Jerusalem artichokes, a root vegetable,  are now coming into season.  To prepare, do not over season as they have a very delicate flavor.  This simple recipe, developed at Wickedfood Cooking School test kitchen could not be any easier. Add just enough seasoning to bring out the flavour.

± 800g Jerusalem Artichoke, scrubed and peeled

Milk to cover

Pinch sugar

Squirt lemon juice

Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to season

1T finely chopped chives

• Place Jerusalem artichokes in a pot, and just cover with milk.  Bring to boil and simmer on a very low heat until tender.
• Puree with the blender until smooth and pass through a sieve.
• Return the Jerusalem artichoke soup to the pot, season to taste and add a little more milk if necessary, to thin it down.
• Reheat just before serving, and garnish with chopped chives.

Serves 4

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.

Green ideas for your Home

How to Go Green: In the Kitchen Part 2

The Kitchen Designer blog, by Susan Serra

Green Kitchen Countertops

Following is a good start at a list of green countertop sources.

Avonite Avonite’s solution has been to adhere to the principles of sustainable design – the art of designing and constructing building which comply with the principles of economic, social and ecological sustainability and conservation. Widely acknowledged as an innovator in solid surfacing, Avonite Surfaces has leveraged that excellence to create ecologically sound products which are cost-effective and elegant.

Alkemi Made from 60% post industrial aluminum waste and resins. It is strong and exquisitely beautiful to the eye. Surfaces may sanded and buffed to a matte or high gloss.

Vetrazzo All of the glass used in Vetrazzo is recycled, and it makes up about 85% of the total material. Most of the glass comes from curbside recycling programs. Other glass comes from windows, dinnerware, stemware, windshields, stained glass, laboratory glass, reclaimed glass from building demolition, traffic lights and other unusual sources. Every Vetrazzo surface has its own history. Due to its high recycled content, using Vetrazzo can help your project qualify for LEED certification.

Craft-Art Company Wood countertops and reclaimed wood. Eight new reclaimed wood countertop options are now available from Craft-Art.  The use of beautiful wood from the 1800s and 1900s, eco-friendly and functional, supports the goal to recycle the Earth’s resources as part of the sustainable building movement. Barn Red Oak, Chestnut, Beech, Heart Pine, Cypress, Barn White Oak.

Endura Wood Products Endura Wood Products offers a wide variety of certified and rediscovered woods and wood products for homes and business. We believe that sourcing and offering only certified and rediscovered forest products is the best way to insure that our children can still see — and use — both the forest and the trees.

Syndcrete Natural cement based, pre cast product, green/sustainable, high recycled content, chemically inert, no off-gassing, aggregates: post consumer bottle glass, tempered glass, wood chips, metal shavings, shells, more. Contributes from 2-8 LEED points.

Bio Glass Glass is made of almost 100% crystalline silica in the form of quartz containing 70-72% weight % silicon dioxide. Bio-Glass consists of 100% recycled glass. Bio-Glass colors depend on recycled components (hollow glass, tableware, and/or factory shards)

Caeserstone CaesarStone is the first and only quartz surface to earn the ISO 14001 Certification for its compliance and commitment to the best green manufacturing processes. The company is committed to creating a better quality environment and is implementing procedures to prevent pollution and waste reduction at its manufacturing facility. In addition, CaesarStone is also certfied ISO 9002 (Quality Management standard) and NSF 51, is LEED (new commercial construction and major renovation projects) compliant and sports the Good Housekeeping Seal.

VitraStone We fabricate eco friendly sinks and surfaces made from a special blend of ceramic cement, fly ash, and recycled glass. VitraStone has a soft satin finish with endless color and design options. We offer a selection of standard sink and countertop systems along with a custom design service. We are available nation wide and will ship anywhere. For residential and commercial applications, VitraStone is a smart choice.

Take a look at this article on green countertops, very interesting.

Susan been a professional kitchen designer for 20+ years and she truly LOVE’s kitchens – “it’s the place where we find physical and spiritual nourishment-it’s far more than a cabinet finish! “ http://www.thekitchendesigner.org/

Awesome website of the week:

All Chocolate

http://www.allchocolate.com/enjoying/intro_to_chocolate/index.aspx

Creating your own chocolate tasting event is easy, fun and certainly delicious.

Food Joke:

The Rules of Eating Chocolate
•    If you’ve got melted chocolate all over your hands, you’re eating it too slowly.
•    Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices & strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.
•    The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car.
The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.
•    Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It’ll take the edge off your appetite and you’ll eat less.
•    If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge.
Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.
•    If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don’t they actually counteract each other?
•    Money talks. Chocolate sings.
•    Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.
•    Q: Why is there no such organization as Chocoholics Anonymous?
A: Because no one wants to quit.
•   Put “eat chocolate” at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you’ll get one thing done.
•    A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn’t that handy?
•    If you can’t eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can’t eat all your chocolate, what’s wrong with you?

