Q: I can not get my fishcakes right . I’ve tried different recipes but they are always soft ,even if I leave the mixture in the fridge for a few hours,but the bigest problem, they absorb a lot of oil although I use very little oil to fry them . They are very nice and tasty but not easy to handle.

A: There are a number of techniques to use when making fish cakes.  These include:

1. Ensure that you have a good wet/dry mix.  You need a binding agent such as egg and a starch for binding,  such as cooked potato, flour  or breadcrumbs.
2. Work the mixture when mixing, so that it becomes sticky.
3. Once the fish cakes have been shaped, chill in the fridge for approximately 30 minutes so that the firm up.

At Wickedfood Cooking School we make delicious fish cakes in our Thai cooking class.  Fish cakes are a popular snack, found throughout Thailand, and are an ideal starter or appetizer. Every chef has his own secret recipe, and we found this one at Pat’s Home Thai Cooking School in Phuket, especially delicious. What makes them special is that they have no flour or baking powder, which when added, tends to make the cakes rather stodgy. When making the cakes make double quantities and freeze any leftovers. Always bring back to room temperature and heat through before serving as they are best eaten warm. These cakes can also be made using chicken, pork, beef, lamb or prawns, but then blend the meat in a food processor until almost pasty in consistency.

500g fine flesh white fish fillets (hake, cob), skin on

1 egg

¹/2 cup string or French beans, sliced fine

3T kaffir lime leaves (or basil), shredded

1t sugar

1t salt or 1T fish sauce

1-3T red curry paste

±3 cups oil for flying

1. Using a fork, scrape the meat off the skin, a little at the time, which will give the meat the appearance of having been ground.
2. Place the fish in a large bowl, together with the remaining ingredients, except the oil, and knead with the hands until sticky. Then continue to mix, aerating by taking spoonfuls and forcefully dropping back into the bowl.
3. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan. Dampen the hands with a little cold water, and then working with approximately a tablespoonful at a time, form into approximately 3cm x 1cm diameter cakes, and drop into the hot oil, taking care not to splash. Fry for about 3 minutes on either side, or until golden brown and crispy, then drain on paper towel.
4. Serve with cucumber dipping sauce

Serves 4-6

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.

This delicious pasta sauce is quick and easy to make.  It is a firm favourite in Wickedfood Cooking School’s pasta cooking classes.   Do not overcook the pasta and serve immediately once cooked.  If the sauce seems to thick, add a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water, to thin the sauce down.

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, finely sliced

4 sausages,  Italian, beef or pork, skinned

250g mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup port or sweet sherry

250g thick cream

100g pecorino cheese, freshly grated

500g tagliatelle or Farfalle

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil. Fry the onion and sausage until golden, breaking up the sausage as you cook it.
2. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook for approximately three minutes.
3. Add the port and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Add the cream and heat through.
4. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente.
5. Drain the pasta, add to the sauce and mix well.
6. Serve immediately with some freshly grated pecorino on top.

Serves 4-6

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.

Every once in awhile a really remarkable cookbook crosses the Wickedfood Cooking School review desk.  Fruit and Nuts by Susanna Lyle is such a book.  Although  not a cookbook, it is an extremely informative and comprehensive guide to growing and using more than 300 species of fruits and nuts. Each entry includes a brief history, detailed description, and authoritative information on propagation, as well as helpful advice about harvesting times and methods, cultivation, pruning, pests and diseases.

In addition there is a very informative sidebar  detailing nutrition, health benefits, and medicinal uses. The book is suitable for home gardeners, horticulture professionals, orchardists, and nutritionists.

Interested in buying this book? visit - Red Pepper Books – The South African online bookshop, they will be able to offer you great prices on any book you are looking for.

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.

Wickedfood Cooking School, SUNNINGHILL

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

Hi all,

By the time you read the next newsletter,  the world cup will have started.  To get you into the spirit of things, over the next two months, Wickedfood Cooking School will be running some cooking classes for individuals based around menus from those countries participating in the World Cup that we feel have the most interesting culinary traditions.  we start with the delicious South African cooking class, followed by Brazil, and Japan over the next three weeks.

We have also developed our own 2010 Culinary World Cup, a great way for your company to entertain staff or clients, or do teambuilding with a difference, during the Soccer World Cup period. Contact the school for more details.

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.

Great advertising opportunity

Did you know that how that our website and blog receive around 10,000 hits per month.  The Wickedfood Cooking School website and blog pages are  great places to advertise to reach your target market.  Click here to find out more.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Cooking class programmes are up on the internet – click the relevant month for the programme June and July.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 as this gives everyone hands-on experience and keeps the class small enough for maximum learning.

• Sunday 06 June at 4pm – Making pasta, basic shapes and sauces (R370pp). Pasta cooking class, using different pasta shapes, make sauces, and make pasta – farfalle with chicken and cherry tomatoes, salad Florentine, gorgonzola cream sauce, cheese and tomato filled cannelloni, and delicious sweet noodle cake.

• Sunday 13 June at 4pm – Vegetarian Indian (R360pp). Authentic Indian cooking class making vegetarian dishes including curd cheese with spinach, chickpeas and mushroom curry, fragrant rice with soya, spicy brown lentils, savoury pancakes, coconut chutney and coconut milk pudding.

