriander, cumin, mustard powder, and garlic (and mint if using) and fork mix together until well combined, add the water and vinegar, stir again until well combined. Add a cup of olive oil and mix well again. </div><div><br /></div><div>Best for chicken or other poultry but I suppose you could also marinate beef, veal, pork, or what have you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Marinate your shish-sized chunks in this for from one to 24 hours. Refrigerate if doing anything longer than about two hours, it'll quite happily keep in the bowl, just cover it to prevent the fridge smells getting in.</div><div> <br /><hr />
<strong>SERVING</strong>:</div><div>See the photo above, I like the thin slices of corn, red pepper / capsicum, and red (or white) onion squares. Put an onion square near the top and the flavour will run down. Marinate the vegetable ingredients if you like but only long enough to coat them - ideally do that right as you're ready to thread the skewers. Really get some caramelisation on the pieces, it's delicious! Serve over rice with a small salad with a nice vinegary dressing. <br />
<hr />
<strong>NOTES</strong>:</div><div>Makes enough for a kilo or two of chicken thigh cubes.</div><div> <br /><hr />
ENJOY!</div></div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-38401926961242729042022-02-12T19:09:00.001-08:002022-02-12T19:09:16.747-08:00<h1 style="height: 0px;">Just a quick update:</h1><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>TEdAMENU Tuckertime is going to get some regular updates again as I find more time to record and post recipes. </div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't stopped cooking, just run out of time to do the actual recipe blogs. Also, there are a dozen other web properties I'm operating and I have to divide my time among them, and then there are RL things like plastic recycling, making machines for that, 3D printing, electrnoics projects, etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm just sorting out my workflows now (after 25 years you'd reckon I would have had this sussed, but no...) and some semblance of regularity should return to the diet... </div>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-21789832847218208702021-08-08T03:23:00.003-07:002021-08-08T03:36:22.496-07:00New format, new stuff.<div style="text-align: left;">
<font face="arial" size="3">
> New format, new stuff. Well, not on ALL my blogs. But I wanted to link up all my online properties:</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial" size="3"><br /></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="arial" size="3">There's my other blogs on Blogspot, of course - goes without saying. Some of those blogs were born (<i>and laboriously hand-coded</i>) back before blog sites became popular. </font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="https://tedalog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>TEdALOG Lite II</b></a> - is the blog I post all sorts of general articles and items of interest to me and that I imagine might be of interest to you.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="https://tedadynes.com" rel="" target="_blank"><b>TEdADYNE Systems</b></a> - I've always had a bit of interest in the <i>ethics</i> of technology, especially where the borders are between humans, cyborgs, and machines, and the ethics of AI. You may find this interesting.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="https://tedamenu.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><b>TEdAMENU Tuckertime</b></a> - as a proud geek and a proud Aussie and a proud multicultural citizen of the Earth, what better way than recipes to show the scope and depth of all these facets?</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="http://ohaicorona.com" target="_blank"><b>OHaiCorona</b></a> - COVID-19 gave us all a shake-up and will continue to do so for a considerably long time to come. It shook the sh*t out of me and this blog became the place I put all the things I discovered as we uncovered the truth of this little bug.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="http://ohaicorona.com/fictionblog" target="_blank"><b>OHaiCorona Fiction</b></a> - is a blog on the same hosted server (which Tech Pacific is my service provider for) with all the crap fiction ideas that inevitably come up during the lockdowns... As such I should probably apologise for these stories... </font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="https://grumps.substack.com" target="_blank"><b>Grumpy Old Guy</b></a> - is a blog where all the things that really p*ss me off go to be exorcised - some things just need the grumpy old guy touch, and now that I'm the age I am, I have EVERY facet of this NAILED.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="http://prawntech3d.com/site" target="_blank"><b>PrawnTech3d</b></a> (also <a href="http://ptec3d.com">ptec3d.com</a> for a shorter URL) - is a place where I share everything I'm learning and generating in the strange and absorbing world of 3D printing, from how to print stuff to best places to find stuff, best software for designing and making your own.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCxcHKhgNUqlist3dp6cRxw" target="_blank"><b>Youtube</b></a> - I'm attempting to put a few videos up on Youtube, hopefully culminating in a fairly regular series of vids with some cool topics.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Discord</b></span> - <a href="mailto:prawntech3d@protonmail.com">Email me</a> for an invite to the PrawnTech3D Discord server, where I tend to spend the most of my time anyway, or to arrange a Zoom sesh where we can happily chat one on one or in a group. (To get my timezone, go down to that link because it has the current time and date at my location.)</font></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;">Additionally, you can buy/donate/help by using any of these links:</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="https://prawntech3d.com/prawnshop" target="_blank"><b>Ptec3d Shop</b></a> - is where you can find my models I've designed and made, many available for free download; And also snippets of software, diagrams, and so forth for making cool gadgets and gizmos; And also of course I can print many models on demand for a fee and postage.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ptec3d" target="_blank"><b>BuyMeACoffee</b></a> - you can buy me a coffee and smashed avocado toast here, or</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><a href="https://ko-fi.com/ptec3d"><b>Ko-Fi.com</b></a> - just a latte with two sugars thanks!</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Patreon</span></b> - everyone knows Patreon, where people go to support people like me who spend all their time making and developing and disseminating and creating things. (<i>I'll link this up once I have my Patreon up and running. It's a shambles for now...</i>)</font></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;">There are also a few more places you can find me:<br /></span><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><font face="arial" size="3">I have my models available on <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thingiverse</span></b>, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thangs</span></b>, <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Cults3D</b></span>, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Creality Cloud</span></b>, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Prusa Models</span></b>, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">My Minifactory</span></b>, and probably a few others.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3">There's an <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Etsy shop</span></b> too. Naturally. </font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3">You can direct tip me via <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Paypal</span></b> or <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Stripe</span></b>.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3">On Second Life I'm <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">teddlesruss Vollmar</span></b>, also on <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dreamgrid</span></b> where I occasionally run my own simulator at <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Catsylvania</b></span>.