Kitchen Essential

Kitchen Storage Behind Closed Doors

Cupboard storage ideas are only as limited as your imagination.

• Glass doors can often be incorporated into cupboard design — these are generally at eye level to show off colour-coordinated china and glassware.
• Plastic-coated wire baskets are popular for storing numerous items from pots to vegetables.
• A tea-towel rack may be useful in a small narrow space.

Continue Reading »

With all of its pots, pans, bags of groceries and delicious comforting aromas, the kitchen is the heart of the home. But it does have a dual role to play: it has to be efficient yet comfortable and inviting.

Planning a kitchen may seem daunting at first, but most of the important decisions will be common-sense ones. Then you can spend time on the fun things like colour schemes and the overall ‘look’. Continue Reading »

If space is a problem, the single-line layout may be the most practical and efficient arrangement.

It’s a challenge to the designer, but if planned carefully, the single-line kitchen can look neat, and work as well as a beautifully designed machine. In a multi-purpose room, it has the advantage of being able to be contained in one area, leaving most of the floor space free for dining and/or relaxing. Continue Reading »

With cabinets and appliances running in an unbroken line around three counters, the U-shape is generally considered to be the most workable kitchen design.

To create an efficient work triangle in a U-shaped kitchen, awkwardly positioned doorways are more of a problem than the actual size of the room. In the true U-shape, the line of work surfaces is uninterrupted by doors, so that the cook is undisturbed by family members continually tramping through the work area. Continue Reading »

The most informal arrangement, the eat-in kitchen can fit into almost any shaped room as long as it’s not too small.

A great benefit of this layout is that the cook need never feel left out from what’s going on at the table. On the down side of things it is impossible to close the door on kitchen mess. Continue Reading »

With such an enormous variety of stoves, ovens and cooktops (hobs) on the market it is essential to do a little homework before you buy.

Start by making a list of basic requirements. How much can you spend — and does that amount include installation? What fuel do you prefer — gas, electricity, solid fuel, oil? How much space do you have? Do you cook mainly for just one or two, with occasional dinner parties? Regularly entertain on a grand scale? Produce nonstop meals for the family and assorted friends? What sort of cooking do you do — baking, frying, grilling and barbecuing, steaming and stir-frying? Continue Reading »

If you take a look around your well-equipped kitchen at home, with its plumbed-in sink, its spacious oven, its four-ring hob, its refrigerator, dishwasher, electric food-mixer and so on, it is fairly clear that no portable camp kitchen is likely to match up to it for sheer convenience and labour-saving efficiency. It follows, therefore, that when you go camping you should not expect to cook and eat as elaborately as at home. Continue Reading »

Omelette

The secrets of a successful omelette were recently revealed by a friend of ours who showed us a somewhat unconventional but foolproof technique.

Use three large eggs per omelette (never mind the cholesterol problem), a tablespoonful of milk and a small pinch of baking powder. Whisk until fluffy adding any seasoning just before cooking. Heat some butter in a pan and pour in the egg mixture. A moderate heat setting and a little patience will give you a good start. Cover the pan and leave the omelette to set. It normally takes 3-5 minutes depending on your stove, but keep checking it. Once most of the egg has set, place the omelette under a hot grill for about 30 seconds without removing it from the pan. This will set any runny egg at the top as well as brown the omelette. Then add cheese or any other topping of your choice before placing the omelette under the grill again. When sufficiently browned, fold it over and serve. Continue Reading »

Isn’t it interesting how the truly basic basics of cooking, like how to boil an egg that’s just right or cooking a perfect pot of rice, are ironically the last things we master? What we know (as with everything else), we’ve learnt the hard way. Allow us to make yours a smoother ride. If you start by getting the basics into the kitchen, mastering the cooking basics will just be so much easier.

Cooking (without waves)

If you know how to cook eggs, a pot of rice, pasta and veggies, you will survive. If you can do a decent braai, you may even thrive. So read on and see if you can master the basics. Continue Reading »

Eat your vegetables! This little sentence was drummed into all our heads when we least wanted to hear it. But as the universe is strange, when you move from your mother’s home you suddenly start eating vegetables by choice and you may even become a vegetarian! Most veggies are really easy to prepare, and depending on how you prepare them, they are healthy.

Steaming Vegetables

It is almost always better to steam your vegetables as it is the healthiest method for the tastiest vegetables (you taste the vegetable instead of what’s been added to it). Now if you own a microwave there should be no reason for you to ever steam, boil or cook vegetables on the stove. Most vegetables are quickly and easily cooked in the microwave. Consult your manual — it probably has a very useful table giving you preparation and timing details. Continue Reading »

Freezing

If you’re going to freeze something and you know you might not use it within a month, write the date on the bag. To prevent freezer burn always try to get as much air as possible out of the bag before placing it in the freezer.

How long can you leave food in the freezer?