• Monday 14 June at 6pm – South African – A Taste of the Cape (R380pp). South African cooking class with a strong Cape Malay flavour, showcasing the unique flavours that have become synonymous with South African cuisine including savoury chicken pies, smoorsnoek, lamb slow braised, tomato bredie, sousboontjies, yellow rice and milk tart.
• Monday 21 June at 6pm – Flavours of Brazil (R380 pp). Brazilian cooking class, showcasing the countries unique flavours including savoury pumpkin soup, Feijoada, fried Brazilian-style greens, rice cooked with onion, toasted manioc flour and an orange flan
• Sunday 27June at 4pm – Classic Japanese dishes (R380pp). Classic Japanese cooking class with dishes from the Japanese kitchen including yakitori grilled chicken, tofu and vegetable soup, poached fish with miso, chicken cakes, spinach rolls with bonito flakes and caramelised sweet potatoes.

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

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.

Cookbook of the week

Fruit and Nuts

Every once in awhile a really remarkable cookbook crosses the Wickedfood Cooking School review desk.  Fruit and Nuts is such a book.  Although  not a cookbook, it is an extremely informative and comprehensive guide to growing and using more than 300 species of fruits and nuts. … Click Here for more.

Click Here to see Wickedfood Cooking School’s top 10 food-related books for 2009.

On food

What does the word organic mean on the lable?

Is organic food really better for us or is it just a con? Take a closer look behind the label.

Organic agriculture is defined as a system of farming based on principles of human, animal and environmental health. At its core, organic farming is about avoiding the use of agro-chemicals to minimise damage to the environment and wildlife. But the jury’s still out on whether it does the climate any good. … Click Here for more information.

Food quote of the week :

“All mushrooms are edible – once.” - Anonymous

Did you know?

Mushrooms are not universally adored. Some people are not keen on the taste or texture of funghi, while others suffer from an irrational fear of mushrooms, called mycophobia. Perhaps the fear isn’t so irrational – although fatal poisoning from mushrooms is rare, some of the most poisonous and most delicious species belong to the same genus.

Recipe of the week:

Sausage and mushroom sauce for pasta

A delicious pasta sauce is quick and easy to make.  It is a firm favourite in Wickedfood Cooking School’s pasta cooking classes. .… Click Here for the recipe.

The Wickedfood Team

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studio. 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 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,

If you have been listening to the radio, reading newspapers or watching television, you are no doubt aware that Gordan Ramsay is in town (at a reputed fee of around R1 million a day – who said cooking doesn’t pay?).  This week’s recipe comes from his latest book.

In the last newsletter we talked about growing your own vegetables, and had a great response – click here for some tips.

What do you think of our new  website – Wickedfood. Please also give us feedback.

For those who are not particularly interested in soccer, but still want to get into the spirit of things, we have developed our own 2010 Culinary World Cup, a great way for your company to entertain staff or clients, or do teambuilding with a difference, during this period. Contact the school for more details.

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.

Wickedfood Cooking School news

Cooking class programmes are up on the internet – click the relevant month for the programme May and June.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 as this gives everyone hands-on experience and keeps the class small enough for maximum learning.

• Monday 24 May at 6pm – Gordon Ramsay – Cooking for Friends (R390 pp). This class is based on the Gordon Ramsay book – Cooking for Friends. Love him or hate him, he certainly knows his food. In this book, we see a very different side of him, more relaxed, cooking some best-loved versions of classic British dishes for family and friends, including broccoli blue cheese and pear soup, mushroom and barley risotto, poached fish fillets, roast rib-eye of beef, and pear and frangipane tart. – The class is fully booked and we have a waiting list, but should there be enough demand we will run a further class in June, contact the school if you are interested.
  

• Sunday 30 May at 4pm – Thai master class (R350pp). Part of our Thai cooking class series, where we teach students the secrets of authentic Thai cooking. In this class dishes include shrimp paste dipping sauce, Massaman curry, bean salad, stir fried egg noodles and steamed banana cake.

• Monday 31 May at 6pm – 30 minute meals (R370 pp). Quick and easy low-fat meals for two including honeyed stir-fry chicken, grilled pork chops, creamy mushroom pasta and toasted muesli.
• Monday 07 June at 6pm – Making pasta, basic shapes and sauces (R370pp). Pasta cooking class, using different pasta shapes, make sauces, and make pasta – farfalle with chicken and cherry tomatoes, salad Florentine, gorgonzola cream sauce, cheese and tomato filled cannelloni, and delicious sweet noodle cake.
• Sunday 13 June at 4pm – Vegetarian Indian (R360pp). Authentic Indian cooking class making vegetarian dishes including curd cheese with spinach, chickpeas and mushroom curry, fragrant rice with soya, spicy brown lentils, savoury pancakes, coconut chutney and coconut milk pudding.

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

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.

Cookbook of the week

Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape

Gordon embarks on a culinary journey around India, discovering the breadth and depth of cooking of the country. This new cookbook from him is packed with the best recipes from his travels to India, where he had never been to until now … Click Here for more.

Click Here to see Wickedfood Cooking School’s top 10 food-related books for 2009.

On food

Autumn has broadsided us this year, turning up unannounced while we were still coatless and plunging us back into the world of soups and hot toddies. Wrap yourself up in soothing autumn fare . … Click Here for some delicious ideas and recipes.

Food quote of the week :

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus

Did you know?

The liquid inside a coconut is the coconut juice, not the milk. Coconut milk is produced by steeping grated coconut meat in boiling water, leaving the mixture to cool, then straining it. Coconut cream is produced by the same method but using less water.

Recipe of the week:

Butter chicken

Butter chicken, or murgh makhani, can be traced back to Mogul times, but the dish and its history is most closely associated with Delhi’s famous Moti Mahal restaurant. Over time, numerous chefs have attempted to emulate the rich buttery sauce, and flavours vary slightly between restaurants. This is Gordon Ramsay’s version of the classic dish. .… Click Here for the recipe.

The Wickedfood Team

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