No. 58 - August 2007

Welcome to the Recipes4us.co.uk free monthly newsletter. If you have any suggestions for additions to this,   please write to me at Newsletter@Recipes4us.co.uk .    Happy Cooking !      Florence Sandeman, Editor Knock Knock Who's there? Sweden Sweden who? Sweden sour is my favourite Chinese meal!

What's New This Month     Media To read Recipes4us' latest press release online click  HERE.   It's topical for August and contains some interesting information which you may not already know. ____________________     Ingredient Analysis     Mustard Click the picture to find lots of information about mustard plus lots of recipes ____________________   Food in Film   Click the film to see the next in the series. ____________________   What's in Season in August   Click here to see what's in season this month and to find a Farmers' Market near you  (UK)..  Lots of seasonal recipes too  ____________________   How does your  Kitchen Garden grow   Continue to feed plants such as courgettes, marrows,  cucumbers, aubergines, tomatoes and capsicums and keep the soil well watered though not very wet.   Make final small sowings of crops such as loose leaf lettuce, radish  and spring onions at the beginning of the month..   Check the ties and staking of taller plants such as beans and tomatoes , loosening or tightening as necessary and continue to keep all plants well watered.   Cauliflower Bend the leaves over the developing curds (heads) to protect from the sun.   Aubergines and Courgettes Cut fruit as needed once they have reached a good size and colour (between 10-17cm/4-7" depending on the variety) but before the shine disappears from the skin.   Beans, peas and Mangetout Continue to  harvest regularly as and when the pods reach a suitable size.   Spinach Don't forget, when harvesting spinach, leaf beet and loose leaved lettuce, only harvest a few outside leaves from each plant, allowing the plants to keep throwing up new leaves   Others Start harvesting crops such as beetroot, khol rabi and  turnips when they have reached golf ball size, pulling every other plant to make room for the remaining plants to grown on.   For detailed growing instructions visit our specialist  growing herbs and vegetables section ____________________   For some more gardening inspiration click here to visit a new blog created and written by David Jenkins of Hub-uk ____________________     Find UK Holiday Cottages   A superb site where you can search for cottages by district, price, date and size. And not only cottages in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England ....they have many cottages in France and Germany too.

* * * Winner of  the June new subscriber prize draw * * * LD of Mansfield, Derbys _______________________________________________________________   The Grim Reaper Every year when I grow crops I face a moment in time when I have just too much to consume in one go.  And believe it or not, despite over 30 years of experience,  I still feel my face drop for a split second as I'm pondering what more I can possibly do with beans.   In keeping with Recipes4us' recent drive to encourage people to eat locally grown seasonal produce, and with August being a bumper month for harvesting,  I've set up a separate section on various preserving methods.   As I've said before, many of us can get our hands on fresh fruit and vegetables which are out of season locally, but how fresh are they?   In many cases, imported products lack flavour and their full compliment of nutrients due to the fact that they are often picked young so they can be shipped without fear of spoiling before they get to us.   And there's that clodhopper of a carbon footprint again.   So, it can be realistically argued that eating produce which has been properly preserved when it was at its best, is not only nutritionally as good (if not better) than eating out of season produce, but also environmentally more friendly.   Whether you are growing/picking your own or just taking advantage of lower the prices of seasonal vegetables, if you are getting them in their prime then it's just as well to preserve any excess.       more >>> ______________________________________________________________   August is Peach Month Here's a simple but exquisite salsa recipe using peaches. Goes really well with barbecued or grilled fish, pork and poultry or cold meats such as ham.   Ingredients 2 Large ripe but firm Peaches 4 Spring Onions, finely chopped 2 Chillies, deseeded and finely chopped 1  Capsicum (sweet Pepper), deseeded and chopped 2 teasp Finely chopped or grated Root Ginger The juice of ½ a Lime 2  tbsp freshly chopped Coriander Salt and Black Pepper   Instructions   1. Peel the peaches and finely dice the flesh. 2. Place in a mixing bowl together with the remaining ingredients and mix well.   Eat immediately or cover with clingfilm and leave to rest for 30 minutes to allow  the flavours to develop. Best served at room temperature. Serves 4 Prep Time:  15 minutes © Recipes4us.co.uk         _______________________________________________________________   Food in the news.......   Are organic tomatoes more nutritious? Organically grown tomatoes contain higher levels of beneficial flavonoids, says a new study from the US that fans the flames of the debate between conventional and organic foods. > > > > More  External Link _______________________________________________________________     © martine wagner - Fotolia.com 3rd August is Watermelon Day   Here are a three slightly unusual but simple recipes using watermelon to help you celebrate.  I must admit, they are my favourite melons so I, for one, am very pleased they've got a day dedicated to them.   They are really good for you too, containing Lycopene  - an antioxidant particularly associated with eye health. Minted Watermelon Soup with Ginger Watermelon Salsa Watermelon Sorbet Don't forget to check out the melon smoothies page _______________________________________________________________   August is National Picnic Month Don't just stick to sandwiches and pork pies Below are just a few of the many recipes on this site which are ideal for picnics. To find more visit our BBQ and Picnic page.   Potato and Anchovy Salad Scotch Eggs Bacon Puffs Lanacashire Cheese and Apple Turnovers Chicken in a Peanut Crust  ©   Jo Ann Snover - Fotolia.com _______________________________________________________________ Other food celebrations in August include:-   5th National Mustard Day (See August's Ingredient Analysis page) 8th National Hot Dog Day (UK) 19th Potato Day (US) Harvest Month _______________________________________________________________ ? Readers' Questions Question Many recipes ask for sheet gelatine rather than the powdered, I cannot find a shop in Bahrain that sells sheet gelatine so how much powdered is the equal to one sheet of gelatine?   Answer In general, half a teaspoon of powdered gelatine is the equivalent of 1 sheet. If you want to know more about gelatine there is a whole page on the website including equivalents information and recipes. Click HERE to visit it.

Whether you're looking for everyday,  exotic or unusual food and drink, visit UKFoodOnline.co.uk    It also has a whole section on "Box Scheme" suppliers - a great way to get the season's finest delivered straight to your door

Recipe of the Month   Goat's Cheese Bouchée with Berry Sauce Make use of the summer glut of berries with this scrumptious starter. The tart berry sauce compliments the rich goat cheese filling. Any berry can be used or even a combination. The picture here shows raspberry sauce.   © Recipes4us.co.uk   Serves 4 Prep/cooking time   25mins   Ingredients 175g/6oz Puff Pastry 225g/8oz fresh or frozen berries 1 tbsp Honey (approx) 400g/14oz Soft Goats Cheese, rind removed 1 teasp Thyme Leaves Freshly ground Black Pepper  Baby Salad leaves to serve Instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 200C, 400F, Gas Mark 6. Roll the pastry out to just over 5mm/¼ inch thickness and cut into 4 equal circles.   2. Using a sharp knife, make an indentation around the edge to form a border about 2.5cm/1 inch wide, making sure not to cut all the way through. Place the circles on a baking sheet bake for 15 minutes until risen and lightly golden.  3. Meanwhile, place the raspberries in blender of food processor and process until smooth. Pass the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds.  4. Place the raspberry puree in a saucepan together with the honey and and boil until slightly reduced and thickened. 5. In a small mixing bowl, break up the cheese, seasoning with a little freshly ground black pepper andmix well.  6. Place ¼ of the cheese mixture on each pastry circle, sprinkle with thyme leaves then return the Bouchées to the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden and bubbling.  7. To serve - divide the salad leaves between 4 individual plates, place 1 Bouchée on each plate and drizzle a little of the warm sauce around. Serve warm.

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