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Misc

Misc

Gastric Reflux / EDS diet

The diet

Artificial additives
Avoid artificial additives as much as possible (artificial flavours, colours and preservatives), avoid bought biscuits, no processed foods, avoid packaged foods except some canned foods i.e. tomatoes, creamed corn etc. Read labels.
Create from hand – home baking etc.
Yoghurt – home made yoghurt, or organic.
Ice cream – make home made ice cream using half cream and half low fat milk.
Lunch box snacks – low cost healthy alternatives are fruit and home made biscuits, or other snack i.e. raw vegetables, cheese etc.
If finances allow avoid root vegetables that are not organic where possible, to avoid artificial fertilisers, if possible grow your own, or visit your local farmers market.

Butter / Oil / Fat
Avoid most oils and fat where possible, most oils and fats are far harder to digest than butter, including fried eggs. Deep fry foods in olive oil. To cook chips, parboil potatoes for 8 minutes, cool, then cook in olive oil. Roast vegetables in butter with a little olive oil.
Avoid takeaways – they are high in fat, and salt.
Sausages – Chicken sausage are fine, and others contain high fats and spices.
Meats – use low fat meat.
Use butter – not margarine – Mainland’s Buttersoft has water added to make a spreadable consistency, use instead of oil based spreads.
Milk – Non fat, either slim or trim.
Edam cheese – this is the lowest fat cheese.
Peanut butter – avoid till reflux is no longer a problem.

Low spices
Avoid curries.
Avoid tinned tomato sauce based products, ie baked beans and spaghetti.
Tomato sauce – seek one that has low spices, such as Watties homestyle or Delmaine Traditional Tomato Sauce.

Fruits
Avoid oranges, but these may be trialled at a later date.
Pears are low in acid, as are bananas so are best.
Apples can be tolerated by some.

Bread & Grains
White bread may be easier to digest than wheat bread.
Avoid any grains until under control, grains are harder to digest, causing more reflux.

Misc

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups cold water
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
¼ tsp salt

In a medium saucepan, whisk cocoa and sugar until all the lumps of cocoa are gone. Add water, vanilla and salt. Mix well with whisk. Cook over medium heat, bringing it to a boil.
Simmer for 2 mins, stirring to keep from scalding.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. When cool pour into an airtight glass container or a squeeze bottle and keep refrigerated.

To make chocolate milk, use at least 1 tablespoon of syrup for every 8 ounces of milk, adding more to taste.

Makes about 1 3/4 cups.

Misc

Drain cleaner

½ cup of baking soda
½ cup vinegar
1 cup water

Method
Pour in the baking soda, followed by the vinegar, and then wait for a few minutes.
Follow this up with a wash of water, and try to leave a further five minutes before using.

Misc

Mocha Frappuccino

Coffee – 3tsps coffee in 1/4 cup hot water, add 1/2 cup cold water
3 T raw sugar
1 cup low fat milk
3 cups ice
3 T chocolate syrup

Put all ingredients in a blender.
Blend until the ice is broken up.
Pour into a glass add a straw and enjoy.

p.s. Add half a cup of Baileys!!! Careful VERY addictive!
Or leave out the coffee for the kiddies.

Misc

Buttermilk

Buttermilk keeps for ages unopened in the fridge and you can use it way beyond the best- before date if unopened. Make scones with buttermilk, even if is 4 weeks post the best before date and it’s just fine. It will be lumpy – shake it up before opening.

Misc

Ginger Beer

¼ tsp brewer’s yeast
225g caster sugar
1½-2 tbsp finely grated fresh root ginger
Juice of 1 lemon
1 good tbsp honey

1. Add the yeast to the bottle* (see warning below). With a funnel, pour in the sugar.
2. Mix the grated ginger with the lemon juice and honey.
3. Pour the ginger mixture through the funnel into the bottle. Now fill the bottle about ¾ full with water, put the cap on and shake the bottle until all the sugar is dissolved.
4. Top up the bottle with water, leaving a 2.5cm gap at the top, to allow for production of gas. Cap the bottle tightly, then place it somewhere warm. Leave it for about 48 hours. Once the bottle feels very hard and has no give in it, your beer should be ready.
5. Place the bottle in the fridge for several hours to stop the yeast working. Once the beer is thoroughly chilled, pass it through a fine sieve and serve.

Warning
We advise you use plastic bottles rather than glass to avoid explosions. A really active mixture can produce lots of gas if left for longer than 48 hours, so do remember to let it off reguarly!

