A Chill in the Air
Seems that everywhere people are cutting down this Christmas. This possibly is good news, for it had become far too commercial, and getting back to how it was can only be a good idea and possibly a great deal more fun than we expect.
Read this week about some towns now switching off street lights late at night (possibly after midnight) to save electricity, and shocked to read a day or two later that one town will be switching on the Xmas lights at the end of October- at least a month earlier than normal. I can only shake my head and wonder what is going on.
Going onto BBC IPlayer yesterday to watch "What to Eat Now" thought I would check up on "Coal House at War" to see when it was being shown, for I had looked through the TV supplement and could not find it. Noticed part 2 was available to watch, so as I had got up early this morning started the day with that. Again good, the men going down the mines this time, then off to joining the Home Guard. The ladies mastering the art of using a sewing machine, and children learning how to put on their gas-masks (that takes me back), and picking their vegetables from their allotments. Went onto the website bbc.co.uk/coalhouse and it did give more info on the programme, shown on BBC ONE at 8.30pm Friday evenings (tomorrow being episode 3). May have missed seeing it in the listings, or it might be shown only in Wales. All episodes shown so far can be picked up on IPlayer on the comp.
Was not quite sure how to take your comment Janette. You want to swap me for part of Valentine? Well I know the appeal Valentine has, but can't you bring yourself to keep back a bit of me while you are at it? And which bit of either of us I wonder.
Was it Dorothy Sleightholme that presented Farmhouse Kitchen Flo? Or am I thinking of another programme?
There used to be quite a few similar ones on around that time. They would stand being re-shown.
Your comment re cheap sausages/dog meat reminded me how my greengrocer told me (this in the 1960's when they delivered to the door), how one of his customers 'up the road' used to buy cans of pet food (and they had no pets) to use when making meat pies for the family. My friend's husband used to work in a pet food factory and he said the conditions there were far better (cleaner/hygenic etc) than in many food production factories where the food was canned for humans (having worked in both). Makes you wonder sometimes...
The mention of buying winter jackets for your sons Marjorie made me wonder whether they are of traditional design/pattern, for when I was watching 'Steven Fry in America' this week, he was visiting part of upper New York State where he joined in with a shooting party and they all wore the same check shirts, either red/black or green/black (or was it blue/black?). In films, over the years, have seen US hunters always wearing the same type of shirts. As to 'Coal House at War', not sure if you can get BBC IPlayer uploaded onto your computer, but possibly you could reach their website (given above) and this might give more details of the documentary.
As to making yogurt Karen, I still feel the easiest way is using the EasyYo equipment where all you do is mix the dried yogurt mix with water, and keep it at a constant temperature until it 'yogs'. However, many readers seem to move on from there and experiment by using some of the powder with different types of milk. The original way of making yogurt can still be fairly easy, but for this all you need is a tub of plain yogurt as a 'starter' and some warm milk. Once you have made yogurt, you then keep back some to make the next batch. If you go to Archives and pick up August 2007, then scroll down to the 23rd you will see a recipe for making yogurt, as well as other details such as EasyYo, and also recipes using yogurt.
An alternative way to make your own Muller-type corners, is to save and clean thoroughly the original tubs, make or buy a large tub of Greek yogurt, and spoon some of that into the main part of the tub and make your own fruit 'corners' yourself. This should prove cheaper than buying them pre-packed.
Today really have to buckle down and start sorting out the freezer to make more room. Have so many apples that should be peeled, cored and frozen within the next few days, plus load of blackberries already in there that ought to be transferred into square boxes. Anything 'loose' in bags seems to take up more room than it should, and this includes bags of frozen peas/sweetcorn/beans...When we had a chest freezer there was room for just about everything, now with an upright one and half the depth taken up with the 'mechanics' it has become a matter of choosing what can be frozen and what has to be used within a few days.
Still have my marmalade to make and also want to make some lemon curd while the lemons are still fit for service, so decided to make a very early start with my blog today so that I can gain at least a couple of hours to use more sensibly than wittering on about nothing in particular.
