Useful Tip 1 - How to cook for two people.

I was looking at Thermal Cookware site this morning and found this question and answer which I though may be of use to many who use a thermal cooker to cook for only two people.

Question:
Is it possible to cook a small meal as sometimes I do not have enough ingredients to fill a whole pot or I may just want to have enough for one or two people?

Answer:
If you are using the one pot Shuttle Chef you can certainly cook a smaller meal however it would only retain it's core temperature above 60 degrees (food safety standards) for less than 6 to 8 hours, therefore you could prepare a smaller meal in the morning to eat at lunch time or at lunch time to eat at dinner (say 4 hours later). Or you can bring the inner pot back up to the boil 4 hours later so that it would have another 4 hours before dropping below food safety standards.

When I have been cooking a small amount I have often put this in my cake tin which I cover with baking parchment and then put this on a trivet in the inner pot filled with enough water to come 3/4 of the way up the side of the tin. This system seems to work well. This is the same method that is used to cook cakes.

Boiled fruit cake - Mr D's Thermal Cook Book

I thought today that I would give you a recipe that we have done so many times and always gets great comments when people try it. This fruit cake was one of the first recipes I tried and I couldn't believe how good the cake was. You really must give it a try.

Apart from your thermal cooker you will also need a fixed base cake tin, some baking or greaseproof paper and something to raise the cake tin from the bottom. I use for this a food ring.


THE INGREDIENTS

• 375 gms of mixed dried fruit.
• 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar.
• 1 tsp of mixed spice.
• Grated rind of an orange.
• 1/2 a cup of water or orange juice.
• 1/4 of a cup of whisky you could use sherry instead (optional).
• 125 gms of butter.
• 2 lightly beatened eggs.
• 1 cup self raising flour.
• 1 cup plain flour.
• 1/2 tsp of soda bicarb.

OPTIONAL: you can replace the water, liquor and sugar with a 450 gram tin of crushed pineapple.

THE METHOD:

1. Place the dried fruit into a saucepan with the brown sugar, mixed spice, orange rind, water, liquor and butter.
2. Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
3. Allow the mixture to cool.
4. Mix in the eggs.
5. Stir in the sifted flour and soda bicarb.
6. Line a 16 cm round cake tin or Pyrex dish (one that fits nicely into the inner pot) with baking paper.
7. Spoon the mixture into this prepared cake tin.
8. Lay a round of baking paper on top of the cake mixture then cover the tin with a trimmed piece of foil to prevent condensation from seeping in.
9. Place a trivet or metal pastry ring in the base of the inner pot and rest the cake tin on this. (If you are using the 3 litre pot the cake tin can sit on a folded pad of foil).
10. Pour enough hot water into the inner pot so that the level comes halfway up the sides of the cake tin.
11. Bring the water to the boil.
12. Put the lid on and turn down the heat to simmer gently for 30 minutes.
13. Turn off the heat and transfer the inner pot into the insulated container for a minimum of 3 to 4 hours.
    

Note: As the cake cannot dry out or overcook you can actually leave this cake over night before removing it to serve.

Andrews Spare Ribs - from Mr D's Thermal Cook Book

Last night we had some of the family around and I decided to BBQ, I know the weather was not so good but stiff upper lid and all that. I had decided to use the Cobb BBQ for the barbie with Lokkii briquettes.The lokkii briquettes are completely organic and have an organic firelighter so they are both convenient and eco friendly.

I wanted to include spare ribs in the menu as I had some in the freezer. These work well on the BBQ but are even better if cooked slowly in the Shuttle Chef so I put together a simple recipe "Andrews Spare Ribs". The reason they are called this is that a Filipino chef who unfortunately is no longer with us taught me how to cook spare ribs this way and guess what his name was Andrew.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Spare Ribs.
• 1 Red Onion chopped
• 500ml bottle tomato ketchup
• 3 cups of water
• 1 magi stock cube
• 2 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce
• 1 cup of Sprite *
• 1/2 tsp salt

* Sprite is used as a tenderiser.

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients into your thermal cooker.
2. Bring top the boil.
3. Skim off any impurities that form on the surface.
4. Turn down to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes put into thermal cooker outer pot.
6. Leave for minimum 3 hours to cook.
7. Serve with the lovely rich tomato sauce.

Poached Guinea Fowl with Vegetables - from Mr D's cookbook.

Last night we wanted something light so I put together this delightful dish of poached guinea fowl with vegetables. I served it with the perfectly cooked vegetables and drizzled over the light stock created from the poaching liquid. By poaching the guinea fowl it is moist and takes on the wonderful flavours of the fennel and other vegetables.
There was enough for 3 people but as there was only two I saved the stock we had left over, shredded the remaining Guinea fowl into it and will have it as a soup today. You could use the same recipe with chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1.5kg Guinea fowl


• 6 carrots peeled and cut into 5cm chunks.


• 2 medium leeks cleaned and cut into 5cm lengths.


• 20 small potatoes washed but not peeled.


• 1 fennel bulb sliced.


• 4 celery sticks halved.


• 1 bay leaf.


• Water.


• 2 Vegetable stock cubes or my preferred way of making stock is to use Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon Powder (obtainable from most supermarkets) . If using this add 1 tablespoon.


• Salt and freshly ground pepper.

Method:

1. Wash the guinea fowl.


2. Place the guinea fowl into the inner pot of the thermal cooker.


3. Add the carrots and leeks into the pot.


4. Add the sliced fennel bulb, celery and the potatoes.


5. Put enough water to cover all the ingredients in the pot.


6. Add the stock cubes or powder.


7. Bring to the boil.


8. Turn down the heat to a simmer and put the lid on the pot.


9. Simmer for 10 minutes then put the inner pot into the outer pot.


10. Shut the leave and leave for a minimum of 2 hours to cook..


11. Once cooked adjust the stock for seasoning.


12. Serve spooning some of the stock over the guinea fowl.
    

Christchurch Food & Wine Festival 9th & 10th of May

The weekend weather was really kind to and it definitely brought out the crowds. The streets were filled with over 100 stalls selling a great selection of food. Our stall, Mr D's Kitchen had a Chinese take away one side and man selling vodka the other. Behind us was Maguire's probably the smartest fish and chip shop I have every been in. All the fish is cooked to order and although this means a wait it was really worth it. This is fish and chips at their best.

We were very busy both days showing people the principles of thermal cooking and letting them taste the fruit cakes we made each night in our Shuttle Chef. I did not have time to have a really good look around the festival. I had intended to attend the demonstration by the Tanner brothers on Sunday but this never happened.

On Saturday Gary Rhodes and Lesley Walters were there demonstrating cooking in the Rangemaster Theatre while a friend of ours Ester Davis ran a Kid's Kitchen for children aged between 5 to 11.

The food and wine festival started on the 8th of May and goes on to the 17th. Although the street market is just the first weekend there are many activities going on the rest of the time.

The Shuttle Chef was as usual very well received in this time of credit cruntch and many people remembered using a hay box on which our thermal cooker is based. I did some demonstrating of cooking which was watched with interest and encouraged many questions as people tried to underrstand the principle of cooking without power.