Ingredients
No dish can work without amazing ingredients. Find out what we look for when sourcing, preparing and cooking our sustainable ingredients.
Rosalind’s Cake Baking Round Up
Cookery School founder, Rosalind Rathouse talks about her annual Christmas cake as well as her favourite cake recipes that she grew up with, the importance of great ingredients and what to look for when dining out on cake.
The Christmas cake
Historically, the Christmas cake is associated with eating a large fruit cake to celebrate the Twelfth Night or Epiphany on the 5th of January, which at that time was a bigger feast-day than Christmas.
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How To Ingredients Ros Rants
Gut Health + our Mixed Pulse Salad
‘Gut health’ is still the word on everyone’s lips – and with good reason. With Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) in the limelight for being overconsumed, unhealthy and contributing to many health issues it is no wonder that the importance of having a healthy gut is on everyone’s radar.
We are reminded about UK’s top gut expert, Tim Spector’s visit to Cookery School and just how much he loved our Mixed Pulse Salad. It’s a great recipe for boosting prebiotics and is utterly delicious.
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Ingredients Recipes
Supplier Spotlight: Breakfast with Original Beans
Last week we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast tasting with purveyors of beautiful, ethical chocolate, Original Beans.
The tasting was part of our supplier breakfast series, where the Cookery School team gets to meet and hear from one of our brilliant suppliers. We do this over a delicious breakfast before the kitchens get busy and students come in. Last week the team got to find out about the Original Beans ethos and ethical and regenerative approach to chocolate,
Why eat organic ingredients?
Cookery School’s founder, Rosalind, started buying organic ingredients more than thirty years ago because they were free of chemicals like steroids and antibiotics. They clearly were better for everyone, but were harder to find and had to be sought out. Now we take it for granted that we can buy most items in organic form.
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Ingredients Sustainability
Cupboards full of chemicals? Avoiding the Additives
We’ve always taken a stance on additives at Cookery School and with such a focus on UPFs we want to share our thoughts on the chemicals used in small quantities to improve or preserve many of the foods that we eat today. Since our inception a few principles have been sacrosanct : using organic ingredients as much as we possibly could was one and never using any ingredients that contained additives or preservatives was another.
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Ingredients
Five top tips for meal prep
Batch cooking, or meal prep, is the act of preparing a week’s worth of food in one session, ensuring that your lunches and dinners are looked after for the days ahead. It’s a fantastic way to ensure you’re eating well, saving money and most importantly, improving your cooking skills!
However, meal prep doesn’t mean having the same thing for five days straight. With a little forward planning and organisation,
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How To Ingredients
World Environment Day at Cookery School
This year`s World Environment Day theme is all about Ecosystem restoration, which focuses on improving the capacity and productivity of ecosystems to meet the needs of today’s society. How we source food and what we eat plays a major role in improving the world`s ecosystem.
We are proud to be London’s most sustainable cookery school. Sustainability sits at the very heart of the Cookery School ethos. We strongly believe in reducing our carbon footprint through practices in our kitchens and aim to do whatever we can to reduce our impact as far as possible.
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Ingredients Sustainability
Benefits of eating Asparagus
The wonderful and vibrant asparagus is a fibrous vegetable and can be seasonally bought in the UK in the months of April to June! Asparagus is typically green but there are white and purple varieties. The purple variety has nutty and sweet notes, whilst green asparagus has more grassy and earthy undertones. The white asparagus is known to be mild in flavour but slightly bitter.
Benefits
Now lets talk health benefits…..
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Ingredients
RECIPE: Gazpacho
Here’s our version of this classic, refreshing chilled Spanish soup, gazpacho, to keep you and your loved ones nice and cool during this glorious heatwave. Summer is in full swing and with temperatures rising to a whopping 37°C it’s way too hot to cook!
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How To Ingredients Recipes
Ros Rants: The ethics of chocolate
I am an utter chocoholic and love the stuff but I always have one huge proviso – it has to be 100% slave free. The chocolate that I devour and that we use at Cookery School is always ethical.
In our chocolate making class, taught by the wonderful Jon Hogan from Rococo, we start the day with a tasting of a range of different ethical chocolates. Our students are always shocked to learn that the chocolates that they eat all the time aren’t free of controversy and ought to be given an enormously wide berth.
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Ingredients Ros Rants Sustainability
Ros Rants: A sprinkle of salt
Salt is magic for me. Of all the ingredients that can be used to enhance the flavour of food, salt is the most effective when correctly used. The emphasis being on correct! I loathe food that is over-salted. It kills the taste of any dish, so it’s essential to find the right balance.
