Underground Cookery School - Travels for Taste

Pack a healthy protien punch into your meals with Quorn

June 15, 2015 by manjirichitnis 6 Comments

One of the main challenges I have been facing off late as I am trying hard to throw off weight is maintaining a high protien diet and keeping my meals low on fat. Believe me it’s tricky trying to go low on sugar, saturated fats and ensuring blood sugar and cholesterol are at acceptable levels too- almost like a tight rope walk!

But even if you do not need to actively lower your cholesterol or sugar levels and are just looking for a healthier alternate to protein from meat sources I would consider including Quorn in your diet. I first tried Quorn simply out of curiosity. Both my husband and me love lamb mince but eating it more that 2 times on a week made me really feel very guilty. But swapping Quorn mince for lamb, once a week was something we are happy to do.

I always marinate Quorn mince with spices overnight and leave it to soak in all the flavours overnight. So when I was invited to an event to cook with Quorn at the Underground Cookery School, I was quite keen to see what recipes they had in mind.

Starters for the evening

We started by making dessert – always a great way to start the evening! Chocolate Torte was on the menu and we really enjoyed working with chocolate and working to an easy recipe created by the Underground Cookery School .

Chocolate Torte

Next it was the BBQ pulled Quorn and pink coleslaw followed by Quorn Thai Curry – which I enjoyed making the most. I really loved the recipe created by Denise.

Denise in conversation with bloggers at the #quorncooks event

And for you, my readers here its is for you:

Quorn Thai Curry

Serves: 10

Ingredients:

Marinade

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp korma paste
2 tbsp vegetarian Thai green curry paste
500gm Quorn pieces

Sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil
400gm onions, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
60gm fresh coriander
1 tbsp fresh, frozen or dried lime leaves (optional)
1 1/2 tbsp turmeric
1 vegetable stock cube crumbled
2 x 400 gm tin coconut milk
3 tbsp sweet mango chutney
30 gm fresh basil
350 gm red peppers, thinly sliced
200 gm mangetout or sugar snaps, halved

Quorn Chicken Pieces

Method

Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl until the Quorn is coated. Transfer to the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
To prepare the sauce heat the oil in a pan then gently fry the chopped onion, garlic and ginger for 5 minutes until softened but not coloured.
Add half of the coriander, the lime leaves, turmeric, stock cube, coconut milk and mango chutney. Gently bring to the boil then simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Add the basil and remaining coriander to the sauce for the last 5 minutes of cooking time then remove the pan from the heat and blend until smooth with a hand blender.
Meanwhile transfer the marinated Quorn pieces to a baking tray and cook in a moderate oven 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve.
Add the Quorn pieces, red pepper and mangetout to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are just cooked.

Quorn Thai Curry

While our curry was bubbling away we sat through a presentation over wine and a Q-A session. The question many of the bloggers had – as am sure many of you do was – what exactly is Quorn made up of?

Quorn’s core ingredient is a plant protein that is exceptional at replicating the texture and taste of meat. This is a naturally occurring fungus, which is harvested through a fermentation process. Other key features that make it a great choice are:

Quorn has no cholestrol and is high on fibre
From the sustainability perspective consider this Quorn mince uses 90% less greenhouse gasses than lean beef mince,

It was lovely to meet so many bloggers that evening and also bump into familiar faces like Leyla Preston and Becky. And for me it’s always a good feeling to come back to Underground cookery school where Chef and Patron Matt Kemp and his able team of chefs ensures that every blogger feels welcome, wine glasses never run dry and cooking is fun all the way.

The BBQ pulled Quorn was delicious and I really liked the texture of quorn and how easily it had taken up the flavours of the seasoning used. Paired with pink coleslaw it makes for a really great snack and a lovely idea for a summer BBQ.

BBQ pulled Quorn and pink coleslaw

Served with steamed basmati rice, perfectly done – each grain cooked to satisfying perfection was the creamy Thai Green curry – this was the most satisfying dish that evening and one that I am happy to make at home over and over again.

