Rabbits
Cuddly! Aren’t they? No! Delicious? Yes!
There is a report that they do a lot of damage to crops. As someone who keeps horses they are a nightmare, as what would happen if a horse at speed puts their foot in a rabbit hole and turns over. They don’t do too much damage to my crops as I don’t really have any, but muntjak do eat all my young trees.
The report says that nunbers are increasing and blames the government for removing rules that allow you to complain about your neighbours, who don’t keep rabbits down. And as those neighbours are often nebulous government agencies like highways or large corporations like the railways, it is not easy to complain without a big stick.
That may be the case in some areas, but I’m in the middle of nowhere and all then rabbits round here are either mine or my neighbours.
Rabbit numbers are increasing, but they really haven’t got to pest levels yet. But as they say rabbits breed like well – rabbits!
Could though one of the causes of the increase in rabbits be the ban on hunting?
But you say that you didn’t hunt rabbits with hounds! No, but you hunted foxes and whereas before the hunting ban, you saw lots of foxes round here, now they are very rare indeed. I don’t even smell them like I used to in the gateways, where they marked their territories.
So it’s not rocket science to see that if you have less foxes, you might well have more rabbits.
But why are the foxes declining? The only reason I can think, is that whereas some years ago, if they saw a fox, farmers and gamekeepers would leave him for the hunt, now they make sure he doesn’t get away.
Obviously, it needs a proper study, than just my personal observations.
Another reason for the increase is that years ago, country kids often used to go rabbiting, bring them home and skin them for the pot. I don’t know whether it’s still legal, but parents don’t let their fourteen-year-olds take out the 4-10 these days!
And talking of the pot! Rabbits are delicious and good for you!
So let’s make the farmers problem, someone else’s opportunity. We just need to buy them in the butchers or the supermarket. I’ll get some today in Waitrose for supper tonight.
The Coeliac Travel Problem
It was a two and a half hour journey of 155 miles home. But at least I had the top down on the Lotus, which is a great way to drive under the stars. Sadly, I didn’t see any meteorites.
I hadn’t eaten since lunch before I left and except for a fruit bar, I didn’t eat anything on the way back. I generally don’t stop in motorway service stations, as it means putting up and taking down the hood. Not that this is a problem, as it is much quicker, than those fancy electric ones you now get on convertibles, but I am just lazy.
But all of the garages on the A14 had shut their shops, so I got home hungry.
So I went to bed after a small whisky and a bag of crisps.
I should have planned better, but it is a real problem to find sensible gluten-free food to eat on the go. Especially as my fridge that plugs into the car has turned itself into just an insulated box!
Food Sell-By Dates
Melanie Reid wrote a thought provoking article for The Times yesterday on food sell-by dates. The first two paragraphs set the tone.
Made a cracking lasagne on Sunday. The cheese was several weeks old, the parsley so wilted it was borderline slimey, the tomatoes needed big mouldy bits cut off and the cream was ten days beyond its sell-by date. The mince was … well, I should really have cooked it midweek, but it was only a little bit grey.
The dish tasted terrific and no one in the house has yet died, or at least not so you’d notice. In fact, after a lifetime of scouring the fridge for leftovers and lost inspiration, I’m sure as a family we have superior immune systems and a sturdier bank balance. Though perhaps not quite as robust as that of one particular friend, who only ever buys food from the supermarket discard bin and is correspondingly able to fund a second home in France.
Today there is this response in the same paper.
Sir, Last night I played Russian roulette and won (“Hang the sell-by date: just eat and enjoy”, Melanie Reid, Notebook, Aug 11).
Tonight I might not be so lucky.
Tim J. Smith
Chief Executive
Food Standards Agency
What do I do? Use my commonsense and I’ve never had food poisoning. But for me being glutened is much more important. I’d admit I’ve done that a couple of times.
Are We Tourism Friendly?
I am going to see Ipswich play at Shrewsbury tonight. Let’s hope it’s better than Sunday.
So I thought I’d leave about lunchtime, go to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum and then have a meal in a decent restaurant before the match. Or have a decent lunch, then go to the Museum.
But!
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum shuts at five! In other words you arrive after lunch and have probably about two hours to explore. Surely, if we want to encourage people to stay at home, then museums should be open much later in the summer. Especially, as with Britain’s variable weather, we need to try just that bit harder.
As to restaurants, there is nothing in the area in the Good Food Guide. Not necessarily definitive, but it’s always a good pointer as to the eating experience. No restaurants at all, usually means nobody tries.
A Freezer from John Lewis
Eighteen months ago I bought a new freezer from John Lewis. It had a few moments, probably caused because I didn’t shut it properly, but everything inside was ruined.
The service man called and was charming, even though he knew that it was probably my fault.
