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Cooking Steak And Vegetables With A Cast Iron Skillet

September 16, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I’ve always been fascinated by cast iron cookware. I’ve never really owned any of it, apart from some Le Creuset saucepans. Of course Le Creuset pans are usually enamelled, so a bit more refined, while “real” cast iron has that “rugged” thing going on.

While looking into cast iron cookware I discovered that most of the companies and brands were based in the US. There are a couple in Europe, but most of the better known brands were from some part of the US. In the end I opted for a Lodge pre-seasoned cast iron skillet.

I picked it up on Amazon for around €45. To say that it is “solid” would be an understatement – dropping it on my foot would probably result in broken bones!

If you want to learn more about how they make the cast iron cookware here’s a video about the entire thing:

So last night I was simply dying to try out my new “toy”. I had picked up a nice little steak as well as some vegetables.

I kept the cooking pretty simple. The skillet was new, so I gave it a rinse before using it. As the makers point out:

“consider that cookware is 400ºF in 4 minutes on medium heat and is sterile at 212º F, so soap isn’t always necessary.”

So basically unless you’re dealing with actual pieces of food etc., the simple heat will sterilise and kill everything that could harm you.

Once the skillet was hot I lightly grilled the vegetables (fresh chilli, onion, garlic, mushrooms and green pepper) for a few minutes before turning the heat up high to do the steak. As I like my steaks rare I wanted the metal as hot as possible to really sear the meat. It worked out really well and the end result was excellent. Admittedly I burnt my lips a bit on some of the chilli, but that’s the risk you run with chillis 🙂

I’ll be experimenting some more over the next few days..

Here’s what last night’s end result looked like:

Yes, it was damn good!

Misbehaving With The Actifry

August 27, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I bought an Actifry several years ago. It’s a nice device and solves a problem for me: chips without using a deep fat fryer. I’ve never liked deep fat friers. Unless you change the oil regularly they are really disgusting. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy fries, but I try to avoid cooking with vegetable oil entirely. I generally do most of my cooking with olive oil and even then I don’t like the idea of using large quantities of oil for anything.

Every now and again I get an overwhelming desire to eat chips. Maybe with a steak, maybe with a burger or maybe with something else. Sure, they’re not the healthiest food out there by a long shot, but there’s no point in being miserable all the time either. I’d also rationalise that cooking my own unhealthy food is better than taking a shortcut and going to a local chipper.

I buy my meat mostly from a small local butcher, which means that they often cut the steak directly in front of me. 99% of the meat I eat at home is grilled on my George Foreman. (Getting one with removable plates has made cleaning up so much easier!)

So this week I’ve succumbed to my desire for chips a couple of times. I don’t use frozen chips – I prefer to make my own. So I’ll buy potatoes, peel them and slice them before cooking them in the actifry.

Why am I even writing about this? Well I guess it’s partially my way of dealing with my own “guilt”. I’m currently not travelling, so I’m able to cook my own meals and control what I eat and drink. While I know I’ll buy some fresh kale later today, as well as plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, I also feel that I need to be realistic. I don’t eat 100% healthy food 100% of the time, but when I’m cooking it myself I do my best to use good quality ingredients.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to be making lots of fresh soups, stews and salads. But I will still have a nice steak from time to time.

Fresh Juices In Bali

August 17, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I was in Bali for about 10 days recently. I could spend a lot of time talking about the food there (it was excellent), but before I do that I’d like to talk briefly about juices.

One of the places we went to several times was a lovely little café in Sanur – Soul in a Bowl.

During the day they serve breakfast and offer a wonderful range of juices.

Here are a few shots of some of the ones I tried:

The selection of juices was good and all at a pretty good price 45000 Indonesian Rupiah, which is roughly €3:

If you make it to Bali and are in the area I’d highly recommend Soul in a Bowl – the juices alone are worth it!

Kalita Wave Coffee Dripper

June 4, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I am a self-confessed coffee addict. Unless and until I’ve had a cup (or two) of coffee I don’t really feel like my day has started.

Over the years I’ve tried pretty much every type of coffee making contraption that exists. However recently I acquired a Kalita wave coffee dripper. It’s almost like going back in time to when I used to use filter coffee.

