Archive for ‘Uncategorized’ (39)
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Grilled red snapper on poêlée of red peppers and balsamic vinegar
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 Recipe by: Anne-Laure at Tasty Diaries, based on a Gordon Ramsay food program I watched 10 years ago Busy: 25 min Total prep time: 25 min Serves: 2 Preheat the grid of your... |
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No more talks of World Cup please… or I strike
Thursday, June 24th, 2010 Driven out of my home office... |
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Courgette, goat’s cheese and parma ham pizzas
Thursday, June 24th, 2010 Recipe by: Anne-Laure at tasty Diaries Busy: 10 min Total prep time: 25 min Serves: 3-4 Preheat the oven at 200... |
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Exciting Taste of London, happy Father’s Day and happy Summer!
Friday, June 18th, 2010 Salut les amis! Oh dear, oh... |
Eat now: tomatoes
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
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Isn't this season wonderful? There are so many new fruits and vegetables on the stalls that I get stuck as to which to pick each week for this newsletter. This week it had to be fruity tomatoes, just because I found the sweetest yellow variety on my favourite vegs stall. According to the British Tomato Growers Association, we eat on average two tomatoes per week and a quarter of the tomatoes sold in the UK are British. This share is rising to a half during the British season, starting now and lasting through to October. Most of our imported tomatoes come from Spain, the Canary Islands (in the Winter), and Morocco. In season we can enjoy them at their best, freshly picked, deep coloured and full of sun goodness and sweet juices. As importantly, this also means we can enjoy lots of flavourful varieties that can't handle long travels as opposed to the standard commercially grown hybrid sort available throughout the Winter, with tomatoes picked unripe for a longer shelf life. Only now can we find tomatoes allowed to ripen fully on their wine before being picked and heirloom (or open-pollinated) varieties, which come in a huge range of sizes and colours from green to yellow, red or purple. Like most brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, tomatoes are a great health ally. They are a good source of Vitamins A, C and E, the natural plant pigments known as carotenoids. Of particular interest is their high concentration in lycopene and flavonoids, linked in a growing number of studies to a reduction in the onset of several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and some cancers (prostate, colon and digestive track). Cooking tomatoes increases their concentration in lycopene and makes it more readily absorbed into the bloodstream, especially when they are cooked with olive oil. This association is very common in the Mediterranean diet, possibly providing part of the explanation as to why it is associated with a longer life. Flavour-packed sun blushed and sun dried tomatoes also have high lycopene contents, but beware of their higher fat and salt contents. When buying fresh tomatoes, choose them deep red and smell them. No smell means no taste. They should also give just a little when you squeeze them. Refrigerated tomatoes won't ripen so just set them on the window sill and use them as you need them. If they start to get too ripe, you can pop them in the fridge and they will last longer. Enjoy them raw with a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a few salt cristals, or slow roast them for a fabulously sweet flavour, stuff them, cook them in sauces, the possibilities are dizzying!! Check out these few gorgeous tomato recipes on TD: Slow roasted cherry tomatoes La Trompette’s secret ingredient gazpacho Creamy parmesan polenta with cherry tomato salsa South African tomato bredie Cherry tomato, goat’s cheese and tapenade tatin Pasta shells with cherry tomatoes, tapenade and roast chicken Super fast stuffed tomatoes with parma ham, basil and mozzarella |
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Voting time is not over yet, vote for Tasty Diaries as the yummiest blog at the Observer Food Monthly Awards!
Thursday, May 13th, 2010 Hello les amis! Reading my... |
Does marinating a meat actually tenderizes it? (Tim)
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
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Hi Tim, the short answer is some marinades do but not all. For these to work, they have to either include an acidic liquid or an ingredient containing tenderizing enzymes. These include vinegar, all citrus juices (lemon, orange etc.), wine, sherry, yoghurt, buttermilk, ginger or tea. They basically work by breaking down the collagen proteins at the surface of the meat, which is what holds its fibres together. This ultimately makes the meat more tender and allows flavours to be absorbed. (As a passing note, this fact makes you kind of wonder about the validity of acid-based cosmetic creams, doesn't it?) As a general rule, the longer food is left to marinate, the more flavoursome it will become. The ideal marinating time however depends on what you are marinating, the size of the meat and the type of marinade you are using. Small or tender cuts, such as lamb and beef fillets, chicken breasts and seafood, require shorter marinating times (two to four hours). Larger or tougher cuts such as leg, rump or shoulder will need longer (from four hours to overnight). Be careful with acidic marinades, left too long they can “cook” the surface of the ingredient being marinated, with fish being particularly reactive. If you don't have time to marinate a meat, acidic liquids will also help tenderize it at time of cooking so do not hesitate to add a splash of vinegar to our pan when grilling a steak. You can also thaw frozen beef in a bit of vinegar or soaked in tea or buttermilk (wash and dry it before cooking). Other ways to tenderize meat include slow cooking it for long periods of time (best for cheap cuts) and beating it with a tenderizing hammer to break down the fibres. Of course, all marinades are great at adding flavours to meats and fish, so be creative and fire up your barbecue! |
Eat Now: Mint
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