But the best thing about the response from John Lewis was that they paid out for the food inside and the cheque arrived within five days of submitting the claim!
We hear so many stories of bad service, I think that sometimes we ought to post when it’s good! No very good!
Guess where I’ll be buying any appliances I need. In fact, since I bought the freezer, I’ve bought a bread maker, a microwave, a digital camera and a toaster from the same group.
Bad News for Coeliacs
The report on the price of sugar is bad for coeliacs like me. What will happen is that more food will use wheat glucose instead of sugar, because it’s cheaper. Unfortunately, a lot of coeliacs can’t handle this and it makes them ill.
Interestingly, the EU says that wheat glucose is alright for coeliacs to eat, so products don’t have to say they contain gluten.
Well, here’s one who’s affected by wheat glucose (maltodextrin). I am not alone!
Food Shortages
Isn’t the best way to cut food shortages, to cut the birthrate? Then we should make sure people aren’t overweight and obese.
But this report today is a typical overreaction of a government that wants to frighten us all to do their bidding. Engineers and scientists will solve the problem, just like they have every great crisis in the past. And I suspect that we can do it without using GM crops to any great extent.
There is talk that we’ll be have a more vegetarian diet. I’m afraid that would be a severe problem for me, as all of the cereals I can eat are generally imported.
Jamie Oliver’s Fish Pie
I like this recipe as except for the potato saucepan, there isn’t too much washing up and most of the preparation is done in the dish you cook it in. It’s also very gluten-free without any dodgy ingredient at all.
Here’s what Jamie says about it.
This is a fantastically simple fish pie which doesn’t involve poaching the fish or making a tedious white sauce. Loads of good, fragrant veg are added quickly by grating them in. You can use whatever fish you like, making this as luxurious as you want it to be. If you like your fish pie to be creamy, feel free to add a few tablespoons of crème fraîche to the fish.
For four people and a typical deep dish you’ll get in somewhere like Debenhams, you’ll need the following.
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1kg potatoes
- 1 carrot
- 2 sticks of celery
- 150g good Cheddar cheese
- 1 lemon
- ½ a fresh red chilli
- 4 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 300g salmon fillets, skin off and bones removed
- 300g undyed smoked haddock fillets, skin off and bones removed
- 125g king prawns, raw, peeled
- Olive oil
- Optional: a good handful of spinach, chopped
- Optional: a couple of ripe tomatoes, quartered
Note that Waitrose will take the skin of the fish. I suspect other places and of course real fishmongers will too.
This is the method.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
- Peel the potatoes and cut into 2cm chunks
- Once the water is boiling, add your potatoes and cook for around 12 minutes, until soft (you can stick your knife into them to check)
- Meanwhile, get yourself a deep baking tray or earthenware dish and stand a box grater in it
- Peel the carrot
- Grate the celery, carrot and Cheddar on the coarse side of the grater
- Use the fine side of the grater to grate the zest from the lemon
- Finely grate or chop your chilli
- Finely chop the parsley leaves and stalks and add these to the tray
- Cut the salmon and smoked haddock into bite-size chunks and add to the tray with the prawns
- Squeeze over the juice from the zested lemon (no pips please!), drizzle with olive oil and add a good pinch of salt and pepper
- If you want to add any spinach or tomatoes, do it now
- Mix everything together really well
- By now your potatoes should be cooked, so drain them in a colander and return them to the pan
- Drizzle with a couple of good lugs of olive oil and add a pinch of salt and pepper
- Mash until nice and smooth, then spread evenly over the top of the fish and grated veg
- Place in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes, or until cooked through, crispy and golden on top
Serve piping hot with tomato ketchup, baked beans, steamed veg or a lovely green salad.
I would just point this recipe to Jamie’s site, but I like to print out the recipes as I have a bad memory. And it doesn’t print from his site on my machine.
Haggis Scottish? No! It’s English
This story from England, that claims that haggis was an English dish, won’t go down well with the Scots.
Historian Catherine Brown said she found references to the dish inside a 1615 book called The English Hus-Wife. The title would pre-date Robert Burns’ poem To A Haggis, which brought fame to the delicacy, by at least 171 years.
But it does seem feasible.
Organic Food?
There has been a report that says that organic food is no better than non-organic. I probably agree, but then I use it in most of my cooking.
So why?
Take my chilli con carne, that I cooked last night. I use lean organic beef as that is better for me because of its leanness. I also feel strongly that animals should be kept well and that some sort of mark like Organic, means that higher levels of husbandry are used. In fact, I think that near-organic beef is better, as farmers who grow quality beef say that the organic rules are not always to the animals best health and make the product too expensive.
Anyway, the chilli con carne was great!
The Anonymous Widower 