British sandwich week and our favourite sandwiches

Posted on May 14, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

It’s the mainstay of any satisfying lunch or picnic and from 12th-19th May all across Britain people will be honouring the Great British sandwich as part of British Sandwich week. Here are some classic sandwich recipes using top British produce.

Ham and mustard –is there anything more British than some good quality, honey roasted ham and the very keenest of English mustards? We think not! Except perhaps if you add a fried egg (free range, of course!)

Cheese and chutney – the revival in British cheese making has rendered this once mundane sandwich an absolute classic. Try Lincolnshire Poacher, Cornish Yarg or just a good cheddar topped with any one of the artisan chutneys that are so readily available now.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese – a more refined sandwich, but still a British classic. Add some bite to it with some crunchy, peppery watercress.

Whatever your preference, please remember not to skimp on the quality of your bread. Whether you like granary, wholemeal, seeded or farmhouse make sure it is fresh and support local business by getting it from your local bakery.

What’s your favourite sandwich, and why?

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May day customs

Posted on May 4, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

May Day celebrations are pagan in origin, but across the centuries many different customs have developed across the world. Here are some of the food-based customs from the UK you might have forgotten about or never tried.

May baskets – leaving a basket of sweets and flowers anonymously on a neighbour’s doorstep. This seems to have died out somewhat, but sounds to us like a good thing to bring back.

Students in Durham get together on Prebend’s Bridge to see the sunrise. There is music, dancing, singing and best of all a barbecue for breakfast.

During the Obby-Oss celebration in Padstow a procession moves through the town dancing with the “Oss”. Locals cook plenty of food to offer the revellers as they pass by… no doubt Rick Stein’s house is a popular stop!

A Scottish Highland version of Bealtainn, celebrated on the first day of May, involved oatmeal cake being toasted on the embers of a bonfire. The cake was then divided up with one piece being marked with charcoal. Choosing by blindfold, the reveller who chose the marked piece then had to jump over the fire three times. Health and safety, anyone?

Whatever you get up to, remember May Day is all about the end of winter, fertility and men jumping around with bells on, hitting each other with sticks. Yes, we love a bit of Morris dancing!

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Football food ideas

Posted on May 1, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

The FA cup final is coming up this weekend and, whether you’re a football fan or not, there is a big sense of occasion around the game. So why not host a party and get your mates around to enjoy the day? Football food has to be easily handled, not too fussy and big on flavour. Here are some ideas.

Burgers. A classic accompaniment to cold beer, but maybe try and put your own stamp on them. Burgers are easily made from scratch and can include interesting extras like chillies, garlic, cumin and even finely sliced anchovies to help season the meat. Also, try making them with lamb instead of beef.

Chicken Tikka. Another football fan’s favourite, chicken tikka comes in many varieties. Perhaps avoid bowlfuls of wet curry and instead marinate your chicken as per the classic tikka recipe and cook it on a skewer. Served in pita bread with Raita and fresh salad this is a spicy handful that won’t get in the way of the game.

Pasties. More time-consuming to make, but these can be prepared in advance. Traditionally, the whole point of a pasty was that it was easy to carry and eat on the move. Remember to add plenty of pepper to leave a warm aftertaste and your football-crazy guests will keep coming back for more.

Whatever you get up to, even if you’re not a football fan, have a great day.

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Cheesy accessories

Posted on April 27, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

British cheeses and wines were always considered to be inferior to French. But these days, with an increase in the number of local artisan producers and a greater public interest in our native produce, British cheese and indeed wine is now rivalling that of our continental cousin. The cheese and wine festival takes place in London from 27th to 30th April. If you can’t get there, why not update your accessories for enjoying the finest British produce? Here are a few must-haves.

Cheese board – good cheese should be served at room temperature, so a good quality cheese board is essential for display purposes. Better still; a cheese dome will stop it from drying out.

Cheese knives – yes, there are different kinds. A knife with holes in the blade is for soft cheese (the holes prevent the cheese from sticking to the blade). A blade with prongs at the end is best for hard cheeses. A short, strong blade is best for really hard cheeses like Parmesan.

Wine glasses – remember different glasses are suited to different wines. Most people will only ever need three kinds. A standard glass for white wine, a larger bowled glass for red and a flute for champagne.