</font></li><li><font face="arial" size="3"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>I've got some others</b></span> - groups and pages here and there, about everything from rabbits to amateur radio - and will happily share those if you use the "<span style="color: #2b00fe;">Email me</span>" link a few bullets back. </font></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;">I really do hope I'll see you at all these other sites - I've been working on and developing and publishing some of these blogs since before there <i>were</i> such things as blogs, and some of them are quite prescient. And I look forward to chatting with you all. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And the links are in the sidebar to the left, anyway. See you around!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-43709883866036765872020-10-19T09:38:00.008-07:002024-01-31T03:37:35.121-08:00Rice Cooker Meals<span id="docs-internal-guid-b1286b0b-7fff-5be4-c1b6-bde504871626"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 20pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introduction</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: times;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="color: #444444; font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Quick Message:</b> If you got here from an online post, I recommend opening <a href="https://ohaicorona.com/teds-news-stand" target="_blank">this link</a> to see what else I regularly post articles about. The link will open in a new tab.</span></span></blockquote><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are so many ‘Instant Pots’ and “Rice Cookers’ and ‘Eco Pots’ out there nowadays, and most of them are quite economical on energy use, produce ideal cooking conditions, and can be used for trouble-free meal preparation. If you have an available power socket, you can produce a meal.</span></p></span><span><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are a few gotchas, of course. With the exception of Instant Pots, most of these cookers have just one simple program, and that is to boil the contents until water evaporates and the temperature then rises (because no more water to keep it under 100C) to around 110C - 120C for most of them. That happens naturally because while ever there’s still water on the bottom of the cooking vessel, water boils at 100C and so the temperature CAN’T go any higher. Once the water is all boiled away, the temperature rises, and at some point - usually set at the factory - the unit kicks into ‘Keep Warm’ mode. </span></p><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A quick Glossary</span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of these versatile cooking utensils might be in order here.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First Principles - Crock Pots (<i>Slow Cookers</i>)</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These kinds of cookers are members of a class of electrical cooking pots whose roots go all the way back to Vilna Village, Vilnius, Lithuania, in the late 1800s - 1900s. Because the Jewish faith requires a good Jewish person performs no operating of devices on Shabat, (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_on_Shabbat" target="_blank">for a range of reasons</a></i>) they would take the next day’s one pot meal to the local bakery ovens in a heavy crock that would hold the residual heat of the oven to slowly cook overnight and thus require no operating anything, just pick it up, wrap it in cloth to insulate it and have a cooked warm meal ready to go.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A gentleman and prolific inventor by name of Irving Nachumsohn in Chicago in the 1900s had learned of that Jewish innovation and thought how perfect this method of making the </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cholent</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was for Chicago’s summer heat. He developed the device, filed patent #2,187,888 in 1936 and was granted it in 1940. It for unknown reasons took him over ten years to start producing the slow cooker, but in the 1950s we saw the first commercial ‘Crockettes’ hit the selves of stores and a new era of cooking began. -- </span><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/brief-history-crock-pot-180973643/" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/brief-history-crock-pot-180973643/</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The original Crockette had a ceramic, stoneware, or pottery based inner pot, and as its popularity rose, it begat a slew of new cooking devices. It had an insulated outer body that the inner liner pots were placed (<i>or sometimes permanently fixed</i>) in, a good solid lid to prevent heat loss, and generally had two or three settings only. They can be used for literally hundreds of recipes, from cakes and desserts to meatloaf and stews and soups, to caramelising onions. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The great appeal of the crock pot, in the start of "dual income families" times, was that you could place the ingredients in it in the morning, come back in the afternoon - and have a hot meal ready to go. </span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rice Cookers</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The slow cooker was joined in December 1956 by the first commercially-produced domestic automatic rice cooker, made by Toshiba Corporation. All their successors have pretty much used similar basic construction ever since, and can take between 20 and 60 minutes to cook a pot of rice. The advantages are that they produce consistent results and need a minimum of attention to do so. The disadvantages are that these results can include consistently burning the bottom layer of rice, consistently drying out the cooked rice rather quickly with some models with poorly fitted lids, and similar little niggles.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By 1965 most of these bugs were eliminated in newer and improved models, and these days you can get a perfect 2litre capacity rice cooker for $13 AUD, under a tenner in the UK or USA (<i>making them cheaper than conventional stovetop saucepans</i>) and inventive cooks began developing one pot simple meals. -- </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_cooker" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_cooker</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And look - Asian people, to whom rice was a staple dish and something households prided themselves for, took up the rice cookers in great quantity because once you worked out how to prevent those issues (<i>stirring the rice briefly with a plastic spatula, using a tea towel to keep the heat and steam in, and so forth</i>) they DID produce a consistent good quality food.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eco Pots</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most ‘eco pots’ are basically a smaller version of a rice cooker with a capacity of 0.6 - 1.9litres. They can perform much the same functions but for a much smaller quantity of food.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instant Pots</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It took a forty year hiatus (<i>ca 2006</i>) for Canada to patent the next innovation, the Instant Pot. -- </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_Pot" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_Pot</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first model was recalled for electrical issues, but by 2013 I’d been able to buy a device based on the IP and made in China (<i>which is my nice way of saying "ripped off"...</i>) for only $60AUD at a then common chain of warehouse outlet stores (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam's_Warehouse" target="_blank">Sam's</a></i>) and despite quite heavy use it is still working well today, and newer replacement models can still be found for under $160AUD for a generic unit with ALL the program features +++ then some.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘Instant Pots’ (‘IPs’) became a phenomenon around the early to mid 2010s and have been universally accepted as a Good Thing by most people who’ve used them. Like all three of the devices I’m compiling this list of, they have an insulated body which includes the safety switch, heating element, a thermostat, and a separate spun metal inner pot which is what the food cooks in. Inner pots vary but most are spun aluminium and feature a non-stick liner inside. They have a lid with a vent and a pressure relief, and a pressure seal, all of which have to be kept scrupulously clean and free of food deposits for the IP to function properly.