Both hubby and me love our meat and seafood but we are consciously trying to eat healthier, include more vegetables and fruits in our diet and look for healthier protein choices. That’s where Quorn comes in. Quorn certainly is a healthy protein alternative with a wide range of options – a solution to both vegetarians and the rapidly expanding group of people wanting to reduce their meat consumption.

Infographic-Quorn

Today is World Meat Free Day, why not create your very own easy vegetarian delight for an easy dinner at home tonight? And for those feeling less adventurous there’s many options Quorn has like my favourite Quorn steaks – served with a peppery salad of rocket leaves and fresh summery cherry tomatoes they go down a treat.

World Meat Free Day

*With thanks to Quorn for the invite and for the team at Underground Cookery for another great experience. All photographs used in this post are courtesy Preston Perfect Photography. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

London’s Hottest Food Trends with Loyd Grossman

August 21, 2014 by manjirichitnis 14 Comments

Excited to know that I would be introduced to Londons Hottest food trends at an ”Evening of flavour” I made my way to the Underground Cookery School – @cookinglesson . I love going to events hosted at this venue and I seem to have developed a great comfort level with the warm staff who always make our evenings special.

The mention of Loyd Grossman sauces – @LoydFood #GetFlavour- brings to mind their telly ad showing the man himself as a young boy keen savouring food seasoned with sauces made by him and that always comes back to when I see the bottles on supermarket shelves, as it did when I saw a huge table full of various jars and sachets of their cooking sauces .

Cru Coffee aka Cru Kafe – @crukafe , helped set the mood for the evening with their rather nice looking coffee based cocktails and many of the bloggers even tried their hand at mixing some of the cocktails , but I was already under the grips of a massive hay fever attack around that time and steered clear of the cocktail counter, although I must admit it took all of me to not steal a sip or two off my friends glass – darned Hayfever …. few months of sunshine with an opportunity to drink cold beer and eat plenty of ice cream and this mad Hayfever keeps me away from all of it …

Predicting food trends is probably as or even more difficult than predicting who stocks will rise or fall in the stock market, but The Food People – @thefoodpeople – seem to have it all figured out and they shared some of their research with us, foodies, that evening. Their research also takes into consideration what the Twitterati and food bloggers talk about, and is an indication of the future of food blogging in a way me thinks..

A staggering 37000 food outlets cater to London’s hungry tummies alone, which is quite a number,one that makes one wonder what tricks one would need to have up their sleeves in order to survive and stand out from the crowd?! So what exactly are the Hottest Food Trends that will dominate London city ,and rule the cities taste buds?

The folks at The Food People shared :

Burgers ,fries and all things American are here to stay including the rather fantastic cronut! ( Cronuts,Duffins and now Crodough – what WILL people come up with next ?!) (I had a huge craving for sinking my teeth into a juicy burger with smoky crispy bacon yesterday and I did just that by cajoling my colleagues – they didn’t need much coaxing really , to go to our fav high street burger haunt – I guess that says a lot about how trends affect our choices huh? )
The magic of Mediterranean cuisine is not going to fade anytime soon, so lovers of Greek and Lebanese food – rejoice!
Mash – ups ( think ”Ramen burgers” (!!) and ”Nacho lasagne” ) are hot right now too, classic meets new age mantra in a savoury war with gastronomically pleasing results – who can complain?

Top Trending styles are :

Small plate or tapas style dining with loads of opportunity to sample various dishes and have sharing platters doing the rounds. I can safely say I like the sound of this trend the most.( I spent yesterday evening at an authentic Spanish tapas bar and I can easily say that it is something I enjoyed thoroughly and my opinion is no way skewed by nature of having consumed over 6 glasses of the most delicious Sangria I’ve ever had!)
Meaty, smoky, spicy and moorish – no not the only BBQ food just plain and simple ”Dude Food” has charmed not just the dudes !

