Wickedfood Cooking School, SUNNINGHILL

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

Hi all,

This sudden cold snap has certainly reminded us that winter is still here, and in winter we should be eating hearty warming stews and roasts. Winter is also a time for venison and in celebration of this, on  Sunday 22 August, we’ll be running a very special event – working with venison, in conjunction with Slow Food. It is a radically discounted event, only R250pp, and we only have a few spaces still available, so see below, or 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 August and September programme .

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  class.

• Sunday 15 August at 4pm – Thai master class (R390pp). A Thai cooking class with classic Thai flavours and a strong leaning towards seafood. Dishes include fried seafood pancake, chilli and tamarind soup, deep-fried fish, banana flower salad with prawns, crispy noodles and sweet sticky rice.
• Monday 16 August at 6pm – 30 minute meals (R380pp). Quick and easy meals for two. Dishes include vegetarian stir-fry, red chicken curry, pepper steak, sun-dried tomato pesto, fish with almonds, and pizza.
• Sunday 22 August at 5.30pm – Working with venison (R250pp), in conjunction with Slow Food. This is a gourmet, 5 course dinner, looking at 4 very different venison preparations, and pairing them with some very unique wines.
• Monday 23 August at 6pm – Jamie’s Ministry of Food – Easy curries, salads and soups (R370pp). This Jamie Oliver cooking class is inspired by Jamie’s book Ministry of Food, at Wickedfood Cooking School we regard it as his best. It is a perfect book for any beginner. 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 29 August at 4pm – Classic French cooking (R390pp). French cooking class, an introduction to French cuisine with some classic seafood dishes including quiche Lorraine, bouillabaisse, sole meunière, salad niçoise and flourless chocolate cake.

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.

On food

Lemons don’t just perk up meals and desserts with their citrus vim and vigour, they can also help your cookery. Adding a few drops of lemon juice to egg whites before whisking them for meringues helps stabilise the proteins and prevents the whites turning into clumps of cotton-woolly foam, should you get overzealous with the electric beaters.

Cookbook of the week

Bourke Street Bakery

One of the rising stars of Australia’s baking scene is Bourke Street Bakery, situated in the hip foodie enclave of Sydney’s Surry Hills, selling artisanal baked goods of the highest order.  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. … Click Here for more.

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

Food quote of the week

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” – Harriet Van Horne.

Recipe of the week:

Carrot cake
Carrot cake is one of the all time favourites, found on nearly every coffeehouse menu.  Apart from being full of flavour, carrot cake also has a relatively long shelf life. … 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 – teambuilding 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,

Our newsletter goes out every second week, and in addition we publish an alternate newsletter every other week on the blog, click here to see last week’s issue.   In addition we can also RSS feed the newsletter  to your email, Click on the orange RSS feed above.

On Sunday 22 August, we’ll be running a very special event – working with venison, in conjunction with Slow Food. This is a gourmet, 5 course dinner, looking at 4 very different venison preparations.  Cost is R250pp, limited to 10 people. 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 August and September programme .

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  class.

• Sunday 01 August at 4pm – Classic Indian dishes (R370pp). Authentic Indian cooking class, dishes including chicken mulligatawny, classic lamb buriyani, soya korma, spicy chick peas, naans and coconut pasties.
• Monday 02 August at 6pm – North African tagines (R390pp). Our Moroccan cooking class, with 3 classic North African stews, and accompaniments including crushed wheat soup. Dishes include fish tagine, lamb and fruit tagine, chicken and pumpkin couscous and couscous stuffed peppers.
• Monday 09 August at 6pm – Sweet treats – working with Chocolate (R390pp). In this chocolate cooking class, learn the secrets of working with chocolate, including decadent chocolate cake, chocolate truffles, brownies, choc chip cookies and layered chocolate mousse.

• Sunday 15 August at 4pm – Thai master class (R390pp). A Thai cooking class with classic Thai flavours and strong leaning towards seafood. Dishes include fried seafood pancake, chilli and tamarind soup, deep-fried fish, banana flower salad with prawns, crispy noodles and sweet sticky rice.

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.