As I was mentioning freezers, decided today to chat a little more about how useful they can be, and - although may have mentioned this before - worth repeating the true tale of the lady who, fairly recently, was talking to my daughter (who owns two freezers - a chest one in the garage, an upright on in the kitchen, despite the fact there is only herself and her husband to feed - but then she makes good use of them). The woman was amazed that they stored so many ready-meals. When daughter explained she never bought any ready-meals, and told her what she did keep in them, the lady's jaw dropped open - "I thought that's what home freezers were for- storing ready meals" she said " Didn't know they could be used for anything else".
Reminds me of a time when I once met a lady in a store and she had been watching The Goode Kitchen and said the problem with making chicken stock was that after roasting and eating it, she was too tired to do anything else. I asked her if she had a freezer, she said she had. So suggested she froze the carcase and made the stock when she had time to do so. "Well, never thought of that" she said "WHAT a good idea!". Sad fact that it is true that many still think of freezers as not much more than just as a cold store for bought ready-meals, fish fingers, and a few veg, but - used well -they can prove (by being able to store odds and ends that might have been thrown out) to save more money than it costs to run them. Here are some suggestions:
tomato puree:
Buy large cans or jars from supermarkets, and once opened, freeze the surplus into small containers. Ice cube trays are ideal. Once frozen the cubes of puree can be bagged up, but as it never freezes really solid, might as well keep the whole tray in a bag and just dig out a cube with a spoon when needed.
bread/breadcrumbs:
Always useful. A whole or part sliced loaf stored in the freezer is useful for emergencies. Cut a few slices of toasting bread into small cubes and fry in butter and/or oil until golden, then drain on kitchen paper, cool and freeze in bags or containers. These are ready-made croutons that thaw rapidly and can be added to salads or used sprinkled over soup.
Blitz up the end crusts in a food processor to give coarser 'knobbly' bits in with the finer crumbs - these make a good topping with cheese to pop under the grill. When you want dry crumbs to coat rissoles etc, toast fine crumbs under a grill and crush or blend these down) to make 'raspings' - similar to those garish yellow crumbs sold in cardboard tubes. Once dried out, these keep well in air-tight containers.
Bags of crumbs kept in the freezer are ready to make bread sauce, to add to any dish that requires crumbs. Keep bags of both white and brown crumbs. Brown bread makes good stuffing.
grated cheese:
Infinite uses for this. Once grated it is ready to pop onto the top of pizzas, to scatter over salads (makes the plainest green salad more tasty). Can be used for sandwiches, or toasted. Ready to hand when making cheese sauce. Just grate up the ends of any hard cheese and add them to that already frozen, or start a new batch.
pancakes:
These can be tedious to make, so often we don't bother. Worth taking an hour and making a large batch so that they can be interleaved with greaseproof paper as they are being made, then the whole stack, once cold, can be bagged up. They can form the basis of many savoury and sweet dishes, either smothered with a spag.bol sauce for instance, then rolled up and heated in the oven for 15 minutes, or layered similar to a lasagne and treated in much the same way. Filled with fruit they can be rolled or folded into triangles, to be heated in the oven, or heated through in a good flavoured sauce on the hob.
cookie mix:
Many basic uncooked biscuit dough will freeze, so make more than you want and roll up in clingfilm to freeze away for another time. Just cut off a few slices so that you can bake a few when the oven is on for something else.
cream:
Double cream will freeze, and freeze even better if first whipped with a little icing sugar. It can then be piped into rosettes to bag up, to be taken out and popped onto a dessert when needed. Thaw out quite rapidly.
cottage cheese:
Tubs usually say not to be frozen. This is because when frozen it breaks down the curds. However - this can be useful when making a cheesecake as the thawed cottage cheese can be mashed down with a fork to make something resembling a curd cheese and used in the same way.
chicken stock:
If one stock is worth making it is chicken stock. Virtually free if you have a carcase going spare. Even better, freeze the carcase until you have another. The more carcases you have the richer the stock will be. Once the stock is made, simmer down until reduced in half to set to a firm gel (this takes up less room in the freezer - just add water later when it is being used). A good way is to freeze in ice-cube trays then bag up when solid. If concentrated enough, one cube - diluted with water - should make a good quarter pint (150ml).