The Wickedfood Team

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Wickedfood Cooking School runs  classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cooking lessons 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 cooking courses 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 events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Grilled squid salad is always a favourite at Wickedfood Cooking School.  It is a feature in our Thai cooking class as well as our Portuguese cooking class. Raymond Blanc’s juicy and colourful summer grilled squid salad with provençal vegetables, from his new book, Kitchen Secrets, is simple, satisfying and bursting with the flavours of Provence. You will certainly be able to taste our interpretation of a grilled squid salad in a future French cooking class at Wickedfood Cooking School.

Provençale vegetables

1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, thinly sliced lengthways

1 medium courgette, thinly sliced lengthways

1T extra virgin olive oil

pinch sea salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper

200g sun-dried tomatoes

Grilled squid

3 medium squid, about 200g/7oz each, cleaned

2T olive oil

1t lemon juice

2 pinches sea salt

1 red chilli, seeds and pith removed, finely chopped, preferably Snub nose or Rio Grande variety

1t grated palm sugar, or 2t brown sugar

Rocket salad

1T balsamic vinegar, preferably 8-year-old

2T extra virgin olive oil

pinch freshly ground black pepper

4 small handfuls rocket

Garnish

Parmesan shavings

Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Provençale vegetables

• Heat a griddle pan and cook the fennel and courgette slices for one minute on one side, then remove from the heat.
• Drizzle over the olive oil, season with the salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.

Grilled squid

• Slice open each squid lengthways, score a criss-cross pattern on the inside and cut each into three pieces.
• Mix the squid pieces with the olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, chilli and sugar and leave in a shallow, non-reactive bowl to marinade for half an hour.
• Heat a griddle pan until it is very hot, then grill the squid pieces for 15-30 seconds on each side. (This will produce a lot of smoke so make sure your extraction is on and the kitchen is well ventilated.) It is important that the pan is extremely hot so that the squid cooks very quickly and does not boil in its own juices (or cook over the coals of a very hot braai). If it cooks for any longer than two minutes it will become tough and rubbery.

Rocket salad

• Mix together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and pepper and dress the rocket with the vinaigrette.

To serve

• Place the grilled squid and vegetables around each plate. Place the dressed rocket in the centre of the plate, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and garnish with the sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan shavings.
• Alternatively, mix the dressed rocket with the Parmesan in a large bowl and serve separately.

Serves 4

Click here to watch a video of Raymond Blanc making this salad.

For more recipes from Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets,  click here

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery 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 – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons 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 events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Tags: Ballymaloe Cookery School, Cookery School, cooking class, Darina Allen, Forgotten Skills of Cooking, teambuilding, Wickedfood Cooking School

Raymond Blanc is one of those rare individuals who, more then any other chef, put the British culinary scene on the map, long before celebrity chefs were around.  As Marco Pierre White puts it  ‘Only a few great chefs are produced every century. Raymond Blanc is one of those great chefs‘.

Over the years he himself has become a celebrity chef, most notably as the host of  “Restaurant UK“. He knows more about food and cooking than pretty much anyone else. His cooking has been described as “an extraordinary process of creativity, passion, subtlety, indeed genius.” His life and career to date have been utterly dedicated to the search for culinary perfection – see A Taste Of My Life.

Raymond is once again on television, in the BBC Series – Kitchen Secrets – a second part of this series has just been released. He has been filmed in the kitchens of his beloved Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, and out and about around the country, meeting many who share his passion and love of good food and good ingredients. And to complement the series he’s just released Kitchen Secrets, containing recipes from both series of Kitchen Secrets and more.

In it he shares some of his classic recipes all achievable in the home kitchen. Over the years he has refined the recipes to perfection. Every recipe includes explanations and hints to ensure that the cooks results are consist. Dishes that once seemed plain, or impossibly complex, suddenly become simple and elegant.

The book is divided into 16 chapters, including Shellfish,  Lamb, Puddings, Cakes & Pastries, and chocolate. Recipes include classics like watercress soup, chicory and Roquefort salad, chicken liver parfait, confit salmon, moules marniere, grilled dover sole, home cured ham, pot au feu, lambs liver persillade, roast wild duck, lamb cutlets, galette des Rois, cherry clafoutis and Maman Blanc’s own chocolate mousse.

The book is extremely user friendly.  Each recipe gives an approximate preparation and cooking time, any special equipment needed and tips on how to plan ahead for the dish.  In addition at the end of each recipe are a variety of further tips to ensure that the recipe is a success.