However the Kalita wave is a thing of beauty:

Instead of the quite nasty plastic that traditional filters use, the Kalita is available in a choice of metals. I opted for the stainless steel version, though there is also a really attractive copper one. Unfortunately the copper version would have cost practically double!

It makes a really good cup of coffee, though I’m not going to be weighing the exact quantities of coffee, water etc., that some people advise! (Who the hell has time for that?)

Slicing And Dicing Is Easier With Good Knives

May 8, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

Knives. Unless your kitchen is a very very sad place, you’ll probably have a few good cooking knives. No matter how big or varied the set of knives is you usually end up using one or two of those knives more than any others. At least in my experience anyway ..

A few years ago I bought a set of good quality Wusthoff knives. They’re very good and come in a nice solid wooden block. I even bought a similar set for my mother.

But there are always people coming out with new takes on how to design and construct knives. So a few months ago when I came across the Fini cutlery on Kickstarter I ordered a set. They were meant to arrive before Christmas, but in typical Kickstarter fashion they only arrived a few weeks ago. I was intrigued by the design and I rationalised the purchase on the simple grounds that you can never have too many good knives in your kitchen.

They were delivered a couple of weeks ago in a nicely presented box, though I doubt the box will last long.

I’ve been using them for the last few weeks and in summary they are fantastic to look at, incredibly sharp and most importantly, good to use.

Cutting, slicing, dicing etc., is a lot easier with a good knife and becomes an absolute pleasure when you have an excellent knife.

Their Kickstarter video explains why the design works so well:

Apart from a few minor mishaps where I put a bit too much of myself into my cooking (*cough*), I’ve been really enjoying working with the knives. The only thing they’re missing is a block or proper case, as the box they came in will disintegrate over time.

The much shorter handles do take a little bit of getting used to, but once you’ve changed how you hold them a little bit, I’ve found them to be easier to work with.

Later this afternoon I’ll be using them to prep and I’m looking forward to it!

Sleeping Better With Milk?

March 29, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

I take melatonin to counteract jet lag. It works pretty well, though it’s not a 100% fix for the horrible waking up in the middle of the night problem that you get when you are timezone challenged.

While I’ll freely admit that I don’t get enough sleep most of the time, it’s not due to insomnia or any issues with sleeping. I simply stay up too late and have a lot of bad habits.

But if you do suffer from sleep issues finding a reprieve is always welcome.

However most of the solutions on the market aren’t natural. Sure, you can take melatonin tablets, but it’s not a good idea to take them all the time.

So what about a milk that claims to be higher in naturally occurring melatonin?

That’s the claim being made by a Cork based farm that produces “Lullaby Milk“.

I came across it in the Supervalu in Midleton, Co. Cork and my curiosity was piqued.

The only ingredient is milk and since dairy produce is fairly well regulated in Ireland you can be pretty confident that there’s nothing else in it. So how does it work?

The producers claim that by milking the cows during the night there’s a much higher amount of natural melatonin in the milk and it isn’t impacted by the processing.

Is it true? I honestly don’t know, but some people think so ..

Easter Weekend Roast Lamb

March 28, 2016 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

Lamb is one of my favourite meats. It’s not the cheapest, but it’s so tasty that I do indulge from time to time. However, as I live alone, I don’t bother doing roast lamb unless I have guest(s). So the Easter weekend was a good excuse to do some roast lamb. The local SuperValu supermarket in Midleton has a pretty good selection of meat, so I picked up a nice piece of leg.

Roasting isn’t complicated, but you can definitely make it more interesting by adding something to the meat before you pop it in the oven.

Personally I like to slice up a couple of cloves of garlic and then insert slivers of garlic into the meat. Adding some French mustard and mixed herbs on the outside gave the meat an extra little “kick” of flavour.

The only downside with lamb is that more often than not there’s quite a bit of bone. But there’s still plenty of really good meat

I like lamb to be quite rare – why on earth would you want it overcooked?

Served with some roast vegetables and broccoli the end result was really good! (Washed down with a glass of red wine!)

Some mint sauce, if you have it, goes well with lamb. We had enough left for a small dollop each (not shown in photo).

I’ve no idea how many calories is in that, but good home cooked food is worth the indulgence from time to time!

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