Wickedfood Newsletter 12 June 09

Friday, June 12th, 2009

SUNNINGHILL>> information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Hi

With the icy weather over the past few days, what better way to spend a meal, then with the steaming plate of delicious oxtail stew, our recipe of the week.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, we are starting a new concept at Wickedfood cooking school – a 1 hour class starting promptly at 6pm, where students learn to cook a healthy homestyle dinner for two, and take the fruits of their labour home to enjoy with their partner. Each student will get to make a main dish, with veg and a starch. In the first class, we’ll be looking cooking delicious chicken breasts in a tikka yoghurt sauce, with couscous – Contact the school for more information.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Our July individual cooking class programme is up on the Internet – click the relevant school for the July programme Sunninghill

Class highlights for the next two weeks include:

  • Tuesday 16 June at 6pmFlavours of the South African Portuguese Table (R360pp per person per class). 7 tasty dishes including trinchado, chicken livers, caldo verde, chicken peri-peri, portuguese salad and crème caramel.
  • Sunday 21 June at 4pm – Jamie’s Ministry of Food – Easy Curries, Lovin Salads & Simple soups (R380pp). We consider Jamie Oliver’s latest book his best. It is a perfect book for any beginner. Each month we take six recipes from the book and re-interpret them, with plenty of tips along the way. Learning the secrets to successful easy cooking, including chicken korma, lamb rogan josh, vegetable bhajis, evolution potato salad, pea and mint soup, vanilla cheesecake with a raspberry topping.
  • Monday 22 June at 6pmHome cooking – Dinner for two (R195pp). Learn to cook a healthy homestyle dinner for two, and take the fruits of your labour home to enjoy with your partner. These are quick classes starting promptly at 6pm and lasting 1 hour. You will get to make a main dish, with veg and a starch.
  • Sunday 28 June at 4pmAll you wanted to know about… Chocolate (R390pp). Part of the master class series. Our head instructor will give an indepth hands on demonstration on working with Chocolate, including cakes, glazes, Chocolate truffles, biscuits and chocolate mousse.

Please contact the school should you wish to make a booking:

Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill

June individual class programme….. click here

Looking for info on food?
Over the last week we have had some great questions on food.  If you are looking for an answer to a food topic that has puzzled you, ask our online chef for assistance on any food-related topic, including recipes, and our two resident chefs will strive to get an answer back to you as soon as possable – Click here for more information, hope to here from you. Questions answered during last week (click on the green highlight for the answer):

Our food article of the week
Fish for thought - The messages surrounding our consumption of fish is more than a little murky. We’re told to eat more of it for our health, but are warned that some species may become extinct because of our eating habits. Confused? For more information Click here

Cookbook of the week
The Rose Bakery is a small Anglo-French restaurant, shop and bakery, tucked away in a Paris side street. Breakfast, Lunch and Tea is a book that introduces this hidden gem and the philosophy and style of its creator Rose Carrarini. Beautifully illustrated with more than 100 photographs, and featuring 100 of Rose’s most popular recipes, this book is as much a treat for the eye as for the taste buds… Read more ….

Did you know – Mangosteens, prized for their deeply aromatic and intensely sweet flesh, are popularly known as the ‘queen of fruits’. Many have rhapsodised about this South-East Asian delicacy, including famed botanist David Fairchild, who wrote of its qualities: ‘it is so delicate that it melts in the mouth like a bit of ice cream.’

Food quote of the week: – “Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.” – Henry David Thoreau

Food tip of the week: – To clean cast iron cook-wear, don’t use detergents. Just scrub them with salt and a clean, dry paper towel.

Recipe of the week - Slow cooked oxtail

For the launch of the monthly Wickedfood cooking School singles cooking class evening we cooked this delicious oxtail stew. We trimmed most of the fat off the meat, then made the dish in our brand new pressure cooker which worked a real treat, the meat being succulently tender, and the gravy thick, after one hour of cooking. Click here for the recipe.

Look forward to hearing from you.