If you are ever lucky enough to cook a pheasant, save the carcase to make a good game stock and freeze this away. It can be used instead of chicken stock when cooking a chicken casserole, and will make the chicken taste more 'gamey'.
pastry:
Whether home-made or bought, it is always useful to keep shortcrust, puff pastry and filo pastry in the freezer, even freezing back any scraps left-over (they can always be turned into cheese straws).
wine:
Red, white and Port. Even the smallest amount of wine (just enough to make an ice cube) is worth freezing away, so don't drink the last bit in the bottle just because it is there. Freeze it in small containers, and even a small amount can make quite a difference to the flavour of a chicken, beef or any dish made with game. These wines can even enhance the flavour of some dessert jellies.
butter:
Unsalted butter keeps longer in the freezer than salted, so worth buying either when the price is right and freezing some away. Make up rolls of flavoured butter (using herbs, spices, garlic etc), wrap in cling-film then freeze away. Just cut off a slice if you need to pop onto the top of a piece of fish or steak. Both brandy and rum butters could be made now and frozen away ready for Christmas or to bring out and pop into a home-made Christmas hamper.
herbs:
Some herbs are better dried, but fresh parsley, rolled up and wrapped tightly with clingfilm does freeze well. Once frozen, just peel back the film and slice off as much as you need, then return the rest back to the freezer. Fresh bay leaves, bagged up and frozen, come out just as they went in - you would never know they had been frozen.
pulses:
Usually works out cheaper to cook your own red beans, butter beans, pinto beans - and the whole range of dried beans - and by cooking I mean the whole pack in one go. Drain, then drizzle over a little oil, give a shake to coat and then (if room) open freeze on baking trays to bag up as 'free flow' once frozen. If short on space, bag up in small amounts. One bang on the table will separate the beans frozen together. Although canned beans are fairly inexpensive, having a good variety in the freezer widens the horizons when it comes to preparing dishes.
nuts:
These keep far longer in the freezer, and the best place to store all nuts. If frozen in the shell, the shells themselves crack more easily once frozen.
miscellaneous:
The freezer can also be a good place to store dry goods, and although many of these have several months storage life - often with a 'best before' date than a 'use-by' - some dry-goods such as dried milk powder, wheat flour and similar may be able to be bought more cheaply in larger packs, and so best to decant out and freeze some at least in smaller containers.
Rolls of cling-film, if stored in the freezer, will never stick to itself, but will still cling to whatever is being covered.
Tip: some foods are more easily prepared if dealt with while still partly frozen, so if needing to slice steak or fish (for Strogonoff etc) it is much easier to get thinner and more even slices if done halfway through the thawing.
Have read it is also possible to remove thawing meat from around the outside of a block of mince cutting well back into the iced meat, but leaving the centre still frozen and this centre piece can then be re-wrapped and put back in the freezer. As long as food has ice-crystals still there, this is said to be a safe thing to do. Am not recommending this should be done, but have done this myself (knowing the meat would then be fully cooked after thawing so should be safe enough). Up to the individual. Bread, plain unfilled cakes, pastry can all be thawed and safely re-frozen.
The problem when it comes to freezing any meats, and especially mince, is that if bought in a pack from the supermarket, often the whole pack goes into the freezer, so the whole pack needs cooking once thawed. Ideally buy your mince and meat from a butcher and freeze it in small amounts. When it comes to mince and diced stewing steak or chicken, I take a small freezer bag, put my hand inside and grab a lump of meat then fold the bag back around the meat - thus never touching the raw meat at all. this 'handful' is about 4oz (100g) and this is a good guide as one handful is enough (often more than enough) to give one good serving. Probably two handfuls could easukt be stretched to serve three people. The same thing can be done with supermarket packs of meat. Just open up and re-wrap in small amounts. Do remember to label for all meats - even different cuts - look much the same once frozen.
