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Cupboard and Freezer Destocking

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We're hoping to move. It should have been in the next week or so, but as always there are delays. Since April I have been working to reduce the stock in the cupboard and chest freezer. Two months later and I still haven't finished. I don't think we'll have no frozen items, but there are a few more apple crumbles with frozen stewed apple, some more jam and a few more fish meals to go. Destocking the cupboard has been a much slower task. Somehow we had a few kg of different rices; we're almost at the point where all packets are open and in use. A house-moving fruit cake should help to use up a fair amount of the dried fruit in the baking cupboard.
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Summery Salmon

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This is probably the first "summery" meal I've cooked this year. It's well and truly time the casserole dishes were left in the cupboard and the salad bowl was getting more use, but the weather hasn't exactly been normal. This is a quick and easy salmon dish for one - my wife (less fish-loving) had some chilli con carne from the freezer. 1 salmon fillet (or similar) 1 courgette 1 pepper 2 tomatoes or handful of cherry tomatoes balsamic vinegar Roughly chop the courgette, pepper and tomatoes (if using large, or leave whole if cherry). Add to a roasting dish, toss with oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for 40 mins on 170°C (fan). 10 minutes before the veg is done, heat a little oil in an oven safe frying pan, place the salmon skin side down in the pan. Turn off the heat, allow approximately 1 minute and transfer the pan to the oven. Drizzle the veg with balsamic vinegar. Serve, pouring the balsamic glaze from the roast veggie...
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How to make the best mash

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We had sausage and mash tonight, and this got me thinking about how to make the perfect mash. There are a number of variables: Potatoes. White or red? I think that the kind that stay solid when you boil them are best for mash. We had Desiree tonight, and they worked well. If the spud goes fluffy on the outside it will make a great roast but they're too watery when you mash them. How to cook them. The vitamins are just below the skin. Boiling is the most obvious but also probably the least good for you. Baking them and then mashing the middle gives a good water-free mash. Would steaming them or microwaving work? Chopping the spud into a 1cm^3 cubes does speed up boiling (a tip I knicked from Ready Steady Cook) but makes a more watery mash - if time allows then leave the chunks of spud quite large (about the size for boiled spuds). How to mash. With a masher? Well the other options include a potato ricer or something mechanical. The latter seems a bit risky and over working cooked po...
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