The Wickedfood Team

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.

  Wickedfood Newsletter 5 June 09

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009


SUNNINGHILL>> information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

BOKSBURG>> information & bookings (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Hi

Today is World Environment Day, why not take a moment to enjoy nature. And, we believe strongly that responsible, sustainable hunting is environmentally friendly, as it helps to keep nature in the balance in an unnatural environment – game farms and game parks, where animals continue to multiply and therefore numbers have to be controlled to ensure the biodiversity of the preserved area. We have a great article on venison on the blog, together with some mouthwatering recipes.

We are introducing a new concept for hobby cooks to the cooking school – a 1 hour class starting promptly at 6pm, where students learn to cook a healthy homestyle dinner for two, and take the fruits of their labour home to enjoy with their partner. Each student will get to make a main dish, with veg and a starch. – Contact the school for more information.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Our June individual cooking class programme is up on the Internet – click the relevant school for the June programme Sunninghill / Boksburg.

Class highlights for the next two weeks include:

  • Monday 08 June at 6pm –Home-style Middle Eastern cooking class (R350pp). A delicious combination of easy to prepare dishes with a strong Lebanese influence, include baba ghanoush, H’reesy, Bean stew, Lebanese rice, Lebanese bread salad, making pita breads and Rice pudding within an apricot compote.
  • Sunday 14 June at 4pm –Easy classic pasta dishes and sauces (R360pp). In this class we make pasta, spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti with tuna sauce, fresh tomato sauce, Bolognaise sauce and the perfect lasagne.
  • Tuesday 16 June at 6pmFlavours of the South African Portuguese Table (R360pp per person per class). 7 tasty dishes including trinchado, chicken livers, caldo verde, chicken peri-peri, portuguese salad and crème caramel.
  • Sunday 21 June at 4pm – Jamie’s Ministry of Food – Easy Curries, Lovin Salads & Simple soups (R380pp). We consider Jamie Oliver’s latest book his best. It is a perfect book for any beginner. Each month we take six recipes from the book and re-interpret them, with plenty of tips along the way. Learning the secrets to successful easy cooking, including chicken korma, lamb rogan josh, vegetable bhajis, evolution potato salad, pea and mint soup, vanilla cheesecake with a raspberry topping.
  • Monday 22 June at 6pmHome cooking – Dinner for two (R195pp). Learn to cook a healthy homestyle dinner for two, and take the fruits of your labour home to enjoy with your partner. These are quick classes starting promptly at 6pm and lasting 1 hour. You will get to make a main dish, with veg and a starch.

Please contact the school should you wish to make a booking:

Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill

June individual class programme….. click here

Wickedfood Cooking School, boksburg

June individual class programme….. click here

Looking for info on food?
Over the last week we have had some great questions on food.  If you are looking for an answer to a food topic that has puzzled you, ask our online chef for assistance on any food-related topic, including recipes, and our two resident chefs will strive to get an answer back to you as soon as possable – Click here for more information, hope to here from you. Questions answered during last week (click on the green highlight for the answer):

  • How can I prepare chicken feet the Chinese way or any other way?
  • My pancakes seem to come out a bit chewy rather than soft and fluffy. Can you make any suggestions?
  • Looking for a reasonably “authentic” Biryani recipe. Can you help?

Our food article of the week
Carving Pork Shoulder - Try this simple technique for carving a pork shoulder perfectly.

What’s new on the Wickedfood blog
Apart from our weekly newsletter, we’re also very active posting interesting food-related articles on the Wickedfood website. New articles this week include:

Recipes

Roast kudu fillet

Roast venison

Red wine sauce

Ostrich neck casserole

Guineafowl

Venison pie - our recipe of the week

Food-related articles

Venison

There are also a host of other mouthwatering recipes and travel related articles on the blog. Please feel free to comment, or let us know if you cook any of the recipes and how they turn out.

