Tackling Christmas recipes with ease (well, almost) (From The Argus)

Tackling Christmas recipes with ease (well, almost)

12:28pm Tuesday 23rd November 2010 in Blogs By Alice Wright - Reluctant Housewife

Friends, family and regular readers of this blog will know I am not the best cook in the world. In fact I am pretty rubbish. But I would dearly love to be better and I’m sure my husband would like that too. And I am desperate to cook and bake with my boy when he gets a bit older. I don’t have the time or money to take myself off to Tuscany for a weeks’ long cookery course and I constantly fail when left to my own devices so decided last week to invest and indulge in some self-improvement.

Recipease is a great addition to Western Road, it’s a lovely shop stuffed full of food and kitchen goodies and it’s a rather nice café too. But I found out that it also holds regular cooking lessons and couldn’t resist having a go. Would trained chefs be able to help me? They are currently running a series of Christmas themed classes that seemed ideal. What better reason to get baking than the thought of pulling some spicy mince-pies out of the oven during the festive season?

On arrival I was met by a beautifully prepared cooking area, ingredients and a warming glass of mulled wine. (Recipease is like you want your kitchen to be at home!) It felt like Christmas immediately. My teacher for the afternoon was Alex, who with patience and humour showed me how to make wonderful mince pies from scratch. I lack a lightness of touch when it comes to anything like pastry so was happy to pick up some tips. Alex, and the rest of the team, are obviously passionate and knowledgeable about food and answered lots of questions and passed on plenty of great cooking ideas.

Me being me however, it wouldn’t have been the same if I hadn’t burnt the bottom of a pan, which I did. And I somehow managed to take a big slug of the cooking brandy at one point instead of the wine, but I had a great time. And you get plenty for your money – a thorough lesson that lasts for over an hour, a tub of your own homemade mincemeat, 12 mince pies made by your own fair hands and a new Jamie Oliver bun tray (which I have already used again to make Yorkshire puddings – which didn’t rise sadly). But more importantly I also took away some incredible cooking knowledge and a little bit of kitchen confidence.

I’ll definitely go back to Recipease to try out some of their other classes. Some are far too adventurous for me (e.g. Knife Skills, Pasta Making, Filleting a Fish) but I’m very interested in turning out a good risotto or perfecting a crispy pork belly. And if you go before Christmas you could try your hand at mince pies, party canapés and even edible gifts – who wouldn’t be pleased with a jar of homemade seasonal sauce? In the meantime - check out my mince pies, Husband will be pleased!

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