Live For Food

When you choose a kitchen knife, the following are things to look out for to ensure you get a really good quality knife that will last a long time: 

Good quality handle – a cheap plastic handle will not last very long, and may discolour and be prone to nicks or even snapping off. 

Rivets holding the blade onto the handle – two is good, but three is best, to ensure that blade and handle do not part.  Below is a knife with three rivets.

Extension of blade through handle – often you will see the length of the blade extend into the handle.  The best knives have the blade extend right to the end of the handle, and it can be seen both on the top and bottom of the knife.  Below is a knife where the blade only extends partway through the blade, which makes it more likely snap, whereas on the knife above the blade goes right to the end of the handle.

Good quality stainless steel blade – this is essential for your knife to last a long time.  You may see older knives made of steel that have discoloured over time, and they will probably need to be sharpened each time you use them.  These will be very good quality blades but they do not have the qualities of the modern steel that keep them bright, sharp and shiny.  One good quality type of steel to look out for in the UK is Sheffield Steel.

Safety element – many knives will have a small wedge or incline at the base of the blade to stop the fingers slipping onto the blade when in use.  See the incline on the knife below.

If you combine all these characteristics you should be able to get a knife that lasts you a lifetime.

Particularly good brands of knives are:

Henckels

Cutco

However on the other side of the coin, an extremely cheap knife will also do a good job – it just may not last you very long.  I have had some excellent knives from the supermarket over the years, and I came to the conclusion that cheaper knives worked so well because the blades were thin, as less metal was used.  You may however have to go through a few duff knives before you pick a good supermarket one.

So to sum up I wouldn’t recommend buying a medium priced knife.  Either shell out the big bucks and get knives that will last you a lifetime.  Or if you’re watching the pennies, pick up knives for a couple of quid at the local supermarket and you may still get surprisingly good results.

I should say, I did work for Cutco many moons ago one summer, and became acquainted with their knives.  Whilst I turned out to be a rubbish sales person I did think the product was great!

As we have discussed previously, carbohydrates are made up of chains of glucose molecules. When we digest carbohydrates, the body breaks down these chains back into their individual glucose molecules which are then used to provide energy for the body.

Fibre is a carbohydrate, however, fibre does not get broken down into its individual glucose molecules. This is because it has particular types of bonds between the molecules which cannot be broken down by the human digestive system. Instead, it passes through the body.

Fibre is only found in plants and there are two types:

Soluble fibre

Soluble fibre can dissolve in water, and it is found in all plant foods.

It slows the breakdown of other carbohydrates into glucose, and therefore slows the absorption of glucose by the blood. This regulates the blood sugar levels – basically it keeps you feeling fuller for longer.

It also dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance that binds cholesterol to stools, which may help reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.

Insoluble fibre

Insoluble fibre cannot dissolve in water, and is found in grains, and the skins of fruit and vegetables.

It absorbs water, and so helps digestion by drawing water into the stools, making them easier to pass.

It also promotes the growth of certain friendly bacteria which make stools soft and bulky.

This helps waste products pass through the body efficiently, avoiding the build up of toxins that may cause disease.

Ways to increase fibre in the diet

It is clear then that we need to eat fibre, even though it is not absorbed by the body. It does not provide energy to the body in the same way that other carbohydrates do, but it has other useful functions.

Top tips for increasing your fibre intake are:

• Eat more vegetables!
• Eat more fruit, including fruit with skin and seeds, such as apples, pears and berries.
• Choose cereals or cereal products with high fibre content (check out Fibre Plus bars).
• Add canned beans to casseroles.
• Make your crumble topping using rolled oats.
• Choose wholegrain products over white ones (i.e. granary bread instead of white).

… baking powder, baking soda and bicarbonate of soda.

If you have ever browsed recipes in books or on the internet this may well be a question you have asked yourself.  So here goes.

Bicarbonate of soda/baking soda

Bicarbonate of soda is the same thing as baking soda.  They are both common names for the compound sodium bicarbonate.

Bicarbonate of soda is an alkali – an alkali is something that is the opposite of an acid.  When you cook with it, it reacts with acidic compounds and releases carbon dioxide.  This creates bubbles which then causes whatever mixture you are cooking to rise.

Personally I tend to use this round the house as a mild household cleaner.  If you take the bicarb (alkali) and some white vinegar (acid), and pour them down a blocked drain with some boiling water, you will see the carbon dioxide do its stuff!  It’s a useful tip for clearing a plughole.

It would seem that the term bicarbonate of soda is used in the UK, whereas baking soda is more common in the US.

Cream of tartar

Cream of tartar is a product that forms in wine barrels during fermentation.  It comes from tartaric acid, which is something that occurs naturally in grapes.

Its uses, apart from that mentioned below, are to stabilize and give more volume to egg whites, and to produce creamier textured icing and sweets.  (That’s frosting and candy for the Americans!)

It is possible to substitute other acids for cream of tartar, such as lemon juice.

Baking powder

Baking powder is something you put in cakes to make them rise.  Here in the UK we have two types of flour you would typically use to make cake – plain flour and self-raising flour.  As the name implies, self-raising flour makes the cake rise all by itself, but one needs to add baking powder to plain flour.

If you run out of self-raising flour, you can therefore substitute plain flour and baking powder.  Most baking powder tubs will tell you how much to add to plain flour on the back of the tub.

