These videos were released by Phillips in 2008 but only discovered by me in 2010 and I just wanted to share them.
Developed as part of the Philips Design probes program which tracks emerging developments in areas such as environment and technology. The outcomes of this research could influence the way we eat and source our food 20 years from now or it could just be for a bit of fun.
The Biosphere Home Farm
The Nutrition Monitor
The Food Printer
There was an argument in the office the other day over the differences between a Flan and Quiche. I’m not sure who won, but I’m calling this a Flan as it can be served hot or cold and it’s not quite as eggy as a Quiche. If you have a definitive answer the this debate then please let me know.
This is also a great way to use up some otherwise forgotten greens. I thought my broccoli had given all it could the other week and was ready to pull her up but she is still producing some very small buds but along side the buds some very tasty fresh leaves. You can use other greens in place of the broccoli such as spring greens, kale or even beetroot tops.
Short Crust Pastry
225g Plain Flour – Sifted
Pinch of Salt
50g Lard – Cubed
50g Butter – Cubed
1 cup Cold Water
Flan Filling
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Celery stalk, finely chopped
50g Butter
1 Garlic clove, crushed
50g Bacon, diced
150g Sprouting broccoli leaves, finely sliced
150g Cheese, such as gruyere, grated with extra for the topping.
2 Eggs, beaten
Salt & black pepper
Method
To make the pastry, rub the lard & butter into the flour and salt to until the mixture is like fine breadcrumbs.
Sprinkle enough water over the crumbs to bring the pastry together, but not too wet.
Knead lightly on a floured surface until smooth.
Wrap the pastry in cling film and refrigerate until required.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (190c/375f). Roll out the pastry to fit your pie dish. Cover with greaseproof paper and blind bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Keep any off cuts of pastry as you can cut them into 1cm strips to line the top of the flan.
Fry the bacon in a pan until crispy and set aside on some kitchen paper, to remove some of the fat.
Cook the onion and celery in the butter until soft, be careful not to brown the onion as this will taint the flavour of the egg later. Add the garlic, broccoli leaves and bacon and cook until the leaves start to soften, then remove from the heat and stir in the egg and cheese and add some salt & pepper for seasoning. Empty the filling into the pie casing. Use any left over pastry to line the top of the flan, brush over the exposed pastry with egg white or milk and sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes.
This is my second almanac reviewing the best of the recipes and foodie blogs I have read over the past 3 months, with a selection of Flickr favourites to set the mood.
Did you attend the hugely successful Food Blogger Connect event? I did not but I have enjoyed reading many posts about it and subsequently I have discovered some new blogs to follow. Including Mowielicious and I have been dreaming of Lamingtons on a regular basis since.
Looking to shead a few pounds but want to keep the treats then how about trying some Skinny Banana Muffins from Cupcakes and Cornwall. Muffins were obviously in season this winter, here’s another entry from Mowielicious, and has anyone spotted these beauties on billboards across the city – Muffcakes from Cook Sister? There has been one from this series on the billboard outside our train station, just in case people on their way home from work are not hungry enough.
Sadly the Haiti earthquake will forever mark January 2010. Many bloggers paid a tribute in some way and on Monday 8th February an event was held and raised over £70,000 – congratulations to Sabrina who seems to have lived and breathed this over the past month. If your interested in donating then you can do so here.
The English Can Cook raised a further £300 in an extreme catering experience.
Winter 09/10 in the UK brought more snow then we knew what to do with. The Cottage Smallholder started their gate side stand, and doesn’t it look cute all covered in snow.
I came across these Salt Plates, I have never heard of them and wondered it anyone knew anything about them – are they worth a ago? I can see how a cold dish like sushi would work, but I am interested in how to use them with a hot dish.
I experimented with cooking beans from dried in under 90 minutes. It’s been a revelation as I use a lot of dried pulses and beans, and often forget to soak them early enough. If you haven’t tried this yet then I have some instructions here.
If you would like to make a suggestion for the next ‘3 Things’ then please 
or leave a message in the comments for this post. I do need to be able to purchase the ingredients locally.
Top Hits for Cyder with Eloise – Winter 2009/2010
1: La Sella Kimbolton – you guys need to get a website.
