Choppers and Graters

Today I did a big cook-in. 

This involved lots of chopping.  Instead of chopping with a kitchen knife and grating using the hand grater, which are rather tiring and time-consuming, I got out the Tefal Fresh Express grater (see:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-MB750G36-Fresh-Express/dp/B006ZCU3T0)



I found this machine really good, especially for slicing or grating carrots and similar vegetables and also for grating cheese. Haven't tried zesting lemon yet.

However, for onions and celery the machine could not cope, either slicing or grating.  Slivers of onion skin and celery membrane kept getting caught on the cone attachment, stopping it working. And then, when I wanted to remove the cone it was stuck. Unfortunately, if this happens there's no way to remove it easily.



For onions I found one of these choppers (http://www.lakeland.co.uk/16531/Zyliss-Smart-Clean-Food-Chopper) was far superior.  They're noisy to use and can only manage a small amount at a time but it takes mere seconds to chop onions and suchlike any size you want.  

We'd had one of these in the family for many years, since my grandmother bought one at the Ideal Home Exhibition, probably way back in the 1960s.  Ours worked on the same principle but didn't have a tray at the bottom to collect the choppings.

My mother and grandmother used to make up to 70 Cornish Pasties a day in the 1950s and 60s.  One of their most useful implements for preparing the potato and swede (known in Cornwall as turnip) was a Mouli Julienne,or mouli grater.  

Onions and the meat (always beef skirt) were chopped by hand.  For pasties this machine is superior as most graters these days have too-fine cutters for potato and turnip for pasties.  The legs fold up for storage.  Very useful indeed, but not too great (grate ha ha) for doing cheese.


I'm coming to the conclusion that no single piece of equipment works for all foods, we need to clutter up our kitchens with lots of items.  Or perhaps get rid of all of them and revert to an excellent kitchen knife and spend much longer preparing food.

Keyhole GardeningI found this site recently and loved the idea of a keyhole garden , although I have yet to convince my husband that transferring such a large area of our small garden over to this type of cultivation is worth it.  But I'm determined to persist as it looks such a fabulous idea.
Here's a diagram of the structure: 



The site also has other ideas such as a sack garden which would be useful for growing plants on a patio or in a restricted area.


This is from Send a Cow, an organisation concerned with helping people to help themselves (
http://www.sendacow.org.uk/africangardensuk/?gclid=CLaGsaKRqL0CFa-WtAodf2oAGg#keyhole-gardens).   The site gives information on African cultivation techniques and also asks for us to sponsor families, mainly in Ethopia, Kenya, Lesotho,  Rwanda and Uganda.

A keyhole garden allows a family to grow enough food for three meals a day – even in the face of an extreme climate and poor soil.

Keyhole gardens recycle as they grow. The design of the circular raised bed – which looks like a keyhole from above – incorporates a central ‘basket’ where compostable waste is placed and used water from the kitchen is poured. These gardens add nutritious vegetables to diets and are especially useful in areas where good soil is scarce. They get fantastic results very quickly, with families often having enough to eat within just three months.

Did you know?

Keyhole Gardens help to extend the growing season, even in dry periods, so that food can be grown by families nearly all year round.

We can sponsor a keyhole garden for £12 - and there are other projects with which we can take part.

Kew 'irreversibly damaged' by cuts

Conservation work at The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew will be 'irreversibly damaged' by cuts in government funding, specialists have warned.

Prospect, the scientists' union, said that the Royal Botanic Gardens' ability to help conserve plants, fungi and the environment will be hit badly by plans to shed 130 public engagement and science staff because of a £5 million cut in funding.

It said that the job cuts come after a steep reduction in Kew's public funding from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which was first announced in 2010.

They feel that the government's short-sighted approach to the institution's funding is hypocritical, given that its Heritage Act requires Kew to carry out its plant and fungal conservation work.  They say that Kew does this work cheaply and does it cheaper and cheaper every year.

Successive independent reviews of the institution have praised the quality and value of its scientific work and recommended that its public funding be maintained or increased.

Is this a predictable view coming from a union who after all will always be keen to defend its members' interests - or do they have a serious point?  I feel that the government can't require Kew to carry out work under the Heritage Act but then deny Kew the wherewithall to do the job.

