Friday 6 February 2009

Potatoes, Herbs, Cast Iron Cookware



Article: Cast iron's age-old allure

A short article about cast-iron cookware.

•Testing a skillet for cooking temperature, droplets of water should bounce or hop on the surface; too hot, they will disappear; too cool, they will just sit there.


Article: Pick the right potato to go with your meal

A look at the spud bins at the grocery store reveals plenty of potato choices. But which ones to serve with a corned beef dinner (not russets) and which to mash with milk and butter (definitely russets)?


Article & Recipes: Grow your own flavour

Growing herbs for the kitchen.

The more you pick the healthier the plant. Growers are told that if their chives start to flower they will have no more fresh leaves until the following year. Rubbish! Pick some of the flowers to use in salads and, if the plant is then cut back to within 4cm of the ground and given a good feed of liquid fertiliser, it will produce another crop of succulent leaves within a month.

Herbs can be picked from very early in their growing season. This encourages the plant to produce vigorous new growth. Most herbs reach their peak of flavour just before they flower. Snip off stems early in the day before the sun is fully up, or, even better, on a cloudy day.

Cut whole stems rather than single leaves or flowers. Always use a sharp knife, sharp scissors or secateurs, and cut lengths of 5-8cm from the tip of the branch, this being the new, soft growth. Do not cut into any of the older, woody growth. Cut from all over the plant, leaving it looking shapely.

... Lovage soup ... Fish with fennel ... Chocolate mint mousse



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