Food waste is a good thing…..

….if you are a Seagull.

Not that is such a thing as a “seagull”, because they are found inland just as much as the sea. Essentially, gulls are water birds, primarily pale in plumage, with a sharp, multi-purpose bill and webbed feet. They fly supremely well, and can swim and walk capably, making them ideal all-rounders.

The Gull population has been linked to man’s activities for centuries. Up until 100 years ago, Gannets, Puffins and Guillemots were staple foods for many offshore islands around Britain. Things got out of hand and human predation caused the extinction of the Great Auk, and by the mid 19^th century it was clear that many sea bird populations were on the decline.

However, eating gulls fell out of fashion and during the Second World War the reduction in fishing due to attacks on fishing fleets and the conversion of trawlers into mine sweepers allowed an explosion in fish populations and a boost in gull numbers.

This continued after the war as food rationing was relaxed and food waste appeared on the menu. The big boost came with the 1956 Clean Air Act. Domestic rubbish was no longer permitted to be burned and landfill became the preferred option.

Since then times have not been so good. In a short space of time we managed to plunder our off shore fish stocks. Fish guts are no longer thrown away at sea but are retained for use as fish meal. You are now more likely to see gulls following a tractor ploughing a field than a fishing boat.

In 1995 we started to focus on food recycling so that less and less is making it through to landfill. The use of wheelie bins and bird proof sacks has also cut off a food source which birds could plunder from polythene bin bags.

As a result Gull populations have dropped by 30-40% from their peak and are continuing to decline. Let’s hope that they find a way to survive - just in case we have to revert to eating them again.



Is Organic Sustainable?

Everyone has heard of Organic produce as a healthy option but are there any benefits when it comes to sustainability?

The Soil Association has probably the highest and most comprehensive standards for organic production and processing in the world. Organic farming recognises the direct connection between our health and the food we eat. As well as animal welfare issues and a ban on GM organisms the following rules apply:

·         Pesticides are severely restricted – instead organic farmer develop nutrient-rich soil to grow strong healthy crops and encourage wildlife to help control pests and disease.

·         Artificial chemical fertilisers are prohibited – instead organic farmers develop a healthy, fertile soil by growing and rotating a mixture of crops using clover to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere.

·         The routine use of drugs, antibiotics and wormers is disallowed - instead the farmer will use preventative methods, like moving animals to fresh pasture and keeping smaller herd sizes.

By buying organic produce we can support a regime that limits the use of fossil fuels in the form of pesticides, fertilisers and drugs.

In conventional farming as much as forty percent of energy used in the food system goes towards the production of artificial chemicals. Most of what is applied does not directly affect the target crop and can pollute the land and water course.

Artificial fertilisers consist of Potassium, Nitrogen and Phosphorous to promote plant growth.  Repeated growth cycles deplete the trace elements in the soil that aren’t replaced. These are required to keep plants healthy and disease/pest resistant and so increasing amounts of chemicals are required to keep the crop ‘healthy.’ We also require these trace elements in our diets, which are now missing. Organic farming replaces these elements along with the growth nutrients.

So as well as all the other benefits of organic food such as cutting out contaminants, a broader range of trace minerals & tastier food, it drastically cuts down on the need for fossil fuels and has a more beneficial impact on the environment. Organic is the sustainable option.



A Surplus of Poppadoms

Having had fun making the video showing how to make poppadom baskets I was left with a surplus of the things, especially as I already had the evening meal (boiled ham) planned.

Luckily there were a few family over for the meal and some of the poppadoms went out as nibbles.

This still left a few over for this evening.

I often do a chicken and ham pie on a Monday. If we had chicken the day before I add some ham but tonight it was the other way round. I gently cook some onions and mushrooms and add a can of Campbells condensed chicken soup, some sage, and then the meat. This makes the filling for the pie.

For the topping I use whatever potatoes were left over. Today it is Champ, mashed potatoes with chopped spring onions (scallions) mixed through.