Cookbook of the week
At Wickedfood cooking school we find Fergus Henderson’s approach to cooking whacky, wonderful and deliciously different. He plunges you into his imaginative, energetic kitchen where you keep boiled hams up your sleeves, and squish the tomatoes in your hands, giving your dish a slight blush. Nose to Tail Eating (Pan MacMillan) is a truly British cookbook, in which Henderson tackles the whole beast, with seldom-tried dishes .. Read more ….

Did you know – In the 15th century, Columbus introduced the lemon to the New World and, later, the Portuguese took it to Brazil. Ironically, none of the sailors on those early voyages knew that the Vitamin C content of their cargo would have been a far more effective remedy for the scurvy sufferers among them than the ‘cures’ doled out by dodgy apothecaries.

Food quote of the week: – “No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.” – Proverb

Food tip of the week: – When boiling eggs, add a pinch of salt to keep the shells from cracking.

Recipe of the weekVenison pie

Any venison pieces can be used for this venison pie. We use venison steak in our cooking classes for this pie at Wickedfood Cooking School. Click here for the recipe.

Look forward to hearing from you.

The Wickedfood Team

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.

  Wickedfood Newsletter – 29 May 09

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

SUNNINGHILL>> information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Hi

At last a food information page on our blog is working. Just click on the heading if you wish to ask a question, or click on the top right hand Question & Answer if you want to see what other people have asked. Hope you participate and we are able to extend our services to our cooking class ex- and future students.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Our June programme is up on the Internet

Class highlights for the next two weeks include:

  • Sunday 07 June at 4pm – Easy Indian cooking class (R370pp).Authentic Indian dishes including singharas, baked fish with tomato cream sauce, kali dal, rotis and kalfi
  • Monday 08 June at 6pm –Home-style Middle Eastern cooking class (R350pp). A delicious combination of easy to prepare dishes with a strong Lebanese influence, include baba ghanoush, H’reesy, Bean stew, Lebanese rice, Lebanese bread salad, making pita breads and Rice pudding within an apricot compote.
  • Sunday 14 June at 4pm –Easy classic pasta dishes and sauces (R360pp). In this class we make pasta, spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti with tuna sauce, fresh tomato sauce, Bolognaise sauce and the perfect lasagne.

Please contact the school should you wish to make a booking:

Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill

June individual class programme….. click here

Looking for info on food?
Over the last week we have had some great questions on food.  If you are looking for an answer to a food topic that has puzzled you, ask ouronline for assistance on any food-related topic, including recipes, and our two resident chefs will strive to get an answer back to you within 48 hours – Click here for more information, hope to here from you.

Our food article of the week
Organic food is now commonplace. Yet many consumers still have questions about how organic food is produced and labelled. Does it taste better? And is organic food actually healthier.  Click here to read more about this fascinating trend.

What’s new on the Wickedfood blog
Apart from our weekly newsletter, we’re also very active posting interesting food-related articles on the Wickedfood website. New articles this week include:

Recipes

Basil Pesto

Fettuccine with sausage & tomatoes – our recipe of the week

Crostini with chicken livers

Food-related articles on travel

The Art of Tuscan cooking

There are also a host of other mouthwatering recipes and travel related articles on the blog. Please feel free to comment, or let us know if you cook any of them and how they turn out.

Cookbook of the week
The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan is universally acknowledged as the most influential Italian cookbook in English ever published. This is the ultimate book for those wanting to discover genuine Italian cooking. Although there are no glossy photos, the passionately written text leaves the reader almost tasting the food. Where nessery excellent diagrams demonstrate various techniques.. Read more ….

Did you know – Perhaps the best known regional English cheese, Stilton is made from the milk of dairy herds from Melton Mowbray and its surrounding counties. The cheese was originally known as Quenby cheese, but became known as Stilton at the start of the 18th century, when The Bell Inn, a coaching house in the village of Stilton, became the main outlet for sales..

Food quote of the week: – “Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort.” – Norman Kolpas

Food tip of the week: – Never put citrus fruits or tomatoes in the fridge. The low temperatures degrades the aroma and flavour of these fruit.

