The Sun is essential for life on earth
October 6th, 2009

This may seem like an odd blog. Recently I did a Science course and this was one of the assignments.  The requirement was to show people, and include some basic scientific evidence, why the Sun is Essential to Life on Earth.  This is my spin on that question…

We wake up on overcast days and feel sad that the sun isn’t shining, and do you notice it is always cooler on these days! Whereas when we wake up and the sun is shining our mood is lifted. The enjoyment of being outside with the warmth of the sun on your skin.

We take the sun for granted. How often do you stop to think about the importance of the sun?

Think about what you had for dinner last night…

I had a beautifully barbequed rib eye steak, mashed potato, a salad of rocket, pear, walnuts and parmesan cheese, all enjoyed with a glass of fine Hunter Valley Shiraz.

Hunter Valley

 

Ok let’s break it down…but first we need to take a quick trip back to biology class… for this meal to exist we need photosynthesis.  Photosynthesis is the energy from the sun creating a chemical reaction with the chlorophyll in the green plants. The energy from the sun is absorbed into the chlorophyll in the plants. This energy ‘splits the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen’. The carbon dioxide which the plants absorb is joined by the hydrogen, which makes sugar, this is the food for the plant. The oxygen is released from the plants into the air, which is what all animals need to breath and stay alive.

Ok back to dinner…all the fruits, vegetables and nuts rely on the sun to create photosynthesis for them to grow. To be able to eat the beautiful steak, the cow needs to eat grass. Cows are herbivores meaning they only eat plants, so for the cow to grow it also relies on the plants photosynthesis. This brings us to the parmesan cheese and milk and butter in the mashed potato. All the dairy products start with milk bringing us back to our cow. The cow needs to eat the grass to produce the milk to produce the dairy.


 

Without the sun, we would not survive. Without the sun there would be no plant life, meaning for some there would be no food source. Without the sun, we would be in complete darkness and the temperature would be to cold for us to exist.

So next time you are outside feeling the warmth of the sun, while enjoying a Sunday meal with friends. Just take a little time to appreciate what that light in the sky really provides us with.

References:

http://www.realtrees4kids.org/sixeight/letseat.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o

 

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Posted in Uncategorized |
Smoked Hock and Bean Soup
August 9th, 2009

This soup is of unknown origin, it has come though the family as a hand me down recipe from Martin’s mum therefore it could be traced to Eastern Europe. It has never really been documented all the measurements are done by the eye and taste.

We make this recipe in the pressure cooker, if you don’t have one you will need a longer cooking time and the beans will need to be soaked overnight. We have never made it without the pressure cooker so if you try it please let me know how it turned out.

The quanities below are what worked for us on the night. We enjoy this soup to be really thick, I guess almost like a casserole. When you have thickened it to a consistency you like then just give it a go.

The smokey flavour and thick gravy like consistency is bound to be a crowd pleaser on a cold winters night.

Smoked Hock and Bean Soup

Serves 6

½ kg Bortolli Beans (the one with tiger flecks)
2 Smoked Hock
1 whole onion, skin removed
2 carrots, medium sized carrots, chopped
1 chicken stock cube
20g Butter, for melting
2 garlic gloves, crushed
1Tbs continental flour
2Tbs sour cream (just to smoothen mixture)
1 cup medium size pasta (we used Pipe Rigate)
½ Tbs Red chilli paste (optional)
½ cup Parsley, chopped
Taste prior to serving if needs additional salt or Vegeta (it tastes good, worth Googling).

It's an onion not an egg

It's an onion not an egg

  1. Soak the beans in water for about 1 hour, any that float to the top throw out.
  2. In separate saucepan cover hock with water and boil for 10-15 minutes, discard the water.
  3. In pressure cooker add hock, beans, whole onion, carrot, stock cube. Fill pressure cooker with water to ¾ full.
  4. From when the pressure has built up, cook for 35 minutes.
  5. Once cooked add another liter of water.
  6. Remove hock and take meat off the bone. Return the meat to the soup.
  7. Add pasta into soup. Cook for recommended time (ours was 10 minutes)
  8. While pasta is cooking melt butter and fry garlic in the butter for a few minutes.
  9. Put some soup liquid into a separate cup. To this add the continental flour, sour cream, and stir to make a smooth paste. Stir in the garlic butter mixture. Pour back into soup.
  10. Bring soup to the boil and stir until thickens. Add optional chilli, Vegeta/salt. The soup should be quite thick. If requires more thickening, sprinkle continental flour over the soup and stir in, allow to boil once added. We added about 2Tbs extra to thicken to our liking.
  11. When thickened sprinkle with parsley, stir through and serve

Serve on its own or with crusty bread.