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They have far more functions than a simple rice cooker because they include a program selector and are a pressure cooker as well as a traditional sort of electric boiler. Most can also fry or braise ingredients, be set to start at a particular time of day and run a specified program then keep things warm - they’re a good all-round tool to have, in other words. You can use them like a slow cooker, pressure cooker, electric saucepan/pot, for braising as pointed out - and many have a program to cook rice, too.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They can have a capacity from 6litres to around 12litres, and as with any pot for the kitchen they need to be around the right size - too big for the size of meals you generally make and the food will cook or burn in a thin layer on the bottom, and it’s recommended that you NEVER - EVER - exceed the safe capacity of the IP you have. In pressure cooker mode, going over or under the limits can result in explosion, injury, or worse.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That said, they’re a very safe device and have a multitude of uses, I’ve used mine to make soups of all kinds, stews, one pot meals, cook silverside perfectly, make a larger than usual quantity of rice or pasta for parties, and slow caramelise onions.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The capabilities and limitations of your IP are pretty much laid out in the instruction manual. My IP, for example, has a series of eight ‘basic recipes’ that I can adjust for length of time / weight of main ingredient etc, and is very easy to use, but doesn’t include a ‘braise’ setting but by using one of the programmed settings and adding fats and vegetables I can get it to braise. You need to experiment a little bit.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generally</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most of these devices (at least all those with removable inner pots) have a spring-loaded thermostat in the centre of what is in effect just an electric hotplate. Until the inner pot presses down with enough weight in it to depress the spring loaded thermostat, it will either only run at ‘keep warm’ heat, or in many cases not run the hotplate at all. This is done to prevent the device from causing fires if it’s accidentally left on. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most inner liners for rice cookers, eco pots, and IPs these days are made from pressed or spun aluminium with a non-stick coating inside, and they generally have their capacity measurement stamped into the metal in this case.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Less commonly, they can have stainless steel inner pots, which may or may not have capacity markings stamped in them,</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For crockpots, earthenware is still the most common inner pot material, and some are permanently fixed into the insulated body, which creates issue with washing-up because you mustn’t submerge the electrical bits (i.e. the whole outer body) or get them wet so for preference a removable inner pot is important.</span></p><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Example Recipes</span></h1><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt; text-align: center;"><i>The white one was from an opp shop, the black one bought in a market-</i></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LB0izH-wOuI/X44Wzy9inoI/AAAAAAAAvs4/C9WuShcGPxc5dKNYdfr_Z3NX4KWwmNWWACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20201018_190508.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LB0izH-wOuI/X44Wzy9inoI/AAAAAAAAvs4/C9WuShcGPxc5dKNYdfr_Z3NX4KWwmNWWACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20201018_190508.jpg" width="320" /></i></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>place but also in good used condition. Soon as I had two pots,</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>the first thing I did was to cook rich curry prawns and rice for </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>us. Despite these Eco Pots being around 700 - 800ml the meal</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>was more than enough for two, and left enough for a snack the</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>next day. That photo above was taken while I cooked this meal.</i></div><p></p><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Principles again</span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You have at your disposal a cooker that proceeds at high heat until all water has evaporated from the food in the inner pot, then automatically reduces its setting to a lower ‘keep warm’ temperature.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can control how much cooking time your rice gets by how much water you place in the bowl. You know that (for example) rice absorbs an equal volume of water and needs to cook for a certain amount of time in order to be the perfect cooked texture, so you need to add more water to ensure that the cooker stays at high heat for the required amount of time. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For most of these devices, they are recommended to never fill them to more than half the total volume, and that’s generally also the safety limit for the device.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other than the rice cooker, most of these recipes call for no more complicated equipment than a bowl or plate to serve the meal on, a kitchen knife, and a plastic rice spoon, spatula or chopsticks. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Asian cup measures are different to European (Metric), Imperial British, and US cup measures: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Asian cups are 180ml capacity, </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 legal U.S. cup = 240 milliliters</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 customary U.S. cup = 236.59 milliliters</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 imperial cup = 284.13 milliliters</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 metric cup = 250 milliliters</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, rice cookers use Asian rice cup measures and most recipes use either US ar metric cup measures… </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Understanding that, here’s how to use most rice cookers to cook the perfect rice.</span></p><h4 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Actually Cooking - Rice . . .</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In most rice cookers, twice the volume of water to one volume of rice is about right, maybe minus about a quarter of a volume. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So - for a 0.9litre eco pot, you can safely put two 180ml cups of rice with ~~270-300ml (approximately one and three quarters as much water) for a total volume in the pot of 450-480ml, which is almost exactly half the volume. Perfect.)</span></p><h4 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other Things, Other Tips</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BIG tips for rice cookers etc, and a few ‘watch-it’s’ - (there are a lot of things you can do with a rice or eco cooker, but also a few things you have to - watch it! . . . )</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a start, sautee or light frying is sort of possible. The thermostats aren’t instantaneous on the cheaper rice cookers ane eco pots, so they hit 100C and the temperature keeps on rising for a little bit, then the hotplate stays that warm for a few minutes longer. It’s enough to lightly fry ingredients that are chopped small.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then there’s the second tip - size IS important. Don’t let anyone con you about this. A whole cylinder of carrot will be underdone when your other ingredients are mush. Shredded carrots will be mush before the rice is cooked. Small diced pieces of meat will be perfectly cooked, 2cm cubes will be raw inside. You generally have only about 20 - 40 minutes of cooking time. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Timing is everything else. I put meats and things that need frying in, put the cooker on high setting (with lid if necessary to provide enough weight to allow it to work) and then come back to it to check doneness, then put in the carbohydrate (rice or pasta, generally) and added ingredients in stages from there on so they are all cooked right. </span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now to the watchits. </span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Firstly many of the cheaper rice cookers have cheaper non-stick. It figures, right? And the thing with cheaper non-stick is that it may not be designed to operate at any temperatures higher than boiling water. Check that in the instruction manual, search for information about your cooker online, and then decide if you want to push it into frying temperatures. Or just take the risk that your food will have traces of weird chemicals infused into it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next one is just common sense. NEVER stick metal, ceramic, or hard materials into the inner pot to stir things. Most come supplied with a plastic spoon, and a silicon spatula is cheaper than buying a new rice cooker. With plastic items and pushing the higher temperatures, be aware that most plastics and silicons aren’t designed to frying or oven temperatures and use them safely. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never eat directly from the inner pot, you’ll definitely scratch it. Don’t think you can do better than everyone else in the world, a bowl to wash is a small price to pay for the awesome quick meal.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More Tips</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The best stirring implements are actually cheap disposable wooden chopsticks. Also, if you have the kind that are joined Siamese-twin-style, leave them together for a slightly larger stirring surface. You can get them with every tub of chinese take-away so you needn’t look too far for them. I have a few sets that I wash and dry between uses and one set’s been in use for six months. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a bonus, you can add paste or dry ingredients on them and have some idea of how much you’re adding. The part where they’re joined can hold a half teaspoonful easily in that last solid 1.5 - 2cm section, the points can hold a quarter teaspoon roughly depending how far up the chopsticks you’ve filled. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also of course you can just use two normal wooden chopsticks held together if you don’t want to common eco-system-cide by re-using a few single use chopstick pairs a year. . . </span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serving</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To access the meal, either spoon it out with the plastic spoon they provide or use a silicon implement. With the smaller eco cooker, I’ve found that a great looking presentation is to use a tea towel or oven mitt, put a plate / bowl upside down over the pot and then turn them both over then give the eco inner a tap with your hand and generally the whole meal drop onto the plate and will sit in a molded shape. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So there you have it. Some meals have just gone from a huge pile of implements and utensils to a rice cooker, a knife, a bowl or two, and some chopsticks. </span></p><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some Recipes</span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Must be time for a few recipes… </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rice, pasta such as macaroni, and noodles such as fine egg noodles or ramen, have been a stock food for many of us and are always good standbys. And because a) ramen has always been associated with penniless students, really primitive cooking facilities in dorm rooms, and half-inebriated snacking after a hard night out, I’m going to make the recipes a bit like that, just cheap and quick and easy enough to get one’s hands on.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve tried the ones as written and declare that they’re tasty and filling. I’ve also tried hundreds of variations on them over time, using a small milk saucepan before I discovered my rice cooker and eco pot, so you can easily adapt these to an army surplus nesting cooking set if you need to, or go large and make the recipe in a bigger pot and multiply the ingredients for a family dinner.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also like chopsticks because they’re a cooking utensil, a measuring utensil, AND an eating utensil - what more do you need? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These recipes are presented as inline ingredients recipes, that is, there’s no separate ingredients list so read them through before diving in, to make sure you have everything. I’ll use the Asian rice cup as standard (180ml) because there’s generally one included with your rice cooker or eco pot. I’ll also use the good old rule of thumb ‘double chopstick’ measures for most everything else. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These recipes are really basic, you can embellish them or alter them, mainly it’s the techniques and some basic easy ideas for flavour combinations that work.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spanish Chorizo Rice</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slice about </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8cm of chorizo</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> into half centimetre slices. Put </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a splash of olive oil</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the bottom of the pot, add the chorizo slices laid flat, put the lid on and run it on high for 5 minutes or until it switches the warm setting, whichever comes first. Add </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1/4 tsp of smoked paprika powder</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">two chopsticks together, tip end</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 tsp of minced garlic</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 lots that will fit on the last cm or so of the flat end of two chopsticks</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) a </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">half tsp of salt</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">minced chilli</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to desired spiciness, then tip in </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 cup of washed rice</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">two cups of water</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, put the lid back on and let it cook until the rice is almost done and the water is almost all gone, then chop up </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">half a small brown onion</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> , stir it in and stir everything well with the chopsticks or whatever you’re using, put the lid back on and flick it to the keep warm setting and let stand for another 10 - 20 minutes before serving. Serve as a moulded rice meal. (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See “</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Serving</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” above.</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chicken Noodle Soup</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take a </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">small handful of shredded leftover chicken</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and put it in the inner pot along with a </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">splash of oil</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (sunflower, vegetable, olive - your call) a </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1/4 tsp salt</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">half a small onion diced</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a few corn kernels</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the tiny sized tin is perfect for making two of these soups with so if you have two cookers you can make a yummy meal for two</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and a </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tablespoonful of your choice of green vegetable</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> shredded or sliced/diced thin, start the cooker on high, using the lid to make sure it’ll switch on. Get a </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘nest’ of egg noodles</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">these come in big bags, generally a few dozen to the kilo, makes for some cheap meals!! Two nests broken is generally close to a full Asian cup full.