At one time I used to put mince into large polybags and just roll it flat with a rolling pin into what I called 'tiles'. These would stack up in the freezer taking very little space, could even be tucked around the walls. The good thing was - if only a little was needed, perhaps to add to a soup, then the amount was easily snapped off.
From many of your comments it seems you make soup in bulk to freeze away. Normally I make soup as needed and we eat it all up in one go (or maybe some left for the next day - or leftover soup sometimes added as a casserole instead of making 'gravy'). Now the recipe today is intended to be served chilled, but as with many such soups, they can also taste extremely good when eaten hot. If so, maybe the yogurt should be stirred in at the end. Carrying a hint of the Middle East, this is one soup recipe worth filing away. If using no-soak apricots, still soak them but in half the water.
Carrot and Apricot Soup: serves 6
8 oz (225g) dried apricots
2 pints (1.2ltrs) water
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 pint (600ml) chicken stock
salt and pepper
5 fl oz (150ml) Greek yogurt
Soak the apricots in the water overnight then drain and set aside, reserving about a pint (570ml) of the soaking water. Place the apricots and their water in a saucepan, adding the onion, carrots, cinnamon and bay leaves. Finally add the chicken stock and seasoning to taste, then cover, bring to the boil and simmer for three-quarters of an hour, adding more water if necessary. Remove the cinnamon and bay leaves and skim any scum from the surface. Cool slightly, then blitz in a blender with the yogurt. Check seasoning, adding more if required, then chill well before serving.
This next, and final recipe for today, is from a selection of summer 'soups' or 'refreshers', but it crossed my mind it might make a good 'made-ahead' starter for a Christmas meal. Sorbets can also be served between courses as a way to cleanse the palate ready for the next dish, and this same recipe could be served in small shot glasses for the same reason at a dinner party. Add a dash of Tabasco if you wish it to have more of a kick.
Although this could be made with home-made tomato soup, just for once, why not used canned.
Love-Apple Sorbet: serves 4
1 pint (600ml) tomato soup
4 tblsp vodka
2 tsp sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix everything together, adding seasoning to taste. Either churn in an ice-cream maker, or place in a container in the freezer and scrape sides to middle and beat every half-hour until the mixture is of a firm but scoopable consistency. If freezing days in advance, cover container and if very firm, leave at room temperature for a few minutes (or longer in the fridge) until it softens enough to scoop out. Then serve immediately.
Must try and find time to watch 'The Restaurant' today, as had to miss it yesterday. Alway enjoy that, not so much the food, more to enjoy watching the pickle that so many of the cooks seem to get into.
The sun is still shining, although it rained during the night. My idea of Paradise, rain at night, sun all day. Hope it shines for you too. Have an enjoyable day.
Read this week about some towns now switching off street lights late at night (possibly after midnight) to save electricity, and shocked to read a day or two later that one town will be switching on the Xmas lights at the end of October- at least a month earlier than normal. I can only shake my head and wonder what is going on.
Going onto BBC IPlayer yesterday to watch "What to Eat Now" thought I would check up on "Coal House at War" to see when it was being shown, for I had looked through the TV supplement and could not find it. Noticed part 2 was available to watch, so as I had got up early this morning started the day with that. Again good, the men going down the mines this time, then off to joining the Home Guard. The ladies mastering the art of using a sewing machine, and children learning how to put on their gas-masks (that takes me back), and picking their vegetables from their allotments. Went onto the website bbc.co.uk/coalhouse and it did give more info on the programme, shown on BBC ONE at 8.30pm Friday evenings (tomorrow being episode 3). May have missed seeing it in the listings, or it might be shown only in Wales. All episodes shown so far can be picked up on IPlayer on the comp.
Was not quite sure how to take your comment Janette. You want to swap me for part of Valentine? Well I know the appeal Valentine has, but can't you bring yourself to keep back a bit of me while you are at it? And which bit of either of us I wonder.
Was it Dorothy Sleightholme that presented Farmhouse Kitchen Flo? Or am I thinking of another programme?
There used to be quite a few similar ones on around that time. They would stand being re-shown.
