When Thomasina Miers first visited  Mexico at the tender age of eighteen,  she fell so in love with its food that she went back to live there, opening up a cocktail bar in Mexico City and using her free time to travel the country and cook with some of Mexico’s top chefs. Returning to London, she entered and won  BBC’s MasterChef in 2005. She went on to open a  Mexican street food cantina, Wahaca, which won the Observer Food Monthly’s ‘best cheap eats’ award, and has now opened three branches. She writes a regular recipe column in the Times and is co-editor of Soup Kitchen (2005) and the author of Cook (2006) and Wild Gourmets (2007). Her latest book Mexican Food Made Simple is a really great introduction into Mexican food, as she puts it  “It’s not necessarily completely authentic – I’m not trying to prove how good at making this food I am! It’s meant to be fun and accessible.“

And accessible it certainly is.  Recipes are simple to follow, yet at the same time wholesome and full of Mexican flavour.  The book is written in a very easy to read style. it has some great chapters including sauces and salsas, salads, soups, snacks and easy dishes for the grill.  If you like it spicy, this book is a definite must.

Click here for a delicious recipe from the book.

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

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

Thomasina Miers is one of Britain’s rising star chefs. This recipe is from her latest book Mexican Food Made Simple. Skirt steak, a cheap cut, is a favoured piece of meat in Mexico, thanks to its rich flavour. As long as you cook it quickly over a high heat, the meat will be tender and delicious.

Steak burritos. Photograph: Tara Fisher

600g skirt steak

3-4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

juice of half an orange

1 chilli de arbol, finely chopped

sea salt and black pepper

4 wraps (corn tortillas, chappatis or other wraps)

1 tbsp olive oil

4 spring onions

about 150g warm cooked black beans

about 200g warm rice (optional)

salsa

1 avocado, peeled and mashed with the juice of a lime

3-4 tbsp crème fraîche

chopped coriander leaves

120g extra mature cheddar cheese (optional)

1. If the skirt steak is cut into thick slices, butterfly it out into thin steaks by cutting it down the middle with a sharp knife. Marinate the steak in the olive oil, garlic, orange juice, chilli and seasoning for 30 minutes.
2. Heat each tortilla in a hot, dry frying pan for about 10 seconds a side to make it soft and pliable.
3. Heat up a griddle or heavy-bottomed frying pan until smoking hot and add the olive oil. Top the spring onions and peel off the outer skin before chopping them up into 2-3cm lengths. Season with salt and pepper and put onto the hot griddle.
4. Pat the steak dry with some kitchen paper and add to the griddle pan. Sear for a minute on each side (or 90 seconds, tops). Leave to stand for a minute on a warm plate while you finish cooking the spring onions. They should be soft and slightly charred. When the spring onions are cooked, remove from the pan, add the reserved marinade from the steak and let it sizzle up before pouring over the warm beans. Chop up the steak into bite-size pieces across the grain (you can see the grain all running in one direction, so cut across these lines at a right angle).
5. Fill the tortillas with the steak, beans, rice, salsa and spring onions. Add some mashed avocado, a drizzle of crème fraîche, some coriander leaf and the cheese, and toast if you like, your burrito crispy. Eat up at once.

Mexican dishes are easier to make than to pronounce. Thomasina Miers shares her favourites … click here for more of her Mexican dishes.

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 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,

Wickedfood Cooking School, in conjunction with Slow Food and Die Ou Pastorie restaurant in Skeerpoort, near Hartebeerspoort Dam, will be organizing a spring feast on Sunday, 19 September.  This will be a great opportunity  to meet some local producers and savour the delicious produce.  See below for more details.  Space is very limited, so book early to avoid disappointment.

And for all the wine lovers out there, don’t forget the Juliet Cullinan Wine Festival this week Wednesday and Thursday.  See below 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 September and October 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 12 September at 4pm – Easy Entertaining Indian style (R380pp). Authentic Indian cooking class including bhel puri, lamb korma, potato and cauliflower curry, chicken pulao and cheese balls in syrup.
• Monday 13 September at 6pm – Jamie’s America – … on Soul food (R360pp). Jamie Oliver cooking class, based on his latest book on his recent travels through the USA. We re-interpret some of the dishes, and put them together into a themed menu including red pepper summer soup, fried chicken, collard greens, grits, coleslaw and peach cobbler.