Smoked hock and bean soup

Smoked hock and bean soup

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Posted in European, Pressure Cooker, Soup, Winter Warmers |
Picking the Perfect Potato
July 26th, 2009

Choosing the best potato for the job can sometimes be a bit hit and miss, and if the wrong selection is made it can be disappointing! There are many varieties of potatoes, below are the ones I seem to use most.

I plan to continue adding to this list as I try other varieties.

Variety

Best Use
Coliban Mash, roast
Desiree Boil, mash, salad, bake, roast
Kifler Boil, roast, salad
Nicola Boil, mash, salad, bake, roast
Pontiac Good for everything
Sebago Good for everything

If you are visiting the Southern Highlands in NSW it is worth calling into Robertson for some freshly dug varieties for potatoes. I go to the Robertson Cheese Store to purchase my potatoes…usually Kiflers, and whilst there you should taste some of the delicious local and international cheeses…

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Posted in Tips, Vegetables |
Standing Rib Roast with Parsley Potatoes
July 14th, 2009

Last Sunday was one of those chilly Sydney winter evenings. It is on an evening like this that we love to light the fire, put on some relaxing music and spend time in the kitchen preparing a slow cooked meal. This weekend we decided to make a Standing Rib Roast with Parsley Potatoes. The rib roast is a large cut of beef, the piece we bought was 850g, so it either serves four or, if you are like us and there are only two of you, it can be enjoyed over a few nights.

Standing Rib Roast with Parsley Potatoes

Ingredients

Standing Rib Roast
3 Tablespoons Cornflour
2 Tablespoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Pepper
4 Tablespoons Oil (we used Rice Oil)
3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
30g butter
1 teaspoons salt
½ cup water
Parsley, large handful, finely chopped

Method

You will need to start by preheating your oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Combine cornflour, salt and pepper on a plate. Roll the beef in the seasoned flour, so all sides are coated. (We added some cornflour to the S&P mix so it would form a thin crust on the meat and tone down the salt and pepper slightly).

in seasoned flour

in seasoned flour

Preheat the oil in a frypan and brown all sides of the beef. This will take probably about 2 minutes per side on a high heat.

Brown on all sides

Brown on all sides

When all sides are browned, place the beef into a baking tray. Cooking time is dependant how you like your beef. We enjoy ours cooked medium so we follow this rule: cook for 1 minute per millimeter. Our rib roast was approximately 7cm at its thickest part when lying flat; therefore, we will need to cook it for about 70 minutes.

Cooked roast - after resting

Cooked roast - after resting

When cooking time is complete, remove the roast from the oven, cover with aluminum foil, place a tea towel over the top and allow to rest for 10 minutes prior to serving.

Parsley Potatoes

These are very easy to make, except caution is needed towards the end of cooking time.

There is no need to peel the potatoes, just give them a scrub, cut them into cubes and place in a saucepan along with the butter, salt and water. Bring to the boil. Once boiling turn down heat so the water simmers. Cover and cook 25 minutes. Ensure the cover remains on for the duration of the cooking time; it needs the steaming for the potatoes to cook.

Potatoes before cooking

Potatoes before cooking

You have probably noticed there is only a small amount of water added, so towards the end of the cooking you will need to keep an eye on it to make sure the bottom isn’t burning. These potatoes are perfect when the bottom ones are slightly brown and a little crunchy.

Finely chop a good handful of parsley, at the end of the cooking time add this into the potatoes. Put the lid back on and shake through, this will roughen the edges and cover the potatoes in the parsley.

Potatoes shaken with Parsley

Potatoes shaken with Parsley

You are now ready to serve. This style of roast can either be carved or sliced in half between the bones. We like to cut it in half and share one on the night and one the next evening.

For this size Standing Rib Roast the 70 minute cooking time was perfect, it was beautifully tender and succulent with the thin crust being a perfect amount of salt and pepper. We sat by the fire and enjoyed it with a glass of James Estate Merlot from the Hunter Valley. Definitely an enjoyable way to spend a cold winters evening.

Now what to make next week!


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Posted in Winter Warmers |
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