Your comment re cheap sausages/dog meat reminded me how my greengrocer told me (this in the 1960's when they delivered to the door), how one of his customers 'up the road' used to buy cans of pet food (and they had no pets) to use when making meat pies for the family. My friend's husband used to work in a pet food factory and he said the conditions there were far better (cleaner/hygenic etc) than in many food production factories where the food was canned for humans (having worked in both). Makes you wonder sometimes...
The mention of buying winter jackets for your sons Marjorie made me wonder whether they are of traditional design/pattern, for when I was watching 'Steven Fry in America' this week, he was visiting part of upper New York State where he joined in with a shooting party and they all wore the same check shirts, either red/black or green/black (or was it blue/black?). In films, over the years, have seen US hunters always wearing the same type of shirts. As to 'Coal House at War', not sure if you can get BBC IPlayer uploaded onto your computer, but possibly you could reach their website (given above) and this might give more details of the documentary.
As to making yogurt Karen, I still feel the easiest way is using the EasyYo equipment where all you do is mix the dried yogurt mix with water, and keep it at a constant temperature until it 'yogs'. However, many readers seem to move on from there and experiment by using some of the powder with different types of milk. The original way of making yogurt can still be fairly easy, but for this all you need is a tub of plain yogurt as a 'starter' and some warm milk. Once you have made yogurt, you then keep back some to make the next batch. If you go to Archives and pick up August 2007, then scroll down to the 23rd you will see a recipe for making yogurt, as well as other details such as EasyYo, and also recipes using yogurt.
An alternative way to make your own Muller-type corners, is to save and clean thoroughly the original tubs, make or buy a large tub of Greek yogurt, and spoon some of that into the main part of the tub and make your own fruit 'corners' yourself. This should prove cheaper than buying them pre-packed.
Today really have to buckle down and start sorting out the freezer to make more room. Have so many apples that should be peeled, cored and frozen within the next few days, plus load of blackberries already in there that ought to be transferred into square boxes. Anything 'loose' in bags seems to take up more room than it should, and this includes bags of frozen peas/sweetcorn/beans...When we had a chest freezer there was room for just about everything, now with an upright one and half the depth taken up with the 'mechanics' it has become a matter of choosing what can be frozen and what has to be used within a few days.
Still have my marmalade to make and also want to make some lemon curd while the lemons are still fit for service, so decided to make a very early start with my blog today so that I can gain at least a couple of hours to use more sensibly than wittering on about nothing in particular.
As I was mentioning freezers, decided today to chat a little more about how useful they can be, and - although may have mentioned this before - worth repeating the true tale of the lady who, fairly recently, was talking to my daughter (who owns two freezers - a chest one in the garage, an upright on in the kitchen, despite the fact there is only herself and her husband to feed - but then she makes good use of them). The woman was amazed that they stored so many ready-meals. When daughter explained she never bought any ready-meals, and told her what she did keep in them, the lady's jaw dropped open - "I thought that's what home freezers were for- storing ready meals" she said " Didn't know they could be used for anything else".
Reminds me of a time when I once met a lady in a store and she had been watching The Goode Kitchen and said the problem with making chicken stock was that after roasting and eating it, she was too tired to do anything else. I asked her if she had a freezer, she said she had. So suggested she froze the carcase and made the stock when she had time to do so. "Well, never thought of that" she said "WHAT a good idea!". Sad fact that it is true that many still think of freezers as not much more than just as a cold store for bought ready-meals, fish fingers, and a few veg, but - used well -they can prove (by being able to store odds and ends that might have been thrown out) to save more money than it costs to run them. Here are some suggestions:
tomato puree:
Buy large cans or jars from supermarkets, and once opened, freeze the surplus into small containers. Ice cube trays are ideal. Once frozen the cubes of puree can be bagged up, but as it never freezes really solid, might as well keep the whole tray in a bag and just dig out a cube with a spoon when needed.
bread/breadcrumbs:
Always useful. A whole or part sliced loaf stored in the freezer is useful for emergencies. Cut a few slices of toasting bread into small cubes and fry in butter and/or oil until golden, then drain on kitchen paper, cool and freeze in bags or containers. These are ready-made croutons that thaw rapidly and can be added to salads or used sprinkled over soup.