The flavour trending in 2014 is CHILLI – whether fiery or sweet, Chilli that is the STAR of the trend wagon! Now that one made me smile! ( I love using chillies in my cooking, think it has to do with how we prepare and relish our food back in India ,where chilli powder has a place of prominence in our beautiful round spice boxes which are a must in every Indian kitchen. So enamoured am I that even though I have very less space in my kicthen the size of a postage stamp , I still went ahead and purchased 2 small potted chilli plants one with bright yellow chillies and one with with deep aubergine coloured ones to keep on my kitchen window sill. They taste so good, promise to have them feature in my recipe posts soon! )

Future Trending cuisines are going to be Persian ( fresh,light and plenty of choice for vegetarians! ) , Israeli ( Lucky me I have an autographed copy of Ottolenghi’s book ,thanks to FBC this year!) and Greek ( Not the heavy ,oily stuff that been churned out but the beautiful,authentic flavours that feel like summer on your plate!)

John Quilter also known as the ‘Food Busker’ – @JohnQuilter – then went on to cook some brilliant fusion food for us using Loyd Grossman cooking sauces , all the while entertaining us and telling us how he has added his own imaginative touch to all the dishes based on the food trends. This fusion of food and format came onto our plates as :

Lobster Thermidor with juicy, buttery lobster in a cheesy pot with a small amount of samphire for that salty taste of the sea.

Korean Fried Chicken topped in a thin ,drippy batter infused with vodka which lends a fabulously crisp quality to the coating ,so unlike thick bulky batters that we see otherwise.These were topped with ribbons of crunchy spring onion which were dipped in ice cold water to give it a sharp crispy edge.These vanished off the plates as they were passed around , I lost count of how many wings I gobbled that evening 😉

We also had Sashimi, Iberico Schnitzel and oxtail sliders. All finished by a show stopping Panacotta with just the right wobble beautiful vanilla specks all over with a side of peaches smothered in amaretto and a crumbly sprinkling of buttery crushed biscuits.

So Londoners , those food trends should keep up in the know of how the food scene in our vibrant ,multi-cultural melting pot will be tickling our taste buds. Thanks to the ‘Food Busker’ we relished food that has yet to hit city restaurant menus created using the well researched and flavourful sauces from Loyd Grossman. So next time you are in a mood for a culinary adventure and shudder at the thought of cooking from scratch ,confidently reach out for a jar of one of these sauces knowing that it can create something as brilliant as the Korean Fried Chicken! ( Need an easy recipe to make some yourself this long weekend? Give me a shout in the comments below and will send you the recipe that was shared with us ,in a flash !)

Disclaimer: With Thanks to Loyd Grossman Sauces for a fabulous ‘ evening of flavour’ with the Food Busker – John Quilter. Many thanks to Cru Coffee and the efficient team at Underground Cookery School.

Parma Ham Event at the Underground Cookery School

May 7, 2014 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Returning to the Underground Cookery School this time for an event to showcase Parma Ham, I felt very much at home in the school and saw some familiar faces amongst the other invitees too. As was expected I was greeted with a glass of Prosecco that never ran dry as the evening progressed.

While Head Chef, Carlos, freshly sliced Parma Ham we tucked into starters all made using Parma Ham.Parma Ham is 100% natural and the drying process it goes through gives Parma Ham a very low fat content, with many mineral salts, vitamins, antioxidants and easily digestible proteins.Prosciutto di Parma meaning Parma Ham in literal translation is produced in hills surrounding the Parma region of Italy where the dry gentle hilly air gives this meat its unmistakable sweetness and flavour.

Amongst the many delicious apretizers ,I most enjoyed the starter with thin slices of parma ham curled around sweet pan roasted juicy pears.

