DIY Coleslaw

For DIY coleslaw you require

1/2 cabbage, a firm cabbage not a savoy
1 carrot peeled and grated
1/2 an onion grated
salad cream or mayonnaise

Cut a cabbage into two down the middle with a big knife.

Cut a v shape out of the core and discard it.

Cut the cabbage in two.
Put half the cabbage cut flat side down on the cutting board. Cut into several lengths.

Squeeze the lengths together with one hand. Chop across the lengths to make shorter pieces.

Grate carrot and onion to add to it.

Add salad cream or mayonnaise to bind it all together. Mayonnaise is thick and coleslaw works better with thinner salad cream.

Top with your favourites, Nuts, Cheese, or Pumpkin seeds. Goes well with baked potatoes, cold meats and in sandwiches.

Food producers and suppliers

I would like to have a section of Cumbrian suppliers of food on my blog as the quality of the meats and cheeses in this area is superb. In researching this piece I was delighted to have found a local supplier of Willie's Cacao. http://www.williescacao.com/. Willi Harcourt made a BBC programme about his mammoth task over about 15 years to grow and produce his own cacao and produce chocolate products from it in the UK. www.thelairdslarder.co.uk is a deli in a larger garden centre. They have meat from local and scottish farms and cheese from award winning Thornby Moor at Wiggonby near Carlisle.

Heston Blumenthal does Willy Wonka

I think this channel 4 item was first broadcast in April 2010. It is amazing. It even has an edible golden ticket as well as a chocolate fountain. How Heston thinks it all up is stunning.

Blackcurrant jam

This is a family favourite and and annual event when it happens. With lots of looking at the bushes to see if the currants are ready and a scramble to pick them when its not raining. The recipe is from a battered WI cookbook that has a rubber band around it to stop the pages falling out. It comes under something worth making yourself as the taste is sooooo good.

1350g blackcurrants

1.7 litres water

2250g white sugar

Picking the stalks off is messy and sticky. keep running your hands underneath the tap to keep them wet and the currants will not stick to your hands.

Method

Clean the currants and put into the jam pan with the water. Cook until soft. Add the sugar, stir until disolved before boiling on a full rolling boil to set. Keep testing a drop on a plate every 5 minutes to see if the jam wrinkles. Pot and seal while hot.

What knife to use for what job

Looking at a knife to buy for your kitchen can be a bewildering experience. There are many different types of knives to buy from the supermarket or specialist kitchen shop and what knife to buy for what job is essential knowledge.

The blades should not bend or flex or they will not be rigid enough to get through hard food to chop it up.

I would like to first talk to anyone who has tried to cut up a turnip which is hard, large root vegetable with a small vegetable knife, the green handled one in the pic. Which is the type of knife most folks would have in their kitchen. The larger of the two orange handled knives would be the one to use to cut a hard root vegetable in two or four pieces, then peel it with the small knife. What larger knives do is use the weight of the knife for the cutting. Like cutting anything up you have to be careful it does not skid and the knife will go into your hand. Find a flat piece of the vegetable you are cutting up and put that on the flat side of the cutting board. If your work surface is smooth put a damp cloth underneath the chopping board to stop it slipping.
The serrated riveted handled knife is a bread knife and is good for crusty bread.

Do not ever store sharp knives in a drawer. Its easy to put your hand in and get hold of the blade. Use a knife block with slots for the blades. Do not put knives in the sink with the other washing up for the same reason, wash separately. Blunt blades skid as the pressure you have to put on them is hard and either the blades or the food being cut up skids.

Below is a link to a site that sells kitchen equipment including knives.

http://silvernutmeg.com/

coming soon

on their way soon

* how to sharpen knives

* carrot and coriander soup for some friends of mine who like it.

Food from Amazon

There was a report on UK TV this morning saying that online retailer Amazon were doing food deliveries. Mainly for items hard to get out of London. My local supermarket which is a national chain have not heard of pomegranate molasses. Has anyone experience of buying from Amazon food?