wholefood kitchen

Announcing a new series of ‘Transform your Diet, Transform your Life’ cooking classes run by Nicky Clinch at The Made in Hackney Local Food Kitchen in Stoke Newington. Needless to say, I can vouch for these classes wholeheartedly. Nicky is not only a fully qualified Macrobiotic and Wholefood Cook and counsellor, but a committed home cook schooled in creating nourishing, delicious meals for the home and family. Of course being a recent Mother, her training has been augmented with firsthand experience cooking nourishing foods for the whole family, and establishing a supportive and celebratory relationship to food, for ourselves and our loved ones.

The evening series takes place over six weeks on Tuesday evenings (apart from 30 July) on 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 30th July and 5th August. The cost is £365 for the full series, and there are only eight places available – so if you have any interest in taking part, I’d encourage you to contact Nicky quicksmart. For more course details, check out the event facebook page.

A fruitful visit to Stoke Newington Farmers Market, leading to a simple but delicious evening meal: I bought some fresh Grey Mullet which I filleted then skinned, dusted in Rice Flour and panfried. I cooked some Bulghur wheat, then mixed this with some chopped toasted almonds, chopped Parsley and some soaked raisins. I roasted some Cherry Tomatoes with Olive Oil, a pinch of salt and some Balsamic Vinegar. Fresh Sorrel leaves from the market are dressed with a Lemon Vinaigrette.

I invite you to take part in a introductory series of Cooking classes being run this Spring and Summer at the Concord Institute. They run over a series of three weeks, with either morning or evening classes available. ‘This three week series of morning cooking classes is intended as a fun, joyful exploration of whole foods cooking, particularly for those who want to cook more healthily for their families. The classes will equip you with the basics of whole food cooking and a collection of recipes that you can begin to incorporate into your regular diet and that of your family.’

To book your place, or find out more details, please visit the Concord website.

Introducing (Paul) Webb & (Chris) Barnes, London based urban beekeepers. Alongside their day jobs as designers, these fine chaps  have set up an entrepeneurial Bee Hive Rental business which makes Bee guardianship available to your average urban home (and garden) owner. For a reasonable monthly outlay, they’ll set you up with a couple of backyard hives, take care of employee wellbeing and productivity, and hand over a healthy portion of homegrown honey every year. The rest of the honey is gathered and sold under its relevant London postcode, so others can benefit from locally grown honey. And there are real potential health benefits with this – it’s been suggested that eating local honey can help reduce the symptoms of hay fever as it contains traces of the pollen sufferers get exposed to, thus building up a tolerance. The clever clogs are also in the process of developing a BeeBox app which will help monitor Bee activity, and limit unnecessary intrusion. Nothing like keeping the workers happy. For a full interview with these two, check out this recent article on the Indie Farmer site. For more information, check out the Barnes & Webb website.

Teia makes a grab for a little Shepherd’s Pie I prepared: the base (concealed) made up of well-cooked Puy Lentils with Kombu, some white Onions, Carrots, and Shiitake; the topping a simple Mashed Potato with chopped Basil.

Our little one. Loving this corn on the cob business.

A baguette picked up fresh that morning from the local Boulangerie, with a smear of sea salt infused butter; slices of Comte cheese; Proscuitto Ham; a lambs lettuce salad with a reduced Balsamic and Olive Oil dressing. A simple, delicious brunch/lunch.

After cooking a big batch of Chickpeas, I stopped off at a local Londis store, where the owners had a range of homemade chutneys on sale. This inspired the creation of a simple, tasty Chickpea Curry with Onions, Aubergines, Tomato Paste, Garlic, Cumin and Garam Masala. Served here with Steamed Rice, Blanched Kale, Yoghurt and Fresh Coriander; and a dollop of two chutneys I bought from the store: Yoghurt, Garlic, Chilli and Coriander; Coriander, Chilli and Garlic.

Pancakes for Nicky’s first Mother’s Day brunch, made with Stoneground Flour, Baking Powder, separated eggs (with whites beaten with a pinch of salt and folded in at the end), Soya Milk, a splash of Maple Syrup and Blueberries, served with Maple syrup and fresh Raspberries, Blueberries and Strawberries.

Teia samples her first pancake, made with Egg Yolk, Rice Flour, and Soya Milk. Sugar-free Dalfours Mixed Berry Jam serves as a tasty, sweet spread. The first pancake was cut into ‘rollups;’ pancake number 2 was cut into bite size squares, which went down much better. Fun to grab handfuls and play around with too.