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Take a look at your kitchen. Every kitchen – big or small – should be like an artist’s atelier in which you can lose yourself in creative games. The kitchen has always been the centre of every home. In the past it was the place of fire, of inspiration, warmth and imagination. I remember as a child sitting in front of an old Stanley stove gazing into the flames – filled with delightful visions – while my grandmother canned pears, peaches and green beans for winter.
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CRISPY POTATO
SKINS
This is a great way of creating nourishing snack foods that you can serve either on their own or with dips for afternoon tea. serves 4 What you need 6 medium potatoes3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme 1 tsp finely chopped garlic 11/2 tsp Maldon sea salt 1 tsp freshly ground pepper Here’s how Stab the potatoes with a fork and bake in the oven at 180ºC/ 350ºF/Gas Mark 4 until tender. This usually takes about an hour. Remove the potatoes from the oven and cool. Cut each of them into six or eight wedges, scooping out the cooked potato and being careful to preserve the skins and shells to a thickness of about 10 mm (3/8 in). Now brush the potato skins inside and out with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme, garlic and salt and pepper and place, scooped side up, on a wire rack over an oven tray. Bake for a further 15 minutes then turn over and continue baking until they are crisp and brown. This usually takes another 10 minutes. Cool and serve on their own or with Basil Pesto (see xxxxx). Use the soft insides of the potatoes that you have scooped out as a thickener for soups or sauces. |
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The humble potato is a remarkable food. Few realise its nutritional power. Potatoes, with their naturally sweet flavour, are mildly diuretic. From the point of view of Chinese medicine they tonify chi – the life energy – of the spleen and pancreas. This not only makes the stomach work better, it also helps people to feel grounded. Potatoes are rich in potassium and they help to neutralize excess acidity in the body. This is why they have long been used in natural medicine as a means of relieving the discomfort of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Actually, potatoes have been used for centuries to reduce all sorts of inflammation – especially potato juice. You can squeeze the fresh juice from a raw potato by twisting it in a piece of muslin or using a juice extractor. This fresh juice has antibiotic properties and also helps establish high quality intestinal flora besides being a source of minerals, enzymes and even vitamin C. A hundred years ago, both in Europe and the United States, grated raw potatoes in a poultice were used as a means of drawing out abscesses, healing eczema and relieving swelling and soreness of the eyes – even as a way of clearing headaches. The potato is one of the world’s most nourishing foods, particularly when eaten in its skin. ! When buying potatoes, always make sure that you cut away any sprouts that grow from the eyes of the potato as well as any green spots, for they are toxic. |
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Wonderful life-giving foods, and information about what some of them can do to help prevent premature aging, protect you from degenerative conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, enhance your mood, intensify your delight in love-making, even encourage sleep inspired me to write Cook Energy, for help for all of these things is to be found in delicious foods. Recipe This Week Archives |
