JTH online Food and cooking

Introduction

This is a new page which will replace the Cooking page (which is so far only a placeholder page with no real content). I've decided that I might want to write about food in general, as well as cooking.

This page is different to all the other on this web site, in that It started off as a blank sheet to which I began adding HTML code and text just to show the location of sections. Then I began adding CSS styles by typing them into the page. It's been a mess and it took hours of trial and error over three days, how to get the three columns to display where I wanted them. Since then I've completely changed the code

What to put in here?

Breakfast?

Cereal?

baconandeggs

Or bacon and eggs?

Dinner

A home cooked dinner with beef and veg cooked in the microwave and chips cooked in the Tefal Actifry.

Scrambled Eggs

I got the idea for this recipe from Saveur magazine. The important part of the recipe is the use of a milkshake mixer or blender to froth up the egg mixture. However the recipe and method still works a treat if you beat the mixture with a fork (but the result won't be as airy).

The Saveur recipe is actually for an omelette. To cook the recipe as an omelette, use water instead of milk and cook over high heat. Give the egg mixture about 45 seconds or so before you start dragging the mixture in from the edges while tilting the pan. When the mixture no longer runs into the base of the pan, turn off the heat and cover the pan for about a minute to complete cooking - or fold the omelette over onto itself. Serve immediately. The whole process is very fast if you use 2 eggs in a large frying pan (28cm). eggs

Ingredients

- 2 large eggs 3 for a bigger serve) at room temperature

- 1 dessertspoon milk for each egg

- salt and pepper to taste (optional)

- olive oil,or butter,or Logicol

Logicol can be used for cooking if it is not the Extra Light low fat type which has water added to the product.

Method

Crack the eggs into a high sided jug or milkshake container and add the milk.

Mix the eggs and mikl with a hand blender (or milkshake mixer) for about two minutes until the mixture if frothy and has increased in volume 2 or 3 times.

IHeat the oil in a small frypan over a low to medium heat, and add the egg mixture once the oil has heated, or the butter or Logicol is foaming, and then cook for about 30 seconds

Use a flat top wooden spoon or a big plastic icing spreader to gently push the egg mixture away from the edges of the pan towards the centre. Tilt the pan to allow runny egg mixture to flow onto the base of the pan so that it will start cooking. Continue the process until the egg mixture is no longer runny. Fold it over on itself to complete the cooking, and serve.

Tefal Actifry

I like my Tefal Actifry for cooking good size chips with minimal oil.

The downside of course is all the preparation involved - peeling a potato or two, slicing it into chunky chips, soaking in water for 30 minutes, then drying thoroughly.

A salad spinner helps if used for the soaking, draining and spin drying to a fairly dry stage. Then the Actifry itself can be used to dry the chips by putting the chips in and turning it on for several minutes before adding the oil.

Omelette, maybe

This is a video of how not to make an omelette. The demonstrator, seen from high camera angles for a better view, ends up with scrambled eggs. Her efforts to slice an onion and a tomato are a great advert of why cooks should use a Wustof knife or similar - much sharper and much safer than the knife she is using.