To cook along with the chefs at the Underground Cookery School we were divided in two groups. Our group started of with preparing the main course for the evening :Breast of Free Range Chicken wrapped with Parma Ham, stuffed with Tarragon and Cream Cheese on top of a bed of New Potatoes, Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Spring Onion

After we all got some serious knife skill into play to cut a 1/2 ” deep pocket into the chicken breast , off they went into the oven to cook after a stuffing was added and generous layer of parma ham was wrapped around it.We then made our dessert for the evening : Meringue Roulade with Candid Parma Ham slices

The unique taste of Parma Ham is dependent on the traditional production process passed down from Roman times, carefully controlled by the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma. Only hams that have passed stringent curing regulations approved by the EU can be awarded the stamp of the Ducal crown – a five pointed coronet logo with PARMA in the centre which is branded onto the ham’s skin. The Ducal Crown is now a certification trademark.

No wonder then that this versatile meat can be used even in desserts to create such varied flavours!Then up my favourite bit – the pasta machine! This time around I made Tagliatelle for our starter which was : Fresh Home-made Tagliatelle with White Truffle Dressing, topped with twirls of freshly sliced Parma Ham and Parmigiano Reggiano

The dark yellow colour is attributed to the use of eggs specially coming all the way from Italy with a dark yellow yolk attributed to the chickens been fed on carrots, the beta carotene doing their thing there.Working the pasta machine and watching the Tagliatelle come out so perfect was a very satisfying experience 🙂 After all the hard work 😉 we sat down and bonded over some wine while out Tagliatelle was being served and the chicken was being plated.First up the starter looked so heavenly! Parma Ham in this delicious recipe is such a perfect combination.

The mains looked too good to eat and too delicious to resist !The purple broccoli and potatoes in perfect balance with the cooked ham and the stuffing just envelopes your tongue as it gushes out from the folds of the chicken.

The candied ham in the dessert is a lovely crunchy companion to the eggy Meringue.

Inspite of the dreaded Tube strike the turnout was very good and since the Underground Cookery School is conveniently located a short walk from Old street tube station it makes life so much easier.Underground Cookery School offers a space fun events to conduct cookery events in a easy environment making team building corporate exercises something to look forward to. You can also book the venue for parties and small gatherings.

*With thanks to The Consorzio del Proscuito di Parma for the invite.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.

All Image are Credit: The Consorzio del Proscuito di Parma except the ones with ”sliceoffme” watermark.

Underground Cookery School,cooking a 3 course meal and a recipe for a Pear Souffle