Wine cooler – summer is best enjoyed with a glass of something cool. There is nothing worse than warm white wine, so arm yourself with an effective, easily-carried cooler and be the toast of the picnic.

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The kitchen in classic literature

Posted on April 24, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

April 23rd was the International Day of the Book which commemorates the date on which both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes died in 1616. If you don’t know, Cervantes is best known for his novel Don Quixote. And Shakespeare is…you know who Shakespeare is.

We’ve gathered a few of their foodie quotations together and loosely interpreted them for a modern cook.

From Don Quixote
“a whole ox spitted on a whole elm tree”  - doner kebab.

“six stewpots which swallowed up whole sheep” – lancashire hotpot.

“two cauldrons full of oil for cooking fritters which when fried were taken out with two mighty shovels and plunged into another cauldron of prepared honey” – waffles.

From Antony and Cleopatra
“Eight wild boars roasted whole at breakfast” – bacon sandwich.

From Romeo and Juliet
“They call for dates and quinces in the pastry” – tart tatin.

From MacBeth
“Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake,
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog
Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.” – haggis.

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Coffee heaven at home

Posted on April 23, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

For the wannabe baristas among you this year’s big event is the London Coffee Festival from 27th to 29th April. With this in mind we’ve come up with these tips to help you achieve the perfect coffee at home.

  1. Fresh coffee beans are essential, so only buy the amount of beans you would use in a month.
  2. Grinding the beans yourself will keep the beans fresher and you should only grind what you are intending to use there and then. If you don’t have a grinder, keep your ground coffee in a dark airtight container.
  3. If you are heating your milk for a latte or cappuccino, only ever heat it once. Reheated milk will ruin a good coffee.
  4. If you have a coffee machine, the amount of coffee you put into your filter basket does not have the biggest impact on the strength of the coffee. It is the speed of the flow of water through the coffee that affects its strength. If the water is running too fast, put more coffee in. If it’s running too slowly put less. The right speed is about 30ml in 30 seconds.

Or if that just sounds too complicated, you can just buy your coffee at the Coffee Festival. Either way, enjoy!

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Healthy kitchen accessories

Posted on April 13, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

This year’s London marathon is on the 22nd April and even if you’re not running, you’re bound to catch the fitness bug. If you want to adopt a healthier lifestyle, here are our top suggestions for kitchen accessories that will help.

Steamer – there’s a whole world of recipes that revolve around steaming and, as we all know, it’s the healthiest way to cook. But it’s also best for flavour; once you’ve steamed your broccoli you’ll never go back.

Pestle and mortar – for authentic, ultra-healthy Thai curry pastes there really is no other method of preparation than good old-fashioned elbow grease. It’ll tone up your triceps too.

Scales - for weighing ingredients, not you. A big part of eating healthily is portion control and measuring your ingredients lets you keep track of exactly what you’re eating.

Salad spinner – although eating healthy food doesn’t have to mean crunching through endless bowls of lettuce, the good old salad will inevitably become part of your repertoire. But don’t just stick to the bog standard recipe. Try Mexican, Greek, Thai and Kenyan salads for inspiration.

Good luck with your new healthy eating plan. And if you are running the marathon, best of luck to you!

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Easter activities in the kitchen

Posted on April 6, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

It’s the chocaholic’s favourite time of the year… happy Easter everyone! The long weekend gives you plenty of quality time with the kids, but how are you going to keep them entertained? Here are some ideas to make your Easter weekend eggstra special.

Any parent knows the box a present comes in is irresistible to a toddler. The same is true with eggs and their boxes. Use regular child’s paint and get them to decorate the boxes in whatever crazy patterns they like. The texture of the box and its unusual shape are fascinating to the toddling mind. You can also cut out pieces of paper in the shape of lambs and get messy sticking bits of cotton wool to them.

Find some clear, simple instructions for egg decorating. For all you arts-and-crafts-phobic parents this is a minefield so think ahead and be prepared. This website is user friendly and eggsellent fun. http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/easter/easter-egg-chick.asp

Remember also that a lot of Easter traditions are simply about the fact that it’s springtime, hence the theme of birth and new life. So don’t stick to chicks and lambs, get creative and decorate your egg as a baby hippo or baby panda… whatever inspires you.

