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Wickedfood Cooking School News

Our  individual cooking class programmes are up on the internet. Click the link for the appropriate month –August or September

Week 2 – 10 to 16 September

Monday 10 September at 6pm – 30 minute meals 2/2 (R420pp). Trying to juggle work and home commitments can be tough in this day and age, and the statement of ‘who has time to cook these days’ is on the increase. In this ‘30 Minute meals’ cooking class we show participants how to produce quick and easy 30-minute meals that are delicious and well balanced. Dishes include Chickpea and pumpkin curry, Grilled beef, Grilled tuna and Rich chocolate self-saucing pudding.

Week 3 – 17 to 23 September

Monday 17 September at 6pm – Simply Asian with Neil Perry (R420pp). Revered as one of Australia’s foremost chefs and international TV food celebrity, Neil Perry’s first love is Asian food, with a strong Chinese leaning. In this Asian cooking class we explore some of his favourite dishes, taken from his book, Simply Asian. Dishes include fried sweet corn cakes, steamed fish, tangerine beef and stir-fried vegetables with noodles.

Sunday 23 September at 4pm – North African Morocco tagines (R430pp). North African recipes are the results of the blending of European, African, and Arabic cuisines. The exotic flavors of North Africa reach their full expression in the cooking of Morocco. Moroccan cuisine is known for its flavorful stews, called tagines. In this cooking class we cover the following dishes, which include harira; lamb, chicken and pumpkin tagines; couscous; and coiled almond pastry.

Week 4 – 24 to 30 September

Monday 24 September at 6pm – Jamie’s Kitchen (R430pp). Jamie Oliver’s fourth book is packed with clear, no-nonsense advice and inspiration. It’s a cookbook in which he hopes you become ‘the boss in your own kitchen’. In our Jamie Oliver cooking class, we teach you all these hints and tips on how to be inspired when shopping – spotting what’s good, what’s in season and what’s good value. The dishes in which to teach you these tips are: chicken liver pâté, minted pea soup, ricotta gnocchi, pot roast deboned lamb shoulder, squid salad, and baked pears.

Green ideas for your Home:

http://www.green-pages.co.za/

 

Food tip of the week

BANANAS

1 cup sliced Bananas = about 1 medium or 2 small Bananas.

If bananas ripen before they are picked, they lose their taste and texture.

To ripen green tip bananas quickly, keep them at 21 degrees C, with very high humidity and no air circulation for 2 or 3 days.

Best storage for ripe bananas is 18 degrees C with 80% humidity, and very good air circulation. They should keep for a week or so like that.

Do not hold green bananas much below 15 degrees C. The skin will turn a dark brownish colour and they will develop an off taste.

Unlike most other fruits, bananas develop their best eating quality after they are harvested. This allows bananas to be shipped great distances. Bananas are sensitive to cool temperatures and will be injured in temperatures below 13 °C. For this reason, they should never be kept in the refrigerator. The ideal temperature for ripening bananas is between 16 and 21 °C. Higher temperatures cause them to ripen too rapidly.

Look for: Bananas which are firm, bright in appearance, and free from bruises or other injury. The state of ripeness is indicated by skin colour. Best eating quality has been reached when the solid yellow colour is speckled with brown. At this stage, the flesh is mellow and the flavour is fully developed. Bananas with green tips or with practically no yellow colour have not developed their full flavour potential.

Avoid: Bruised fruit (indicating rapid deterioration and waste); discoloured skins (a sign of decay); a dull, greyish, aged appearance (showing that the bananas have been exposed to cold and will not ripen properly).

Occasionally, the skin may be entirely brown and yet the flesh will still be in prime condition.

Unripe bananas have about 25% starch and only 1% sugar. Natural enzyme action converts this high starch content to sugar, so ripe bananas have a 20% sugar content.

The average banana contains .6 grams fat.

The very heart of the trunk of a banana ‘tree’ – inside the layers of bark fibre, is a white tube. It may be cooked, and has a taste and texture similar to bamboo shoots.

For a cool refreshing treat, cut a banana into chunks and put in the freezer. Take out in a couple of hours and enjoy.

Carry bananas in your lunch or use as a snack.

Use sliced bananas in cereal, yoghurt, or on a peanut butter sandwich.

 

Interesting places in Joburg

The Wickedfood Team

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Wickedfood Cooking School runs classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking school. 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. Great Team building ideas.