Square Food Cookery School – The Spice Trail; 3 recipes inside.

One of our wedding gifts from our friends was some cookery school vouchers with The Square Food Foundation, we didn’t get around to starting to use them until now.

I booked us onto the Spice Trail evening for a date night…

The kitchen is a big light space with enough cookery stations for people to pair up.

We sat with the chefs first while they talked a little about chillies and spices. Here are some points they raised… most of you will know these but I thought I would include them anyway.

Chillies;

• The general rule of thumb is that the smaller the chilli the more potent it is; the heat is concentrated in the seeds and the veins of the chilli (simply because they are smaller)
• Remove seeds from chillies to make them milder for cooking or leave them in to gain full effect
• Take care when preparing chilli to avoid touching the eyes and sensitive skin; wash hands, boards and knives thoroughly after preparing chillies – wash with soap before adding water, as chillies are oily this will remove the heat.
• Chilli powder dried chillies are used sparingly and should be added at the beginning of cooking; they will keep for 12 months in a cool, dark place
• Cooking does not really diminish the intensity of chillies but their strength can be mitigated with cream or yoghurt

And spice;

• Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, mustard seed, coriander, cumin, tumeric & fenugreek should be added at the early stages of cooking to release flavour
• Salt is vital for carrying flavour and should be added at the beginning of the cooking process; check the seasoning at the end of the cooking and adjust

We made 2 dishes and ate 3, 1 Thai influenced, one Indian influenced and a dessert.

First we started our main;

A quick chicken curry with yogurt and spices

This is a really tasty alternative to the greasy take away you might have eaten if you’d had slightly less energy. I like to serve it with a little yoghurt and naan bread for an inexpensive, warming meal.

Serves 4-5

For the curry base
¾in ginger, peeled
6 fat garlic cloves, peeled
3 medium tomatoes, chopped into large chunks
1½ tbsp ground coriander
1¼ tsp garam masala
¼-½ tsp red chilli powder, or more if you like it hot
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
3 good tbsp of full-fat Greek yoghurt
Salt to taste

For the curry

750g chicken thighs, skinned
7 baby potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 handfuls of baby spinach
Handful of finely chopped coriander leaves and stems

 For the base, make a paste of the ginger, garlic and tomatoes. I use a hand blender, but you can chop the tomatoes and finely grate the ginger and garlic – the sauce will not be as smooth though. Stir in the spices, salt and yoghurt. Add the chicken and potatoes and leave to marinate in the fridge for 10mins. Heat the oil and butter/ghee in a medium non-stick saucepan. Add the onion and cook over a moderate flame, stirring often, until the onion is well browned on the edges, around 7-8 minutes.

Add the chicken, potatoes and curry base and cook over a moderate-high heat, tossing the chicken in the paste quite often until small oil droplets start to form on the base or edges of the pan; this takes around 10-12 minutes. If it still isn’t cooked, you can add a splash of water and cook for another 5 minutes or until the water has reduced.

Add enough water to come halfway up the chicken and bring to the boil. Cover and cook on a low flame until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through, around 12-15 minutes more (depending on the size of the joints and potatoes).

Add the spinach and, once wilted, taste and adjust the seasoning. There should be enough of the sauce for a creamy gravy; if not, add a little more water from the kettle. If you add too much, reduce over a high heat.
Stir in the coriander and serve.

For the vegetarian alternative – replace the chicken with one small cauliflower, leaves removed and broken into florets. Treat in exactly the same way as the chicken.

Pilaff Rice

 25g 1oz butter or ghee
2tbsp onion or shallot, finely chopped
400g 14oz long grain rice, preferably basmati
Scant 1 litre chicken stock
2tbsp herbs (parsley, thyme, chives), freshly chopped, optional
Salt and pepper

Melt butte or ghee in a casserole, add onion and sweat for 2-3min. Add rice and toss for 1-2min, just long enough for the grains to change colour. Season with salt and pepper, add stock, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a minimum and then simmer on top of the stove or in the oven (170°C/325°F/gas 3) for about 10min. By then the rice should just be cooked – about 10min. By then the rice should be just cooked and all the liquid absorbed. Just before serving, stir in the fresh herbs if using

This is so worth the extra effort so go for it people, best rice ever.

Sea bass or grey mullet en papillote

Serves 4

4 x 160g fillets of sea bass or grey mullet, cleaned, scaled and trimmed
Olive oil
2 red chillies, deseeded and cut into thin strips
1 stalk lemongrass, outside leaves removed, discarded and very finely slice
400g can coconut milk
1-2tbsp fish sauce
Juice and zest of 1 lime
4 lime leaves, very finely sliced

( I would also add some sugar, Thai food is supposed to hit the 4 different tastes (salt, sour, sweet and bitter) and this didn’t really. Not my favourite dish)

Preheat oven to 220C (425F) gas 7.

Season fish inside and out with salt and pepper. Brush four 12in (30cm) squares of foil with a little olive oil and put a fish diagonally across the centre of each piece. Bring sides of the foil up around the fish and crimp together tightly at each end leaving the top open.