• Monday 20 September at 6pm – Entertaining Turkish style (R370pp). Turkish cooking class – dishes include bulgur wheat patties, yoghurt soup, baked layered lamb pastry, stuffed aubergines, rice pilav and syrupy almond cake.
• Sunday 26 September at 4pm – Easy Asian dishes with a Chinese flavour (R390pp). Chinese cooking class – perfect for entertaining, with most dishes prepared in advance including wonton soup with noodles, chilli prawns, master stock chicken, Mu shu pork and ginger pudding.
• Monday 27 September at 6pm – Alfresco Italian dining (R380pp). Real Italian cooking class, tastes of al fresco summer dining and easy entertaining, including char grilled asparagus, affettati misti, insalata caprese, chicken involtini and Hanepoot semifreddo.

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

Slow Food Spring country feast

Wickedfood Cooking School, in conjunction with Slow Food and Die Ou Pastorie restaurant in Skeerpoort, near Hartebeerspoort Dam, will be hosting a spring feast on Sunday, 19 September. Come and meet some of the small producers, and sample their award-winning ingredients incorporated into a delicious 5-course menu prepared by Die Ou Pastorie (there is also a vegetarian option, please advise when booking):

• Organic micro green salad with free range chicken locally smoked;
• Soup  – incorporating the freshest of spring vegetables available on the day;
• Spring lamb from the valley: roasted shoulder served with timbale of polenta cooked in a light smoked chicken stock with locally produced halloumi cheese, smoked bacon, and spring vegetables.
• Local award-winning cheese platter with a selection of Die Ou Pastorie jellies and home made biscotti.
• Pecan nut tiramisù.

The cost of the lunch is R250pp including a wine pairing with each course (other drinks for your own account).  To book contact: Tim tim@mutengo.co.za 011 442-5201 or 072 238-2790

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.

Juliet Cullinan Wine Festival

The Juliet Cullinan Standard Bank Wine Festival 2010 takes place this year on 8 and 9 September from 17h30 to 21h00 at the Wanderer’s Club, 21 North Road, Illovo, Johannesburg. Cost per ticket is R100.

With only 60 exhibitors, this small, focused festival appeals to tasters looking for old and tested, or new and innovative wines, which are not available to the general trade and not easily available in retail outlets.  Each year the management at Wickedfood Cooking School visits this show to keep abreast of new trends and cultivars available on the market, a really worthwhile outing.

On food

You can tell whether a crab is male or female by the markings on the underside. A female has a pattern similar in shape to a dome, whereas a male’s markings resemble a rocket. Lovers of the delicate white crabmeat will find this useful as the male’s larger claws contain more of the prized flesh than the female’s do.

Cookbook of the week

Mexican Food Made Simple

When Thomasina Miers first visited  Mexico at the tender age of eighteen,  she fell so in love with its food that she went back to live there, opening up a cocktail bar and using her free time to travel the country. Returning to London, she entered and won  BBC’s MasterChef . She went on to open a  Mexican street food cantina, Wahaca, and has now opened three branches. Her latest book Mexican Food Made Simple is a really great introduction into Mexican food. Recipes are simple to follow, yet at the same time wholesome and full of Mexican flavour. … Click Here for more.

Click Here to see Wickedfood Cooking School’s top 10 food-related books for 2010.

Food quote of the week

“Lettuce is like conversation: It must be fresh and crisp, and so sparkling that you scarcely notice the bitter in it” – Charles Dudley Warner, essayist

Recipe of the week:

Steak Burritos

This recipe is from Thomasina Miers latest book Mexican Food Made Simple. A great casual party dish or for a quick healthy meal. …Click Here for the recipe.

The Wickedfood Team

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.

(Adapted from Bourke Street Bakery’s Cookbook, Picture from almostbourdain.blogspot)

This Carrot Cake is well worth worth the effort. The list of ingredients might be long, but they are all readily available in the supermarket and many of them should also be everyday items in a well stocked pantry.  At Wickedfood Cooking School we make a fairly similar carrot cake in our baking class.  As with all baking, it is important that you follow the recipe exactly, otherwise there is a strong possibility that the carrot cake will flop.

