Mexican Cooking Night with Thomasina Miers

Little did I think I’d be cooking with Thomasina Miers, but found myself landed with the brilliant opportunity, when my husband put in a bid on eBay to win us places on a Mexican cookery course. The charity auction was organised by Blagger’s Banquet to raise money for Action Against Hunger.
Eight lucky people gathered at Thomasina’s home in London, in early March, for a night of informal cooking, drinking, eating, chat and fun.
Fresh from her return from Mexico a week before, Thomasina was enthusiastic and filled with local cuisine tips and interesting anecdotes of her trip.

The night’s menu consisted of typical street food cooking, which focussed on fresh and simple ingredients that were easy to prepare and produced dishes that were healthy and of course delicious:

SPRING TACO WITH SWISS CHARD AND BACON
GRILLED SKIRT STEAK TACOS WITH ROAST TOMATO SALSA
CRISPY FRIED SQUID TOSTADAS WITH CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE
SMOKED MACKEREL TOSTADAS
CLASSIC GUACAMOLE

We all had a chance to chop, slice, mix and marinade and those brave enough to accept the challenge of the hot stove, tortillas were fried to make crunchy tostadas.
I got my chance of preparing the skirt steak which was marinaded in lime and orange juice. Until now I’d never thought that beef and orange would work well together, but this is a very traditional thing in Yucatan. There, the oranges are usually quite zingy, so the lime counteracted the sweetness of the oranges available here.

I’m very interested in learning about the authentic cuisine of a country, and I believe what most British people think of as being Mexican couldn’t be further from the real thing. We’re all familiar with what is known as Tex-Mex which is sold by way of those Old El Paso kits. Tacos are not crunchy, traditionally they are soft and made from white corn meal. Tostadas are crunchy but are more sophisticated than those strange looking things out of the box.

I would love to see more authentic Mexican restaurants in the UK and I hope that Thomasina’s Wahaca will be an inspiration to others to explore it further. With it’s rising popularity, I’d wish to see the supermarkets stocking some of those essential ingredients. For example chipotles, dried, smoked jalapeño chillies. At the moment I’ve only been able to find then online. Thomasina used them to flavour a mayonnaise and it was gorgeous, all smokey, warm and velvety.

After all the food was ready we had fun making up our own tacos with various fillings and sipping on a smokey mezcal, just perfect.

I had a brilliant time cooking while my husband took the photos and as we haven’t yet had the chance to eat at Wahaca, it’s in our plans for our next London visit. But while we wait I’ve been busy in my own kitchen experimenting with this exciting cuisine.

Thanks to Thomasina for allowing us into her home –
not something I was expecting!

To see more pictures from the night, visit my Flickr site here

For more about Mexican food:
wahaca.co.uk
wahaca’s blog













I'd thoroughly recommend getting Thomasina's new book too!

Bursting Berry Muffins with Lemon Drizzle

It was a grey, cold and rainy day during the Christmas holiday and I was feeling a little gloomy and not to mention slightly bored, so to pick up my spirits and kick start some self motivation, I decided that some baking would be a cure for my lassitude.

Thinking ahead to tomorrow's breakfast options, I decided that some fruity muffins would be a tasty idea. I used some frozen forest fruits which can often be found in bags in the supermarket freezer section. In this particular one were redcurrants, blackcurrants, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries – delicious and healthy. There's no need to defrost them before adding to the muffin mixture – being icy solid prevents them from breaking up when stirring. As the muffins bake, the berries burst, releasing their juices making the muffins moist and beautifully stained with red and purple as they bleed into the batter.
The drizzle topping adds a little extra sweetness and tanginess that perfectly complements the fruit.

Makes 10 large muffins

Ingredients
For the muffins
1 medium sized egg
5 tablespoons sugar
1 cup milk
half cup melted butter
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups mixed frozen berries

For the lemon drizzle topping and decoration
half cup icing sugar
juice of 1 lemon, warmed
zest of 2 lemons

Method
Preheat the oven to Gas 5, 190C and then line a muffin tin with muffin cases.
Put the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder and stir to mix together.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the sugar and whisk in the milk and melted butter.
Tip this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix lightly until combined.
Stir through the berries so that they are evenly distributed and then spoon equally between the 10 muffin cases.
Place in the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes until they are well risen and golden.