On food

100 year old eggs

As well as prizing them for being a symbol of fertility, the Chinese also make a rather curious preserve with their eggs. 100 year old eggs are traditionally made by curing fresh eggs in a paste of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for three months, not 100 years, as the name might suggest. With its dark-green yolk, a mahogany-coloured jellified white and an aroma of sulphur and ammonia, this delicacy is definitely an acquired taste. they are however delicious, sliced into Asian dressed  salads.

Cookbook of the week

The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency

As with all Dorling Kindersley books, this one is not only highly informative, but also beautifully produced.  This new edition of an enduring classic from the founding father of modern self-sufficiency, is still the key reference to living off the land. Covering all the practicals from ploughing fields to milking cows as well as information on how to create an urban organic garden and harness natural energy, this is perfect for anyone aspiring to the self-sufficient lifestyle. … Click Here for more.

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

Food quote of the week

“Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.” – Mark Twain, writer.

Recipe of the week:

Braised rabbit with mustard

Venison comes in a number of guises, from large antelope to birds and rabbits.  Now is a great time to be eating venison, and in honour of the season.  Rabbit is one of the healthiest meats to eat, it is very lean and extremely tasty if cooked correctly. … 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 – teambuilding 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.

Venison comes in a number of guises, from large antelope to birds and rabbits.  Now is a great time to be eating venison, and in honour of the season, Wickedfood Cooking School will be running a venison information evening on Sunday 22 August.  Rabbit is one of the healthiest meats to eat, it is very lean and extremely tasty if cooked correctly.  The recipe below is based on one from Raymond Blanc‘s autobiography, A Taste Of Raymond Blanc.  At the end of this article, we have also included a variety of rabbit dishes from some of the top publications around the world.  Enjoy.

Mustardy Braised Rabbit With Carrots, click on the picture for the recipe (Photo - Andrew Scrivani - New York Times)

1 whole rabbit (±1.5kg), cut into  pieces – click here to see how

4 pinches sea salt

2 pinches black pepper

1 heaped tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup plain flour on a plate

3 T butter

1/2 white onion cut in 6

6 cloves garlic, skin on

I tbsp white wine vinegar

1 glass white wine (’150ml), boiled for 30 seconds

1 glass water (150ml)

6 whole black peppercorns

2 sage leaves

1 sprig of tarragon

1 bay leaf

For garnishing:

1T chopped parsley or chives (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C.
2. In a large bowl, season the pieces of rabbit with the salt and pepper, then mix in the mustard until each piece is coated by a thin film. Dip each piece of rabbit into the flour. Pat off excess flour from each piece.
3. In a thick-bottomed, 25-30cm ovenproof casserole dish on a medium heat, melt 2T  of the butter, then sear and colour the rabbit pieces on each side for 7—8 minutes. Season a little after 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. Add the remaining butter and over a medium heat sweeten the onion and garlic.
5. Return the rabbit, add the vinegar and reduce  the liquor to a syrup.
6. Add the wine, water, pepper and herbs, cover with a lid and cook in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
7. When the rabbit is cooked, transfer to a serving dish. Allow the liquid in the casserole dish to reduce on a high heat by a third, then stir in some chopped parsley, chives or your favourite soft herbs. Pour the sauce over the pieces of rabbit and serve with French beans, Swiss chard, braised lettuce or any other seasonal vegetables.

Serves  4 to 6

VARIATION

Of course, any of your favourite herbs and vegetables can be added to the dish. Olives and wild mushrooms would be lovely. And once you understand the technique, you can use chicken.

Other rabbit recipes

Rabbit recipes – Saveur magazine

Rabbit with mustard sauce (Lapin à la moutarde)

Rabbit with Mustard Sauce

Braised Rabbit with Mustard and Summer Savory

Braised Rabbit with Dijon Mustard & Rosemary

Braised Rabbit

Q: Thank you for the newsletter and the website. I absolutely love it. I am planning a dinner where I want to serve ostrich steaks. I have never done this before and I have gone through your site and have not found anything about ostrich. Please assist me with a recipe.

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.

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 6pm –Flavours 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 6pm – Home 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 week – Venison 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.