Recipe of the weekFettuccine with sausage & tomatoes

While in Tuscany in search for ideas for their Italian cooking classes and teambuilding cooking classes, the Wickedfood Cooking School team came across this simple, quick and easy pasta recipe. Click here for the recipe.

Look forward to hearing from you.

The Wickedfood Team

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.


  Wickedfood Newsletter – 22 May 09

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

SUNNINGHILL>> information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

BOKSBURG>> information & bookings (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Winter is definitely here. For the next two weeks, we have some delicious warming cooking classes on offer, especially to keep out the winter chills, whether it be hearty roasts, or spicy Mexican and Indian flavors. Hope to see you at one of these cooking classes.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Our June programme is up on the Internet – click the relevant school for the June programme Sunninghill / Boksburg.

Class highlights for the next two weeks include:

  • Monday 25 May at 6pm – Easy Greek dishes for entertaining (R370pp).Dishes include fried halloumi, bean soup, moussaka, spanokopita and honey tart.
  • Sunday 31 May at 4pm – Mexican flavours (R360pp). An exotic Mexican cookery class, a blend of new world flavours including Melted cheese with mushrooms Coriander soup, Lamb in a chilli sauce, and Rice pudding.
  • Monday 01 June at 6pm – Delicious winter Entertaining (R380pp). No fuss dinner party for six including Roast tomato gazpacho soup, Ricotta ravioli, Grilled fish fillets and Warm lemon pudding.
  • Sunday 07 June at 4pm – Easy Indian cooking (R370pp). Authentic Indian cooking class including singharas, baked fish with tomato cream sauce, kali dal, rotis and kalfi

Please contact the school should you wish to make a booking:

Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill

June individual class programme….. click here

Wickedfood Cooking School, boksburg

June individual class programme….. click here

Looking for info on food?
We have launched a facility on our blog, where you can ask online for assistance on any food-related topic, including recipes, and our two resident chefs will strive to get an answer back to you within 48 hours – Click here for more information, hope to here from you.

Our food article of the week
The first British farmers’ market opened in Bath in 1997. They were pioneered in the United States. There are now more than 500 farmers’ market operating throughout the UK, with a spend of about £120m per year. And Wickedfood cooking school, we receive press releases day about new food markets that are opening.  Click here to read more about this fascinating trend.

What’s new on the Wickedfood blog
Apart from our weekly newsletter, we’re also very active posting interesting food-related articles on the Wickedfood blog. New articles this week include:

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phat Thai - Thai fried noodles

Tom yum soup – Sour and spicy prawn soup, our recipe of the week

A Taste of Thailand

Floating markets in Bangkok

Southeast Asian cooking schools – Bangkok, Thailand

There are also a host of other mouthwatering recipes and travel related articles on the blog. Please feel free to comment, or let us know if you cook any of them and how they turn out.

Cookbook of the week
Secrets of the Red Lantern (subtitled Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart) is much more than a collection of authentic recipes from successful Vietnamese restaurant Red Lantern, located in Sydney – Click here for more information and see a great video on the book. This book is the honest, difficult story of the Nguyen family. Read more ….

Did you know – Nobody really knows how toad in the hole got its name. It became popular in the 18th century, but dictionaries from that time and from the following century attached the name to a dish where any meat, from prime cuts to leftovers, was cooked in batter. However, in the 18th century, sausages were already the meat of choice for some.

Food quote of the week: – “Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.” ~ Marcel Boulestin

Food tip of the week: – Fresh coffee beans can also absorb nasty odours from your hands.

Recipe of the weekTom yum soup

Wickedfood Cooking School teaches students how to make this soup in our Thai cooking class. This delicious recipe was inspired by one we saw being made at Thai House Cooking School in Bangkok. According to Pip, of Thai House Cooking School, a good tom yum soup (Sour and spicy prawn soup) should be made and served immediately. Click here for the recipe.