Meanwhile, make the drizzle topping. Place the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice.
A good way to warm the lemon is to microwave it on high power for about 20 seconds. Just put the whole lemon into the microwave and when you cut it in half for squeezing you'll find it to be exceptionally juicy and warm.

When the muffins are cooked, remove from the oven and allow them to cool.
Using a spoon, drizzle liberally with the icing and finish with a sprinkle of lemon zest.

Friday Night Chicken Curry

Sometimes the end of the week doesn't seem complete without a good curry. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something strangely addictive about Indian food and when work has left you depleted mentally and physically, a gloriously spicy dish is the perfect perk up, which I love to regard as a treat.
However, it is all too easy to get a takeaway or pick up a ready-meal version from the supermarket. This is absolutely fine, but often the guilt seeps in and I have to put in the effort to make my own.

The following recipe is my concoction which is inspired by a jalfrezi. It is quite spicy as there are chunks of chilli pepper in it. For this one I used the long Spanish chillis which are reasonably fiery but are easy to regulate the amount used, in terms of heat required. Of course it is all a matter of personal taste, so feel free to adjust the quantity to satisfy your needs.

Ingredients
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp kalonji seeds (nigella seeds)
2 tblspns groundnut oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed finely to a pulp
inch piece fresh ginger, grated
2 medium onions, finely chopped
6 dried curry leaves
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tspn cayenne pepper
1/2 tspn paprika
can tomatoes
2 tblspns tomato puree
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
red capsicum pepper, de-seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 red chilli peppers, de-seeded and roughly sliced
low fat yogurt (strained)*

Method
Heat a frying pan and put in the cumin and coriander seeds and dry roast them over a medium heat until they just begin to colour and give off their aromas. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Tip them into an electric coffee grinder and grind them to a powder and set aside.

In a large pan, heat the oil and put in the mustard, fenugreek and nigella seeds and fry gently until the mustards seeds start to pop and you can see the fenugreek seeds beginning to go a shade darker.
Add the onions and fry on a medium heat until they soften. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until the raw garlic smell disappears, stirring all the time.

Now add the ground coriander and cumin along with the cayenne pepper, turmeric, and paprika. Crumble in the curry leaves. Stir-fry gently for a couple of minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes, squishing them with your wooden spoon and then stir in the tomato puree. Allow the sauce to bubble gently for about 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Season to taste.
A little water maybe added if the sauce becomes to thick.

Put in the chicken and stir to mix in, making sure it is covered by the sauce and let it all simmer gently for about 15 mins.

Add the peppers and chillies and continue to cook for a further 10 mins until the peppers soften.
Just before serving stir through the strained yogurt.*

*to strain yogurt, place a clean thin cloth inside a sieve and place over a jug. Spoon the yogurt into the cloth and leave to stand for a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge. There should be liquid left in the jug, discard this, and you’ll be left with very thick yogurt in the cloth. I find that when strained, the yogurt behaves better in cooking and it also has such a rich creamy texture – you’d never know that it was low fat.

MasterChef LIVE 2009

If you could cook it, eat it or drink it, London's Olympia was filled to to the ceiling with goods to delight every foodie.

Following a re-branding, the BBC Good Food Show London became MasterChef LIVE halfway through its promotional campaign. I'm not sure whether there was a definite reason for doing this – perhaps poor advance ticket sales or maybe a marketing brainwave?

Either way, the show seemed to be packed with the usual high quality exhibitors and attractions.

MasterChef was very much the theme in the theatres with top chefs and past MasterChef winners demonstrating their skills and tantalising our tastebuds with a variety of dishes.

One area was the Invention Test that offered members of the public to take part alongside celebrities. Ingredients were supplied and using their ingenuity they had to produce a dish to impress the judges. Despite friends of mine saying that I should enter, I politely declined. Although a brilliant opportunity it was still scary stuff!

A large area was devoted to the Restaurant Experience where one could buy some dining currency and use it in exchange for some taster portions from some top London restaurants.

It all smelled very delicious, but the plastic plates and bowls that the food was served in, not to mention the queues, proved to be a little detracting.