But what exactly is baking powder?  It’s a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar, together with a filler like cornflour.

And now I think you can see what the point of baking powder is.  The alkali and the acid are already present in baking powder.  However they do not react until water or moisture is added.  So baking powder sits quietly in the tub until needed, and then when mixed with the wet ingredients in a cake, everything is there to produce the carbon dioxide and make those bubbles – and then your cake rises.

Using it is simpler than using bicarbonate of soda on its own because the acid for the reaction to work is already present.

So now you know…

I have two cats – I’m surprised I haven’t managed to get them into more posts already, as they are my furry babies.  Here they are, playing in the garden.  Anushka is the white tortie, and Rafferty is the black and white.

We had them as 8 week old kittens, and they are now over 2 years old, so I have learnt quite a bit about cat food and nutrition over the last couple of years.

However, just like humans, no diet is complete without a treat.  Not all treats are good for you, but a tiny treat every now and again never hurts.  The cats certainly enjoy a naughty nibble.  Here are their top ten favourites in no particular order:

1. Dreamies

Dreamies are pretty much the only cat treat on the market suitable for kittens, so we bought these as the first treat they ever had.  At first, as it says on the packet, they came running when we shook the packet!  They are still a big favourite, and come in about 5 different flavours.  You can get these in any supermarket.

2. Toothies

Toothies are one of those treats that are meant to be good for your cat.  They are meant to clean your cats teeth as he chews them.  They are basically big pieces of cat kibble, but ours enjoy them a lot.  I have only seen these available from Zooplus, which is where we buy cat food in bulk from.

3. Webbox Chewy Sticks

These sticks are like long soft pieces of meat.  Rafferty can get one down in 9 seconds flat.  Anushka just bats them around and then Raff steals it off her. You can get these in any supermarket.

4. Chicklets 

These are more like jerky, dried flat pieces of meat.  Apparently they are very tasty though.  You need to be a cat with strong teeth to enjoy these properly.  Again, these are available from Zooplus.

5. Wiltshire smoked ham

This is Anushka’s favourite.  Yes, this particular brand.  Not that she’s picky. We don’t give them too much ham as it’s a bit salty and sometimes processed, but she loves a little nibble.

6. Roast chicken

Roast chicken was something we originally gave the cats as a bland food to sort out a tummy problem.  However, they do love a bit of roast chicken when I cook one for us.  When I strip the carcass I have to shut the kitchen door or they will be in there trying to help out. 

7. Roast beef

They also love a bit of roast beef.  They are such little carnivores!  I did a pot roast in Guiness the other day and some nibbles of that went down a treat with them quite surprisingly. 

8. Smoked Austrian cheese

You should be careful when feeding cats dairy – a certain proportion are lactose intolerant, and for those cats you can buy special lactose free cat milk. Ours however don’t have a problem with it.  Their favourite cheeses are the soft creamy types, and the smoked Austrian is the current number one. 

9. Greek natural yoghurt

A small teaspoon of Greek yoghurt is a bit favourite with Anushka.  She’s not so keen on the low fat version though.

10. Milk

Again, it’s Anushka who likes the dairy, and she likes a little drop of milk in the mornings in between her runabouts outside.  Don’t forget, your cat should be drinking water as the liquid of choice, milk should only be a little treat occasionally. 

Please remember that you should only feed cat small treats in moderation as part of a balanced diet!  An overweight pet is an unhappy pet.

My fridge seemed to be full of peppers and mushrooms so this meal was a way of using them up.

Firstly, view the original recipe for beef stuffed peppers.  My recipe is below.  I made some minor amendments, the main one being that I couldn’t get hold of antipasti roasted vegetables, and thought that sundried tomatoes from the same section in the supermarket would be nice.  Also, we don’t like cooked celery, so I missed that out.

Retrospectively I note that I forgot to cover the peppers with foil after putting the mince in – which would be why my mince went a bit dark brown in places. It tasted fine though.

Ingredients (serves 2):
250g lean minced beef
2 large yellow peppers
Frylight
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
60g sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
100ml tomato passata
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
Some grated mozzarella

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 200°C, 400°F.

2. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and membrane. Place on a baking tray, spray with the Frylight and roast for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat a non-stick saucepan and dry fry the mince with the garlic for 3-4 minutes, until the mince is brown, breaking up any lumps with the back of a spoon.

4. Drain any excess meat juices from the pan. Add the sundried tomatoes, passata, oregano and seasoning.

5. Remove the peppers, add the filling, cover with foil, and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes.

6. Sprinkle over the cheese and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Secondly, this is the original recipe for mushroom rice.  I did play around with this a bit.  I’m not eating white rice at the moment, and my husband doesn’t like onions.  So I prepared one lot of mushroom rice without onions for him, and mushrooms with onions only for me!

Ingredients:
10 chestnut mushrooms
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 large teaspoons of olive spread
40g (dry weight) cooked rice
Soy sauce, to taste
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Saute the mushrooms, 1/2 in one frying pan and 1/2 in another, in olive spread, until soft. In one pan saute the onion as well.  When fried, stir rice into the other pan.  To both pans add the soy sauce, salt and pepper.  Cook until warmed through.

Verdict:

This was all really tasty, I have no complaints or quibbles with any of it.  I would definitely do it again.  Next time I would try and remember to put the foil over the peppers, and I might try and get slightly larger peppers.