Blitz up the end crusts in a food processor to give coarser 'knobbly' bits in with the finer crumbs - these make a good topping with cheese to pop under the grill. When you want dry crumbs to coat rissoles etc, toast fine crumbs under a grill and crush or blend these down) to make 'raspings' - similar to those garish yellow crumbs sold in cardboard tubes. Once dried out, these keep well in air-tight containers.
Bags of crumbs kept in the freezer are ready to make bread sauce, to add to any dish that requires crumbs. Keep bags of both white and brown crumbs. Brown bread makes good stuffing.
grated cheese:
Infinite uses for this. Once grated it is ready to pop onto the top of pizzas, to scatter over salads (makes the plainest green salad more tasty). Can be used for sandwiches, or toasted. Ready to hand when making cheese sauce. Just grate up the ends of any hard cheese and add them to that already frozen, or start a new batch.
pancakes:
These can be tedious to make, so often we don't bother. Worth taking an hour and making a large batch so that they can be interleaved with greaseproof paper as they are being made, then the whole stack, once cold, can be bagged up. They can form the basis of many savoury and sweet dishes, either smothered with a spag.bol sauce for instance, then rolled up and heated in the oven for 15 minutes, or layered similar to a lasagne and treated in much the same way. Filled with fruit they can be rolled or folded into triangles, to be heated in the oven, or heated through in a good flavoured sauce on the hob.
cookie mix:
Many basic uncooked biscuit dough will freeze, so make more than you want and roll up in clingfilm to freeze away for another time. Just cut off a few slices so that you can bake a few when the oven is on for something else.
cream:
Double cream will freeze, and freeze even better if first whipped with a little icing sugar. It can then be piped into rosettes to bag up, to be taken out and popped onto a dessert when needed. Thaw out quite rapidly.
cottage cheese:
Tubs usually say not to be frozen. This is because when frozen it breaks down the curds. However - this can be useful when making a cheesecake as the thawed cottage cheese can be mashed down with a fork to make something resembling a curd cheese and used in the same way.
chicken stock:
If one stock is worth making it is chicken stock. Virtually free if you have a carcase going spare. Even better, freeze the carcase until you have another. The more carcases you have the richer the stock will be. Once the stock is made, simmer down until reduced in half to set to a firm gel (this takes up less room in the freezer - just add water later when it is being used). A good way is to freeze in ice-cube trays then bag up when solid. If concentrated enough, one cube - diluted with water - should make a good quarter pint (150ml).
If you are ever lucky enough to cook a pheasant, save the carcase to make a good game stock and freeze this away. It can be used instead of chicken stock when cooking a chicken casserole, and will make the chicken taste more 'gamey'.
pastry:
Whether home-made or bought, it is always useful to keep shortcrust, puff pastry and filo pastry in the freezer, even freezing back any scraps left-over (they can always be turned into cheese straws).
wine:
Red, white and Port. Even the smallest amount of wine (just enough to make an ice cube) is worth freezing away, so don't drink the last bit in the bottle just because it is there. Freeze it in small containers, and even a small amount can make quite a difference to the flavour of a chicken, beef or any dish made with game. These wines can even enhance the flavour of some dessert jellies.
butter:
Unsalted butter keeps longer in the freezer than salted, so worth buying either when the price is right and freezing some away. Make up rolls of flavoured butter (using herbs, spices, garlic etc), wrap in cling-film then freeze away. Just cut off a slice if you need to pop onto the top of a piece of fish or steak. Both brandy and rum butters could be made now and frozen away ready for Christmas or to bring out and pop into a home-made Christmas hamper.
herbs:
Some herbs are better dried, but fresh parsley, rolled up and wrapped tightly with clingfilm does freeze well. Once frozen, just peel back the film and slice off as much as you need, then return the rest back to the freezer. Fresh bay leaves, bagged up and frozen, come out just as they went in - you would never know they had been frozen.