So, what to do with the poppadoms? Well, I broke them up and sprinkled them over the potato topping and then grated some mild cheddar over the top. I don’t usually bother with mild cheddar but our young niece had been staying. This was an ideal chance to use it up with the salty snacks.

The whole lot went into an oven at 180C for 30 minutes. Voila, a nice, easy, tasty supper - with a twist.



Springwatch 2011 Update

The spring onion roots are coming on strong. They should be ready to harvest again in about six weeks. Here is the original post ‘Springwatch 2011.’

Next to them are the last two of the original batch of spring onions, still happily growing on the windowsill. That is 6 WEEKS sine I bought them.

OK, so I have kept them going just to make a point and have bought more in the meantime.



Microwaved Poppadom Baskets

Watch the video to see how quick and easy it is to make Poppadom baskets.



These baskets are ideal for filling with leftovers to turn them into an appetising snack.

Mix some curry paste with mayonnaise and add some shredded meat like chicken, pork or lamb.

Shred some lettuce, onion and tomato and place in the bottom of the basket with the mayonnaise mix on top.

Serve with some mango chutney on the side.

Killer Bananas

Most fruit naturally produces a gas called “ethylene” which can cause other fruit to ripen. It’s an invisible gas, but the more of it there is, the quicker your fruit will ripen. If some fruit starts producing the gas then other fruit will start producing more of it and so it goes on increasing the amount of ethylene gas until the fruit is over-ripe and needs to be thrown away. Certain fruits also produce more gas than others, and some fruits are also more susceptible to ethylene than others.

- Bananas, avocados & apples produce a lot of ethylene and are highly susceptible to the effect of it
- Kiwi fruits don’t produce a lot of ethylene, but they are highly susceptible to the effect of it

We can put this knowledge to good use and actually speed up the ripening process by putting fruit in an enclosed container. This gets around the hard avocado syndrome - you want to make a dish with them but the shops only have un-ripe avocados. The answer is to put them together with some bananas and let nature take its course. About 8 hours on a warm window sill in a paper bag should have the desired effect.

The opposite is of course that we may want to prevent fruit from ripening too quickly. In this case ensure that the area where you store your fruit is well ventilated or keep the fruit separate and this will help the fruit to stay perfectly ripe without starting to go over.

Ethylene will also affect some vegetables and can be responsible for pitting and brown spots on fine beans and lettuces, yellowing of broccoli buds and sprouts, and bitterness in carrots.

Keeping tomatoes and cucumbers together causes the cucumber to rot more quickly.

Supermarkets tend to keep bananas separate from the other fruit for this very reason. You might like to invest in a ‘Banana Tree’ for home use. This device is a way of hanging bananas to allow a good air flow, away from other fruit.



Coating in Breadcrumbs

This is an excellent technique for making food more appealing. You are adding extra colour, texture and flavour and sometimes disguising something that might not look so appealing. The process is relatively simple and the results are well worth the effort.

The basic technique requires a bowl of seasoned flour, a bowl of beaten egg and a bowl of dried breadcrumbs. The secret is to keep one hand for the egg and the other for the flour and breadcrumbs, otherwise you will be bread crumbing your hands at the same time.

Say for example we are coating rissoles. Take the first one and roll it in the flour to lightly coat the whole surface.  Next place it in the egg and with your other hand make sure that this coats all the flour. Then drop the rissole into the breadcrumbs and using your dry hand sprinkle it with the crumbs until you can pick it up without touching the eggy bits. Now roll it around until the whole surface is coated. One coating is usually enough but if the aim is for the coating to contain a liquid centre, garlic butter for example, simply repeat the whole process again.

Now that you have the basics of bread crumbing you can experiment with different flavours. Finely grated parmesan cheese in the breadcrumbs works well and you can have fun with various herbs and spices. If you are using something aromatic like lemon zest it is best to add it to the flour so that it isn’t lost in the cooking process.

You can also replace the breadcrumbs with cereals like crushed cornflakes or rice crispies but these need to be oven baked rather than fried. Other alternatives are crushed savoury biscuits or oatmeal.