There is a hysteria surrounding the use of salt. It is not unfounded if one is a fast food or ready meal addict.
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Ingredients Ros Rants
The importance of sourcing sustainable fish
Why is it important to source sustainable fish? Fishing continues to be one of the biggest issues facing the food industry. With over-fishing and dredging jeopardising fish stocks and sea bed ecology, it is more important than ever that we investigate where our fish is coming from and ensure the methods used are as sustainable as possible.
What does sustainable fish mean?
Sustainable fish is caught in ways that allow the long-term future and viability of species,
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Ingredients Sustainability
The top three benefits of growing your own fruit and vegetables
Nicky Roeber is the Online Horticultural Expert at Wyevale Garden Centres. Here, he shares the top three benefits of growing your own fruit and vegetables at home.
As we become more conscious of how our everyday choices and actions can affect the environment, many people are making the switch to growing their own fruit and vegetables. However, the benefits extend beyond just helping the planet: it can save you money and improve your health too.
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Ingredients Sustainability
World Meat-Free Week: Helping the planet through your plate
17th-23rd June is World Meat-Free Week, a movement that aims to promote eating more plant-based foods. With experts saying that by 2050, the developed world will need to reduce their meat consumption by 50%, it’s becoming more important than ever for individuals and families to celebrate the humble vegetable. Here at Cookery School, we’re leading from the front, with plenty of vegetarian and vegan classes,
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Ingredients Sustainability
RECIPE: Vegetable Bolognese
May 13-19 marks National Vegetarian Week so we’re celebrating with one of our favourite dinner recipes – Vegetable Bolognese. With more than five veggies per serve, it’s a great way to pack in your five-a-day in a delicious way.
It’s a real crowd pleaser – just make sure you make enough for leftovers!
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Ingredients Recipes
Ros Rants: Don’t Sweat the Onions
Cookery School at Little Portland Street founder Rosalind Rathouse occasionally reads, hears or sees something that gets her attention and inspires her to have a say. We call this Ros’s Rants…
Last week I was alerted to a tweet that stated the author felt deceived by the cooking community after he had read a 2012 article on Slate.com about how long it really takes to caramelise an onion (35-40 minutes) versus what a recipe typically says (5-8 minutes).
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How To Ingredients Ros Rants
5 tips for a healthy gut
Nutritional Therapist and author of The Gut Makeover and The Gut Makeover Recipe Book, Jeannette Hyde, offers up some pointers on how to start eating for a healthy gut.
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Classes Ingredients
Mind the Gut: Q&A with Jeannette Hyde
Research has proven that having a healthy gut microbiome is critical to your overall health. Gut health doesn’t just keep weight and digestive symptoms down, mood and energy up; it is also linked to healthy skin and an improved immune system. Cookery School spoke to Jeannette Hyde, Nutritional Therapist and author of The Gut Makeover and The Gut Makeover Recipe Book, about how to eat for optimal gut – and mental – health.
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Classes Ingredients
RECIPE: Mince Pies
You know it’s officially Christmas when you can smell mince pies! The pastry firming in the oven and the mincemeat bubbling away underneath the star shaped lids makes for delicious viewing. Our recipe makes about 50 mini mince pies using a sweet, rich shortcrust pastry.
MINCEMEAT
INGREDIENTS
- 450g/1 lb raisins
- 450g/1 lb currants
- 225g/½ lb candied peel
- 225g/½ lb finely chopped vegetable fat e.g coconut
- 450g/1 lb finely grated cooking apples
- 450g/1 lb sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1½ teaspoons allspice
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 250ml/8ozs brandy or rum
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Ingredients Recipes
RECIPE: Asparagus risotto
As featured in the Cookery School Handbook
Risotto follows the same principle as other rice recipes in that liquid is used to cook the rice and is absorbed by the end of the cooking time. Where it differs to other recipes is that risotto always cooks in stock and/or wine, not water.
It’s important to stir risotto regularly during cooking, as the starch releasing from the grains results in an incredibly creamy dish.
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Ingredients Recipes
RECIPE: Pizza
It’s National Pizza Day on 9th February (yes that is such a thing!) so we thought it no better time to share our homemade pizza recipe. It’s really easy to make and so much tastier than anything store bought (with no nasty preservatives!).
This recipe serves four as a main course.
