Tips & 'Simple Apple crumble'

'Tips'

When I plan my meals I always think of the following:

1. How long its going to cook
2. Balance of nutrients (that may seem a little anal but having a balanced diet is very important, especially with the children. If you bring them up with this philosophy then it just becomes normal and definitely helps them keep a healthier diet when they get older)
3. Price

One of the most important thing when cooking is being organised. As I work in the trade it just comes as second nature to me. But I have a few tips:

1. Organise your kitchen. Everything has a place in the kitchen. Just think logically about where everything lives... i.e. Baking equipment all together, baking ingredients all together. Where do you store your core cooking ingredients, salt, pepper oil etc? Near the cooker as this will save time when cooking if you have these things to hand. It just makes things quicker for you when your cooking. Saving minutes makes such a differnce when cooking.
2. When planning your meals can you make 2 meals using the same main ingredient. i.e. I cooked corned beef this week which I  got to meals out of. 1. Corned beef, posted earlier this week and for todays lunch I cook corned beef hash which I will post later for you.
3. When cooking vegetables don't just cook what you need cook enough for 2 or three meals.Vegetables will stay fresh for at least 3 days in the fridge. I always just reheat them in a microwave with a little butter. So when cooking the vegetables make sure you cook them so they still have a bite to them.
4. Always look at having a wet dish i.e. A stew or bolognaise as you can cook the day before and then just re-heat

If you follow these tips it will save you time and as we all know, time is so short with our busy lives.

'Simple Apple crumble'

Prep time: Took me 10 minutes if that!

This is so quick and easy and fresh! Cost is next to nothing and you will be using good old british brambley apples (I do try and use as much local in season produce as I can. It tends to be cheaper when in season, although to be honest it's not that much cheaper but cheaper none the less...every little helps!)

Ingredients:

• 6 brambley apples
• Water
• Golden caster sugar

Method:

• Peel and dice apples
• Place in dish
• Top with water & sugar

Crumble topping

• 250g Plain flour
• 100g butter cubed
• 80g Golden caster sugar

Method:

• Soften butter first
• Sift flour
• Add sugar
• Mix together until a breadcrumb texture
• Top apples with the crumble
• Cook for 25 / 30 minutes @ 160*c on the middle shelf
• Serve with 'Ambrosia' custard....Devon knows how they make it soooo creamy!

Follow link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_iB61_dTJU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I hope this helps!

enjoy cooking peeps...