2T oil
2T butter
2 latge onions, sliced
1kg braising steak diced 5cm
1T seasoned plain flour
4 carrots, diced
2 sticks celery diced
1 bottle/tin Guinness
500ml beef or vegetable stock
1T tomato purée
2t French mustard
bouquet garni (1 sprig each of rosemary, thyme, parsley, plus 2 bay leaves, tied together with fine string)
2t brown sugar
100g pitted prunes
salt and pepper
handful of fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat the oil and butter in a large casserole dish, add the onions and cook for 5 minutes until browned.
2. Toss the steak to coat in the seasoned flour. Add the steak to the browned onions and brown all over.
3. Add the carrots and celery, then gradually stir in the Guinness, stock, purée, mustard, bouquet garni, and sugar. Season to taste. Bring to the boil, stir well, then cover tightly with a lid and simmer gently for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the prunes and simmer for a further ½-1 hour until the meat is tender. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Serves 6.

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. We offer a variety of Cooking Classes. 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: Can you please help us with a recipe?
EXTREMELY HEALTHY Food
We must cook this under 20 minutes
We only have a microwave and an electric pan

A: Although microwaves have become an integral part of most households, they are still largely underutilized. this recipe is for a simple Seafood Pilaf, but once you get comfortable with how your microwave works you can really start been imaginative with cooking fantastic dishes from delicious Thai green Curry’s and curried butternut soups to superb desserts like flop proof carrot cakes and creme caramels.

This recipe is from one of our Microwave Cooking course which we did in our recent Individual cooking class at Wickedfood Cooking School.

Rice, with a mixed seafood base of squid, fish and mussels. This dish is delicious served hot, or the next day at room temperature for lunch.

1. In a large pyrex bowl that will eventually hold all the ingredients, mix together the oil, rice and turmeric. Microwave on 900W for 1 minute.
2. Add the mushrooms, marrow, pepper, onion, stock and orange juice. ¾ cover the dish with gladwrap and microwave on 900W for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the fish and prawns, and microwave at 600W for a further 4 minutes, stirring halfway through.
4. Add mussels, squid and tomato, and cook for a further minute, adjust seasoning and serve.

Serves 2

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. We offer a variety of Microwave Cooking Classes. 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.

Sam & Sam Clark’s first cookbook, based on the food of their award winning restaurant, Moro, in London , was voted as one of the 5 most influential cookbooks published in the last 10 years by BBC Food. Their second cookbook, Casa Moro, again contains a mouthwatering selection of Spanish and Moroccan inspired dishes. All the recipes in the book are authentic , yet easy to prepare and full of flavour. Both books begin with a mouth watering array of starters and tapas, followed by a collection of slow cooked meat stews, fresh North African and Middle Eastern salads, as well as some to die for desserts. At Wickedfood Cooking School we constantly refer to both books for inspiration for our team building cooking classes, Middle Eastern cooking classes and Spanish cooking classes

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood Cooking School runs Johannesburg cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. We offer a variety of Middle Eastern cooking classes. 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 classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

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

Hi

With the shortest day of the year behind us, it is good to know that we now have moved through the middle of the year and start the long and sometimes cold journey back towards spring and those delicious fresh flavours. On the positive side, winter is for about hearty food. Have a look at the recipes section of our blog for some tasty recipes, or better still join one of our classes. Monday a week we have another one of the popular master cooking classes, on Indian Carries.

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:

• Monday 29 June at 6pm – Exotic tastes of Vietnam (R370 pp). A Vietnamese cooking class with tastes of Vietnam’s classic dishes, including savoury mung bean crepes, beef noodle soup (pho), clay pot fish, fresh rice noodles and fried bananas.
• Sunday 05 July at 4pm – 30 minute meals (R380 pp). How to prepare 6 nutritious quick and easy meals. Dishes include Thai vegetable curry, Chicken breast with feta and pasta, Chilli steak wraps, penne with a rich tomato vodka cream sauce, Fried fish with oven chips and Homemade burgers.
• Monday 06 July at 6pm – All you wanted to know about… Indian Curries (R390pp). Part of the master class series. In conjunction with our head instructor, will give an indepth hands on demonstration in preparing a number of great Indian curries. Cooking methods covered will include:
  •    A hot fragrant beef curry
  •    A classic lamb curry
  •    Mild slow cooked curry.
  •    A famous Mongol dishes
  •    Fish curry
  •    A vegatarian stew.
  Other topics covered will include:
  •    Blending spices and masala mixes;
  •    Making gee and its uses in Indian cooking;
• Sunday 12 July at 4pm – Classic seafood dishes (R395pp). An introduction to fish including seafood cocktail, fish soup, steamed tuna, fried fish and squid with potatoes.