At Wickedfood Cookery School we use his various books as a constant source of reference when we look for authentic French recipes for our French cookery classes. Kitchen Secrets is  a must-have for anybody with a love of French cuisine and finesse.

For a few recipes from Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets, see our recipe of the week, or click here

Interested in buying this book? For the next 2 weeks Red Pepper Books is offering a special discounted price for Kitchen Secrets. Visit - Red Pepper Books – The South African online bookshop, they are able to offer you great prices on any book you are looking for, and the deliver to your door.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery 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 – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons 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 events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Wickedfood Cooking School, SUNNINGHILL

Information & bookings (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Hi all,

It’s hard to believe that we are already a quarter of the way into the year. Easter is just around the corner, and I’m sure that many of you are planning to go away.  For those who are staying, we do however have a host of delicious classes on offer including Fun Thai, Mexican Salsas, dips and fillings (perfect dishes for al fresco dining and entertaining over Easter), and Classic French cooking. If you’re planning on doing some easy outdoor cooking to impress your friends, then this coming Sunday’s  Outdoor Cooking Class is ideal.  See below for details.

The May cooking class programme is now live. We Look forward to seeing you at one of the classes.

Find us on Facebook and Twitter – just search for Wickedfood and you will find us. We update the blog on a daily basis and publish it through Facebook and Twitter.

Looking for info on food?

If you have any food-related questions, or a dish that you just can’t get right or even a certain recipe that you are looking for, but just can’t seem to find, then contact us and we will do our best to answer it as soon as possible. Click Here for more information. Hope to hear from you soon.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Cooking class programmes for the next two months are up on the internet, click the relevant month for the  April and May programmes.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 as this gives everyone hands-on experience and keeps the cooking class small enough for maximum learning. These cooking classes are conducted by our senior instructors who have extensive experience in the food industry and share a variety of additional cooking tips throughout the cooking class.

• Sunday 10 April at 4pm – Outdoor Cooking – poultry (R390pp). In this Outdoor Cooking Class, learn the secrets of outdoor cooking on Cadac kettlebraais and gas barbecues. Dishes covered in this class include whole roasted juicy chicken, how to smoke a chicken in a kettlebraai, tangy tomato marinade, chicken kebabs, quick and easy bread pockets, grilled vegetables and bananas with a chocolate sauce.
• Monday 11 April at 6pm - Fun Thai (R370pp). Easy no-fuss entertaining, is the theme of this Thai Cookery class, with up-front preparation, including chicken sâtés with a delicious peanut sauce, Thai wonton soup, steamed fish, green mango salad, Chiang Mai noodles and black rice with coconut.
• Sunday 17 April at 4pm – Mexican salsas, dips and fillings (R370pp). A delicious Mexican cooking class, perfect dishes for al fresco dining, including salsas, dips and fillings, for nachos, tostadas and tortillas.
• Monday 18 April at 6pm – Real Italian (380 pp). Slightly more advanced Italian cooking class with some real classics including melanzane, the best Italian fish soup ever, crepes filled with spinach and ricotta, braised chicken with mushrooms, and glazed bread pudding.
• Monday 25 April at 6pm – Classic French cooking (R380pp). This French cookery class is a perfect  introduction to French cuisine including cheese soufflé, potato and leek soup, coq au vin, potato gratin, and tarte tatin.

On Food

Grassfed beef,  the Facts

1. Lower in total fat
2. Higher in beta-carotene
3. Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
4. Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
5. Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
6. Higher in total omega-3s
7. Better ratio of omega-6 to 3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
8. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
9. Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
10. Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease

Cookbook of the week

Kitchen Secrets by Raymond Blanc

Raymond is once again on television, in the BBC Series, Kitchen Secrets – a second part of this series has just been released. He has been filmed in the kitchens of his beloved Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, and out and about around the country, meeting many who share his passion and love of good food and good ingredients. And to complement the series he’s just released Kitchen Secrets, containing recipes from both series of Kitchen Secrets and more. In it he shares some of his classic recipes all achievable in the home kitchen.

.… Click Here for more information.

Food quote of the week

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives.” – Oscar Wilde

Recipes of the week:

Grilled squid salad

Grilled squid salad is always a favourite at Wickedfood Cooking School.  Raymond Blanc’s juicy and colourful summer grilled squid salad with provençal vegetables, from his new book, Kitchen Secrets, is simple, satisfying and bursting with the flavours of Provence. You will certainly be able to taste our interpretation of a grilled squid salad in a future French cooking class at Wickedfood Cooking School.

Click Here for all our recipes.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery 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 – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons 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 events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.