Bourke Street Bakery says – “It’s necessary to work quickly to make this carrot cake recipe succeed. Everything is whipped to incorporate a lot of air and the dry ingredients are quickly folded through at the end. The whipped egg whites result in a fantastic crisp meringue-like top on the cake. We have a number of mixers. So we can have everything mixing at one time, but for a home kitchen you will get the best results working in the order listed within the carrot cake recipe.”

70 g walnuts
150 g self-raising flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
55 ml (about 2) egg whites
1/4 cup sugar for egg whites
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup sugar for egg yolks
2/3 cup extra light olive oil
125 g carrots, peeled and grated

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1T icing (confectioners’) sugar, plus extra, for dusting
1T butter, softened
145 g cream cheese
2T pouring (whipping) cream

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C . Grease an 18 cm round cake tin and line the base and side with baking paper – the paper should protrude about 3cm above the tin.
2. Place the walnuts on a baking tray and toast in the preheated oven for 4-5 minutes, or until lightly roasted (or in a dry frying pan). Cool and coarsely chop.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt into a bowl. Repeat to ensure they are evenly mixed, and well aired.
4. Whisk the  egg whites in a very clean bowl on high speed until soft peaks start to form. Slowly pour in the sugar for the egg whites, while the motor is still running, being careful not to overmix – the meringue should reach soft peak stage.
5. Put the 1 egg and 1 egg yolk in a bowl together with the 3/4 cup of sugar for the egg yolks. Mix on high speed for 3-4 minutes, or until the mixture doubles in volume and is quite airy. With the motor still running, slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream being careful that it doesn’t split or deflate too much.
6. With a spatula, or metal spoon, gently fold in the flour mixture until combined. Fold in the carrots and walnuts. Quickly and lightly fold in the meringue (beaten egg whites) – do not fold it through completely, you should still be able to see streaks of meringue through the mix.
7. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into centre of the cake comes out clean. You may need to drop the oven temperature to 180°C  after the first 30 minutes if the top is browning too quickly).
8. Meanwhile, make the cream cheese frosting. Cream the icing sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale and smooth. Add the cream cheese in small amounts, allowing it to be completely incorporated before adding the rest. Scrape down the sides during the process to ensure even mixing. Add the cream and mix until smooth, being careful not to overmix at this stage or the cream may curdle and separate, you may need to add a little more cream – the frosting needs to be of a spreadable consistency but not at all runny.
9. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Using a serrated knife, slice horizontally through the centre of the cake to form two even-sized layers and fill with cream cheese frosting.
11. Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar to serve.

See almostbourdain.blogspot for more pictures on how to make the cake.

Click here for a Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe from the book.

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

Anyone watching television, or who has been fortunate enough to visit Australia will realize that they have a vibrant and exciting food industry.  One of the rising stars is  Bourke Street Bakery, situated in the hip foodie enclave of Sydney’s Surry Hills, selling artisanal baked goods of the highest order. The bakery’s long queue of customers waiting for their daily fix is testament to the popularity of their utterly delicious wares – from rustic breads such as their famous spelt sourdough to the flaky pork and fennel sausage rolls and the addictive sweet pastries -  ginger brulee and pistachio tart.

Fortunately for those of us who are not able to visit the bakery, we can now recreate many of their delicious offerings from the inspiring cookbook of the same name.  It is the ultimate baking companion with clear and concise instructions aimed at the novice home baker while remaining an inspirational and technical reference for professionals. Passionate owner-bakers Paul Allam and David McGuinness share their secrets for more than 90 of their exceptional creations. Complementing the mouthwatering recipes is a wide selection of evocative photographs depicting the various recipes as well as capturing the sole of the establishment.

So who are the people behind this successful bakery?  Paul Allam and David McGuinness are both well-travelled chefs with a passion for good food and artisan baked goods. India was David’s inspiration for the bakery’s famous ginger brulee and pistachio tart. They started Bourke Street Bakery in 2004 and opened A second shop, Central Baking Depot, in Sydney’s CBD in 2008.

Click on the links below for two delicious recipes inspired by book:

Carrot cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

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

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