Top 10 tips for saving energy whilst cooking

August 20, 2008 By 6 Comments

LargeePan_02 Think about how long it takes to bring a pan of water to the boil, or how often you use the oven to bake just a couple of potatoes; cooking uses energy and a lot of it! There are a few ways to reduce that energy use and be more efficient at the same time, here are 10 tips to help you save…

1. Preparation

Make sure all your ingredients are already prepared as much as possible before turning on the hob or oven.

2. To blend or not to blend?

Do you really need to fire-up the food mixer or can you blend things by hand? Yes whisking up egg whites in a mixer is much faster but using a hand whisk and a little elbow grease will save electricity and give you great biceps!

3.Under cover

Where ever possible, use lids to cover pots and pans; this will help cook food more quickly and generate a higher build up of heat within which means you can turn down the heat.

4. Raw food

Why cook at all if you can avoid it? Salads and many raw vegetables, for example carrots, are just as appetising and you have the added benefit of not destroying any of their nutrients in cooking.

5. Slow cooking

Investing in a slow cooker is a great way to save energy, they cook at a very low temperature for a long time. You can switch it on before going to work and have a delicious meal waiting for you when you get home.

6. Choose the right pan

Use the correct size pan for the burner/ring you are using. If the flame is licking around the edge of the pan or the ring can be seen, the pan is too small and the extra heat is being wasted.

7. Keep the oven door closed

Keeping the glass in your oven door clean, means you can look through it easily to check on your food rather than opening the door and letting all the heat out.

8. Water

Try to be fairly precise with the amount of water you’re using. Every drop requires energy to heat it, the more you use, the longer it will take to heat and the more energy it will use to heat it. You can boil water in a kettle, it’s much quicker, and then add it to your pan.

9. Invest in good pots and pans

Buying cheap and cheerful may be beneficial to your pocket short term but good quality pots and pans are far sturdier and retain heat for a lot longer, plus they’ll last much longer which means you save in the long term.

10. Combination cooking

Rather than turning on the oven to cook just one dish, think about what else you can cook at the same time. Bake a pie whilst you’re baking potatoes and then save it for the next day or freeze it. Dry bread crumbs whilst you bake a cake, roast vegetables at the same time as your Sunday joint, use your imagination!

Of course, just doing all these things won’t dramatically reduce your energy bills or save the planet, but doing a little goes a long way to help.

I’m sure you have plenty more cookery energy saving tips to add to this list, so please do share them!

Filed Under: Featured, Tips

Greek delights – Humous, Taramosalata and Melitzanosalata

August 13, 2008 By 5 Comments

GreekDips_01 I’m a big fan of little dishes, like Spanish tapas and Greek meze, especially when they include dips.

Dips come in so many types, made from so many different ingredients, I love them. They’re perfect for a snack, lunch or BBQs; you can dip crisps, crusty bread, pita wedges, sliced veggies, bread sticks, pretty much anything you feel like.

Humous

Humous_01 Ingredients

420 g chickpeas (cooked,drained and rinsed)
2 tsps tahini paste
3 tbsns olive oil (or if your olive oil is strong, mix with rapeseed oil).
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tspn cumin powder (optional)
1 lemon juice
salt

Put the tin of cooked chickpeas (must be rinsed), garlic, spices, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice in a food processor and blend together.
Add extra lemon juice and/or water to make the consistency that you like.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika (optional)

Taramosalata

Taramosalata_01 Ingredients

85g Cod roe (smoked)
150ml Olive oil & rapeseed oil mixed 50:50
1/2 lemon juice
1/2 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tbspn fresh parsley, chopped.
Boiling water

Soak roe in cold water for 2hrs, then rinse, drain and peel skin.
In a bowl, mash the roe to a pulp with a fork.
Mixing with an electric blender, gradually add the lemon juice.
Gradually add the oil (as if making mayonnaise) until it becomes solid and dry.
When it is at the lumpy, dry stage, whilst mixing, gradually add a little just boiled water until it reaches a smooth mousse consistency.
Note: Do not add the water until the mix is solid, otherwise it will separate.
Stir in the parsley and garlic.

Melitzanosalata

Melitzanosalata_01 Ingredients:

1 large aubergine
100ml extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of wine vinegar
1 cloves of garlic, crushed
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Pierce the aubergine with a fork and char on the grill, or over an open flame (alternatively, grill for 10-15 minutes) until the aubergine turns black and is very soft. Set to cool and drain on a rack with paper towels underneath.

As soon as it can be handled, peel by hand (the skin will come off easily), and transfer to a bowl. Chop the pulp into small pieces with a knife, and mash with a fork. With a wooden spoon, stir in oil and vinegar slowly, alternating between them, until well blended. Stir in garlic, salt, and pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature. This goes well with salty cheeses and fish meze like anchovies.

Theses dips are all very different in flavour, you have the nutty-ness of the humous, the creamy fishy-ness of the taramosalata and the fresh earthy-ness of the melitzanosalata. All three have a fair amount of oil but if you mix the olive oil with rapeseed oil, you get a milder flavour and the added health benefits. Plus you’re not going to eat them everyday, everything in moderation!

Filed Under: Featured, Recipes, Seafood & Fish, Special Diets, Tips, Vegetables

How to dry orange peel

August 8, 2008 By 7 Comments

Oranges You can use dried peels in sauces and stews; it is a very Provencal seasoning, adding flavour to ratatouille, tomato sauce and fish soup.
In it’s ground-up form, the dried peel can be added to marinades, cakes, custards, poaching liquors, or to coarse salt as a seasoning on meats.

How to dry orange peel (or other citrus peels).