Look forward to hearing from you.

The Wickedfood Team

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.

  Wickedfood Newsletter – 15 May 09

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

SUNNINGHILL>> information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

BOKSBURG>> information & bookings (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Hi

Our June  programme is now available on our website, click here. Once again we have some delicious cookery classes available, as well as an exciting new cooking class – home cooking. These are one hour classes, where each student learn to cook a main dish for two, with veggie and starch, and takes it straight home to eat after the cooking class.
We’re also launched a facility on our blog, where you can ask online for assistance on any food-related topic, including recipes, and our two resident chefs will strive to get an answer back to you within 24 hours – Click here for more information, hope you enjoy.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Our June programme is up on the Internet – click the relevant school for the June programme Sunninghill / Boksburg. Once again we have some exciting classes on offer, including

  • Winter Entertaining;
  • Authentic Indian cooking class;
  • Home-style Middle Eastern cooking class with a delicious combination of easy to prepare dishes with a strong Lebanese influence;
  • Classic pasta dishes and sauces;
  • Flavours of the South African Portuguese Table
  • All you wanted to know about… Chocolate;
  • Home cooking – Learn to cook a healthy homestyle dinner for two, and take the fruits of your labour home to enjoy with your partner. These are quick classes starting promptly at 6pm and lasting 1 hour. You will get to make a main dish, with veg and a starch.

May highlights for the next two weeks include:

  • Tuesday 19 May at 6pm – Jamie’s Ministry of Food quick meals and pastas (R350pp). We consider Jamie Oliver’s latest book his best. It is a perfect book for any beginner. Each month we take six recipes from the book and re-interpret them, with plenty of tips along the way. Learning the secrets to successful easy cooking, including spicy Moroccan stewed fish with couscous, chicken and leek stroganoff, broccoli and pesto tagliatelle, classic tomato spaghetti, macaroni cauliflower cheese bake and banana tarte tatin, with a wicked twist.
  • Sunday 24 May at 4pm – Thai cooking class (R370pp). In this class learn to cook mouthwatering authentic Thai dishes include Tamarend flavoured fish soup, Waterfall beef, Tofu salad with vegetables, Chicken rice and Fried bananas

Please contact the school should you wish to make a booking:

Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill

May individual class programme….. click here

Wickedfood Cooking School, boksburg

May individual class programme….. click here

What’s new on the Wickedfood blog
Apart from our weekly newsletter, we’re also very active posting interesting food-related articles on the Wickedfood blog. New articles this week include:

Summer berries with a red wine coulis
Fig tart – our recipe of the week, see below.
Roast pigeons in liqueur

Gastronomic tour of Normandy
Our six top Normandy restaurants

There are also a host of other mouthwatering recipes and travel related articles on the blog. Please feel free to comment, or let us know if you cook any of them and how they turn out.

Cookbook of the week
The Food of France by editor Kay Halsey – part of a five book series, and as with the other books, this one gives you a real taste of the country. Each recipe is accompanied by a photograph of the finished dish as well as some great step-by-step photographs.   Read more …..

Did you know – Rocket grows wild in Asia and the Mediterranean and its hot, peppery flavour becomes more pronounced with age. The leaves have become ubiquitous at trendy restaurants and gastropubs but are also commonly used in Sudanese cookery. The seeds can be sprinkled over salads for flavouring or used to produce oil.

Food quote of the week: – “Never put a sausage in the fridge. That’s a terrible crime. Rather sleep with it under your pillow” - Sylvain Monier, gourmet sausage-maker, Deauville..

Food tip of the week: – If you happen to over-salt a pot of soup, just drop in a peeled potato. The potato will absorb the excess salt.

Recipe of the weekFig tart

The Wickedfood Cooking School team was in France, to find inspiration for our French cooking classes and teambuilding cooking classes. We came across this scrumptious tart on the lunch buffet at the Hotel Royale in Deauville. Click here for the recipe.

Look forward to hearing from you.

The Wickedfood Team

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.