pulses:
Usually works out cheaper to cook your own red beans, butter beans, pinto beans - and the whole range of dried beans - and by cooking I mean the whole pack in one go. Drain, then drizzle over a little oil, give a shake to coat and then (if room) open freeze on baking trays to bag up as 'free flow' once frozen. If short on space, bag up in small amounts. One bang on the table will separate the beans frozen together. Although canned beans are fairly inexpensive, having a good variety in the freezer widens the horizons when it comes to preparing dishes.
nuts:
These keep far longer in the freezer, and the best place to store all nuts. If frozen in the shell, the shells themselves crack more easily once frozen.
miscellaneous:
The freezer can also be a good place to store dry goods, and although many of these have several months storage life - often with a 'best before' date than a 'use-by' - some dry-goods such as dried milk powder, wheat flour and similar may be able to be bought more cheaply in larger packs, and so best to decant out and freeze some at least in smaller containers.
Rolls of cling-film, if stored in the freezer, will never stick to itself, but will still cling to whatever is being covered.
Tip: some foods are more easily prepared if dealt with while still partly frozen, so if needing to slice steak or fish (for Strogonoff etc) it is much easier to get thinner and more even slices if done halfway through the thawing.
Have read it is also possible to remove thawing meat from around the outside of a block of mince cutting well back into the iced meat, but leaving the centre still frozen and this centre piece can then be re-wrapped and put back in the freezer. As long as food has ice-crystals still there, this is said to be a safe thing to do. Am not recommending this should be done, but have done this myself (knowing the meat would then be fully cooked after thawing so should be safe enough). Up to the individual. Bread, plain unfilled cakes, pastry can all be thawed and safely re-frozen.
The problem when it comes to freezing any meats, and especially mince, is that if bought in a pack from the supermarket, often the whole pack goes into the freezer, so the whole pack needs cooking once thawed. Ideally buy your mince and meat from a butcher and freeze it in small amounts. When it comes to mince and diced stewing steak or chicken, I take a small freezer bag, put my hand inside and grab a lump of meat then fold the bag back around the meat - thus never touching the raw meat at all. this 'handful' is about 4oz (100g) and this is a good guide as one handful is enough (often more than enough) to give one good serving. Probably two handfuls could easukt be stretched to serve three people. The same thing can be done with supermarket packs of meat. Just open up and re-wrap in small amounts. Do remember to label for all meats - even different cuts - look much the same once frozen.
At one time I used to put mince into large polybags and just roll it flat with a rolling pin into what I called 'tiles'. These would stack up in the freezer taking very little space, could even be tucked around the walls. The good thing was - if only a little was needed, perhaps to add to a soup, then the amount was easily snapped off.
From many of your comments it seems you make soup in bulk to freeze away. Normally I make soup as needed and we eat it all up in one go (or maybe some left for the next day - or leftover soup sometimes added as a casserole instead of making 'gravy'). Now the recipe today is intended to be served chilled, but as with many such soups, they can also taste extremely good when eaten hot. If so, maybe the yogurt should be stirred in at the end. Carrying a hint of the Middle East, this is one soup recipe worth filing away. If using no-soak apricots, still soak them but in half the water.
Carrot and Apricot Soup: serves 6
8 oz (225g) dried apricots
2 pints (1.2ltrs) water
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 pint (600ml) chicken stock
salt and pepper
5 fl oz (150ml) Greek yogurt
Soak the apricots in the water overnight then drain and set aside, reserving about a pint (570ml) of the soaking water. Place the apricots and their water in a saucepan, adding the onion, carrots, cinnamon and bay leaves. Finally add the chicken stock and seasoning to taste, then cover, bring to the boil and simmer for three-quarters of an hour, adding more water if necessary. Remove the cinnamon and bay leaves and skim any scum from the surface. Cool slightly, then blitz in a blender with the yogurt. Check seasoning, adding more if required, then chill well before serving.
This next, and final recipe for today, is from a selection of summer 'soups' or 'refreshers', but it crossed my mind it might make a good 'made-ahead' starter for a Christmas meal. Sorbets can also be served between courses as a way to cleanse the palate ready for the next dish, and this same recipe could be served in small shot glasses for the same reason at a dinner party. Add a dash of Tabasco if you wish it to have more of a kick.
