Introduction
· Food safety in the kitchen
· Slow cookers
· Recipe symbols
The food we eat affects our health and well-being and budget plays an important role in what food we buy and prepare.
This recipe book is designed to take this into consideration and provides easy-to-prepare, low-budget, tasty, yet highly nutritious meals.You will find sections containing useful tips on shopping, home freezing and food safety; helpful information on healthy eating and various tasty breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes.
The 101 recipes offer variety for every age and circumstance, resulting in healthier, more balanced diets for individuals and families within a realistic budget.
Click to watch Safefood's cooking skills videos including how to cook rice, boil and egg and chop onions.
Good food safety involves knowing where bacteria are likely to thrive and not giving them a chance to get comfortable. Stay safe by following these simple guidelines on the how, when and where of food storage. Regular cleaning of worktops, chopping boards and any surfaces that come into contact with food is important in preventing the spread of bacteria.
When storing food
Store refrigerated and frozen foods as soon as possible after buying, taking care not to overload your fridge or freezer.
Store raw meat in sealed packaging/containers on the bottom shelf of the fridge to ensure juices do not come into contact with other foods.
When you have cooked food and you are not going to eat it straight away or if there are leftovers after serving, place on a clean plate, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours.
Eat leftovers within 2 to 3 days.
Freezing
Freezing is a great way to store food. If food is properly frozen there are no food safety concerns and the maximum length of time for storage of food in the freezer is a quality and not a food safety issue. There are however a number of steps that you can take to make sure that frozen food is stored safely:
Don’t put food in the freezer when it’s still hot. Cool it as quickly as possible (within two hours), cover and put in the freezer. It makes good sense to divide foods to be frozen into usable amounts and this speeds up the cooling process.
Remember to keep the freezer door properly closed and only open when necessary.
Do not freeze any foods after their “use-by- date”, because they might not be safe to eat.
Your freezer should be at -18° Celsius.
Defrosting
Most foods need to be defrosted before they can be eaten or cooked and there are a number of golden rules to make sure that the food is thawed safely:
Pre-packed foods that tell you on the label to cook from frozen should not be defrosted, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
Defrosting (cont.)
Defrost food in the fridge - it is the safest way. Allow at least 24 hours for every 2-2.5 kg.
Make sure that food has thawed completely before cooking. You can check whether the meat feels frozen by using a fork or skewer. When defrosting a whole bird, make sure there are no ice crystals in the cavity. If poultry is still partially frozen when you start to cook, it will cook more slowly and might not reach a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria.
Cook or eat defrosted food within 24 hours.
Don’t refreeze thawed food.
Don’t defrost food in the microwave unless you are going to cook and eat it straight away.
General kitchen hygiene
Regularly clean worktops, chopping boards and any surfaces that come into contact with food with hot soapy water, and a good scrub. Wash the worktop with hot soapy water before you start preparing food, and after it has been in contact with raw meat, raw eggs or soil on raw vegetables.
Clean kitchen surfaces which you come into contact with when preparing food including; fridge and door handles, the oven, the microwave, the kitchen tap and sink area regularly. Wash your chopping board with hot soapy water after each use and be sure to scrub off any food or dirt particles. Chopping boards are guilty culprits when it comes to harbouring bacteria. Never put ready-to-eat food, such as salad, bread or fruit, on a worktop or chopping board that has been touched by raw meat, unless you have washed it thoroughly first. Ideally, it’s better to have separate chopping boards for raw meat and for ready-to-eat food.
Wash dishcloths every 2 days.
If you’ve used a dishcloth to wipe up after raw meat, raw poultry or raw vegetables, then you should replace it immediately with a clean one. And if there’s a noticeable smell from your dishcloth, then it’s definitely time to change it.
Tableware and cooking utensils should be washed thoroughly in hot, soapy water or in the dishwasher. Remember in particular to wash utensils that have been used for raw meat before they are used to handle cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
Wash your hands thoroughly
Wash your hands thoroughly in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds.
Before and after handling raw meat, fish or vegetables.
After coughing, sneezing or using a handkerchief.
After handling a baby’s nappy.
After handling pets.
Food allergens
If you or a family member have a food allergy, intolerance or coeliac disease, it is important to prevent allergen-free food from getting contaminated with foods that cause sickness. A good idea is to store the allergen-free food in labelled and sealed containers (some people find colour coding helpful). When preparing food for a family member with a food allergy, intolerance or coeliac disease keep the potential for allergen cross-contamination in mind all the time, use clean utensils, chopping board, etc.
If you need to control gluten, remember how easy it is to spread flour dust around the kitchen! Always check the recipe ingredients for the allergen you are trying to avoid, particularly food product labels. Sometimes these also carry precautionary statements like ‘May contain nuts’, etc. If you see this you have to assume the product contains that allergen.
Slow cookers
Frozen meat and poultry should be fully defrosted before putting into a slow cooker, remember to defrost on the bottom shelf of the fridge.
Frozen vegetables are safe to cook in a slow cooker.
You can reheat food that has been cooked in a slow cooker but only once, ensuring it is piping hot the whole way through before serving.
You can freeze food that has been cooked in a slow cooker, once the food has fully cooled, using the same guidance outlined on page 2-3 of this section.
Slow cooking is a method of cooking which uses lower temperatures for a long period of time to cook food. Slow cookers are relatively inexpensive to buy, cheap to run and a great way of using budget ingredients.
Slow cookers are perfectly safe to use when cooking food as long as they are used correctly. It’s important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the specific model you own. Remember, do not leave your slow cooker on overnight and keep the door of the room where the slow cooker is, closed, if leaving the house.
How to use a slow cooker:
Prepare the ingredients as per the recipe.
Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker pot and stir well to combine.
Use either fresh warm stock or add stock cubes and boiling water.
Add the lid and cook for the required time on low or high, depending on when you want your dish to be ready to eat.
How much liquid to use?
Slow cookers do not need as much liquid as other cooking methods. When using a slow cooker add enough liquid to cover the food. As a guide reduce a standard recipes liquid by one third.
If you add too much, you can use cornflour to thicken your sauce. Mix one tablespoon of cornflour with an equal amount of water and add to the slow cooker pot and turn to high. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary until the desired consistency is achieved.
How long to cook a slow cooker recipe?
If a recipe normally takes:
15 to 30 minutes, cook on low for 4 to 6 hours or on high for 1 to 2 hours.
30 minutes to 1 hour, cook on low for 5 to 7 hours or on high for 2 to 3 hours.
1 to 2 hours, cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.
2 to 4 hours, cook on low for 8 to 12 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours.
Number of servings
Timing
Utensils
Utensils (continued)
