Q: Do you have a recipe for a tasty beef bolognese sauce?

A: Bolognese sauce is a meat based sauce mainly used for pasta dishes (lasagna and spaghetti Bolognese) originating form a small town in Italy named Bologna. It is best for the sauce to have a long cooking time (5-6 hours) this makes the meat become very tender and allows all the flavours to really develop into a wonderfully rich tasty sauce.

At Wickedfood Cooking School we have this tasty recipe in both our corporate and team building classes as well as our individual cooking classes. With the most popular being this fantastic one.

Bolognaise sauce

There are 4 important points to remember when making a Bolognaise (from Bologna) sauce.

1. Chop the vegetables to about 2mm squares. They should be of equal size, and a small as possible so as not to be identified once the sauce is cooked.
2. The meat must be sautéed just barely long enough to lose its raw colour. It must not brown or it will lose delicacy.
3. It must be cooked in milk before the tomatoes are added. This keeps the meat creamier and sweeter tasting.
4. It must cook at the merest simmer for a long, long time, up to 5 hours.

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
3T oil
3T (45g) butter
2 stalks celery, finely chopped

4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
500g minced lean beef
Salt
1 cup (250ml) dry red or white wine
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
Pinch nutmeg
1 tin chopped tomatoes

1. In a heavy casserole dish or pot, the deepest one you have, melt the butter with the oil (oil prevents butter from burning). Sauté the onion briefly over medium heat, until just translucent. Add the celery and carrot and cook gently until fragrant and soft, over a low heat, taking care that the onions do not change colour.
2. Add the minced beef, crumbling it in the pot with a fork. Add salt to taste, stir, and cook only until the meat has lost its raw, red colour.
3. Add the wine; turn the heat up to medium high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the wine has evaporated.
4. Turn the heat down to medium, add the milk and the nutmeg, and cook until the milk has evaporated. Stir frequently.
5. When the milk has evaporated, add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly.
6. When the tomatoes have started to bubble, turn the heat down until the sauce cooks at the gentlest simmer, just an occasional bubble. Cook, covered, for a minimum of 31/2 to 5 hours, stirring occasionally (add water, a 1/2 cup at a time if it seems too dry). Taste and check seasoning. (If you cannot keep an eye on the sauce for such a long stretch, you can turn off the heat and resume cooking it later on. But do finish cooking it in one day).
7. Serve with short pastas as the Italians do, or with spaghetti as the Americans do, or use as a sauce for lasagne.

Serves 4, for 500g dried pasta

Note: The sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days, or frozen. Reheat and simmer for about 15 minutes before using.

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: How can i prepare chicken feet the Chinese way or any other way.

A: Chicken feet or “runaways” and “walkie talkies” as they are more commonly know in South Africa are the part of the chicken that are eaten in Chinese, Jamaican, South African, Peruvian Cuisine and Philippine cuisine. They are mostly comprised of skin and tendons without much muscle which give them a different taste to the rest of the chicken. The bone content gives them great flavour.

The Wickedfood cooking school film team came upon this recipe for a Malaysian mushroom and chicken feet stew, while doing reserch for our South East Asia cooking classes.

12 black mushrooms
2t salt
1-2t vinegar
6 cups chicken stock
24 chicken feet
2 spring onions cut in 2cm lengths
2T sliced ginger

1. Soak the mushrooms in warm water for ±15 minutes, drain and cut off stalks.
2. Clean the chicken feet and boil until tender ±10 minutes, drain and mix together with chicken stock, vinegar, salt, spring onions and ginger.
3. Place in a steamer and steam for 30 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms and steam for a further 20 minutes.
5. Serve hot with plain rice.

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Kaeng kari ka - yellow curried chicken

Biryani

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

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: My pancakes seem to come out a bit chewy rather than soft and fluffy. Can you make any suggestions

A: Wickedfood Cooking School uses the following recipe in our teambuilding cooking classes, which is simple and easy to make and doesn’t require you to leave it over night as most recipes call for.

110g plain flour (not quite 1 cup)
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
§135ml milk
135ml water
2T melted butter
1t sugar
Oil for frying

1. Sieve flour and salt from high (to air) into large mixing bowl.
2. Make a well in the center and break the eggs into the well, now start to beat eggs, drawing flour from the edges, and start to add the liquid gradually.
3. Ensure you have combined all flour with the liquid then whisk once more till it is smooth and has a consistency of thin cream (add more milk if needed)  and allow to rest for ± 30 minutes.
4. Heat a small nonstick frying pan until hot (but not smoking) and add ±2T oil.
5. Wipe away the excess oil with a piece of paper towel and then keep to one side as you will need it to  grease the pan in between pancakes.
6. Switch you pan down to a medium heat and pour just enough batter to line the base of your pan.
7. Once the pancake begins to left around the edges it can be flipped over and cooked on the other side 30 sec-1min (dont over cook as this will cause the pancakes to crack).
8. turn out the pan and grease with paper towel and repeat steps 6 and 7
9. once ready pancakes can be eating with any filling you like or stack them with a piece of grease-proof paper in between each layer and allow to cool and freeze

Tip: For the best results use a non-stick teflon coated pan that has short side walls.