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A nous les Pimm's, Mohito's and barbecues, mint has arrived! Mint is a perennial that grows pretty much without care in almost all conditions. This makes it a great plant to have in your garden or on kitchen windowsills. It will become your best friend as the weather gets warmer, so handy for adding refreshing touches to your dishes and drinks. Its leaves, which grow from May through to late September, are a delight to both the nose and tastebuds. Just crush a leaf between your fingers and already you feel quenched, with the sun warming your neck and your woolly jumper magically turning into a crisp white linen shirt. The two most commonly found members of the large mint family are peppermint and spearmint (which is what you find on the market stalls), the latter being extensively used in cuisines all over the world. Other less common but great fun varieties include pineapple flavoured, apple, orange, banana, or even chocolate mints. Mint has remarkable medicinal properties. Packed with anti-oxydants, its freshening and germicidal properties have made it a key ally in oral health. Its strong aroma also helps opening up congested noses, lungs and throat, giving some relief in colds and respiratory disorders. Mint is well known for its ability to promote digestion, soothe stomach aches and help with irritable bowel syndrome. If you ate too much or feel a bit quizzy, make yourself a fresh mint tea by pouring hot but not boiling water over a bunch of fresh leaves. Cover the pot while the tea is seeping to prevent the valuable volatile oils from evaporating, and drink it warm. You will feel instantly refreshed and with a lighter stomach. When buying mint chose it with fresh, green leaves without stains or yellow leaves. Keep it in your fridge for up to a week with the stems dipped in a glass full of water (as with flowers) and the leaves covered with a pierced plastic bag. Mint freezes well also, so if you don't use all your bunch within a week, freeze the leaves spread on a flat surface then store them in a sealed bag. You can also chop them and freeze them in water in an ice cube tray. These are perfect for adding a fresh twist to your soups or stews and whipping up a quick post-work Pimm's without premeditation! |
Dishwasher versus hand washing, and tips to make your dishwasher more eco-friendly
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
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Much has changed in dishwashers in the past decade - they use less water, less electricity, are made of fewer materials and do an increasingly good job at cleaning the dishes, pots and pans. So the question is, which is more environmentally friendly, using a dishwasher or washing the dishes by hand? The answer is, with an energy and water efficient dishwasher (most recent dishwashers are) and a proper use of the beast, the dishwasher wins. According to various studies, it can use 40% to 80% less water and 50% less energy than doing dishes by hand. Think of how many dish washing and rinsing throughout the day you need to do by hand versus washing all the dishes in your dishwasher in one single cycle, and it starts to make sense. Now that your guilt is gone, follow these tips below to make your dishwasher even more environmentally friendly: - Do not pre-wash your dishes before storing them in the dishwasher, this offsets any water saving benefits. Instead, keep a soft spatula near your sink and use it to scrape off the excess food from the dirtiest plates and pans; - Only run your dishwasher when it is full, two half load programs use up more water than a full load, even with “smart” dishwashers. - Wash your pans and pots in your dishwasher. Nowadays dishwashers clean these really well. - Do not use the highest temperature cycles. The washing and germ-killing power comes from the soap rather than the water temperature. - If you are around, turn off the drying cycle and open the door to let your dishes dry naturally instead. This will reduce your energy consumption, which is good for the environment but also for your bill. - If you have hard water, make sure you regularly top up the water softener reservoir with dishwasher salts, otherwise lime scale will deposit on the pipes of your dishwasher, reducing its efficiency over time and eventually blocking water flows. If your dishwasher is broken, try to get it repaired before thinking of replacing it. If you need to buy a new one, make sure you get one with top water and energy ratings. - Last, environmentally friendly dishwasher soap can be harder to find that handwashing one. Look for these in your supermarket (Ecover and a few other brands make environmentally-friendly dishwasher tablets), and if you cannot find them, request them to the store manager. If there is demand, they will make these available. |
Download your pocket-sized guide on which fish to buy and which to avoid
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
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Last week, Mariella from Amsterdam got in touch after receiving TD's latest issue to let me know skate is on the list of most endangered fish species. I was mortified, as I usually check www.fishonline.org before featuring a fish. Obviously this time I didn't - and lucky me, I had to pick a fish on the red list. By writing publicly about food, one has suddenly an increased responsibility over the ingredients we promote in the public arena as one's impact can be significant. I am not Delia (yet!), who only has to write about cranberries for supermarkets cranberry stocks to be raided, but nonetheless, if the thousand of you had all gone to your fishmongers to buy skate last weekend, that would have been a dreadful outcome (please tell me you didn't!). I am therefore using this week's section to make you aware of a great little fish pocket guide to take with you when shopping, published by the Marine Conservation Society, which is also behind fishonline. The guide provides in a handy, compact format a clear list of which fish to buy and which to avoid, and is available for download from fishonline here. On my end, I pledge not to feature skate again on TD and will keep up my effort to follow fishonline's guidance, adding a link to the site when specific fish origins or subtypes should be avoided, such as for instance for salmon (pacific yes, atlantic no). |
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