In a bowl mix the coconut milk with the lemongrass and chilli, lime zest, juice and lime leaves. Spoon the mixture over the four fish.

Finally, pour a teaspoon of fish sauce into each parcel then seal well. Put on a large baking sheet and bake for 10min.

To serve, put the unopened parcels of fish on four warmed plates and allow each person to open up their parcel. Serve with coconut rice.

The curry was great though and this really is a good easy recipe that most people will like as you can tailor it to anyone’s heat tolerance and likes and dislikes.

My husband has already made this again.

Like I said I wasn’t hugely into this dish but I think a few tweaks and it could be good.

The dish we didn’t get to make (due to time) was the dessert but the lovely Square Food people passed on the recipe so I hope to make this soon.

Rich Chilli Chocolate Tart

For the Sweet Pastry 
 
250g flour
85g icing sugar
125 butter
1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways and seeds scraped out
1 small egg beaten

First make the sweet pastry. Sift flour and icing sugar until completely combined. Rub butter into the flour until nearly breadcrumb consistency. Make a well in the flour and add vanilla and egg yolks. Knead mixture with fingers. Refrigerate for a minimum 20 minutes

Roll out the pastry as thinly as possible and line a tart case with it. Bake blind for 15 – 20 minutes at 190°C then for a further 5 minutes with the baking beans removed, until the pastry is completely cooked.

For the Filling

700ml cream
pinch chilli flakes
350g 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate
5 eggs
2 yolks
1 tsp cocoa powder
150g sugar

To make the tart filling, bring the cream to boiling point with the chilli flakes then remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate, stirring to combine until the mixture has a smooth, glossy consistency. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, yolks and cocoa and then stir into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the sweet pastry case and bake at 150°C – 160°C for 15 minutes until the tart is just set. Remove and cool for 30 minutes before eating. Serve with crème fraiche.

 We still have more vouchers to spend and I am looking forward to picking our next course. This one was a great way to spend an evening but as we both cook with chilli and spice a lot at home we didn’t really learn much. So next time instead of sticking to what we know and like I might pick something geared towards something we don’t cook.

Check out the Square Food Foundation – they are doing really great things.

Phuket Cookery School – Panaeng Curry

This became on of my favourites in Thailand and I cannot wait to make this at home for friends.

You need, for 4-6 people;
First you make the paste…
5 black peppercorns
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
(if using fresh of the above roast first, if using dried that’ll be fine too)
6 big fried red chillies, de-seeded and soaked for 15 minutes
1tsp galangal finely chopped
1 tsp coriander root, finely chopped
1 tsp kaffir lime peel, chopped
1 tbsp garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp shallots
1 tsp shrimp paste

To make the paste just pound all of these ingredients together using a pestle and mortar… preferably a big one. Add the spices first then everything else one by one until a smooth paste is formed.

To make the curry you need;
2 tbsp + 150g coconut cream
2 tbsp of your curry paste
150g of pork or beef or chicken (I love beef) in small bite size pieces
1 tbsp palm sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
pinch salt to taste
6 kaffir lime leaves, 4 torn
1 big red chilli, chopped for garnish
2 tsp roasted ground peanuts or peanut butter

1. Heat the 2 tbsp of coconut cream in a wok and when hot add the curry paste, fry until fragrant. Then add the rest of the coconut cream and bring to the boil.

2. Add the meat and continue to cook until tender, about 1-2 minutes. Do not let the meat get tough.

3. Season with the sugar, fish sauce, peanut butter and kaffir lime leaves for 30 seconds and remove from the heat.

4. Serve garnished with kaffir lime leaves, chillies and coconut cream

By this point the sun has fully broken through the clouds and it was hot. These children found a great way to cool off.

Phuket Cookery School – Stir Fried Chicken with Cashews

One of the great things about this cookery school is the set up, this is where the chef’s did their demonstrations before we tried ourselves, the mirror above meant we could see everything they did. Very handy.

This dish is called Kai Pad Med Ma Muang and is another classic dish you can get almost anywhere in Thailand.

You need, for 2 people;
30g cornflour
30ml light soy sauce
pinch ground white pepper
150g chicken breast, thinly sliced
30ml vegetable oil, and enough to deep fry the vegetables
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
60g sliced onions
60g straw mushrooms, cut in half
30g sliced carrot
30g water chesnuts, cut in half
60g cashew nuts, deep-fried or roasted (do in advance)
15 ml oyster sauce
15ml light soy sauce
5ml seasoning sauce
5ml chilli oil
5g palm sugar
40g spring onions, cut into 1 inch lengths
10 small dried red chillies, deep-fried or roasted for garnish
5g coriander leaves, coarsely chopped for garnish

1. Whisk the cornflour, light soy sauce and pepper and then add the chicken and stir until coated. Heat your oil in a wok and fry the chicken turning occasionally for about 3-5 minutes until tender. Then place them aside on a paper towel until you are ready for them.

2. Heat the oil in the wok and fry the garlic until it begins to brown then add the vegetables and nuts and fry until they are cooked but firm to the bite, roughly 1-2 minutes, then add the chicken and season with the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and chilli oil to taste and stir until well mixed. Sprinkle in the spring onion, cook for a further 30 seconds then remove from the heat.

