Caitríona Redmond: How to make my whipped feta with crispy potatoes
Whipped feta with crispy potatoes
Once the holidays arrive I wonder how on earth the kids manage with their lunchbox in school everyday because they seem to be eating me out of house and home. It feels like I need to double my shopping budget to keep up with them.
Plus, they are growing like weeds and I will definitely be sizing up two years in the school uniform come September.
While I was never a Scout; I was a Girl Guide in my youth, but I love the motto ‘be prepared’. Every last minute decision to vacate the house is a chance for my budget to be tested.
Since I started reviewing what I keep on hand through the Summer months I’ve managed to stay on track more often than not.
For kids and adults alike, making snacks and food easy to grab and go will save you money. Nothing worse than being out and about and scrabbling in the purse for coins to feed hungry kids. Use the go- method to combat last minute financial requests.
You probably already know that ambient food doesn’t need refrigerating and can be kept in a cool dry place. My go-bag is a large supermarket carrier bag that sits in a prominent position in the kitchen.
I don’t have masses of storage space, so a bag it is. The bag is sectioned out into areas for ambient food.
I’m not ashamed to admit that there are bags of popcorn and crisps to hand, crackers and granola bars too. I’ve small resealable tubs that can be filled with nuts or whatever treats I’ve made during the week as well.
Beside the go-bag is a box for refillable water bottles and keep-cups. At the end of a day out, the bottles and cups are washed and returned to the box ready for the next outing. Hanging up in the hall are clean and empty schoolbags which are put to good use over the Summer.
If we decide to go on a trip at short notice the bags are grabbed and filled from the go-bag of food in the kitchen, the go-box in the fridge and then filled up water bottles are added. All of this takes less than 10 minutes to assemble and is perfect for impromptu escapes from the house.
There’s a go-box in the freezer. I keep frozen yoghurt pouches, muffins, and frozen bottles of water, all of which double up as freezer packs when you’re out and about in the hot weather. This gives the added bonus of ice cold water from the school bag to enjoy through the day.
I’m a big fan of encouraging my entire family to be independent and fill their own schoolbags. This way they are more likely to eat the food they choose themselves.
They fill up a whiteboard list in the kitchen with what they’d like me to buy when I do the food shop, and if they notice something is running low as well.
There’s just 8 or 9 weeks to go until we return to routine and my purse breathes a sigh of relief!
If your food is not safe, then it must be discarded. The warm weather is a high-risk time for discarding food.
I define warm weather by the point at which I must return the butter dish to the fridge. We are so lucky with our temperate climate and generally can get away with storing bread for a few days in the bread bin and said butter in a dish on the counter.
Once things get warmer it’s time to migrate fresh food to the fridge. The fridge is almost as much a high risk to your food safety as the counter.
Dairy products kept on the door of the fridge will go off rapidly, particularly if you have people in your house who like to yank open the door and oogle the contents regularly. Store your milk at the top of the fridge which is the coolest area and less prone to temperature fluctuations.
Overfilling the fridge and placing items close to the back wall can cause the fridge to work overtime to maintain fridge temperature. You will notice hard frost forming on the back of the fridge and that outside the fridge becomes very warm.
If it’s a fridge freezer, the freezer section will become frost-bound. If your fridge is working this hard over several weeks, it may overheat and fail. Save your food and your appliance, store your food carefully and keep the temperature even.
This is a handy recipe for those microwaveable packages of baby potatoes that are on special at the moment. Servings Preparation Time Cooking Time Total Time Course Ingredients 500g microwave packaged baby potatoes Olive Oil Sea Salt 150g feta 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt Zest of 1 lemon Fresh mint leaves, finely sliced To Serve: Sliced raw vegetables of your choice Salad leaves Method The easiest way to make the whipped feta is using a small processor or blender. Crumble the feta cheese into the blender. Spoon in the Greek yoghurt and 2 tablespoons of a quality extra virgin olive oil. The higher quality the better because it adds to the peppery flavour and there is no need to season with salt or pepper. Add the lemon zest and blitz or pulse in the blender until the feta is whipped smooth. Stir in the fresh mint. Cook the baby potatoes in the microwave according to the package instructions. Once cooked, place on a lined baking tray and smash flat using a heavy cup or glass. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake in the oven at 180-190°C for 25 minutes, then turn and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes until the potatoes are crispy. Serve the dip with crispy potatoes and oodles of sliced fresh vegetables. My preferences at the moment are crunchy radishes and pak choi leaves because they’re in season. Give it another week and I’ll be adding peas in their pod.Whipped feta with crispy potatoes
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