Archive for the ‘Cooking Classes’ Category

You have to love kids who choose to come to a cooking class during the school holidays, especially at this time of the year. Outside the sun is shining after a long cold winter and yet the class today was filled with kids with expectations of fun and new things to learn. Natural food clourings were the subject of the day and it was dealt with enthusiasm and vigour by all who attended. Beetroot, turmeric, carrot, spinach, red cabbage and cocoa powder were transformed into vibrant colours that resulted in stunning cupcakes…all works of art by the kids!

How much fun did these kids have today?

As school holidays draw to a close, 20 youngsters arrived at 9.30 this morning  to get their hands dirty. Potato gnocchi were the order of the day, and after much peeling, mashing, kneading and rolling, the kids sat down to enjoy gnocchi made with there very own hands. Everybody enjoyed them with tomato sugo, most of them enjoyed the cheese sauce, but only a few braved the sage and blue cheese. In any case, well done kids. The gnocchi held together, floated to the top of the saucepan and looked the genuine article in the plate.

Heart warming stuff.

Sophie Budd snuck into town yesterday evening for our Forgotten Fruits cooking class. Unaffected by her star studded past (Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver just to name 2), she donned a frilly apron over her white cotton dress and proceeded to pull 14 people together and get them cooking. Interestingly Sophie actually did very little cooking. The group did it all. Taken by her relaxed manner and natural way of communicating 14 enthusiastic participants picked, chopped, stirred and cooked 4 simply beautiful dishes:

• Roasted beetroot, chick pea and pomegranate salad
• Lamb and cumquat tagine
• Quince Tart Tartin with homemade custard
• Rose hip syrup and Quince paste

Thank you Sophie for a wonderful evening and thank you autumn for your seasonal treats, pomegranates, cumquats, rose hips and quinces.

To see more of Sophie check out www.sophiebudd.com.au

autumn bounty

many hands make light work

roasted beetroot and chick pea salad

beautiful quince paste

March 18th and 19th

The wonderful Valentine d’Souza brought his love for his homeland and his natural ability to translate that love into pure pleasure for the senses to Balingup on the weekend.

The first of what will be an annual long table dinner at Jalbrook Estate gave Valentine the opportunity to share with us the flavours of his beloved Goa. A perfect Summers night set the tone for a spectacular evening. Red masala chicken skewers were followed by pork vindalho, crab xacuit (the crowd favourite), dhal and chick pea and tamarind salad. Delicious.

The following night Valentine held a cooking class at Taste of Balingup. Generous as ever, he chatted to a full house about his love for his food, shared secrets about his pastes and delighted the taste buds of his followers with prawn xec xec, spice crusted lamb and pomegranate in lime and vodka.

Fantastic weekend. Different perfumes in the kitchen, bigger pots to wash and lots of exciting left overs!

We can’t wait to see Valentine back in Balingup (keep an eye on the web site for Valentine’s Winter cooking class).

a perfect evening at Jalbrook

...and the perfect crowd for it

February the 11th, 12th, 24th and 25th

Tres bon!!

The lovely Helen Pratt was kept busy at Taste of Balingup in February. Not one but four classes of  ’the art of french pastry making’ were held. Helen brought her expertise and her relaxed self to Balingup to teach what all the fuss is about when it comes to french pastry. Creme caramel, truffle, wafer, paris brest and mille feuille (complete with correct pronunciation)  were on the menu and those who attended went home delighted with their achievements. Four wonderful evenings of chatter, touching, smelling, tasting and cooking ensured Helen’s success. What a treat!

You can learn more about Helen at www.cooklearnlove.com.au

 Tuesday, 18th January 

Great day in the shop today…20 kids learning how to make pasta. Probably a bit more flour on the floor than usual but how wonderful to see so many youngsters getting their hands dirty with such enthusiasm! 

Arriving early for their 9.30 lesson, kids from the district and others who have relatives in the area aproned up for a morning of fresh pasta and tomato sugo making. Not only was it an absolute pleasure to see so many smiling little faces eager to get on with things, but I was pleasantly surprised at how familiar these kids were with the whole process. Kneading the dough, using rolling pins and pasta machines, cutting up tomatoes and identifying herbs from the herb box all came pretty naturally to most of them. Of course the thing that came most naturally to them was eating the fruits of their labours-and enjoying it. 

Pretty exciting stuff. These kids are our future and if this morning is anything to go by, we can look forward to a very bright one. Thanks kids for a fabulous morning!