2: Slow Roasted Tomatoes
3: Jerusalem Artichokes
4: Cooking the Cowboy Way
5: Chicken Biryani
Best Meal Out: Jamie’s Italian Cardiff
Best Meal In: To be honest it would have to be the Slow-cooked lightly smoked duck stuffed with garlic, chilli, lemongrass and galangal, which I didn’t get around to writing up, but you can find the recipe in Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey
Off-piste
I have really been enjoying the daily posts from Today I Saw by Jill Wignall? She has now set up a Flickr group where other people are contributing their pictures.
Flickr favourites
1. La Fourchette (encore..), 2. Lantern Wood, Narnia, 3. Poppyseed muffin, 4. A look back at Christmas Past, 5. Ice skating in the Jordaan, 6. 16th October 2008 – Day 290, 7. Tomato & Basil Soup with Tortellini, 8. Carnet noir, 9. Winter veg in the flower beds, 10. fall, 11. vanilla vodka christmas cake, 12. Turn off the light, 13. a taste of winter, 14. Mini vegbox (Nene River Farms), 15. Icy Spicy Blue Ice, 16. Braised Oxtail Stew, 17. macarrons, 18. .freedom.
If you liked this post come back in June for our Spring Almanac.
Previous Almanac’s
Autumn 2009
Are you stuck for recipe inspiration then check out: Last Appetite’s ingredient generator that randomly selects ingredients and cooking methods to create some truly horrible concoctions.
Although I only want to cook things I can eat it has inspired my ‘3 Things’ post.
Using a random word generator I entered the list of ingredients and then selected the top 3 ingredients to concoct something that resembled a delicious meal.
If you would like to make a suggestion for the next ‘3 Things’ then please or leave a message in the comments for this post. I do need to be able to purchase the ingredients locally.
24 Feb: Mackerel, Tea, Apples.
Ingredients
1 Smoked peppered mackerel fillet, skin removed
1 tsp Hot horseradish
1/4 Cucumber, grated
1 tbsp White wine vinegar
2 Slices of sour dough, toasted
Method
Break up the mackerel in a bowl and mix in the horseradish. In another bowl mix the cucumber and vinegar.
Squeeze out the excess liquid from the cucumber, then arrange on the sour dough topped with the mackerel.
I served this with apple tea.
I made almond & poppy seed muffins today – but they weren’t very good, and as I don’t like to be beaten I have made my very favourite biscuits instead. I have not made these in years but I used to double up the ingredients to 4 or 5 times the original amount and make bucket loads of these. I remember scribbling the measurements in my mum’s cookery book when I was about 13. They are very easy and quick to make, and smell fantastic while cooking.
Ingredients
100g Butter
50g Caster sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence
85g Flour
20g Coco powder
Method
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5 (190c/375f).
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
Sift in the flour and coco powder.
Use a teaspoon to make approximately 15-18 biscuits, drop them on to a greased baking tray well spaced out. You may have to do this in two batches or use another baking tray.
Bake for 15-17 minutes. Leave on the baking tray for a few minutes as they will be quite soft when they come out of the oven, then transfer them to a cooling rack.
This is a really scrummy recipe. Even if you don’t normally like to cook curry’s from scratch please try to give this a go as it is very simple. As with most curry’s it benefits from being cooked early in the day and then left in the pan for 4 hours while you hit the pub. Just heat it up when you get home and serve with plain rice. We also served it with the pumpkin dal I made the other week.
In this recipe use a thick and creamy coconut milk, it is not worth trying to save calories over flavour, and if you want to save a few pennies in my local store anyway the thick and creamy version is 50p cheaper then the light version. Do not shake the can as you want to separate the cream from the top.
Ingredients
3 Shallots, peeled and quartered
5 Garlic cloves, peeled
2 inch Fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 Red pepper
4 tsp Coriander seeds
3 tsp Cumin seeds, roasted
3 Cardamom pods, seeds only
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
400ml Creamy coconut milk, separate the cream from the milk with a spoon and set the cream aside
3 tsp Groundnut oil
500g Lamb, cut into 1inch cubes
2 tbsp Tamarind paste
1 tbsp Fish sauce
300g Chestnut mushrooms
Method
Make a paste by blending the shallots, garlic, ginger and red pepper.
Grind the coriander, cumin and cardamom seeds in a pestle and mortar, then add to the paste along with the remaining spices.
Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and when hot pour in the paste and fry on a medium heat for 10 minutes until the paste starts to thicken and darken.