Peel 2 fresh oranges with a vegetable peeler, taking care not to include the bitter white pith beneath the orange rind. I only used 2 oranges because I was experimenting, but you can peel as many fruits as you want.

Scatter the peelings in a single layer, on to a baking sheet lined with grease-proof paper. Then bake at 110C for about an hour and a half.

The timings and temperature depend very much on your oven and how large your peelings are. For my first batch I followed a method for 120C for 2 hours and ended up with cremated lemon peel! So, my best advice is to check every 10-15 minutes and see how they’re going, adjust the temperature and time accordingly.

When ready, the peel will be dry and brittle. Let it cool completely and store it an air-tight container, in a cool, dark place. It will keep indefinitely stored like this.

DriedOrangePeel_01

You also have the advantage that not only do they smell great and pack a fantastic flavour punch, they look great too! I’ll be experimenting with my dried orange peel, so keep your eyes…er…peeled!

Filed Under: Featured, Fruits & Nuts, Tips

Top ten day out foods

July 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment

966646_blog Whether you’re going on a picnic or out for the day with the kids, taking your own snacks or lunch is definitely the most economic option in these credit crunch times.

Pizza

A great cutlery-free food, you can buy/make your favourite pizza the night before your day out. With so many toppings available, you can cater for all tastes and diets whether it’s vegetarian or even gluten-free.

Scotch eggs

Scotch eggs are a perfectly portable snack. Home-made ones are so easy to make, take a look this simple recipe for inspiration.

Cornish Pasties

Another great day-out food that you can eat with your hands; they’re easy to pack and take with you where-ever you are going.

Chopped veg / crudités

Slices of carrot, cucumber, pepper etc are a refreshing, healthy addition to your hamper and can be dunked into dips (see below).

Dips

You can really let your imagination fly with dips, from humous and cream cheese & chives, to guacamole and spicy tomato, you can be as simple or as adventurous as you feel.

Soft bread wraps

A crumb-free alternative to sandwiches, you can fill them with salads, sliced meats, cheese, the list is as big as your imagination!

Cookies / Flapjacks

Easy to pack, cookies and flapjacks are terrific on-the-go snacks. Try to avoid taking chocolate varieties as they’re more likely to melt!

Cake

With cakes, there is of course the likelihood of crumbs, so choose moist varieties and if you can, cut into pieces while you’re out rather than before-hand to keep them from drying out to much.

Fruit

Take fruits that don’t need peeling or slicing; apples, bananas, grapes, cherries etc. A refreshing way to help you get your 5-a-day whilst you’re out and about.

Frozen bottles of water

When the weather’s hot, there’s nothing like a cold drink to refresh you and although water may seem a little boring, by freezing your bottles the night before, you can use them to keep the rest of your food cool as they defrost.

Filed Under: Tips

Top ten food waste tips from celebrity foodies

July 23, 2008 By Leave a Comment

FWAW logo Celebrity ‘foodies’ have rallied round to support the launch of Ocado’s Food Waste Awareness Week, and provide their Top Ten Tips for smarter meal planning.

Tip 1: Plan It

“Plan your weekly shop: ordering online is convenient and helps you to consciously organise meals in a way that’s much more effective than dashing around a supermarket with a trolley. If you plan, you’re much less likely to over-buy and over-cook.”
Arthur Potts Dawson, Eco Chef

Tip 2: Control It

“Portion control – make sure you don’t make mountains of food – make just enough so that you don’t waste it.  Use measures or weigh out pasta/rice etc.”
Antony Worrall Thompson, Celebrity Chef

Tip 3: Check It

“I always check the fridge before I go shopping which stops me buying things I already have.”
Ruth Langsford, This Morning presenter

Tip 4: Smooth It

“I make smoothies with fruit that is a little old.  It tastes great and is very healthy.”
Pat Cash, Professional tennis player

Tip 5: List It

“Sustainable shopping is accurate shopping; make a list and look in your fridge before you go as that way you don’t duplicate what you’ve got. It’s amazing how difficult this is to remember to do, but it’s worth the effort.”
Wendy Holden, Chick-Lit author

Tip 6: Freeze It

“My tips are Tupperware and freezing. Nothing needs to be thrown away. Everything can be used again.”
Emma B, Radio presenter

Tip 7: Work it

“I always make too much salad; once it’s had dressing on it, the temptation is to chuck out whatever is not eaten on the day. Leftover salad – dressed or otherwise – is fabulous chopped up and used in stir fry and pasta dishes… or whizzed up with crème fraiche and used in all types of soup.  It’s like a quick version of vegetable stock.”
Sarah Greene, TV Presenter

Tip 8: Cook it

“I would say that we roast a chicken nearly every week and sometimes I get as many as four meals out of that.  Starting with the roast I then make stock overnight on low heat and we have a wonderful risotto with left over meat the next day.  Then I add vegetables and make a couple of different soups for the freezer.”
Philippa Forrester, British television and radio presenter

Tip 9: Manage it

“Manage fresh food: when you put away your shopping, make a list of the dates by which perishable food has to be eaten. If things change during your week and you can’t stick to your plan as a result, cook the food and freeze it rather than throwing it in the bin.”
Arthur Potts Dawson, Eco Chef

Tip 10: Eat it

“Best before dates – best before means that the shop recommends that the product will be at it’s best before the date mentioned, it does not mean you should not eat it afterwards.”
Antony Worrall Thompson, Celebrity Chef

Great tips for helping to prevent food waste but I am sure you guys have lots more to add! What are your best tricks and tips for using up left-overs and cutting down on food waste?

Filed Under: Tips
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