No. 45 - June 2006
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Happy Cooking !
Florence Sandeman, Editor
Food Funny
A messy kitchen is a happy kitchen...
Mine's delirious!
What's New This Month
Cooking by Country
Sri Lanka
Click the picture to find out about the Sri Lankan culinary cultures and history, present day cooking and customs plus lots of recipe
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Food in Film
Click the film to see the second in the series.
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Cooking Tip of the Month
When making muffins or fairy cakes, mix your ingredients in a large jug so you can pour the mixture easily into each paper case or tin hole to save time and fewer drips.____________________
What's in Season
Artichokes, Apricots, Asparagus, Carrots, Cherries, Cucumbers, Gooseberries, Green Beans, Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Peas, Radish, Raspberries, Sea Kale, Spinach, Strawberries
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How does your Kitchen Garden grow
Outdoors
You can now the seeds of more tender plants such as courgettes, marrows, runner, dwarf and green beans and outdoor cucumbers in their permanent positions.
Continue to make small sowings of carrots, lettuce, radish, spinach and spring onions to ensure a continuous harvest.. Continue gradually thinning out seedlings to their final spacing
Keep the young plants well watered but do not over-water.
Keep on top of weeds, removing them as and when you find them.
Indoors
Continue potting up plants which are getting to large for seed trays or small pots.
Maintenance
Hardening off indoor sown plants should be completed by the end of June. This should be done gradually putting them outside during the warmest part of the day and increasing the time the plants are outside.
Once acclimatised, plant out in their permanent positions in mid/late June.
Early staking of taller plants such as beans, peas and tomatoes will keep wind damage to a minimum.
For detailed growing instructions visit growing herbs and vegetables section
It's National Barbecue Week 29th May - 4th June 2006
Below are a few tips for safe barbecuing courtesy of www.nationalbbq.co.uk
• Keep children and animals well away from the BBQ.
• Wash your hands before preparing food, after touching raw meat and before serving and eating.
• Unless the cooking instructions say otherwise, always ensure that frozen meat is completely defrosted before BBQ'ing so it cooks evenly.
• Always keep raw and coked meats separate and keep uncooked meat, fish and vegetables separate from each other when preparing.
• In very hot weather throw away BBQ'd food left out for more than an hour.
• BBQ'd food may look well cooked when it isn't. Burgers, sausages and chicken should be cut open and checked. If necessary continue grilling until cooked through.
• Never part-cook on a BBQ and finish cooking later. However, you can par-cook, or par-boil poultry in the kitchen, keep it chilled, and then finish it off on the BBQ to add flavour.
• To light charcoal, always use proper BBQ lighter fuel; never ever use petrol or other inflammable liquids.
• If using gas, ensure that the grill is lit immediately. If the grill fails to light at first or second attempt, turn off gas immediately and leave for a few minutes before relighting.
• Position BBQ's on level ground, well away from fences, hedges and trees, or anything that could catch fire.
• Ensure that you have sufficient preparation and serving areas and keep these two apart. If using separate tables ensure that they are kept away from the hot grill.
• Make sure that all knives and cooking utensils are securely stored when not in use and regularly wipe down all utensils and surfaces between use with a disinfected cloth.
• Remember that BBQ's can be dangerous, the grill is very hot and can cause nasty burns, or even serious fires if knocked over.
• Have a fire blanket or water spray for charcoal handy at all times.
• Ensure the charcoal is cold and/or the gas securely turned off or disconnected before retiring for the night__________________________________
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Recipe of the Month
Minted Nectarine Salsa
Just a little something to accompany your BBQ. As we should be getting some decent nectarines in the stores now, here's a salsa which is full of summertime promise. Great with barbecued lamb. You could use ripe peaches too or even Mango if you're feeling a little more exotic.
Makes approx 600ml/ 20 fl.oz.
Prep time: 10 minutes plus chilling
Ingredients
2 Ripe Nectarines
1 Red Capsicum (Sweet Pepper)
1 Jalapeno Chilli, finely chopped
90ml/3fl.oz. Pineapple Juice
2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tbsp Freshly chopped Mint
1. Peel and dice the peaches and place in a mixing bowl.
2. Deseed the capsicum, roughly chop and add to the peaches together with the remaining ingredients.
3. Mix well then refrigerate at least one hour to allow the flavours to develop.
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