Keep Hens' Eggs Fresh For Longer

The delicious smell of rotten eggs. I'd be happy to never have to smell it again.

Buying eggs

• The colour of the shell isn't important, but shiny eggs are likely to be older (the eggs above have been died so are meant to be shiny).

Raw eggs

• Back in the day, when hens laid fewer eggs during midwinter, people would store eggs in advance by gently rubbing a little butter onto the shells. The butter stops air moving through the porous shells so that bacteria cannot get in. Instead of butter you could use oil or glycerine. Put them in a pot with a lid and store in a cool, dark place. A cellar is perfect. Best for fresh eggs- eggs bought in shops may already have been treated with preservatives and you can never tell how old they are. Make sure that you wash the eggs first do get off any dirt before you brush them with butter.
• Mark eggs with a pencil. You can devise your own secret code, but even a small line would help you tell older ones from newer ones.
• Find out how fresh your egg is. Put it in a cold water. Fresh eggs lie on their sides, older eggs will stand upright. Eggs that float to the top are old- avoid at all costs!
• If you aren't going to put oil or butter on your eggs, don't wash them before storing! Washing them will also remove the protective coatin and they will actually go off more quickly.
• Sometimes it can seem that the only place for a cracked egg is the bin. But you can still boil it if you wrap them in foil first, or you could always freeze it (see below). This is only a good idea if you cracked the egg yourself! If it arrives cracked, best to dispose of it as you cannot be sure what could have got into the egg.
• Cover egg yolks in water to keep them for longer
• Egg whites needs to be stored in a clean, dry, air-tight container.
• To insure lasting freshness of eggs, rotate and mark them. If you place a small pencil mark on old eggs you will be certain to identify them and use them before recently purchased eggs.

Keep cooked eggs fresh

• When you hard boil eggs and are intending on keeping them stocked in the fridge, have you thought of putting a drop of food colouring the water to make sure that you can distinguish them from raw eggs? Another, greener, more waste-friendly tip is the traditional Cumbrian method of boiling eggs with onion skins. The more onion skins, the stronger the dye.
• Don't be tempted to freeze boiled eggs. Their texture and taste will change.

Freezing eggs

• Break the yolks, as they don't freeze well otherwise.
• You can freeze yolks and whites separately, or together.
• If you mix yolks and whites together and freeze in an icecube tray, two cubes would be equivalent to a large egg.
• Whole eggs cannot be frozen; the shells will crack as the liquid expands.

Less waste when cooking with eggs

• If you add one teaspoon of vinegar to water when boiling eggs they may not crack.
• Cotton-buds are you friend if you only want egg white. Even a little yolk or oil can ruin a recipe, so remove drops of yolk with a cotton bud. If you are using an electric whisk ensure that there is no oil on the blades.
• Slice hard boiled eggs more easily by dipping the knife in water first.
  photo with thanks to ANDI2...trying to catch up

Nettles

If you ever ran outside in shorts as a child in the countryside, chances are that you realised the hard way that this country is full of stinging nettles.

But nettles, far from only being a blight, can also provide great (and free) greenery for you kitchen.

Nettles can be substituted for spinach in most recipes. Younger nettles will be sweeter than older nettles.

To pick nettles it is advisable to wear rubber gloves. Chop the nettles and blanch

To freeze nettles (they will last around 2 months in the freezer- defrost for ~ an hour in a bowl of cold water) 2lb of nettles will reduce, like spinach, to give you around 4 cups.

1. Remove the leaves from the stems
2. Blanch (to stop decay even whilst frozen and to get rid of the stingi-ness). You need to do this in a large pan of boiling water over a high heat. Drain, retaining two cups of water, once the water returns to the boil.
3. Saute gently in olive oil over a fairly gentle heat. You might want to add chopped garlic, chili flakes to the pan first. Stir them in the oil for a couple of mins to release their flavours. These flavours will intensify in the freezer. You need to cook them until they are mushy and most of the water has been cooked out.
4. Separate them into freezer bags, remove the air and remember to write on the date. Put in the freezer when they are cool.

Why not use your blanched or de-frosted nettles to make this wonderful looking Italian Ricotta and Greens Torte? Instead of ricotta you could also use home-made cheese as we explained here.

photo with thanks to Mr & Mrs Stickfingers

Mediterranean Inspired Cheese Preserved in Olive Oil

Olive oil, golden goodness. We have heard it said hundreds of times, but have you ever thought of it as a preservative? It keeps out air and the bacteria that lurk in it

It has long been used as a traditional preservative in Mediterranean countries, and you can often find Greek feta or halloumi, or the Spanish sheep's milk cheese, Manchega, preserved in olive oil.

If have bought lots of cheese which you are not sure how to get through, want to make an exciting tapas or are just feeling creative, why not try preserving cheese in olive oil?

Before you preserve the cheese:

1. It must be clean and dry. Use paper towels and cut off anything you have doubts about. Make sure your hand are clean before you touch it.
2. The jam jars or kilner jars you use must be completely clean and dry and sterilized.

To preserve the cheese:

1. Cut the cheese into small cubes and place in the jar
   
2. Cover the cheese with olive oil, although not right up to top of the jar. Extra virgin olive oil will give you the best flavour.
3. You might want to add some flavours to the oil, such as garlic cloves, sprigs of rosemary, chili peppers, oregano, thyme and basil. They should be dry.
   
4. Once you open it, remove any sprigs of herbs- once exposed to the air they might deteriorate and the oil will already have taken on the their flavour.
5. Don't waste the oil! Drizzle it over salads, fresh bread or as an accent on top of a bowl of home-made soup.
   

top photo with thanks to Dot!
bottom photo with thanks to Neven Mrgan

Keeping Cheese Fresh

A friend has kids who are lactose intolerant, but loves cheese herself. Buying a large amount of cheese can be cheaper, and I thought I would share a great tip for keeping cheese soft- hard and cracked cheese is not as attractive in salads and the crunch doesn't add anything particularly positive to sandwiches.

She tightly wraps her cheese in a cheese cloth which she has rubbed butter into and leaves it in a cool, dark place (fridges can be damp and can actually make cheese go mouldy more easily). Besides, cheese tastes better at room temperature. The cheese keeps fresh and neother goes mouldy nor cracks. The fat in the cloth stops bacteria, moulds and damp getting in.

Cheese needs to breathe, so wrapping in cling film is not always the best option for long term preservation, and remember that cheeses can absorb smells and strong smelled cheeses can make other food smell.

Other tips:

• You can always freeze cheese. You need to make sure it is airtight and sealed to prevent freezer burn. This is fine for cheeses like cheddar, and cheeses that you want to use for cooking, but I wouldn't recommend it for soft or cream cheeses, or a speciality cheese.
• Mouldy hard cheese is not dangerous, although it may not taste great. Just cut off the mouldy part and a little more (5mm, 1/4 inch) and it will be fine.
• You could just brush the cut end of the cheese with butter or olive oil
• If you have a bit of left over cheese you could always make a Mediterranean-inspired cheese in olive oil.
• The general principle is to try to keep it dry and airtight. Some people use aluminium foil, others may use a cloth or paper towel sprayed with vinegar to keep it air tight. The vinegar flavour would affect the taste of the cheese though...
  

photo with thanks to MarxFoods.com