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood cooking school 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: Looking for a reasonably “authentic” Biryani recipe. Can you help?

A: Biryani is a set of rice-based dishes made with different spices, basmati rice and meat and/or vegetables. It was brought to India by Muslim travellers and merchants.

The name is derived from the Persian word beryā which means “fried” or “roasted”. There are ±9 main types of Biryani from awedhi biryani to south east asian biryani all with major differences, from what meat is added, if any, to what spice and flovours are used. The most common of biryani’s will conset of lamb, basmati rice, ghee,  ginger, onions, and garlic. The premium varieties include saffron.

At Wickedfood Cooking School the following recipe along with some other great Indian delights are taught in our Indian cooking class

Marinade

7cm piece of ginger, grated

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2T garam masala (see last page)

1/2t chilli powder

1/2t ground turmeric

4 chillies, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves

2T chopped mint leaves

1kg lamb (shank, leg or shoulder), cut into 3cm cubes

4 onions, thinly sliced

1/4t salt

1/2 cup oil

125g (1/4 brick) butter, melted

1 cup (250 ml) thick natural yoghurt

500 g basmati rice

1/2 cup (125ml) thick natural yoghurt

1/2t saffron strands, soaked in 2T hot milk

3T lemon juice

Sealing dough

200g flour

1t salt

Water

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
2. In a bowl, mix the marinade ingredients well, and add the lamb. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
3. Put the sliced onion in a sieve, sprinkle with the salt and leave for ±10 minutes to drain off any liquid that oozes out. Rinse and pat dry.
4. Heat the oil and butter in a large, heavy-based casserole, add the onion and fry for about 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
5. Remove ±half the oil/butter and set aside (used in step 9 to flavour the rice).
6. Fry the lamb in batches in the remaining oil and butter in the casserole until lightly browned all over – ±5 minutes per batch.
7. Once all the meat is browned, return it all to the casserole, and mix in the onion and the 1 cup yoghurt. Cook everything in the casserole over a very low heat, lid on, until the lamb is tender, – ±20-30 minutes. (At this stage the meat can be set aside in the fridge for up to 48 hours, and then gently re-heated to finish the biryani.)
8. While the meat is cooking, wash the rice under cold, running water until the water runs clear. Place in a pot and cover with ±2cm boiling water. Return the water to the boil, cook the rice for 5 minutes, then drain well and set aside.
9. Once the meat is cooked, spread the rice evenly over it. Pour the reserved oil and ghee, mixed with the 1/2 cup yoghurt, over the rice, and then drizzle the saffron and milk over it.
10. Mix the flour and salt with a little water to form a firm dough. Roll the dough into a sausage shape and press around the edge of the casserole to use as a seal between the lid and rim of the casserole.
11. Bring the meat/rice in the casserole to the boil over a high heat, then press the lid down onto the dough to seal, and transfer it to the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
12. Remove the pot and break the seal of dough before serving.

Serves 6 to 8

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood cooking school 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: Hi, I’m looking for a simple basil pesto recipe. All the recipes I’ve found so far seem to call for pine nuts – where does one buy pine nuts from?

A: Most of your larger store’s should stock pine nuts, if you have no luck there try a health specialist shop or deli. At a push, you can use peeled almonds, but the flavour and texture is not quite the same.

In our cooking classes at Wickedfood Cooking School have found that the best recipe for Basil Pesto is one that is kept fresh, simple and to a minimum so that the flavours can really come through on their own. The most common pestos are probably Pesto alla genovese (basil), Pesto alla siciliana (tomato and less basil), Pesto alla calabrese (grilled bell peppers and black pepper) and Arugula (rocket, black olives, lemon peel and coriander).

In a recent individual cookery class at Wickedfood Cooking School we used this recipe which came out as a firm favourite:

• 4 cups basil roughly torn (soft stalks can be added)
• 1-2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup toasted pine nuts
• ±1t sea salt
• ¼ cup Parmesan
• ±1 cup olive oil

1. Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic and salt in a mortar and pound until a smooth paste is reached.
2. Add the cheese and mix in well.
3. Slowly pour in the olive oil and mix until the desired consistency is reached.
4. Season with salt and pepper and store in an air-tight container for ±1 week.

Serve with fresh pastas for best results.

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood cooking school 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.