Enigin

MAYDAY - Summers a time for saving at Enigin

Its official, here at Enigin summer is jus around the corner.  The jackets and overcoats are being left at home as the temperatures rise to a comfortable level.  Its now that we should all be thinking about saving energy as we turn down the heating and use less lighting as the daylight lasts longer.   Get out in the garden during the week end and avoid sitting in front of the TV, in fact why not switch it off rather than leaving it on standbye to gether with the DVD player, Sky box and Surround Sound system.  If you were lucky enough to have an Enigin Eniscope installed at home you would be able to see the saving this could make for you.  

The time also came for change came when I decided that the old car had to go!  Travelling in to Enigin every day certainly puts the miles on the car.  In my bid to “Save the planet”!! I have reduced my cars engine size from 2000cc to 1600cc which in turn has reduced my insurance costs and my road tax costs.  Its quite painless really just like saving energy the Enigin way.

Enigin - Held up by Ash

By now most of the world including Enigin has become victims of the Icelandic Volcanic Ash clouds that have been circulating for the past few weeks.  This has not only caused problems with Enigin’s outgoing customer orders and incoming stock orders but we have had staff members stranded because of it.  It just goes to show just how much we all rely on the Airfreight service.  Here in the UK we were on the brink of chaos as imports of vegetables and fruit from other countries dried up.  Wholesalers had to set up road links with the EU to bring supplies in from alternative sources which sadly increases the carbon footprint of the produce.  So with the above in mind do you not think it would be beneficial to us all if we tried to grow a few items in our gardens instead of cultivating lawns?  Enigin have many solutions fopr saving energy but we all need to reduce our carbon footprint and we can do this by growing some of our own food.  It also gives you a warm fuzzy feeling that youve done your bit to save the planet and it tastes great. 

As a Summer Salad hows about a nice fillet of wild Salmon served with a green pea and asparagus salad and new cornish potatoes!!!

Enigin - Snow’s no boundaries

Well it been an interesting time here at Enigin following a week or so of snow and ice that has literally brought the UK to a standstill.  The upshot of this adverse weather has been major delays in stock being delivered to us creating a small but noticable delay in Enigin orders being despatched.  Most of our staff were unable to get into work and thanks to the age of technology most were able to continue to work from their home environement.  There were a few of us that managed to get in every day through the ice and snow to keep the flag flying so to speak.   Hopefully weve now seen the end of the bad weather and we can all get back to normal.  Apologies to those of our partners and distributors that experienced order delays during this period.

Enigin - Customs Issues

The winds of change are being felt here at Enigin with international customs clearance agencies becoming more critical with physical checks of imported products. Whilst the increased awareness for security and illegal trafficking heightens the upshot unfortunately means delays in clearance for the customer. Sadly Enigin has no control over these activities. Over the past few months we have been striving to bring all of our systems up to date to ensure that we can ensure that we have done everything possible to smooth the clearance process for our customers. Sadly this does not always work and you can almost guarantee that when a customers order is urgent, the customs clearance agency will intervene and slow up the process.

Customs import duty and taxes are payable by the customer to the customs clearance agencies where applicable. Delays in making these payments can also cause delays in receiving your order. Enigin must point out that we have absolutely no control over how much duty is payable in your particular country for the products you may order.

To these ends, Enigin is undertaking discussions with our own customs and revenue service in an attempt to smooth the service we offer to our customers even more. Hopefully the results of these meetings will clear up any grey area’s we may have. If you do experience problems or you require assistance with issues in your particular country please contact us and we will do what we can to help, as long as it is legal.

Enigin.com When you get Fed up with Turkey?

No doubt that most of the Enigin staff will be tucking in to the traditional turkey this holiday season but at some point we will all get fed up of it.  In previous years whilst I tended to go for a smaller bird and as soon as it was cooked remove the thigh and legs , let them cool and then freeze them separately.  These would be used in the later months for curries soups or for a roast dinner.  So as a treat for my Enigin colleagues I have put together a rather easy 3 course dinner for the time when the Turkey blues set in.

Menu - Serves 4

Crusted Feta with Saffron Braised Baby Peppers

Sesame Crusted Tuna, Shiitake Mushrooms and Blood Orange Vinaigrette Winter Salad

Watermelon, Mint and Orange Blossom Salad

Ingredients

Crusted feta
4 square pieces of Dodoni feta (7cm) 1.5cm thick
100g sesame seeds
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp milk
Olive oil for frying

Saffron braised baby peppers
500g mixed baby peppers (Available from most markets)
6 shallots
1 clove garlic
2g Greek saffron
50mls ouzo
50mls sherry vinegar
150mls extra virgin olive oil

Sesame Crusted Tuna, Shiitake Mushrooms and Blood Orange Vinaigrette Winter Salad

4 x 150g tuna loins
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
2 tsp soy
2 tbsp olive oil
60g sesame seeds
125ml blood orange juice
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Sea salt
125ml virgin olive oil & extra for sautéing
1 blood orange, zest and segments
2 shallots, finely sliced
225g shiitake mushrooms, stalked & sliced
1 head radicchio, quartered, cored & leaves separated
Small handful each fennel fronds, mint & parsley leaves

Watermelon, Mint and Orange Blossom Salad

¼ large ripe seedless watermelon
¼ bunches young mint
50gm toasted pine nuts
1 vanilla pod
100gm natural yoghurt
50gms honey
½ tsp cinnamon powder
Peel of 1 orange
50mls orange blossom water
1 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 cinnamon quill
200gm sugar
300mls water

Method

Sesame Crusted Feta with Saffron Braised Baby Peppers

Place flour in a flat tray, and place sesame seeds in another flat tray.
Wisk the eggs and milk together in a small stainless steel bowl.
Lightly flour the feta and place in egg mix, then into the sesame seeds. Make sure that they are coated fully and have no excess egg or flour.
Pan fry in olive oil for about 3 minutes, turning until both sides are golden.

