Q: Thank you for the newsletter and the website. I absolutely love it. I am planning a dinner where I want to serve ostrich steaks. I have never done this before and I have gone through your site and have not found anything about ostrich. Please assist me with a recipe.

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

A good chicken stock is the basis for most  sauces and soups in Chinese cooking, including Chinese corn and chicken soup.  At Wickedfood Cooking School,  we save all the offcuts from chicken carcasses that we use, in the freezer, and then once a month make a large quantity of stock which we then freeze in 500ml quantities.  It is important to boil the stock for a long time at very low heat, barely simmering.

±500g chicken carcasses/bones and/or necks

±500g pork spare ribs or meat bones

4 spring onions, each tied in a knot

12 slices ginger, crushed with a cleaver

4L water

¹/3 cup (80ml) rice wine

2t salt

1. Remove any excess fat from the bones and discard. Chop bones into large pieces.
2. Place bones into a stock pot with spring onions, ginger and water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a mere simmer and cook for 3-4 hours. Skim to remove any impurities.
3. Strain through a fine strainer and discard the solids. Leave in the fridge overnight and then skim any remaining fat from the surface.
4. Return the stock to a pot add the rice wine and salt to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze in small portions.

Makes ± 3L.

Q: Recipe for best Chinese corn soup please.

A: Cantonese chicken and corn soup is one of the most popular soups throughout China, and also very popular and Wickedfood Cooking School in our Chinese cooking class. We use tinned creamed corn, and for a smooth texture, whizz it in a food processor for a couple of seconds. For flavour it is very important to use home made chicken stock. Traditionally only egg whites are used for this dish, but the whole egg can also be used.

250g chicken breast fillet, minced or coarsely chopped

²/3 cup Shaoxing rice wine

400g tinned creamed sweet corn

1,5L chicken stock

1t salt

2T cornflour, dissolved in a ¹/4 cup of water

2 eggs (or whites, see introduction), lightly beaten with 2T water

2t roasted sesame oil

1. Place the chicken in a bowl together with 3T of the rice wine and combine. Set aside.
2. Place any remaining wine, sweet corn, chicken stock and salt in a large pot and bring to the boil, stirring continuously.
3. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to simmer, add the chicken and stir to separate the meat. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the dissolved cornflour, in a thin stream, stirring continuously, and simmer until thickened slightly.
5. Remove from heat and pour the egg in, in a thin stream to create long strands, mixing as you pour.
6. Stir in the sesame oil. Check the seasoning and serve immediately.

Serves 6

Q: How do I cook a simple fillet of venison without all the fancy stuff?

A: Venison is a rich and flavourful and very low fat, but must be served rare, otherwise it becomes tough and dry. South African venison is generally meat from impala, kudu, eland, gemsbok, springbok, blesbok and wildhog. Venison fillet has a lot more flavor than beef fillet, and therefore at Wickedfood Cooking School we like to keep it as simple as possible. As an alternative, marinade the fillets in a mixture of approximately 1T coriander seeds, 1T black peppercorn, both crushed , with 2T olive oil and 2T brandy, for approximately three hours or overnight, then follow the recipe below, leaving out the brandy.

4 x 200g – 300g venison fillets
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup brandy
1/2 cup cream

1. Trim the fillets of any excess sinew.
2. Rub the fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat for a heavy-based pan and once searingly  hot, fry and the fillets for approximately 3- 5 minutes on each side, depending on thickness, taking care not to over cook.  Remove to a plate and keep warm.
4. Add the brandy to the pan and flame to burn off the alcohol.  Remove from heat and stir in the cream, then  the meat, together with any juices, and serve immediately.

Serves 4

For more on venison see the Wickedfood Cooking School entry Venison from May last year which has a variety of delicious venison recipes.

Roast kudu fillet

Roast venison

Red wine sauce

Ostrich neck casserole

Guineafowl

Venison pie

Q: How does one avoid mascarpone splitting when beating to soften it? I recently almost wasted 4 tubs, because it curdled instead of becoming creamy. I mixed 2 tubs, one which was at room temperature, the other fridge cold, and I thought that may have contributed, but when I used 2 cold ones, the same thing happened. I ended up with grainy tiramisu!

A: Mascarpone is a triple-cream cheese made from crème fraîche, denatured with tartaric acid. Sometimes buttermilk is added as well, depending on the brand. The whey is removed without pressing or aging. It is milky-white in color and is easily spread. It originated in the area between Lodi and Abbiategrasso, Italy, southwest of Milan, probably in the late 16th or early 17th century.

Mascarpone can split for a number of reasons, including.

1. The most common is that it is old or has not been properly handled ie the cold chain has been broken.  You can usually tell this when you open it and it looks decidedly yellow.
2. When we make  in our Italian cooking class at Wickedfood Cooking School , we place the marscapone in a bowl and then with a fork, slowly fold the Zabaglione mixture or whipped cream, ensuring that it is well incorporated.