To make the dough…
INGREDIENTS
– 450g/1 lb strong white flour
–
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Ingredients Recipes
Happy 15th Birthday to us!
To celebrate our 15th birthday this February, we wanted to compile a list of 15 of our favourite Cookery School facts – but we got carried away!
Did you know…
ENVIRONMENTAL
1. We make sure that our suppliers deliver our produce in containers that we use again and again so to eliminate one-use plastics. We store all our food in glass containers and never use cling film!
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Ingredients Sustainability
RECIPE: Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
This soup is one of our favourites! Jerusalem artichokes are often underrated but to us they are perfectly delicious when in season. This soup is very good for your gut as it contains strong prebiotic properties that stimulate the growth of friendly bacteria in the body. Antioxidents are abundant so these root vegetables do you the world of good!
INGREDIENTS
– 450g/1lb Jerusalem artichokes
–
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Ingredients Recipes
Chasing The Sunshine
We’ve transported ourselves from the grey British skies to the blue Mediterranean seas by sharing our calamari recipe with the wonderful people at Villa Plus, one of the UK’s leading travel companies.
Villa Plus are highlighting recipes from the top European foodie destinations and have showcased one of our favourite seafood dishes.
‘Eat Like a Local’ is a campaign by Villa Plus, inspired by their customers’ love of immersing themselves in culture,
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Ingredients Recipes
A VEGGIE CHRISTMAS RECIPE: Vegan Nut Roast
This recipe is perfect for a vegetarian Christmas meal. It’s super healthy and great for the gut as it includes ingredients such as chickpeas, nuts, parsley and olive oil. The chickpea water is used instead of eggs for binding the nut roast, making it vegan.
INGREDIENTS
1 tin chickpeas (450g)
Good handful of finely chopped thyme or oregano
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 large carrot very finely grated
¼ cup olive oil 1 teaspoon salt
250g nuts of choice finely chopped
A good dash of tobasco
4 tablespoons polenta
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
A good handful of chopped parsley
Serve with cranberry relish for a wonderful Christmas treat
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Ingredients Recipes
CHRISTMAS RECIPE: Mulled Wine Cabbage
One of our favourite side dishes for this time of year! It has a rich flavour and looks so striking!
INGREDIENTS
1½ lb red cabbage finely shredded 3 apples finely diced
2 onions finely chopped 3 tablespoons tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic finely chopped ½ cup tomato passata
¼ cup olive oil juice of 1 lemon/1tablespoon wine vinegar
1 cup red wine 1 tablespoon sugar –
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Ingredients Recipes
CHRISTMAS RECIPE: Mince Pies
Nothing says ‘Christmas’ more than the warming scent of mince pies baking in the oven. What could be more festive! We have included our recipes for both the mincemeat and the pastries below.
The pastry uses a sweet, rich shortcrust. Makes about 50 mini mince pies.
Mincemeat
INGREDIENTS
- 450g/1 lb raisins
- 450g/1 lb currants
- 225g/½ lb candied peel
- 225g/½ lb finely chopped vegetable fat eg coconut
- 450g/1 lb finely grated cooking apples
- 450g/1 lb sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1½ teaspoons allspice
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 250ml/8ozs brandy or rum
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Ingredients Recipes
HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: Pumpkin & Chestnut Soup
Halloween isn’t just about ghouls and ghosts, it can also be about delicious, warming dinners. Like this one. Not only is the colour of the soup brilliant, the taste is simply the epitome of Autumn. This is no trick.
PUMPKIN AND CHESTNUT SOUP
3lbs pumpkin cut into 1″ pieces
2 large onions coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 oz butter
½ cup coarsely chopped parsley
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
8 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
8 ozs peeled chestnuts –
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Ingredients Recipes
To Ve(gan) Or Not To Ve(gan)
Veganism is one of Britain’s fastest growing lifestyle movements according to The Telegraph. November is officially ‘World Vegan Month’ so here’s a quick introduction to why people choose to be animal-free, according to The Vegan Society.
Animals – Vegans don’t eat any meat products and defend the lives of animals. This extends further than just food and includes cosmetics, clothing and even medicines.
Health – A lot of vegans believe that the health benefits of an animal-free diet include increased energy and younger looking skin!
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Classes Ingredients
Our top 5 classes this August
August is here (we know – already!). We’ve compiled the list below of our favourite classes this month.
Just so you know, all of our classes include a welcome snack/breakfast upon arrival and at the end of the class, you will sit down around the Cookery School table to enjoy what you have made together.
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Classes Ingredients