Although this could be made with home-made tomato soup, just for once, why not used canned.
Love-Apple Sorbet: serves 4
1 pint (600ml) tomato soup
4 tblsp vodka
2 tsp sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix everything together, adding seasoning to taste. Either churn in an ice-cream maker, or place in a container in the freezer and scrape sides to middle and beat every half-hour until the mixture is of a firm but scoopable consistency. If freezing days in advance, cover container and if very firm, leave at room temperature for a few minutes (or longer in the fridge) until it softens enough to scoop out. Then serve immediately.
Must try and find time to watch 'The Restaurant' today, as had to miss it yesterday. Alway enjoy that, not so much the food, more to enjoy watching the pickle that so many of the cooks seem to get into.
The sun is still shining, although it rained during the night. My idea of Paradise, rain at night, sun all day. Hope it shines for you too. Have an enjoyable day.
posted by Shirley at 5:18 AM
8 Comments:
Have to say that I couldn't cope without my freezer. I always make a double quantity of soup and freeze one for a quick lunch. I also make my own pizzas, I make small ones that my kids take to school for their packed lunch. I tend to buy the larger paccks of meat in the supermarket, and split them into meal size amounts. I also make large amounts of crumble topping in my kenwood chef and freeze in smaller quantities so I can make a quick crumble using my frozen fuit and frozen topping, great for Sunday dinner if we want to go out in the afternoon.
Having a freezer definately saves me a lot of time and money - I don't know how people manage without one!
Sarah
The checked jackets/shirts were old fashioned styles for hunting. These days hunters wear neon orange deer hunting. They wear camo style when duck or goose hunting. We don't hunt but our area is full of them this time of year.
A winter jacket here is nylon/polyester, usually two colours, with a hood and thick warm lining. They zip up. My youngest got one yesterday. The middle one decided the beautiful wool lined jacket I got him at the thrift shop last year will be fine but he got a nice canvas lined one for fall.
Am still in love with Valentine Warner and will now hand over my share of James Martin to anyone who wants him. Please, pleeeese BBC, can we have more cookery programmes presented by Valentine?
Janette said...
Shirley I will take your share of James and I will HAPPILY swap you for some Valentine Warner:
http://www.octopusbooks.co.uk/competitions//what-to-eat-now/
Was not quite sure how to take your comment Janette. You want to swap me for part of Valentine? Well I know the appeal Valentine has, but can't you bring yourself to keep back a bit of me while you are at it? And which bit of either of us I wonder.
LOL!!! Ermmmmmmm gramma int my bestest subject I reckon!
I have to say I haven't seen any of this Valentine chappy yet so haven't fallen for his charms yet.........
Oooh...dont tempt me with yet more ideas what I can use my freezer for......I've just the freezer half of a typical large fridge/freezer and its jampacked already - and not a ready meal in sight.....with vegetables, fruit, cooked beans, dairy products, etc....not a spare inch of space. I've just taken to using little low square boxes - rather than freezer bags - as I realized it was better utilisation of space. Discovered Lakeland sell sets of 1 portion size low square boxes - so promptly bought myself several sets worth.
Hi Shirley
Thanks for the freezer tips - very useful. I have to confess I used to make very little use of my freezer. But when the electric prices rose I realised it needed to "earn its keep" as it were. Now I make full use of it, but it's always good to have some new tips.
Janet
I know recycling containers was mentioned the other day but if folks haven't got enough - try going to an Asian supermarket and buying their containers that they sell to takeaways for them to use. You get different sizes and 500 in a case for about(ish)£19.
I have two full chest freezers. I think the only readymade meals in there are 7 frozen pizzas that I jazz up for a quick meal.
The BBC players won't work for my area, according to their message. I am disappointed.
The only trouble with freezers is that they are never big enough ! We have a large chest freezer but when that gives up we want one twice as big !!I am lucky enough to have sky + but I had to resort to searching for the Coal House series in the A-Z listings and it was only on BBC Wales,now I have it on series link it will record all episodes for me.
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