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 possible – Click here for more information, hope to here from you. New articles this week include:

Recipes

• Cabbage rolls
• Beef Burgers
• Perfect roast chicken – our recipe of the week
• White Chocolate Cheesecake
• Chicken Korma Paste

• The Middle Eastern meal
• Middle Eastern food

Cookbook of the week
Sam & Sam Clark’s first cookbook, based on the food of their award winning restaurant, Moro, in London , was voted as one of the 5 most influential cookbooks published in the last 10 years by BBC Food. Their second cookbook, Casa Moro, again contains a mouthwatering selection of Spanish and Moroccan inspired dishes.. ….. Read more

Did you know – The Arawak word ‘barbacoa’, from which the word ‘barbecue’ is derived, described only the structure on which meat was cooked in the open air: it was the Americans who turned the barbecue into an event, and the South Africans and Aussies who made it their national sport. Although barbecues vary from culture to culture, they have one common theme: the grill-masters are usually men.

Food quote of the week: – “Cuisine is only about making foods taste the way they are supposed to taste.” - Charlie Trotter

Food tip of the week: – Burned a pot of rice? Just place a piece of white bread on top of the rice for 5-10 minutes to draw out the burned flavour. Be careful not to scrape the burned pieces off of the bottom of the pan when serving the rice.

Recipe of the week - Perfect roast chicken

Chicken is one of the most commonly eaten proteins in the world so we should all know how to cook the perfect bird. At Wickedfood Cooking School we teach one of the easiest and hassle free ways of cooking the perfect roast chicken. This quick and easy recipe doesn’t have many ingredients but that makes it simple and really tasty.

Look forward to hearing from you.

The Wickedfood Team

Wickedfood Cooking School runs Johannesburg 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 team building cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Cabbage rolls are filled with a rice and lamb mixture. The secret is to try to select cabbages that are flat and round as generally they have fewer crinkled leaves which are difficult to roll. Pack the rolls tightly in the pot before cooking, otherwise they tend to unravel while cooking. When making rolls, it is a good idea to make double portions, as they freeze well. This filling can also be used for grape leaves or stuffed vegetables, both very popular in the Wickedfood Cooking School Middle Eastern cooking class.

1 cabbage
8 cloves garlic, smashed
Dried mint
1/4 cup lemon juice

Filling
1 1/2 cups long-grained rice, washed and parboiled
400g minced lamb or beef
1 t fresh black pepper
1 t ground allspice
±3 t salt
±1/2 T butter

• Remove the core of the cabbage by cutting as deep as possible into it. Place the cabbage in a large pot, hollowed out section down and pour boiling water over. Bring back to the boil and simmer for ±7 minutes. Drain and then carefully peel away the leaves, placing them in a colander to drain.
• Set 4 or 5 of the outside leaves aside to line the bottom of the pot. Spread the other leaves on a chopping board, removing the tough centre stalks and trimming into ±8 x 11cm rectangles.

Filling

• Place all the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Line the bottom of a large pot with the reserved whole leaves
• Place 1 small T of filling along the top quarter of a cabbage leaf allowing a little space on each side and then roll up into a tight cigar, folding in the sides.
• Once rolled, place into the prepared pot, seam side down. Continue until all the mixture is used up. Stuff any gaps with cloves of garlic. Sprinkle with mint and lemon juice
• Place any leftover bones on top, then place a plate on top of the bones, to hold the rolls in place, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 1 hour.

Makes ±30 rolls.

Tip – form any leftover stuffing into small meatballs and fry. Serve as part of a Mezze platter.

Middle Eastern food

Roughly speaking the Middle-East sweeps south from Egypt through Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula, through to Iran and Turkey. The majority of the people … Read more

The Middle Eastern meal

Mezzes (different spending to Turkish meze) are the best known aspect of the Middle Eastern cuisine … Read more

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood Cooking School runs Johannesburg cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. We offer a variety of Middle Eastern cooking classes. 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 classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.