River Cottage

Misc

Easy Cheese: 4 Super-Simple Recipes

Know Your Cheese Ingredients
First and foremost, milk. Using fresh, whole milk from grass-fed cows (from a nearby farm) will produce the best results. (For local suppliers, click here.) Some cheese makers pasteurize even fresh, raw milk, because the native bacteria may compete with the specific molds and bacteria you want to proliferate. If you want to pasteurize raw milk, heat it to 145 degrees Fahrenheit in a stainless steel pot or double boiler. Hold the temperature there for 30 minutes, then chill the pot until the temperature of the milk dips to 40 degrees.

Low-fat milk also can be used to make cheese, but you’ll get less cheese as a result. Store-bought milk will work, too. Just be sure to avoid any brands that say “ultra-pasteurized.” Ultra-high-temperature pasteurization allows milk to be shipped long distances and stored without refrigeration, but its coagulating ability is damaged in the process. Ultra-pasteurized milk can sit around for many weeks without spoiling, but it can’t be made into cheese.

Get some culture. Cheese cultures and starters include bacteria, molds and acids that encourage coagulation and/or help develop unique flavors. They can be found at natural foods stores and specialty suppliers. Try New England Cheesemaking Supply or Leeners.

Rennet comes from what? Rennet, which comes in liquid, tablet or powder form, contains enzymes that cause milk solids to separate from clear whey and form curds. Traditionally, rennet is made from the stomach lining of an infant ruminant — aka grazing — animal. (The enzymes help the animal digest its mother’s milk.)

Although most store-bought cheeses rely on animal-based rennet, vegetable rennet also is widely available. It’s made from plants that have coagulating properties, such as fig and thistle.

Better not forget the salt. Salt enhances flavor, draws out excess moisture and acts as a preservative. Avoid iodized salt, because it can put the brakes on active starter bacteria. Specialty cheese salt is coarser than regular table salt, and is non-iodized.

Clean up the water. It’s best to use filtered water when making cheese, as some water supplies contain compounds that compromise milk’s ability to be made into cheese.

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30-minute Mozzarella

1 gallon milk
1 1/2 tsp powdered citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup cool water
1/4 tsp liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool water (if using rennet tablets, follow conversion instructions on the package)
1 to 2 tsp cheese salt

Slowly heat the milk to 55 degrees Fahrenheit in a stainless steel pot. While stirring, slowly add the citric acid solution to the milk and mix thoroughly but gently.

Heat the milk to 88 degrees over medium-low heat. The milk will begin to thicken like yogurt.

Gently stir in the diluted rennet for 30 seconds. Then don’t disturb the milk while you let it heat to between 100 and 105 degrees. In about 5 to 8 minutes, the curds should begin to break up and pull away from the sides of the pot. Turn off the heat.

The curds will look like thick yogurt and become a bit shiny, and the whey will be clear. If the whey is still milky white, wait a few more minutes before turning off the heat. Scoop out the curds with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl. Reserve the whey. Press the curds gently with your hands, squeezing out as much whey as possible.

Heat the reserved whey to 175 degrees. Shape the curds into several small balls, rolling them between your palms. Put them, one at a time, into a ladle, and dip them in the hot whey for several seconds. Then gently fold the cheese over and over (as in kneading bread) with a spoon or your hand. (You’ll want to don rubber gloves at this point, as the cheese will be extremely hot.) This distributes the heat evenly throughout the cheese, which will not stretch until it is too hot to touch (145 degrees inside the curd).

Repeat this process several times until the curd is smooth and pliable; mix in salt after the second time. When the cheese stretches like taffy, it’s done. If the curds break instead of stretch, they are too cool and need to be reheated.

When the cheese is smooth and shiny, roll it into balls and eat while warm. Although best eaten fresh, it can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or so. Yield: About 1 pound

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Simple Cream Cheese

2 quarts cream or half-and-half, at room temperature (about 72 degrees)
1 packet direct-set mesophilic starter or 4 ounces prepared mesophilic starter
Cheese salt (optional)

Add the starter to the cream, and mix thoroughly. Cover and let sit for 12 hours; a solid curd will form.

Pour the curd into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Tie the cheesecloth into a bag, and hang from a hook until the bag stops dripping, about 12 hours. Changing the bag once or twice can speed up the process.