National Heritage Acts, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Heritage_Acts

location of Kew

also see: http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/research-data/science-directory
and http://www.kew.org/discover/blogs/kew-science

What to do with some bits of smoked salmon 


Smoked Salmon Tortilla

1. Gently fry half an onion in some oil
2. Par-boil dice a couple of potatoes
3. Put potato in with onion and fry a little
4. Add some pepper and mixed herbs
5. Scatter some chopped smoked salmon on
6. Beat up four eggs and pour on top
7. Brown a little under the grill if liked
8. Serve with some greens

The one in this illustration seems to have been served with some sort of fruit salad - sounds an intriguing idea.

See also 10 things to do with smoked salmon from the BBC Good Food: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/10-things-do-smoked-salmon and http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/christmas-smoked-salmon

A few years ago I went to a The Ship Inn in North Berwick (https://plus.google.com/100087538062394377533/about?hl=en)  and enjoyed an excellent Cullen Skink, something which I've never been able to repeat and we haven't returned to NB, so have decided to make some myself.  But first the history of this dish.

Cullen Skink is a local speciality from the town of Cullen which is in Moray, on the north east coast of Scotland (http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/content/743.html). 

The soup is often served as a starter at formal Scottish dinners.  Cullen Skink is widely served as an everyday dish across the north east of Scotland.

It has been described as 'smokier' and more assertive than chowder, heartier than classical French bisque.

The name skink is derived from Gaelic, a Scots word for a shin, knuckle or hough of beef which has developed the secondary meaning of a soup, especially one made from these.  The word ultimately comes from Middle Dutch schenke, shin, hough, similar to the English word shank.

Cullen Skink

1 tbsp butter

1 medium onion

2 medium potatoes, cut into 1cm pieces

300ml water

250g smoked haddock

250ml milk

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley or chives

s&p

1. melt butter in saucepan, add chopped onions and cook gently for about five minutes.
2. Add potatoes and water and bring to the boil.
3. Simmer 10 minutes.
4. In another pan cover haddock with milk and cook gently for about five minutes, flake gently into large pieces, removing bones.
5. Add milk and flaked fish to saucepan and cook a further couple of minutes.
6. Season with s&p and sprinkle with the parsley or chives.
7. Serve with crusty bread and butter.

see also: http://www.heraldscotland.com/food-drink/celebrity-chefs/simply-special-how-to-make-traditional-cullen-skink.2012121981

We're thinking of attaching something to the back of our house to extend the living area, and can't decide whether to install a conservatory or a single-storey extension.  So here are some thoughts about conservatories, seen in the Daily Telegraph this week:

1 Use 
List the ways you'd like to use your conservatory as they will all affect the final design.  Do you want to entertain, relax, garden, propagate or all these?  Is it to be an all-year-round room?  
These affect the design, construction, layout and proportions, not to mention where the conservatory would be best sited.

2 Design
You want to end up with a well-proportioned conservatory and it's important to provide an effortless link between 'inside' and 'outside'.  
This is the stage to choose what you're going to put inside the conservatory and the layout of those items.  Consider the views from the conservatory and areas best for light.  
Traditionally it was thought that the style of conservatory should echo the style of your home but now it's considered that a contemporary design  often makes minimal impact and so is preferred.

3  Aspect

A south-facing aspect may seem the obvious choice, but the sun's rays become magnified and can burn plants through glass.  Also, air becomes hot and dry, and environment that no person or plant enjoys, so blinds will be an essential addition.


4  Glazing
A conservatory relies on its glass to operate to capacity.  Solar-controlled glass can help minimise the temperature of the room and control glare.  
In a north-facing conservatory, low-emissivity (low-E) glass will reduce heat loss.  
Architecturally speaking, lanterns and coloured glass can create interest, but best to try and avoid fussy effects or, for example, replicating the details of your property's windows.  
Keep things simple as a conservatory is essentially a glasshouse in its own right, not an extension of your house.  
Aim to ensure complete transparency whilst looking out.  Neutral glass won't reflect furniture, to allow a clear view, and a wonderful link to the landscape beyond.