To prepare the peppers, pre heat oven to 250°C. Place the peppers in a large deep baking tray. Peel the shallots and garlic and slice finely. Add to the peppers. Sprinkle the saffron threads and olive oil evenly over the peppers.
Place in the oven for 9 minutes until the skins of the peppers start to burst
Combine the ouzo and sherry vinegar. As soon as the peppers come out of the oven, poor the ouzo and sherry vinegar over them. This will deglaze.
Serve with the crusted feta.

Sesame Crusted Tuna, Shiitake Mushrooms and Blood Orange Vinaigrette Winter Salad

Combine first quantity of mustard, honey, soy and olive oil, and brush onto tuna.

Tip sesame seeds onto a plate with a little seasoning and gently roll loins to coat evenly. Chill until ready to cook.

Meanwhile, reduce blood orange juice by half. Remove from heat. Combine reduced juice, mustard, vinegar and salt. Whisk in olive oil. Set aside.

In fry pan, sauté shallots in olive oil till slightly softened. Add shiitake mushrooms & cook for further 2 minutes. Season. Add radicchio, orange segments. Toss together briefly then arrange on plates.

Pan fry tuna loins until golden. Carve into thick slices & place on shiitake & radicchio mixture. Drizzle with blood orange dressing. Combine zest, herbs and scatter over tuna.

Watermelon, Mint and Orange Blossom Salad

Cut watermelon into desired shapes.
Combine the natural yoghurt and honey and add some cinnamon powder to taste. Refrigerate.

Bring water and sugar to the boil. Remove from heat and add, cloves, cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom and orange peal
Once chilled add orange blossom. Chill. Pick leaves from mint.

To serve, dress watermelon with syrup, pine nuts and mint and serve with a scoop of the honey yoghurt.

 Enjoy your Dinner.

The Enigin Chef

Enigin.com - CQDX, CQDX any Hams Out There?

Working for Enigin, one of my hobbies is Amateur radio.   It wont be long now and if you are an Amateur Radio or Short wave listener you will able to get involved in the Annual RNLI SOS charity Radio Event.

What is SOS Radio Week all about?

SOS Radio Week is nine days of fun, non-competitive, operating and fund raising by Radio Amateurs for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). It takes place at the end of January to co-incide with the RNLI’s own SOS fund raising day.

How to get involved

Getting involved is simple, regardless of whether you can operate all week, for one one day, or just a couple of hours each day - every penny raised makes a big difference to the RNLI.   As soon as it’s 00:00 (UTC) on the start of the event you start making as many contacts as you can, promoting SOS Radio Week to everyone you speak to. Remember, though, you cannot ask for donations over the air - you can, however, direct them to this web site for further information.

The last day of the event is the Sunday following the RNLI’s own SOS fund raising day.

Last year saw several special event stations on the air during the event, some from local stations.

I will be operating on all of the HF bands and doing my bit.  Why not listen out for me, my callsign is M3XTM and I will be operating a QRP (Low Power Output) station.  If you are not interested in amateur radio you can still make a donation to the RNLI, click the links above.  I am sure all those at Enigin will be supporting me.

Best 73s Terry M3XTM

Enigin.com – T’is the season to be jolly!!!!

The holiday season or Christmas time see’s an increase in electricity usage throughout the world. Here in the UK more people take time off from work and spend more time at home and because of this the home fuel bills tend to rise because the TV is on more, homes are decorated with coloured lights, Christmas tree’s and lastly because of the dark nights we tend to use our lights for longer periods. Normally, you can’t see, evaluate or compare the energy consumed by the equipment you use. There’s one monthly – or even quarterly – bill for everything, so any changes you make are based upon your best guess. At this time of year I think we all tend to say that we will worry about the bill in the new-year. To be honest I think I fall into this category as well and I work for Enigin.

I tend to do quite a lot of entertaining over the Christmas period and my ovens tend to be on most evenings in the run up to the big day. The mixer comes out as do other electrical gadgets in an effort to make the whole process of food preparation that little easier. The key issues are getting those dishes that can be prepared in advance out of the way and into the fridges or freezer. Other things we need to get done are those food items we intend to give as presents to out “Foody” friends. It’s a busy time but also very pleasurable.

Just now at Enigin, the Training Team are in the middle of yet another training course, the last before the Christmas break. It’s a hectic week for those involved and it’s during this period that we at Enigin have to be a little more flexible than normal supporting the team as and when we can.

So its almost the end of another year and we can now wonder what will 2010 bring?

So How’s about a nice “Stollen” recipe!!

STOLLEN

Makes: 12 thick slices

Ingredients

75g raisins
75g sultanas
25g mixed peel
50g glacé cherries, chopped
50g blanched almonds, chopped
Finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
10 cardamon pods, crushed and shells removed
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
375g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 sachet dried yeast
50g caster sugar
1 medium egg, beaten
65g unsalted butter, melted
150ml warm milk, plus 1-2 tbsp, if needed
200g white marzipan
Icing sugar, for dusting

More