There were some Hot Tips areas, one of which we visited to see James Nathan give a class in how to prepare shellfish. I've always been slightly perturbed at the thought of dismembering a crab or a lobster, so was intrigued to see what I could learn.

Watching James somehow made things a lot clearer. As he recounted his early days, admitting that at first, he didn't have a clue how to prepare various crustaceans and molluscs, I began to feel more relaxed about the whole procedure.

It was even comforting to see him waver when he had trouble opening an oyster. I admired him for his honesty when he confessed to messing one up. It must be difficult performing in front of a small audience just feet away.

Aside from all the pizazz and showmanship there was the huge Producers' Market, including the Food Lovers Britain Fair and Slow Food. Here, we tasted our way through an array of items, before deciding whether to buy.

On our tour around the show we met up with the people from Adesso whom we first met two years ago at The Real Food Festival. At the time they were first starting out with their marinades, so it was nice to chat and find out how they were getting on.

Who would think that were so many varieties of garlic to choose from?

The Garlic Farm had everything from the recognisable to the rare and some of the biggest garlic I've ever seen – Elephant Garlic

Gorgeous artisan breads from Flour Power City.

Don't get me wrong, I do love cheese, but there were rather too many stands offering their wares. However there were some fantastic flavours to be sampled. Some fine aged cheddars and a beautiful creamy blue from Cornwall.

Cheese always needs a little relish to accompany it..... hang on there's more cheese hiding on this stand at Truckle.

Speaking of a proliferation of similar products, chilli in all its variants was everywhere.

Mr Singh's Punjabi Foods had a punchy little sauce in bottles small enough to be a travel accessory.

Hot, hotter, hottest!

The South Devon Chilli Farm stand was all too tempting. First I tried a subtle relish and it was fragrant and warming then I spread a little sauce on a cracker... that had a definite kick. Noticing something at the end of the table that looked rich and thick and yummy I tasted that too, but with disastrous results. At first it was very tasty and then an almighty heat whacked me in the back of the throat, set my tongue on fire with power of a thousand suns, nearly ejecting my eyeballs out of their sockets! Crikey, I wished I'd checked the label on the jar first... Extreme Hot it said decorated with a logo of a skull and crossbones! Back to a cheese stall I went to neutralise my oral inferno.

These were very good cakes, sorry sweet breads, baked to a traditional Creole recipe.

Moist, fruity with a hint of spice.

Hmmm..... have cupcakes had their day? Discuss.

Let it be said, when there's free alcohol to try, the British are very good at being in the front of the queue! The sun was barely over the yard arm and people were already necking as many freebies as they could. Although they should remember to bring several disguise kits so that they can revisit the stands several times!

The Black Bottle whisky was exceptionally good – smooth with a hint of caramel and smoke.

I thought that I didn't like sake, but after tasting several different types at the Fukumitsuya Sake Brewery stand I've realised that there are better ones out there compared to the one you can pick up at the supermarket. Shame on me!

For those not so alcoholically inclined there were some coffee

and tea suppliers.

Jacc's Coffee produce a range of beans flavoured with things like roasted pecan but I have to say it's not really my cup of tea – or should that be coffee? – as I prefer my beverage to be unsullied by unwanted essences. Each to their own.

Choi Time teas had those amazing flowers that unfurl in your teapot – a delight to look at as well as to sip.

A good reason to have a glass pot then.

Ah yes, this is real salami and pancetta. Good stuff.

The Kikkoman stand proudly displaying their

cooking skills using soy sauce.

Sweet-toothed visitors were catered for with everything from

hand made fudge to artisan chocolates....

With veg this pretty, who wouldn't want to eat it?

Flavours of the Mediterranean were everywhere and

some of the finest olive oils.

If you're getting tired of olive oil, then Sussex Gold had a tasty and healthy British alternative of cold-pressed rapeseed oil.

This was a new one for me, African Baobab Fruit Jam from Yozuna.

It's a lovely thick golden paste, not unlike quince cheese. The taste was sweet and tangy and went well with the cheese that was offered with it. Not only is it yummy, but it's extremely good for you, full of vitamins – well what would you expect from the 'Tree of Life'.

Thanks to my husband for the photos.