5  Ventilation
To ensure a comfortable atmosphere it's important to have a well-designed ventilation system, although with British weather it's unlikely that air-conditioning will be really necessary.  
Roof vents are essential in releasing a build-up of hot air.  Low-level air can be drawn in through doors or low vents, with hot air rising naturally to be released through roof venting to provide cooler atmosphere.  There are manual or automatic systems, the latter of which are very useful for busy people - or for keen gardeners.  But beware, if they malfunction and stick the rain may get in or your plants may fry!


6  Temperature

The temperature at which you heat your conservatory is perhaps the most crucial decision in terms of how you will use it.  

Your choice is not just about people - temperature dictates the plants that you grow.  Heating a conservatory year-round to the same temperature as your house (59F-70F/15C-21C), will limit your plants to the tropical spectrum.

Unheated conservatories are ideal for overwintering citrus and borderline-hardy plants, especially if you cover them with fleece.

Even if you don't heat your conservatory it should be usable for about nine months of the year, providing you dress suitably for it.  We used to have our lunch in the conservatory nearly every day of the year, donning fleeces in the winter months to enjoy our soup, bread and cheese.

7 Planning regulations

Generally, most conservatories are within permitted development rights, so long as certain size and height conditions are met.  

If you life in a conservation area, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, national park or a World heritage Site there are further conditions.  

Visit the planning portal (planningportal.gov.uk) for the full list of conditions or check with your local authority.

Many specialist conservatory designers and manufacturers will deal not only with design, manufacture and installation but also any planning permissions.

Some very interesting points are raised here, now I'm off to do the same investigation re having a brick extension.  I understand that even if planning permission is not needed for an extension, that building regulations are necessary. 

Something not covered here is the relative cost of a conservatory compared with a brick-built extension - and how much value, if any is added to the property.

According to the moneysavingexpert forum (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=317959)the cost of building a single storey extension is about £1,000 per square metre.  So for our proposed 4m x 2.5m extension that should work out at about £10,000, plus extras such as planning and building regs.

A timely explanation ...

For tired-looking borders in the garden here's an explanation of the difference between manure, fertilizer and mulch.  Do we need all three and when to apply which of these?*

Mulching is the name given to the process of adding a layer to the surface of soil over plant roots, or even over the entire surface of soil over plant roots, or even over the entire surface of beds and borders.  This does one or more of the following - conserve moisture, feed plant roots, improve soil texture or suppress weed growth


The noun 'mulch' most often refers to something organic.  Organic mulches are a mixed, potentially confusing bunch: animal manure is generally high in nitrogen, and unless completely rotted should not come into contact with plant roots or stems.  Leaf mould and composted bark have a low nutrient level and low pH.  

They are useful for mulching woodlanders and lime-haters.  Unlike mushroom compost (second-hand animal manure, thus with lower nitrogen levels and laced with variable amounts of high pH chalk), which should be kept away from them.

Coarse bark chippings, if applied thickly enough (at least 4"/10cm), are long-lasting, suppress weeds and retain moisture well, but can deplete the soil of nitrogen as they slowly rot down (nitrogen that can, of course, be topped up using a fertiliser - read on).  And home-made compost can be rich in nutrients but is extremely variable (depending on what goes in the bin), and is seldom perfectly seed-free.  Gravel and weed-smothering black membranes are, technically speaking, inorganic mulches.

Spring is a big feeding/mulching time in the garden, just as plant growth starts, and some diligent gardeners feed their shrubs and roses again, halfway through the summer.  Most of us, I think, tend to use a combination of mulches/soil-improvers and fertilizers (both organic and inorganic) and, increasingly, slow-release inorganic ones.

Fertilisers contain essential nutrients (and minerals), in various ratios for specific purposes in order to bolster plant growth.  Most gardeners are now familiar with the fact that nitrogen encourages leaf growth, potash boosts flower production, while phosphates encourage root development and strength.  Fertiliser packets reliable carry information about nitrogen, potassium and phosphate (NPK) content that we need to know.

So-called 'balanced' fertilisers (such as traditional organic, blood fish and bone or inorganic Growmore), are those that contain more or less equal quantities of all three nutrients.

Finally, soluble and liquid fertilisers and foliar feeds are useful, being quickly absorbed by plants under stress.

One mulch I find very useful is leaf mould

*From Helen Yemm in the Saturday Telegraph, 15 February 2014, Helen's always a valuable source of information.