Smith’s Wood cooking masterclass: Students at Smith’s Wood Academy cooked up some tasty treats when they had a masterclass in healthy cuisine – led by chefs from the world-famous Belfry Hotel.
Food and nutrition students at the school, which is part of the ambitious Fairfax Multi-Academy Trust, had a two-hour masterclass from Dean Cole, Senior Head Chef, and Dan Richards, Pastry Chef, with the challenge of cooking a healthy, home-made ‘take away’ meal.
More than a dozen Year 11 students – who are studying Food Preparation and Nutrition at GCSE level – were shown how to cook a chicken kofta, a popular dish found in many cuisines, including Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Mediterranean.
Also on the menu was a Persian salad called a tabbouleh, yoghurt sauce, naked coleslaw and pitta bread, with the Belfry also providing all the fresh ingredients the students needed.
After giving the students recipe sheets and a hands-on demonstration, Dean and Dan watched and guided them as they went about preparing the healthy take-away dish in the Smith’s Wood cooking masterclass.
Dan said: “We had the students cooking a vegetarian naked coleslaw, which is really nice and healthy, and a kofta made with chicken, cumin, salt, onion and garlic, which has very low fat content but is really high in protein.
“I hope that the kids learned new skills. It’s all about making them feel confident that they can try new things, and to understand that healthy cooking and eating is something that anyone can do.
“These days you can have food delivered to your doorstep at the click of a button, but the fact is that most fast food is really not that healthy, so we wanted to teach everyone that things can be done exactly the same, but with much healthier results.
“I think the students really enjoyed it.”
Dean said: “I think it went very well – it was enjoyable to speak to the students, show them a few things and share useful information with them. Hopefully some of them will choose to come into the trade when they leave school.
“They reacted well to the challenge we set them – there are definitely a few stars here at Smith’s Wood!”
Chantelle Reid, Associate Assistant Principal at Smith’s Wood, said: “For us as a school in an area which has many disadvantaged students, getting them to look at things like apprenticeships and consider different routes into employment is really important.
“So hands-on experience like this is so valuable, working with professionals who will inspire them to see what they can do.
“One of their course work titles is preparing a take-away dish that is healthy, so to have top chefs come in and help them develop their ideas has been brilliant.”
For us as a school in an area which has many disadvantaged students, getting them to look at things like apprenticeships and consider different routes into employment is really important,”
– Chantelle Reid
Smith’s Wood Principal Stephen Huntington said: “We are very grateful to Dean and Dan for giving up their time to share their knowledge with our students.
“The session not only gave the students an opportunity to learn first-hand from professionals, it also got them thinking about what life might be like working in a top kitchen and the importance of healthy eating – all while learning a valuable life skill.”
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Smith’s Wood cooking masterclass
The recipe the students took on in the Smith’s Wood cooking masterclass
Ingredients For the kofta
125g chicken mince
¼ red chilli, finely chopped
¼ red onion, finely chopped (chop ½ the onion, split between kofta and tabbouleh)
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1/4 tsp ground cumin
pinch of salt
For the tabbouleh
75g bulgur wheat
¼ red onion, finely chopped
10g fresh parsley, finely chopped
10g fresh mint, leaves finely chopped
1 plum tomato, deseeded and finely chopped or you can use deseeded and chopped cucumber
1/4 lemon, finely zested and juiced, plus wedges to serve
2 teaspoon extra-virgin rape seed oil, plus extra for greasing
For the yoghurt sauce
60g low-fat natural yoghurt
5g fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 small garlic clove, crushed
Squeeze of lemon
Naked coleslaw
Red cabbage, white cabbage, red or white onions, carrots
2 teaspoon Red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon agave syrup
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Optional-chilli flakes, herbs
Method
1. Heat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C and grease a baking tray with a little oil. Put the chicken mince, chilli, red onion onions, garlic and spices into a mixing bowl, season and mix until well combined. Form into 2 long oblong shapes or a burger shape and put them onto the prepared tray. Bake for approx. 15 mins or core temperature is 75°C they should be lightly browned and cooked through.
2. for the bulgur wheat place in water, bring to the boil and cook till soft, then drain and allow to cool. Put the bulgur wheat into a mixing bowl with the remaining tabbouleh ingredients, mix and season.
3. make the naked coleslaw by mixing the shredded vegetables with the agave syrup, red wine vinegar and soy sauce
4.for the wedges, wash sweet potatoes well and pat dry, cut them into wedges (cut in half, then cut each half into half and repeat until you get the correct thickness).
Place wedges into a bowl, drizzle with a little XVRSO and sprinkle with spices, place wedges in single layers onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, Bake for 15 minutes, flip over and repeat until crispy, do not over crowd the wedges or they will be soggy
5. the pita, with a light dusting of flour on the table, roll the prepared dough into an oblong shape, bake at 200°C for 5 minutes or until puffed up and cooked, remove from the oven and cover with a dry teacloth
Pita recipe
250g white strong flour or half white and whole wheat
5g salt
2.5g yeast
150g water or 175g for the half and half flour
Method
- Develop the dough by hand to full potential,
- Place dough into a bowl and cover with cling film, stand at room temperature for 24 hours, place in the fridge for another 12 hours
- Remove from the fridge, weigh out 90g balls, shape, rest for 5 minutes and then roll into pita shapes