</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and by your choice, either crunch it up or leave it whole, add to the pot, add </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 cups of water</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and a </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">small (or half of a) chicken stock cube</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> crushed fine, and close the machine and let it come to the boil (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you’ll see steam escaping at a fair rate</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) then flick it to low, maybe add some </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chopped fresh or dried parsley</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and let it sit with the lid on until the noodles are done to your taste. Serve in a bowl and enjoy immediately.</span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Asian Style Pork and Rice</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Add a splash of </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">peanut oil</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, some fine diced </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">brown onion and garlic</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and some fine diced </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pork</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (5mm cubes) up to three tablespoonfuls. You can use leftover cooked pork, or just dice up some meat scraps and remnants left from preparing another meal. Usual procedure, allow to come to temperature and fry, then remove the lid so the hotplate stops. Add half a cup of </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">rice</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and a cup and a bit of </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">water</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, put the lid back and switch to high setting, allow to cook for 15 minutes, ten check the rice, which should still be a little bit grainy in the middle. Dice a stem and leaf of </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pak choy or similar</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, add a few drops of </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sesame oil</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, 2 tsp </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">soya sauce</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a few drops of </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fish sauce</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> if you like, and put the lid back and let it stand on warm setting for another 10 - 20 minutes until the rice is to your liking. Serve however you like. You can also make this with two nests of broken egg noodles. </span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Corned Beef</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Similar to the above recipe, make everything but the pork, and add a crushed </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beef stock cube</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and maybe vary vegetables as suits you. While that’s cooking, get a tin of </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">corned beef</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the drier and more solid it is, the better</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and cut two 1.5cm thick slices, then cut those in half lengthways and each strip into four cubes, place them at the bottom of your serving bowl, then upend the pot on top of that. Let stand for another few minutes and enjoy.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yep you could do this with fried Spam cubes or similar but don’t fry the corned beef as it’ll fall apart - take this on trust - and look unappetising. </span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Kitchen Sink</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I cook, anything that isn’t plated for that meal gets the freezer. So I’ll quite often have several (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">re-usable of course</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) storage baggies or tubs. These little silicon things with ziplock and cliplock seals respectively are just the best - a large one holds washed raw vegetable ‘scraps’ - things like celery crowns / roots, trimmings off root vegetables, cabbage hearts etc - for making soups and stocks each time I accumulate enough. Slices of leftover roast pork, that chicken drumstick that was left on the serving platter, half a cup of minced (ground) beef that was surplus to the meatballs recipe that time. I estimate that I have between 2 to 4 kilos of such odds and ends left from time to time. And when I do, I raid some of those ingredients for a Kitchen Sink Noodles breakfast.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You literally need only a tablespoon’s worth of each ingredient, broken from the rest of bits, one or two nests of noodles, two cups of water, and a few condiments. One of my favourites involves a few spoonfuls of small-diced roast pork (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">including the fat and skin</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) a few shreds of some leftover roast chicken, a fish ball cut into eight, some cabbage / leafy green, and a LOAD of different condiments like a chilli-garlic paste, Indian garlic pickle, sriracha, ketchup manis, fish sauce, sesame oil, peanut oil, a stock cube - pretty much to your taste - and then cook the ingredients in the two cups of water until it starts boiling, then open, add a nest (or two) of noodles, close up again and let cook for five more minutes, then serve. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Watch-it:</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> When ‘liberating’ a small quantity of an ingredient from a larger quantity, take care not to introduce contamination to the rest, I find that if I store those ingredients in layers as thin as possible, it’s generally easy to snap a small quantity of while it’s still in the freezer pouch. DO NOT thaw the whole pouch just to get a tablespoonful of it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ProTip:</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Remember I mentioned minced meat? I put that in the pouch then roll it into a thin (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">less than 5mm thick</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) sheet inside the pouch, and use several pouches if there’s to much for the one alone. Similarly I slice leftover raw or cooked vegetables into thinner slices and use more pouches if I have to. As a bonus, those thin flat packs take up little space in the freezer compared to the old take-away or freezer tubs. I write what it is and the date I froze it on the pouch and a smidgen of methylated spirits in a piece of paper towel cleans the writing off when washing the pouches for re-use. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ProTip:</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Most discount and $2 stores these days have these silicon ziplock pouches. I just bought one or two each time I has a spare couple of bucks and now have around twenty of them in various sizes. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I store something larger (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">such as a litre of concentrated home-made chicken stock</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) I still use the rectangular storage containers, also anything awkward shaped or chunky that I don’t want to flatten or slice thinner. Those ingredients are just not for eco pot mini-meals. . . On a positive note, when I cook for my wife and myself, I have to hand a dozen or more ready meals that just need heating and maybe some carbohydrate (pasta, potatoes, etc) for saving time, and enough frozen meats, ingredients, and (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shamed to say but we all have our weaknesses</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) frozen commercial pasta meals and meat pies etc, to </span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Variations</span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can make purely vegetable bowls with rice or noodles in the same way, also I’ve used TSP (Textures Soy Protein) to make vegetarian versions for friends, you can use macaroni and once it’s cooked add some diced ham, grated cheddar or some similar cheese, a dollop of cream and let it sit and it makes creditable mac and cheese. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When making the Spanish style, add a teaspoonful of tomato paste for a richer flavour, or make a recipe using egg noodles (or macaroni) a few tablespoons of minced (ground) beef or some other meat and half a cup of store bought bolognese sauce spooned over just before serving. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve made Mexican/Spanish style rices and pastas using every meat imaginable, just adding spices, tomato, fresh vegetables, peppers, as the Spanish Chorizo recipe above. By changing the flavour profiles to tomato, basil, garlic, and parmesan, you can make passably and unmistakeably Italian flavoured meals. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beans. You can add tinned or precooked beans (baked beans, red kidney beans, black beans, etc) but dried beans can’t be cooked in a rice cooker in any reasonable time so I recommend those tiny tins, they’re easy to store, one tin can generally be used for one or two meals, and they add much-needed protein and nutrients to a meal. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also you can make mild flavoured meals using a mostly clear soup and Japanese soba noodles broken to size, garnished with all sorts before serving. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve also made just a nest of egg noodles in two to three cups or water with a stock cube, then added meat and vegetable leftovers from dinner to make a healthy and filling morning tea or lunch soup. (</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">See </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Kitchen Sink</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> above.</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most important thing to know is the different flavour profiles or different world cuisines. Asian cooking has a particular set of spice combinations, Thai is a different set, Indian, Italian, Greek, German, Dutch, Mexican, each State of the USA has a particular set of specialty flavours - once you’ve read a few recipes you’re pretty well equipped to ‘fake’ your noodles, pasta, or rice flavour profile. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I may write up flavour profiles as a separate post sometime. Stay tuned. . . </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next most important thing is to understand how the rice or eco cooker works, and work with it. Cheap easy and nourishing meals are easy to make, and while the cooking time may be an hour, your time preparing and stirring need only be fifteen minutes. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In conclusion, let me say that when I make one of these meals as a savoury breakfast, I find I don’t feel hungry again until late afternoon, and if I have this as a work lunch, I can almost skip dinner in favour of a light salad - there may only be a small quantity of different ingredients but add a few of those to half a cup of rice or two nests of noodles and it cooks up to around half a kilo (one pound) of a meal. </span></p><div><div align="center"><iframe allow="fullscreen" frameborder="no" height="400px" id="shareButtonsIframe" scrolling="no" style="border: 1px #FFFFFF none;" width="154px"></iframe><script>document.getElementById('shareButtonsIframe').src ='https://ohaicorona.com/ShareButtBanner01.html?parentUrl=' + encodeURIComponent(window.location.href);</script></div>
<p><br /></p></div></span>teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-91621804043173141822018-05-18T16:53:00.001-07:002018-05-18T16:53:56.801-07:00Winter Warmer Pumpkin Soup<strong>NAME</strong>: _Pumpkin Winter<br />
<hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:
<br />
1 medium blue/Kent pumpkin around 2 kg<br />
1 medium carrot<br />
1/2 tsp red paprika powder<br />
<div>
2 tsp curry powder divided</div>
<div>
1/2 tsp cumin powder</div>
<div>
1+1/2 tsp garlic powder divided</div>
<div>
1 tsp raw sugar</div>
<div>
3 tsp salt divided</div>
<div>
3 tsp chicken stock powder divided</div>
<div>
4 tbsp olive oil divided<br />
100g butter<br />
1 - 2 litre water</div>
<div>
All teaspoon measurements are flat</div>
<hr />
<strong>METHOD</strong>:
<br />
Chop pumpkin in half top to bottom, scoop out the innards with a tablespoon or similar, set aside. Cut one or two 1cm wide rings from the widest part of each half, trim off skin, and cut each ring into quarters. Lay out on baking paper in a shallow tray and brush with about half the olive oil. Set aside.<br />
<br />
Cut remaining pumpkin into about 2-3cm chunks, trim off skin. Slice the carrot into slivers with a peeler, or julienne or fine dice - this needs to cook completely. Put the butter into a saucepan large enough to hold the pumpkin and water, add the pumpkin pieces and carrot, salt, and about half a cup of water. put on medium heat.<br />
<br />
Make up two powders, as follows:<br />
Roasting: 1 tsp curry powder 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp cumin powder 1 tsp raw sugar 1 tsp salt<br />
Seeds: 1 tsp red paprika 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp chicken stock powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp curry powder<br />
<br />
Add more water to the soup if it begins to dry out, up to 0.5 litres, return to simmer. Add 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp curry powder 2 tsp chicken stock powder. Keep topping the water up as you do other things.You're aiming to have a creamy soup which can just form peaks after all solids are creamed/blended.<br />
<br />
Shake the roasting powder together, sprinkle over the pumpkin segments on the roasting tray and place in oven at 230C. Save any remaining roasting powder after dusting all the pieces.<br />
<br />
Separate the pumpkin seeds from the pulp, discard the pulp, wash the seeds under hot running water in a strainer, then dry between tea towel or paper towel. Place remaining olive oil in a small frying pan, heat, and add the pumpkin seeds, keep stirring until a few pumpkin seeds begin to pop or brown. (This point varies between varieties, Kent has small seeds that popped, larger seeded varieties tend not to pop.) Place the strainer over the pan to stop seeds jumping out, turn off the heat, let sit for a few minutes then strain the seeds out, save or discard the oil as you normally would.<br />
<br />
Check the roasted pumpkin is starting to brown, (usually 20 - 40 minutes depending on your oven) and take from the oven when it does, set aside to cool slightly. Dust the toasted pumpkin seeds with the seeds powder, mix remaining powder with the roasting powder, and put up to one tsp of this powder into the soup. Blend soup with a stick blender if any large chunks still remain, by now the soup should have been simmering between 30 minutes and a hour while all the other processing was taking place, allow blended soup to simmer for another five minutes. Soup should be a little bit thicker than creamy, almost form peaks.<br />
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<strong>SERVING</strong>:
<br />
Serve the soup in a deeper bowl, place a few segments or roasted pumpkin upright around one edge of the bowl, lining about 1/3 to 1/2 the way round, sprinkle a spoonful of toasted pumpkin seeds around the opposite edge. Serve with buttered crusty bread, and a spoonful of cream if desired.<br />
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<strong>NOTES</strong>:
<br />
It's been almost a year since the last recipe, slack Ted! But this soup is soooo worth doing all the steps and making the pumpkin into three different forms. Using the two powders as an additional flavouring to the soup ties everything together.<br />
<br />
