Q: I struggle to get the perfect roast chicken, what are the cooking times and how do i get that crispy skin.

A: Chicken is one of the most commonly eaten proteins in the world so we should all know how to cook the perfect bird.

At Wickedfood Cooking School we teach one of the easiest and hassle free ways of cooking the perfect roast chicken in our individual classes. This quick and easy recipe doesn’t have many ingredients but that makes it simple and really tasty.

±1,1kg chickens
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
2. Trim the chicken of excess skin, fat and any feathers that may be left behind.
3. Rinse the chicken out with cold water and pat dry.
4. Rub the whole chicken with salt and pepper (including the cavity of the chicken).
5. Place the chicken in the oven with the breast side facing down (this allows all the fat and juices to run through the breast and keeps it moist)
6. Cook for 10 minutes at 220°C and then switch oven down to 180°C and leave for 30 minutes, turn the chicken and cook for a further 20 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven allow to rest for 5-10 minutes and then carve and serve.

Tip: For a complete meal place mushrooms, roughly chopped onions and cubed potatoes in a roasting tray into the oven under the chicken at the same time as the chicken so the juices and fat from the chicken can drip into the potato mixture.

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood Cooking School Johannesburg 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 team building cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Q: I was recently at Wickedfood where we made a fantastic cheesecake, I wanted to know is it possible to replace the lemon and orange zest and juice with other flavours such as chocolate especially white chocolate?

A: Yes definitely, cheesecakes are fantastic dessert’s or high tea snacks and are  really easy to make (with a fridge cheesecake being the easiest as apposed to a baked one.) There are really no limitations to making cheese cake find a recipe that works well for you and then try replacing the flavourents ie: orange zest, lemon zest, berries etc…with flavours of your choice.

On Sunday the 28th June Wickedfood Cooking School will be teaching an “all you need to know” class on chocolate where we will be doing: Chocolate cakes, glazes, Chocolate truffles, biscuits, chocolate brownies and chocolate mousse.

Here is a recipe for one of the most decadent fridge cheesecakes around. The mixture is ideal for a 28cm spring form pan. Serve as a dessert, with a nice acidic berry coulis, or each wedge, drizzled with passion fruit pulp, which will cut through the sweetness.

Base
200g tennis biscuits, crumbed
125g butter, melted

Filling
500g white cooking chocolate
250ml cream
250g cream cheese
250g mascarpone cheese
1 lemon, the rind and juice of (optional)

Garnish
Berry coulis or passion fruit pulp

Base
1.    Mix together the crumbed biscuits and melted butter. Press the biscuits melted butter mixture into the base of a 28cm spring form tin. Place in the fridge and allow to chill.

Filling
2.    Place the chocolate and cream in a bowl and then melt the chocolate by either placing the bowl on top of hot water, or in the microwave at 30 second intervals on full power, stirring between intervals (do not allow the mixture to come to the boil).

3.    Once the chocolate has melted, allow the mixture to cool slightly and then whisk in the cream cheese, mascarpone and lemon, if using, until smooth and well blended.

4.    Pour the mixture over the biscuit base and place back in the fridge to set overnight.

Serve
5.    Serve each slice of cake, drizzled with berry coulis or passion fruit pulp.

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood Cooking School Johannesburg 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 team building cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Q: I was watching a cooking show the other day where they were making a Chicken Korma, looked like and easy enough recipe but one item the recipe called for was Korma paste. How would one make it as i am sure the store bought ones would contain a few preservatives and i try to stick away from those.

A: Chicken korma is a fantastic easy curry to make. I do agree with you about using products that have preservatives in them we try keep away from foods that have been processed to much and will always try make from fresh.

This is a very easy korma paste recipe that we made recently in our Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food class.

2 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
4cm ginger, peeled and finely grated
½t cayenne pepper
1t garam masala
½t sea salt
2T grapeseed oil
1T tomato puree
2 fresh green chillies seeded and finely sliced
3T desiccated coconut
2T ground almonds
Small bunch fresh coriander stalks and leaves chopped

Dry fry
2t cumin seeds
1t coriander seeds

1.    Dry fry seeds until they start to change colour and release an aromatic smell.
2.    Place all the ingredients in a food processor or mortar and pestle and grind until the desired paste is achieved.

Wickedfood Cooking School will be holding an “all you need to know about indian curry” class on the 6th of July where we will give an in-depth hands on demonstration in preparing a number of great Indian curries. Cooking methods covered will include:
A hot fragrant beef curry
A classic lamb curry
Mild slow cooked curry.
A famous Mongol dishes
Fish curry
A vegetarian stew.

Other topics covered will include:

Blending spices and masala mixes;
Making gee and its uses in Indian cooking

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood Cooking school Johannesburg 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 team building cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Q: Is making halva possible in a home kitchen? If so, could you provide a recipe? Many Thanks.

A: Yes it possible and it is not so hard actually, the two main types of halva are semolina based (popular in Iran, Turkey, Somalia, India, and Afghanistan) and tahini (sesame paste) based (popular in eastern Mediterranean and Balkan regions, in countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Russia, Greece Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Macedonia, Albania, Syria, Central Asia, Caucasus region and Turkey). Their are also halva’s made with other ingredients such as sunflower seeds, various nuts lentils, beans and vegetables like carrots and pumpkins.

425ml pint whole milk
3 T rosewater
1 vanilla pod, split/ 1T vanilla essance
1 t ground cardamom seeds
4 T caster sugar
125g coarse semolina
50g sultanas
1-3 T butter

optional 1t of the following-chocolate slivers, pecan nuts, dried apricots, dates (nearly anything that you enjoy)

1. Heat the milk, rosewater, vanilla pod, ground cardomom seeds and caster sugar in a pan over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
2. Add the semolina and sultanas and cook, whisking continuously, for 5-10 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened. Remove from the heat and discard the vanilla pod (if using).
3. Spoon the mixture into a deep baking tray. Set aside and allow to cool. once cooled place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes, or until set will make it easier to slice).
4. Cut the halva into squares.
5. Heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. once hot and sizzeling add the halva squares and fry for 2-3 minutes, turning once, or until golden-brown on both sides.

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Boksburg – (011) 823-5365 boksburg@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 classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Q: If you can cook oxtail why don’t we eat lambs tail?

A: Almost all lambs are born with tails. The length of a lamb’s tail is half-way between the length of its mother’s tail and its father’s tail – the tail length is a heritable trait.

Under modern sheep production systems, tails are usually docked (shortened) to prevent fecal matter from accumulating on the back side of the sheep, which can result in fly strike (wool maggots). Tail docking also makes it easier to shear the sheep. The tail does not interfere with breeding or lambing.

25 percent of the world’s sheep population have fat or broad rumps and/or tails.   It is not customary to dock their tails, the fat tail is considered a delicacy in some cultures.  Sheep-tail fat is called “allyah” in Arabic. Historical relgious text (Hadith) claims that sheep-tail fat is a “cure” for sciatica (lower back and leg pain caused by irritation of the scaitic nerve).

In the Karoo, where large numbers of sheep’s tales are docked, these tales of whom eaten as a delicacy.  In a more rudimentary fashion, they are thrown whole onto a fire and cooked skin and all, and then the skin is peeled off and the meat is sucked off the bone.   At the Calvinia Meat Festival which happens every year on the lost weekend in August, you can enjoy these delicacies with just a sprinkling salt cooked over an open fire.  Unfortunately due to their size, they have approximately the same amount of meat as a very malnourished  lamb chop, so 10 would really just be a snack.

Also see our delicious oxtail recipe – click here

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Boksburg – (011) 823-5365 boksburg@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 classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.