Convenience foods Why do we need them Starter

Convenience foods Why do we need them? Starter Think – Pair – Share Talk to your partner and ask them what they think about convenience foods!

Lesson Objective • To write up a useful and informative Power. Point that tells the story of how convenience food became so popular in modern day Britain Success criteria 1. To research a range of web-sites that tells you why convenience foods are popular 2. To write up a good argument about whether this type of food is good or bad 3. To look at recipes that use convenience foods in a big way 4. To write your opinions about the state of eating in the British home.

The rise and rise of convenience food • This was the gist of the news: baked beans on toast, Britain's most popular convenience food, was about to get even more convenient. "Instant" baked beans on toast, a frozen, fused sandwich that goes in the toaster, is to be tested by Heinz in New Zealand if successful, launched in the UK. It's the subject that everyone is talking about, but you have to ask: why are they doing it?

What does the evidence suggest? • Britain was meant to have turned a corner in terms of its attitude to food. Farmers' markets are springing up everywhere. A chastened Jamie Oliver has brought the woeful state of the nation's school dinners to public attention. • Manufacturers have been pressured into reducing the salt content of processed foods, and everybody is meant to understand the importance of fresh, healthy, simply prepared meals. And yet Britain now spends £ 900 m in a year on ready meals, with 31, 000 more of them bought every month than a year ago.

30 th October 2009 • What goes into food and what is slapped on the outside dominated the headlines on justfood this week. • Food manufacturers and retailers continued to fall over themselves to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable palm oil although, as our interview with the WWF revealed, there are those in the industry that have yet to take any action on the issue.

"Convenience foods are a fact of 21 st century living and fill a need in today's busy hectic and demanding lifestyles. They help to create time, " said Becky Laing, a scientist at the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Unit. The average amount of time spent preparing food has slipped to 20 minutes a day compared with two hours a day in 1980, according to a Department of Health report.

Tesco • Yeah baby, it’s back! Tesco’s £ 9 Finest meal deal is back in your local stores and this time I picked up chunky chips, steak diane, a bottle of red and the amazing looking tarte au chocolate. This is a good deal but part of me is shouting “I wouldn’t have spent that much normally” and [. . . ]

Making a high quality pastry dish • For the sweet shortcrust pastry: • • • • 175 g (6 oz) plain flour 30 g (1 oz) ground almonds 3 medium egg yolks 90 g (3 oz) caster sugar 90 g (3 oz) butter, softened 23 cm (9 in) loose-bottomed fluted flan tin For the filling: 500 g (1 lb) ripe, even-sized strawberries 15 g (½oz) caster sugar 2 large oranges ½ level tsp powdered gelatine 300 ml carton double cream 2 level tbsp icing sugar

Vegetable Strudel Recipe • Julienne all vegetables into matchstick size pieces. 2. Finely chop the tarragon and mix it with the heavy cream and Dijon mustard. Put into pan over medium heat and reduce by half, slowly simmering until sauce is thick. 3. Heat the butter(1 oz) in a large frying pan and sauté' the julienne vegetables for a couple of minutes. Add the sauce to the vegetables and season with salt and pepper and drain the moisture from the veggies through a colander while it's cooling. 4. Lay out the filo pastry on the counter. always cover the pastry when not using, as it dries out quickly) Place one sheet on the counter and lightly brush with clarified butter. Place a second sheet phyllo over the top of the first sheet and repeat the process until you have four layers of phyllo. 5. Brush the top of the fourth layer of filo with clarified butter. Place the cooled veggies into a log shape, keeping 2 in of phyllo open to each end. 6. Roll up the first turn on the log and carefully fold in each end. To form a complete closure, brush the exposed phyllo with butter and continue to roll until finished. 7. Brush the finished log with butter and bake at 350 o. F for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden brown. 8. When done remove from oven and rest for about 10 minutes. Cut both ends of the strudel and cut into 3 equal sized pieces. Cut each piece on bias (diagonal) Serve with remaining sauce.