Serve with the chopped coriander and chillies and plain steamed rice.

Again this is such a simple dish once you have all your ingredients ready, and your cupboards stocked up with the seasonings. So worth doing if you want to eat Thai food more often.

Phuket Cookery School – Tom Jeud Tao Hoo Moo Soup

So after the market tour we headed to the cookery school. The location was beautiful, an indoor kitchen with a dining room that looked out to the sea and misty islands in the distance.

We had to watch out for coconuts.

When we arrived we had some coffee while our teachers for the day ran through our menu and how we would be working.

We sat in a horseshoe shape around a teacher while they made each dish and talked us through techniques then we went to the kitchen and made it ourselves.

This was our view while we ate our creations.

Our first dish was a clear Thai soup with vegetables and minced pork balls and bean curd – or Tom Jeud Tao Hoo Moo Sub.

Here is how it is supposed to look, this was made for 1 person.

Here is my prep, we were taught about presentation as well and making the small cuts into our vegetables to make our dish pretty. I love this.

The below amounts are from our recipe cards, I doubt you need to be so precise when buying, I know I won’t be at home just buy small amounts or make lots more soup.

For 2 people you need;
100g minced pork
2 coriander roots, washed and finely chopped
1 tbsp garlic, chopped
pinch ground white pepper
pinch salt
pinch sugar (to taste)
2 tsp soya bean oil
75ml pork or chicken stock
50g enokidake mushrooms, broken into small pieces (I think any flavourful mushroom would work here)
20g sliced carrot – or 2 pieces as in photograph
2 leaves white cabbage, sliced
1 tbsp light soy sauce
100g soft tofu cut into bite size pieces
10g seaweed
1 spring onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 chinese celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbsp garlic, chopped and deep-fried for garnish

That is a lot of ingredients I know, but you can easily chop and change this by what you have. It’s really lots of little bits as well so it might not be the best idea to go and get all of this from a super market and make a soup batch of soup if you are going to waste the rest.

Again so jealous of their markets.

First thing was marinate the pork, which needs at least 30 minutes and then to cut everything up to be of the same bite size pieces.

1. Marinate the pork with the coriander root, maybe trying with stalks if you cannot get roots, garlic, pepper, salt and soya bean oil. Mix and cover for 30 minutes plus. When you are ready mix the mixture again and fix into 8-10 bite size pieces.

My soup bubbling away, this was probably about 10-11 in the morning and not something I would usually want at that time but it smelt so good.

2. Bring the stock to the boil add the pork and simmer for 1 minute before adding the white cabbage, carrot and the mushrooms and simmer for a further 1-2 minutes. Season with the soy sauce and simmer for a further 1 minute.

3. Add the bean curd and cook briefly just for a refresh, add the seaweed and simmer for 1 more moment before removing from the heat.

The bean curd was like butter, we popped this in right at the end and were careful not to stir too much as you can imagine it breaks up very easily.

My finished soup. Probably could have made two smaller portions with the ingredients given but I used it all and wolfed it down.

Writing this is reminding me how good this was and that I need to make it at home.

My first dish was great and we sat and ate looking out to sea, I didn’t quite finish it as we had a day of eating ahead… more recipes to come!

Cauliflower Cheese

I have been craving this for weeks, and last weekend I worked a lot, so on Sunday with the wind blowing a gale outside and drizzle coming down so thick it was like fog, I finally got round to making it.

It is more than comfort to me, it’s a dish my Mum used to make a lot for me as a child and so I will always love it.

I found it hard to write my recipe though as I make my roux by eye and don’t measure anything!

How cute is my Emma Bridgewater dish? A present from my Mama!

You need;
1 large white cauliflower
50g flour; use whatever you have, I used a little buckwheat and a little plain but normally I would use wholemeal
50g butter
1-2 pints of milk – depending on how thick you want your sauce
150-200g cheddar - I use the strongest as I can get, you can totally use whatever you like here as well, a little bit of Stilton takes it to a whole other level.
2 tbsp double cream (not important)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1-2 pinch’s of freshly grated nutmeg – to taste
sea salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
Cook the cauliflower in boiling salted water until just tender – 5-6 minutes. Don’t underdo it either – crunchy, al dente cauliflower is not right for this dish.) Drain thoroughly and put into your baking/serving dish.

2. To make the sauce, melt the butter in a medium-sized pan. Spoon in the flour and stir, do not let it burn. Cook for 4-5 minutes to cook the flour off.
Remove from the heat and gradually beat in the milk, a few spoonfuls at a time at first, then increasing the flow as the sauce thins. Make sure you taste the sauce to check the flour has cooked.
Return to the heat and heat gently for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened and creamy.
Keep stirring!

Then add in the cheese, cream, mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper and adjust to your taste.

3. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower, sprinkle over some more grated cheese (and breadcrumbs if you have them) and bake for 20-30 minutes until bubbling!

I also grill mine for a further 3 minutes to get those delicious burnt edges.

I even had enough leftover for my lunch the next day.