November 14, 2013 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

When I was invited to spend an evening at the Underground Cookery School in London, never did I imagine that I would learn how to expertly joint a Pheasant , use a pasta making machine & make my first ever ravioli and stir up a souffle in minutes! All this in a matter to few hours and then get to taste all these creations with a bunch of very friendly food enthusiasts. It was a very rainy and cold evening and the very thought of an ”underground” kitchen was heart warming.After a brief introduction ( over canapes and wine) by Chef Matt Kemp, head chef and owner of the Underground Cookery School ,we were split into 3 teams and I was learning from Chef Matt how to joint a pheasant , I most enjoyed creating the stock with a little bit of flour and adding a large ladle of Chicken Stock to the flour ummm. Matt Kemp, who trained under Michael Guérard and has worked at the River Café, The Ivy and Pont De La Tour. Having read this before I got there I was I must say a bit apprehensive , never having worked in a professional kitchen that too with a professionally trained chef but I must say he was pretty happy with my knife skills with the bird and managed to get is through preparing a Pheasant Casserole in a matter of minutes. Somehow he made it seem so easy …. What I loved is how the remainder of the birds were safely kept together in a tray to be used later to make a thick stock, it somehow made me feel so very much at home ,just a warm feeling of how we would work in our home kitchen. Matt’s team fussed over us all through the evening ensuring the glasses never ran dry and I sorely regret not drinking that evening ..ah well, another time maybe 😉 That was how the casserole looked like before it went along with the other pretty Le Crusset pans to be cooked. Somehow the addition of fresh herbs just makes everything look prettier! I have always wanted to use a pasta making machine and this was my chance, though I did almost mange to pass my hand through the machine, only to salvage my fingers in the nick of time , I guess I have have to just practise really hard before I can hope to match the trained chefs dexterous hand movements and finesse with the super fine pasta flour. It is magical how flour and egg together can be transformed into an uber malleable pasta dough. The idea of a pumpkin ravioli was quite appetising ,it just has a very autumn and halloween like ring to it me thinks. After adding just a blog of the pumpkin into the perfectly round pasta discs just dab a little bit of water along the sides, it acts like a sort of a glue to seal of the dough into a beautiful and perfect parcel. I cannot decide what I enjoyed the most , was it learning to make the perfect pasta dough (without passing my palm through the machine) or learning how to make a souffle but I will say this, there is no joy bigger than seeing a superbly well risen souffle emerge from the oven and dust sugar onto it like a thin sheath of snow envelope the lightly browned top.Putting my spoon through the souffle was undoubtedly the high point of the evening. PEAR SOUFFLE The team at The Underground Cookery School was kind enough to share all the 3 recipes with us and here I shall share the Pear Souffle recipe with all of you , please do drop a comment here if you would like the other 2 recipes . Mind you, separating an egg white using your hands is not as bad as you think and no matter how many fancy gizmos you have at home aka egg separators , there is joy in being able to do it just right by getting your hands dirty :). A top tip from the chef, enusure that you do not leave even a tiny spot dry and smother the inside with butter well before dusting it with sugar, taking care not to leave any dry spots inside before adding the pear and egg white mix. Pear Soufflé Serves: 4 Ingredients:

6 Pears Juiced
125g sugar
1tsp corn flower
4 egg whites
Juice of one lemon
Pinch Of Salt

Method:

Butter the ramaquins and dust with 25g of sugar; put in fridge.
Make a Pear juice with 6 pears and 50g of Sugar
Add water to one tea spoon of corn flour and put mix into heated Pear stock. Now add the juice of half a lemon. Reduce down over the hob. The mix should be the consistency of wall paper paste.
Wisk egg whites to a ribbon whilst mixing in 50g of caster sugar. Add a few drops of lemon juice AND A PINCH OF SALT as you go along.
Put one spoonful per soufflé into a bowl and fold in 1/3 of of the egg white to the paste. Then fold in the balance.
Put mix into a ramaquin, smooth over and run finger round the circumference of the ramaquin.
Put in the oven for 8 mins at 160o.

I am so in love with the pear souffle that I decided to make it at home too!But unfortunately had to rush to India as mum had to undergo an operation. But I do promise to post pictures of the homemade souffle once am back.

After all that hard work ,Chef Matt’s team got busy with getting the food to us at the table and let us sit back and relax while they worked hard.Ah, a really efficient ,friendly and polite team he has there , a real pleasure to work with! So with framed photographs like the one below all round our table we tucked into our 3 course supper .Though I did not eat the pheasant I did eat the veggies in there. (I am particularly pleased with my photos taken using my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone camera, love the clarity and am so happy that the kitchen was well lit !) It was an incredible evening in many ways because of the bloggers who came together that evening , I meet some really warm,chatty,vibrant and fun ladies and the conversation flowed as smoothly as the wine. We walked away with a goody bag which amongst other things has a scrumptious chutney and a very large bottle of olive oil infused with herbs.

PUMPKIN RAVIOLI If your looking for a brilliantly different Hen Party idea or need to get some cohesiveness back into your team at work, nothing better than getting people together around a hot stove stirring, chopping ,cutting and clinking wine glasses over a meal cooked together.

PHEASANT CASSEROLE P.S: I have written this blog article out of my own free will because I thoroughly enjoyed every single moment I spent at the Underground Cookery School.