The carrot makes the colour deep and rich without messing up the taste any. It looks fantastic and warm with the palisades of roast pumpkin around the edge of the bowl and the seeds sprinkled over the surface, just looking at it will make you feel toasty warm.<br />
<br />
And in effect, it only took about an hour to make three different pumpkin dishes that just go together. There'll be leftover roast pumpkin pieces and seeds to snack on.<br />
<br />
My wife took pictures of her bowl, if I can wheedle a picture out of her I'll add it to this post later...<br />
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ENJOY!teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4866493283695274491.post-92087415716855948852017-08-12T02:02:00.000-07:002017-08-12T02:02:52.428-07:00Quick Infusing Oils and Fats.<strong>NAME</strong>: _Spiced / Infused Oils<br />
<br />
<i>This is a longish post that only covers the subject in a general way. You can find precise recipes online if you want them, or do as I've done and sacrificed the occasional cup of oil or butter in the name of experimentation... There are several warnings, not because the processes are dangerous, but because sometimes it's better to have things pointed out and explained in advance rather than learning a painful lesson in retrospect...</i><br />
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<hr />
<strong>INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS</strong>:
<br />
(See NOTES.)<br />
Cooking oil, butter, lard, dripping, etc<br />
Salt / Pepper / Spice(s) of choice<br />
<br />
SOME SUGGESTED COMBINATIONS:<br />
(Note: Generally aim for around four - six tablespoons of flavouring per cup of oil, plus a teaspoon of salt if you're adding salt. Quantities mentioned below are for flavouring one cup of oil.)<br />
- Plain Chilli Oil - 2tbsp chilli, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp garlic (optional)<br />
- French Chilli oil - 2tbsp chilli, 2tbsp smoked chilli, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp garlic<br />
- Paprika oil - 3 tbsp paprika, 1 tsp salt<br />
- Spanish paprika oil - 2 tbsp paprika, 2 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp garlic (optional)<br />
- lemon infused oil - 2 - 3 tbsp lemon or lime, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp garlic (optional), 1 tsp turmeric (optional)<br />
- chimichurri style - 2 tbsp parsley powdered, 1 tbsp coriander leaves/roots powdered, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp paprika, 1/2 tbsp garlic<br />
- dill oil - 4 tbsp powdered dill, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp lemon (optional)<br />
- sweet butter - 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp clove, 1/2tsp nutmeg infused into butter<br />
<br />
You get the idea - there are a lot of flavour combinations and I've only scratched the surface, listed the ones I make most often. You can even use curry spice powder to infuse an oil with if you want, or Five Spice, or pretty much any combination.<br />
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<br /></div>
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<strong>METHOD</strong>:
<br />
Set some water simmering in a large saucepan, put in a canning mat or old tea towel or something to keep the inner bowl from rattling against the bottom of the saucepan, and in a smaller bowl or saucepan, put your infusion oil and the ingredients, then put that in the simmering water.<br />
<br />
You don't want water to get into your oil, but you want the water deep enough to heat all the way up the inner vessel. I find that a four cup Pyrex glass jug is heavy enough to sit on the canning mat and not float up, and plenty big enough to hold a cup or two of oil. My preference is to put the jug into the water while it's still empty, give it time to heat up, and then put the oil and herbs into it. I generally try to fix it so the jug is about three quarters submerged but not yet floating.<br />
<br />
Wait for the infusion to get as hot as possible. Generally, you can check the temperature of the oil with a dial or electronic probe type thermometer, or just wait for 20 - 30 minutes to be sure. You want to stir the brew a few times, then let your nose tell you when the maximum aroma is present.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><warning:></warning:></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">Don't be tempted to directly heat the oil over a burner, use a bowl in a water bath. The reason is that if there's ANY moisture in the herbs and spices and the oil surrounding that moisture gets above the boiling point of water, there will be pockets of steam under the oil which will <b>literally explode hot oil all over you</b> and your kitchen. You may think you can catch the temperature before things get to that stage but there's all sorts of reasons you can fail. A water bath prevents the temperature from getting higher than 100C. Seriously. Don't do it... </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"></span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Once that time is past, set the inner container aside and allow the flavourings to settle and the oil to cool, this takes around an hour to two hours I've generally found. Then gently decant the oil for use, and even filter the last of it through a coffee drip filter if you like.<br />
<br />
Don't throw away the "sediment" and the little bit of fat it's suspended in, see "SERVING" for some suggested uses.<br />
<br />
Also, yes - you CAN use green fresh herbs but because they aren't concentrated, you'll have to use four to ten times as much, and even then, because it's being done at low temperatures, it would take hours for the flavours to infuse and the moisture to evaporate and leave you with a clear oil without a serous amount of sludge at the bottom. You're better off to dehydrate these things, which removes the clouding issue, the slow infusion issue, and results in a powder that can be up to ten times as strongly flavoured as the fresh herb. Save fresh herb processing for when you want to freeze fresh herbs and prevent them oxidising.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><warning:></warning:></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">In preserving fresh herbs you may want to go to a little extra trouble with preparing them, such as a good rinse in water and vinegar, because once you seal those herbs in a solid fat, you're creating an anaerobic environment in which many bacteria will die, but some known bad guys can flourish if you're not ultra-careful. ALWAYS freeze these fat / herb combinations and if you take any out for use, either use it all or throw the remainder out within a sensible timeframe. (Check out "botulism" if you want any further incentive to do good...)</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"></span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
For solid fats, keep the inner container with your infused fat in a bowl of warm water and let that cool for the hour or two, (this allows the fat stay liquid for longer and gives the solids more time to settle) then let it set and scrape out clear fat until you hit solids.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<strong>SERVING</strong>:
<br />
These infusions are really versatile and useful. I generally make them for dressing a dish, e.g. paprika oil for drizzling over couscous or rice, for example; Dill oil for drizzling over boiled whole potatoes; Lemon oil for poached or baked fish; And so on. I've drizzled curry oil over fattoush, chimichurri oil over steaks and rissoles. The French serve garlic & chilli oil alongside pizza so that you can drizzle your pizza with extra flavour.<br />
<br />
But there are as many uses for infused solid fats. We all know and love herb and herb & garlic butter, but imagine being able to spread curry ghee on savoury pancakes, a knob of caraway and cumin lard melting on pork sausages, or mashed potato with dressing of cinnamon & nutmeg infused butter. There are so many places to try these infused oils and fats, and they add a layer of flavour to any meal.<br />
<br />
I've used sweet butter for serving with pumpkin scones, garlic chilli butter on savoury pastry crackers, and have brushed pans of cooked potato gnocchi with dill & cumin oil before topping with bread crumbs and / or cheese and baking that as a side dish to a meal.<br />
<br />