For the slightly older kids, why not start a new Easter tradition in your household? These days a lot of mobile phones have a video recorder. You could get the kids active in the kitchen and let them film each other cooking hot cross buns like a TV chef. It will keep them busy and (hopefully) produce tasty snacks for the whole family!

Whatever you get up to, have an eggsellent Easter!

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Easter traditions from around the world

Posted on April 4, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

The egg hunt and the Easter bunny are very familiar to us in Britain, but what are some of more obscure Easter traditions from around the world? Here are some of our favourites.

If you lived in Sweden you would expect little girls with painted faces to knock on your door asking for sweets during Easter. You might then light a bonfire to ward off the devil. On the plus side, it is customary to eat gravad lax.

Don’t read this one if you are faint of heart. In Poland, if a priest blesses your Easter meal, it would be rude not to have a lamb carved entirely out of butter on the table. Not merely decorative, this is then eaten from the tail upwards. You’d have to run all the way back to the UK to burn that one off!

For the Greeks in Corfu, Easter means throwing your ceramic pots out of the window. This isn’t because they’ve run out of plates to smash, it is part of the Easter weekend ritual. It is linked to the springtime theme of rebirth, new life and a fresh start, hence chucking out your old stuff. Although, if this happens every year you wouldn’t own any old pots.

In Louisiana the Easter tradition of “egg-knocking” involves competitors squaring off on the courthouse steps hitting eggs together. Which sounds like a mix between a wild west shoot out and a game of conkers. But it’s not just our American cousins taking part in this loopy tradition. In County Durham they do exactly the same… but for them it is called “egg-jarping” and a good strike by a “jarper” is called a “dunch”. No, we’re not making it up.

Whatever traditions you observe, whether ancient or entirely made up, have a great Easter, from all of us at The Kitchen.

 

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The Swedish House at the Ideal Home Show

Posted on March 27, 2012 by The Kitchen Team

IKEA is currently at the Ideal Home exhibition in Earl’s Court, London. We are providing furniture and decoration for the Götenehus exhibit, presented by the Swedish Trade Council. Götenehus manufacture quality Swedish housing which is innovative, modern, energy efficient and sustainable. Our family friendly kitchen shows a slice of Scandinavian style adapted to the UK way of living. Here’s a smörgåsbord of Swedish kitchen inventions to inspire you. (See what we did there?)

The safety match was invented by Gustav Eric Pasch in 1844. Pasch probably wouldn’t have imagined a total lack of flame in the cooking process, but the glass ceramic hob, the induction hob and the microwave oven have rendered his invention almost completely useless. We still have candles, Gustav!

Those of you familiar with the history of the cheese slicer will know its inventor was the Norwegian cabinet maker Thor Bjørklund. Nevertheless this convenient little tool is popular across the Nordic countries, so let’s not get too picky. Our version features an extra innovation: handy prongs for picking up your cheese once it has been sliced (take that Thor!) Check out our SMAKA cheese slicer.

Mora clock – this traditional Swedish long case clock is straight out of the late 18th century. A cottage industry sprang up around their production and households and even entire villages would be involved in making its different parts. Our version is very much updated and can be found in floor-standing or wall-hanging styles. Check out the IKEA PS and IKEA PS PENDEL clocks.

As American as apple pie, or as Swedish as äppelkaka? Let’s face it, our American cousins didn’t invent apple pie; it’s been around in Europe for centuries. The Swedish version is more of a cake than the British pie and totally delicious served with a cup of tea. Yes, of course we make one! View our Swedish apple cake.

Sven Torbjörn Lagervall is the very man responsible for inventing the flat screen monitor. Without which you wouldn’t be able to enjoy highest quality television in your home. Yes, you can have one in your kitchen: a flip-down television can be installed on the underside of your wall units.

The GPS system in your Sat Nav is also a Swedish invention*, so finding us at the ideal home show should be a piece of äppelkaka.

 

*This isn’t strictly true. Swedish inventor Håkan Lans developed the software and hardware needed to integrate GNSS navigation technology with different types of… oh, never mind.

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