Beef and chicken 1 year

Lamb, pork, mince 6 months

Sausages and bacon 3 months Continue Reading »

A modern miracle, the microwave’s potential is hardly ever met in the mere mortal’s kitchen. It stands in the corner forlornly hoping its owners will use it for more than pizza leftover warm-ups. As we are also maniacal reheaters, we went in search of the holy grail — or in this case the Best Kept Microwave Secrets.

In many instances the general reluctance to make the most of your microwave oven may well stem from a secret fear that it will blow up and take you and your home along with it. So let’s start with some golden rules: Continue Reading »

The term ‘china‘ is used to describe widely different materials ranging from the finest porcelain to heavy earthenware pottery. Fine china is usually kept for entertaining and a heavier duty pottery or earthenware is used every day.

Porcelain and bone china

This is the very best china and, treated carefully, will last well. Its extremely delicate appearance is deceptive, for it is remarkably robust and, unless knocked quite hard, is far more resistant to chipping than one might expect. It should not, however, be put into or on a very hot oven but should be warmed very gently. Overheating will cause tiny cracks to appear in the glaze and the lustre will disappear. Fine china should never come into contact with direct heat such as a low gas flame. Continue Reading »

Among the ’special’ dishes or sets of dishes you might like to acquire are those for a particular food. The following are the most usual.

Artichoke plates

These round dishes, embossed with a raised design of artichoke leaves, have a circular depression in the centre for the artichoke and a dimple for melted butter or french dressing.

Avocado dishes

These come in exactly the right shape to hold half an avocado, and are made from glass or fine bone china embossed with leaves. Continue Reading »

Care of table linens will depend on the materials from which they are made. By and large, synthetics require less attention than most pure cottons and linens, or mixtures of natural and man-made fibres. But the beauty of starched cloths and napkins is often well worth the effort involved in laundering and ironing them.

Synthetic fabrics should be washed in accordance with maker’s directions but as a general rule they may be either machine-washed on the appropriate programme or hand-washed in warm water. Hand-washed articles may be pre-soaked but should not be wrung out, simply drip-dried. Usually ironing is not necessary, although some fibres can be lightly pressed with a warm iron if liked. Synthetic fabrics should not be starched. Continue Reading »

Basic Needs

Now for the stores required:

Flour—plain is essential; self-raising highly desirable; wholemeal a slight “extra,” but it makes wonderful scones. Baking powder and cornflour, which is used in many cake and biscuit recipes and also for fillings.

Bicarbonate of soda has its place in many scone and other recipes, and cream of tartar is often wanted for scones, too, and also for some toffees and sweets. Continue Reading »

Hot smoking kilns Pressure smoking

The first piece of smoking equipment I had any experience with was the Abu Smokebox, which is manufactured by Abu Svangsta of Sweden, a famous firm of fishing tackle manufacturers. The Abu measures about 12 x 7 x 4 in. deep and on account of its small size, the potential is very limited. The Abu works on a different principle from other smoke units, and is said to ‘pressure smoke‘. A bed of fine sawdust is spread on its floor, and a combined drip tin and wire rack placed over the sawdust, on which is placed the food to be smoked. A small methylated spirit burner under the Abu supplies instant heat, and the sliding lid fits fairly tightly into place. Here the process differs from other smoking techniques, which allow for the free passage of smoke out of the top of the sides of the unit. The smoke has to force its way out of the sides of the lid, causing smoke pressure inside. High temperatures are generated within the Abu and the food cooks in the time it takes for the meths to burn out, which is usually about 20 minutes. Continue Reading »

Woodcock are something of a delicacy at any time. They are not normally obtainable in any significant numbers and, roasted on toast in the traditional manner, are appreciated by sportsmen gourmets.

However, I can thoroughly recommend smoked woodcock, and one or two can easily be smoked alongside other species, such as pheasants or quail. When in good condition the woodcock is a fat, moist bird and will retain a good proportion of moisture during smoking. Continue Reading »

Hamburgers

Equal quantities of good quality beef and pork should be minced and bound with egg yolk and basic seasoning to form cakes. These should be placed on a wire rack, with a dripping tin underneath, in a smoke oven pre-heated to 200 - 225^° F. There should be plenty of dense smoke as the hamburgers will only be in the oven for about 30 minutes. They can either be left in the same position for the whole process, or can be turned halfway through. Continue Reading »

The traditional smoked foods of Britain and Europe are not normally eaten straight from the smoker. In all cases it is usual to allow the food to ‘mature’ for at least 24 hours after smoking, so that the best possible flavour can be enjoyed. Hot smoked foods are almost invariably eaten cold, as are some cold smoked delicacies such as salmon, cod roes and fillets of beef. Others, like kippers, cold smoked mackerel or finnan haddocks, not to mention ordinary smoked bacon, are cooked before eating, but even these products are not used straight from the smoker. Continue Reading »