In most cases I don't recommend using infused fats as the base fat to fry anything in, as the spices in most cases will burn off and taste horrible.<br />
<br />
If I'm making garlic prawns, for example, I might use a light wipe of plain oil in the pan, add prawns and garlic and keep tossing until the prawns are done, then allow the pan to cool from sizzling hot to just hot, add garlic butter or oil, toss, garnish, and serve.<br />
<br />
ADD COLOUR:<br />
Use paprika to make a lovely red oil for dressings, turmeric for a yellow, chimichurri (without the paprika) for a green colour. Adjust flavours and colours to suit the meal. They can make the visual and flavour difference between a really good meal and a stupefyingly delicious and amazing looking meal.<br />
<br />
"SEDIMENT" PASTE:<br />
Don't forget the paste that's left... By filtering most of the oil that the solids are suspended in after decanting, you're left with an oily paste of the sediments that are generally still loaded with flavour. The paste is very nice to use as part of a wet marinade on meats and vegetables, and a range of other uses.<br />
<br />
I've used it to coat cubed meat (along with the rest of a good marinade such as i.e. honey or sugar, salt, and vinegar or lemon) before frying and it gives a decent boost to flavours.<br />
<br />
A good paprika or chilli paste (for example) can also have other curry spices (turmeric, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, mustard seed, etc) added to it and become a starter base for a curry. Or try oregano, thyme, or sage infused paste plus a bit more oil (or perhaps mixed into tomato paste) to coat vegetables before roasting as a side or main dish.<br />
<br />
If you warm the paste, add some oil back to it, then season to taste, you can drizzle it over vegetables or add it to the batter for making small frypan breads (like naan or similar) or add a pat of it to the pan before frying things.<br />
<br />
This latter use is not recommended but if you're doing a slow cool fry or confit of something it doesn't burn the flavours. If you read my thoughts about not using the infusions for frying things IN, you may be wondering why I'm okay with adding it to things and then frying those things. The answer is that only the outer layer gets hot when doing this, and due to heat getting conducted away into the food, that layer doesn't get quite as hot. More importantly - the flavoured fats doesn't stay under intense heat for as long as it would if it was the sole frying agent and things were fried in it.<br />
<br />
KEEPING:<br />
I don't recommend keeping any of the oils or pastes for more than a week or two if properly sealed and refrigerated, (but see freezing below) as it's easy enough to make them on demand by dividing the quantities to whatever serving size you need. And frankly, the flavour of fresh made oil beats anything you can get commercially.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div>
FREEZING:</div>
This stuff will freeze, in small tubs or whatever, as mentioned in the METHOD above. I tend to have a small bag or tub full of paprika and dill product (frozen in ice cube trays and then wrapped individually in plastic wrap) another bag with chilli and curry product, and so forth. (That way I save on bags but can tell the cubes apart by colour, as each bag has only two distinctly-coloured varieties.)<br />
<br />
FOR PRESERVING HERBS AND SPICES:<br />
If you have fresh herbs, use as much chopped herbs as the oil or fat will hold, allow it to cool, then pour into a foil-lined tub of suitable size and freeze until solid, cut into useful sized cubes, wrap and label them and store in the freezer until needed. Great way to keep stuff like coriander leaves around all year around. Frozen like this in a properly refrigerated environment you should be able to keep these cubes for a year.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><warning:></warning:></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">In preserving fresh herbs you may want to go to a little extra trouble with preparing them, such as a good rinse in water and vinegar, because once you seal those herbs in a solid fat, you're creating an anaerobic environment in which many bacteria will die, but some known bad guys can flourish if you're not ultra-careful. ALWAYS freeze these fat / herb combinations and if you take any out for use, either use it all or throw the remainder out within a sensible timeframe. (Check out "</span><span style="color: red;">botulism</span><span style="color: #660000;">" if you want any further incentive to do good...)</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"></span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<hr />
<strong>NOTES</strong>:
<br />
I saw a lovely post on another <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/CookingHerbsSpices" target="_blank">cooking group</a> about making infused chilli oil. I realised that besides the slow cold infusion process, there's a much faster process that I use that produces the oil I need (and useful byproducts) in as little as an hour and a half if need be, but more generally two to three hours. (Of which only minutes is spent actually doing anything, the rest is waiting time.)<br />
<br />
Many herbs and spices have flavour compounds that are fat-soluble, and oils and fats just love to attract and hang onto them. (There are whole blog pages out there devoted to fat soluble vs water soluble flavours, if you want to research.)<br />
<br />
I mainly do this with olive oil, although I can see peanut oil, coconut oil, or any other decent vegetable oil as a carrier for the infusion. There's also nothing to stop you using butter, ghee, lard, dripping, or other solid fats for these recipes, in fact they may be more suitable carriers for the flavours. All of my recipes have usually been made with olive oil, though. Just match your flavours and fats, or try a small taste test before making a larger amount.<br />
<br />
The process uses dried and flaked / crushed / powdered herbs and spices, fine ground salt and pepper, a gentle heat extraction, and subsequent decanting plus filtering if desired. There are generally two products, an infused / flavoured oil for use as a dressing or in cooking, and a sediment "paste" of oil and the flavouring.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><warning:></warning:></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;">Don't be tempted to directly heat the oil over a burner, use a bowl in a water bath. The reason is that if there's ANY moisture in the herbs and spices and the oil surrounding that moisture gets above the boiling point of water, there will be pockets of steam under the oil which will literally </span><span style="color: red;">explode</span><span style="color: #660000;"> hot oil all over you and your kitchen. You may think you can catch the temperature before things get to that stage but there's all sorts of reasons you can fail. </span><span style="color: #660000;">A water bath prevents the temperature from getting higher than 100C.</span><span style="color: #660000;"> </span><span style="color: #660000;">Seriously. Don't do it... </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"></span><br />
<br />
Suitable herbs spices and so forth include:<br />
chilli, paprika, smoked chilli, smoked paprika, lemon, lime, garlic, onion, cumin, fenugreek, dill, oregano or marjoram, coriander, salt, pepper, and more.<br />
<br />
With regard to lemon and lime, I have dehydrated slices of lemon in my pantry, and traditional Middle Eastern "loomi" dried limes, which can be pounded to powder in a mortar, I have dried lemon zest, dried herbs from the garden, plus, of course, the jars of powdered spices you can buy at the store. If you don't have the facilities to dehydrate much of this stuff, it can be found in Middle Eastern, Indian, and Continental food stores.<br />
<br />
Salt should plain un-iodised cooking or table salts, pepper fine ground white or black depending on your tastes and what you're trying to achieve, and as free from anti-caking agents as you can get it. Or make your own from salt crystals and flakes using the pestle and mortar. Just try and be sure there won't be additives that will cloud the oil or form food for bacteria.<br />
<br />
See the SERVING section for uses for these infusions.<br />
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<hr />
ENJOY!teddlesrusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05638710353431154925noreply@blogger.com0