Next add the lamb, stir to coat the meat with the paste and put the lid on the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the coconut milk, tamarind, fish sauce and 100ml of water to the pan, bring to a simmer and cover simmering for 30 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick you can turn the heat down or add more water but be careful not to make it too thin as the mushrooms will add a lot of their own water later.
Add the mushrooms, cover again and simmer for 30 minutes. If the sauce is too thin then leave the lid off to help it reduce. About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve stir in the coconut cream, adding extra fish sauce or chopped chilli’s to taste.
Yesterday I made Hot Cross Buns and now I’m in the mood I want to bake something else!
I love to make bread, I find it very relaxing, maybe because on a day when I have time to make bread it means I’m not rushing around like mad. My favourite bread to make is Fougasse, a recipe I learnt from Dough
I have fond memories of my old flat mate in London and great friend Emmanuelle who used to pop to Marks & Spencer to do a shop before heading back to Paris to see her family to stock up on English food such as “Toast”, which is what she called our plain white bagged loaf. I can understand why, I do much prefer the Fougasse, Olive breads, Focaccia and Sour Dough but sometimes you do need a good plain white loaf of bread. I have struggled to find a good recipe to make a “Toast” loaf, but I think this is the closest I have come.
Another issue I have found with baking loafs of bread is the tins, most shops only sell small tins (2lb tin: 23cm x 13cm), but last summer at a car boot sale in Suffolk I picked up an Extra Large Loaf Tin
When a recipe suggest you leave the yeast or dough to rise in a warm place be mindful that most modern kitchens are adequately warm enough. Do not try and squeeze the mixing bowl in to the airing cupboard it will be just too warm and the bread will either over rise or become too yeasty in taste. Just make sure the bowl/tin is covered and kept away from drafts.
I also learnt recently that it is possible to over knead dough. I have often blamed my baking failures on not enough effort being put into the kneading process, but if you over knead the dough it can over develop the gluten and become stiff.
*This recipe of for a large loaf tin, but you can separate the dough at the second rising stage and place in two smaller loafs tins if you wish.
Ingredients
400ml Milk
20g Dried yeast
15g Sugar
900g Bread flour
10g Salt
100g Butter, melted
2 Eggs, beaten
Method
Heat the milk in a pan to lukewarm and then dissolve the sugar and sprinkle over the yeast, stir until all the yeast has been dissolved. Set aside for 10 minutes until frothy.
Put 150g of the flour into a bowl and stir in the yeast mixture. Set aside for 20 minutes until frothy.
Sift the remaining flour and salt into a mixing bowl, add the butter, eggs and yeast mixture then bring together to form a soft dough.
Cover and leave to rise until doubled in size.
*Grease the loaf tin and then turn out the risen dough and shape to fit. Place the dough in the tin and set aside again covered, leave to rise until the dough should fill the tin.
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5 (190c/375f). Brush the top of the loaf with milk and bake for 50 minutes or until the crust is golden and the dough has come free from the side of the tin.
Remove from the oven and when tin is cool enough to handle empty out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Hot cross buns are traditionally Easter treats, but if Tesco can start to sell them as soon as they have packed up from Christmas then so can I, and these are far superior if I do say so myself.
I use a food mixer here but you can do the preparation in a good sized mixing bowl by hand.
Makes 12 Buns
Ingredients
150ml Milk
60ml Water
60g Caster Sugar
20g Dried yeast
450g White bread flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Mixed spice
100g Currents
50g Sultanas
50g Butter, melted
1 Egg, beaten
1 tbsp Clear honey
Method
Heat the milk and water gently in a pan to lukewarm then dissolve 1 tsp of caster sugar. Sprinkle over the dried yeast and stir well. Set aside somewhere warm for 10 minutes, it will start to go frothy.
Into the bowl of the food mixer sift 100g flour and 1 tsp of sugar, add the yeast mixture, mix well and leave to stand for up to 30 minutes until frothy.
Sift the remaining flour and mix in caster sugar, salt, mixed spice, currents and sultanas.
Using a dough hook slowly add the butter, egg and flour mixture a little at a time until the mixture comes together to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Return to bowl, cover and leave to rise until doubled in size, approximately 25 minutes.
Meanwhile grease two baking trays.
Turn out on to a floured surface again and gently separate into 12 buns, arrange 6 buns well spaced out on to each baking tray.
Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 7 (220c/425f).
Gently cut a cross on top of each bun. Put in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to gas mark 5 and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Heat the honey gently in a pan with 25ml of water.
Remove the buns from the oven and using a pastry brush glaze with the honey, then leave to cool on a wire rack.
Of course Fajitas can be made from ready mixed spices but they are just as simple to put together yourself.
If you must have every kitchen gadget and have made your tortilla’s ahead of time or are using shop bought tortilla’s this is a great way to warm and serve them up in a conventional oven or a microwave. Tortilla Warmer
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 Chicken breasts, sliced into approximately 6cm long by 1cm wide strips
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
2 Garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
1 Red chilli pepper, finely chopped
1/2 handful Fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 Large onion sliced
1 Red pepper sliced
6 Corn or Flour Tortillas
Method
Grind the cumin and coriander in a pestle & mortar, add the garlic, paprika and salt and then purée. Add the olive oil, chilli and coriander and mix well together.
In a bowl cover the chicken in the marinade and leave for a minimum of 30 minutes.
In a frying pan heat some more oil and fry the onions for 5 minutes. Add the chicken with all the marinade and peppers and keep frying for 10 minutes or until the chicken is browned and cooked completely.
For a real feast serve wrapped up in tortillas with Salsa, Guacamole & Refried Beans.
My mother was in her local newspaper this week supporting the Rotary campaign against polio. If your interested in making a donation to the charity please see below for details.
Picture: HELEN DRAKE – Hunts Post.
Transcript of ANGELA SINGERS report in the Hunts Post:
The fight to halt the devastation caused by polio has been won in the modern world, but the battle continues in developing countries, and it is a campaign which has been taken up by volunteers in Huntingdonshire.
POLIO, a disease eradicated from the western world, is still prevalent in Africa and Asia.
One woman who knows just how devastating the disease can be is Elaine Sefton from Brampton. She caught polio as a child and is leading a campaign to prevent other children getting it.
There are four countries where polio persists: Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.
Take the first initial of each country and it spells PAIN Mrs Sefton points out.
The 58-year-old is president of Cromwell Rotary Club, one of Huntingdon’s three clubs banding together to raise awareness of polio and the funds needed to help fight it.
Mrs Sefton, a mother of two grown-up children and the owner of a beauty salon in Brampton, is using her presidential year to raise awareness of the campaign.
As a four-year-old, Mrs Sefton caught polio when she was on holiday with her family in Southport.
“My mother says I went beetroot red all over from head to toe and my legs wouldn’t work. I spent six weeks in bed but I didn’t have to have callipers and was lucky to make a full recovery.”
“The doctors said I was very lucky that it had no lasting effects and that was because my mother called a doctor so quickly.”
“I remember recovering in the garden and having to drink a lot of hot water. I also remember seeing other children in callipers, one child in hospital in an iron lung, unable to move, just staring at a mirror on the ceiling.”
Polio has almost been eradicated from the world, largely as a result of the immunisation programmes run by Rotarians over the past decade.
The work continues in Huntingdonshire with the launch of an awareness campaign on Sat urday, February 27, at Chequers Court.
The Rotary Clubs are keen to find businesses that will support the campaign by agreeing to display posters in their windows.
Throughout the year the Rotarians will also be fundraising for the polio eradication campaign.
Mrs Sefton said: “Bill Gates told Rotary he would give $1million if they made it a world-wide campaign and raised that much. They did that and now he has raised the stakes, saying he will match fund $250million if they can raise that too.”
INFORMATION: If you are a business prepared to offer Rotary a shop window to publicise the polio eradication campaign, contact Elaine Sefton on 01480 457642 or write to her at 115 High Street, Brampton, PE28 4RA.
Donations with cheques made out to the Rotary Club Huntingdon Cromwell can be posted to that address or you can make a £5 donation by texting 82010.
Facts & Figures
Polio is highly infectious and caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis within hours.
It can strike at any age but children under three make up more than 50 per cent of cases.
The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiples in the intestine.
Initial symptoms are fever, tiredness, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs.
One in 200 people becomes paralysed.
There is no cure and it can be prevented only through immunisation.
Until the 1950s, polio crippled thousands of children every year in industrialised countries, but was eradicated by the vaccine developed by Jonas Salk.
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