Place cheese in a bowl and mix in the desired amount of salt. You can leave the cheese in this container, or pack it into molds of any size. You can also add any desired herbs and spices at this stage. Your cream cheese will store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Yield: About 1 pound

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Tangy Labneh (Yogurt Cheese)

1 quart milk
1 tbsp plain yogurt containing live cultures (store-bought or saved from your last batch)

Slowly heat the milk to 180 degrees. Let it cool to 110 degrees, then add the starter yogurt and mix well. Keep covered at about 110 degrees for 8 to 12 hours. Letting it sit at this temperature longer results in a thicker, tangier yogurt. (Inexpensive, electric yogurt makers are designed to keep the temperature constant, but you can use an insulated thermos or cooler to do the same thing.)

At this point, you should have perfectly delicious plain, tangy yogurt! To turn your yogurt into delicious cheese, all you do is strain the whey out of it. Line a colander with cheesecloth and let it drain at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, or until it reaches desired thickness. Now simply add whatever flavorings you like. Here are a couple simple ideas: toasted nuts, chopped fruit and honey for a sweet treat; or roasted seeds and sautéed garlic, herbs and peppers for a savory cheese. Rely on whatever is fresh and in season. Yield: 8 to 12 ounce

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Superquick Ricotta

Ricotta is traditionally made by recooking the whey from a previous batch of hard cheese, such as Parmesan, but this recipe is a simpler version. Use fresh ricotta in Italian classics like lasagna, or serve with honey and Italian breads.

1 gallon milk
1 tsp citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup cool water
1 tsp cheese salt (optional)

Add the milk and the citric acid solution to a stainless steel pot. Stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, slowly heat the mixture to between 185 and 195 degrees. As soon as the curds and whey separate (there should be no milky whey, only clear whey), turn off the heat and let sit undisturbed for 10 minutes.

Line a colander with cheesecloth, and ladle the curds into the colander. Mix in the salt with a spoon. Let the cheese drain for 30 to 45 minutes. For firmer cheese, tie the cheesecloth into a bag and hang it from a hook to drain. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Yield: 1 1/2 to 2 pounds

These recipes are adapted from Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll. She has taught thousands of people to make cheese; her devotees refer to Carroll as “The Cheese Queen.” You can order the special ingredients from her company, New England Cheesemaking Supply or call 413-628-3808. And be sure to check out the site’s step-by-step photographic instructions for making many kinds of cheese.

source

Misc

Creme Fraiche

2 cups cream
3 tbsp buttermilk

Heat cream until just tepid (you just want to take the chill off it). Remove from heat and stir in buttermilk. Put in a lidded glass jar and leave to rest at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring a couple of times. Don’t worry about leaving the mixture out of the fridge, as the cultures in the buttermilk stop it from going off and will transform the mixture into Crème Fraîche.

After 24 hours at room temperature the mixture will have thickened somewhat. Stir or shake, cover again and put in the fridge for another 24 hours. It will continue to thicken a little and will develop the lovely light acidic flavour that defines Crème Fraîche. To thicken, simply shake in the jar or whip to your desired consistency. Crème Fraîche will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days.

Misc

How to roll a Sponge Roll cake

You’ll need: A sponge roll pan, which is a shallow rectangular pan with one-inch-deep sides, and a kitchen towel.

Step One: First, spray the pan with cooking spray, line with a sheet of wax paper, then coat the wax paper with cooking spray. Spraying both the pan and wax paper will prevent the cake from sticking. Next, pour the batter, and bake.

Step Two: While the cake is baking, lay a dry kitchen towel slightly larger than the pan on a flat surface, and dust the towel with a thin layer of powdered sugar. The sugar prevents the cake from sticking.

Step Three: Remove the cake from the oven, and turn the pan over onto the towel, releasing the cake and wax paper. Slowly peel the wax paper from the cake. It’s OK if a thin layer of cake remains on the paper.

Step Four: Roll the towel and the cake together, pressing gently. Be sure to move slowly and carefully throughout the entire rolling process. The towel will end up coiled inside the cake.

Step Five: Cool the cake on a wire rack, seam side down. After an hour, unroll and remove the towel.. The cake will be slightly wavy. Carefully spread your filling as directed, and reroll the cake.

Misc

Dulce de leche (caramel)

1 tin sweetened condensed milk

Immerse the can unopened in a deep pan of boiling water. Cover and boil for 3 hours making sure that the pan does not boil dry *(see CAUTION).
Remove the tin from the water and allow to cool completely before opening. Inside you will find the soft caramel filling.

*CAUTION
It is absolutely vital to top up the pan of boiling water frequently during the cooking of the cans. 2 hours is a long time and if they are allowed to boil dry the cans will explode causing a grave risk to life, limb and kitchen ceilings.