An Orishigane and Other Graters

I have a number of odd graters.

The first and most reliable is obviously your bog standard box grater.  I am fussy with the way my  cheese sandwiches are made.  I don't like cheese slices between my wholemeal bread, I am a grated cheese sandwich kind of girl.  D often rolls his eyes at me, but i find grating the cheese accentuates the flavour more, whereas slices just offer texture.  I also use it for grating vegetable, namely carrots for Carrot cake or parsnips for Parsnip Cake.  So this box grater has seen lots of use, sadly the handle has come loose, so I'll be looking out for replacement. 

The ceramic one is known as a Orishigane (or Oroshigane). Its a Japanese grater, very different from the European ones.  First is has very fine tooth like spikes dotted over the surface and secondly, they are not perforated.  The grated vegetable: whether its diakon (radish), garlic, ginger, nutmeg, or wasabi  (horseradish)  is not pressed through the holes, but is rubbed over the spikes in a circular motion and thus remains clinging to the surface of the grater so that it can be turned into a very fine paste.  If you are ever fortunate to visit Japan, I know you can purchase some novelty shaped Japanese graters.  The only drawback with an Orishigane is cleaning it, a bit like a garlic presser, but I have since learned that a bamboo brush would sort that out.  

I have a small grater designed solely for nutmeg.  And a a couple of fancy microplane graters - that cost me a fare bit at the time.  Its good for finely grating a Parmesan style cheese over pasta or chocolate over a really indulgent Chocolate cake. 

If you don't mind me asking, how many graters do you have?  I do hope I am not the only one with a drawers full.

Whisks and Tongs

The very first whisk I ever owned was a hand held manual one (see the middle one).  I rarely use it now.  I have to be honest I do have an electric one too that comes out when whipping cream, making meringues or for souffles, though its been a while since I made souffles.  I think the last one I made and blogged abut one was a Feta Souffle .  Long time...

The duck blue whisk one (above) came free with a cooking magazine many years ago.  The one next to it is a mini whisk that I adore using for hot chocolate.

I also have a lot of tongs.  I must admit many of them have over the years been from my mothers kitchen. 

The one time I find myself using them is for serving spaghetti pasta.  I can make such a mess of it otherwise.    I also have a wooden set designed specifically for salad leaves, I promise to showcase that with my homegrown salad leaves next time.

Update: I am feeling much better - health wise and feeling more like myself so have started packing boxes for our move in two weeks time. Sadly the flat has not been sold, and though it is very unlikely, we have reduced the asking price of the flat by quite a lot, hoping for a sale sooner than later.   This means that D will still have to come up a few times until the place is sold. 

Anyway, right now, I am both excited and overwhelmed at all the stuff coming out of my cabinets: gorgeous plate, serving platters, cups and saucers.  I am amazed at some of the kitchen stuff that I am hoarding and has never seen the kitchen lights.  This is certainly going to change.  I don't know why I am keeping them hiding, time to use them, show them off and enjoy them. 

A Vegetarian Haggis Roti for Burns Night

The haggis roti also known as chapatti that I will be making later tonight will not fare well for photos so you will just have to take my word for it and wait for me to blog post about it next time. It is simply a wheat flour roti stuffed with homemade spicy vegan haggis and then cooked over a tava, a South Asian disc shaped griddle and then coated in a little butter for moisture.  As a way to use up pulses and pinhead oatmeal in my flat, I've made my own vegan haggis, but you can also purchase vegetarian haggis at some supermarkets, though they cost a fare bit these days.

As I am unable to showcase my vegetarian haggis roti at this present time, I thought I would share a link to some other roti recipes on my blog.  But imagine a veggie meaty spicy stuffed pizza. Mmmmm is right. 

There is something called Katlama in Pakistani cuisine:  a flatbread stuffed with keema (spicy minced lamb) cooked on both sides and then coated in full fat butter.  I used to indulge in katlama also known as Desi Pizza in my early teens.  My father would bring it back from his trip to Birmingham.  It was the one time we would be treated to eat something that my mother had not cooked.  So this idea of stuffing haggis (or meat) into a roti is not completely original. 

I know its a bit late, but if your still wondering what to do tonight, I also have some ideas for a fusion Burns Night cuisine.

Stuffed Haggis Mushroom with Curried Neep Chips

You may be interested to note that I was inspired to make the haggis roti by Edinburgh born Tony Singh. He is of Scottish-Sikh heritage. I had the opportunity to work with his mother in one of my previous roles in the voluntary sector, not that I knew that I knew she was his mother then. He is the co-founder and Head Chef of Oloroso and Roti in the heart of Edinburgh.

Double Boiler and Steamer

I have two double boilers.  You may know double boilers by another name - Bain Marie - a stove top cooking pot used to cook delicate sauces such as beurre blanc or to melt chocolate (for brownies), which is how I use it. It consists of an upper vessel containing the substance ie chocolate to be melted over the lower pot of water. When brought to a boil, the steam produced in the lower pot transfers heat to the upper pot and gently cooks the sauce or melts the chocolate.  

Both double boilers are second-hand.  I purchased the one below from Barras Market in Glasgow in the late 1990s while still a studen for £5 from an elderly couple who were selling a variety of used kitchen pots.   

Here is the link to the other double boiler that is made from pyrex.    I managed to bring it safely from Essex to Glasgow, now it has to be transported from Glasgow to Wales.  Will it survive the ride?!

I also have a steamer, that could do a similar job with a bowl suspended over it. 

But the steamer comes in handy for a number of things, not just steaming veg of course, but also making steamed puddings. Savoury ones such as Vegetarian Suet Mushroom Puddings and Leek Suet Pudding, also Sweet ones such as Steamed Lemon and Rosemary Pudding.

Do you have a double boiler or are you content with doing it the old way?

Egg House

I dream of having wandering chickens in my garden one day, pecking away at the garden slugs, snails and bugs- natures pest control.  The landlord of the house that I am moving into has given me permission to dig up and grow things, but he wasn't quite sure of granting us permission for keeping chickens.  The house is on the corner of a busy road that leads to the motorway, so I don't know if it would be a good idea anyway.

Right now though I give you full permission to laugh out loud at me.  I have no chickadees, and no chicken coop, but what I do have is a egg house.  Yes you read right an 'egg house'.  I saw this stylish wooden egg house, otherwise known as an egg holder - ooh maybe eight years ago in the now closed Woolworths.  I think it cost me £4.99 and holds 18 eggs.  It conjured up memories of High School.  I remember making an egg rack and a bookshelf in Woodwork.   I was quite proud of them both. 

I have also taken quite a liking to those ceramic ones that a shaped like a hen, but I don't trust my husbands clumsy hands.  He has been known to drop and smash things, by accident of course.

I know some people put their eggs in the fridge, I prefer to put them keep them out of the fridge, so that they are always at room temperature. I can't always afford organic, but the eggs always, always have to be free-range.

Here a couple of egg based recipes from my blog in 2009. The Vegetarian Scotch Egg and Baked Mexican Eggs in Tortilla Cups.   By the way, what kind of egg holders do you have in your kitchen?