Saturday 23rd March 2024, 10:30pm – 3:30pm
£75 – Includes tea, coffee, snacks, and lunch.

This class is for reluctant cooks and kitchen novices. Perfect for those who have recently been bereaved or separated from a partner who did the majority of the cooking, students leaving home for the first time, those looking to share responsibility for the cooking in their house, or simply looking to build their confidence in the kitchen. Whether you’ve never stepped into the kitchen before or you’ve been floundering for years, all are welcome.

I understand that not everyone enjoys cooking or wants to spend hours in the kitchen, but we all want to be able to provide nutritious, delicious meals for ourselves and our families. This course will teach the basics of cooking, which will allow you to put delicious food on the table quickly, easily, and without stress.

What we’ll be cooking:

• Cook once and eat twice – learn to use one basic recipe to make a variety of different meals.
• Create 4 sauces that are quick to make, packed with flavour and can be used in a variety of dishes to spice up vegetables, meats, pasta, and stir-fries.
• For lunch, we will be making pantry pasta – pantry pasta is the ultimate cheap convenience food for nights when you can’t be bothered (yes, even I have those days) and can be cooked quicker than it would take to order takeaway. There are lots of different recipes for pantry pasta, but my requirements are: the sauce must be ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta (usually 12 minutes) and all the ingredients can be found in my pantry, no trips to the shops needed.

What we’ll be learning:

• Basic knife skills
• What pans to use and when
• How to stock a pantry to make cooking hassle-free – what ingredients to buy to cut corners without compromising on flavour or nutrition
• How to blend herbs and spices to create vibrant, delicious meals
• How to correct mistakes without having to start over again
• How to follow a recipe
• How to plan your meals to reduce cooking time and food waste

This class was inspired by my father and grandfather. Both were left floundering in the kitchen after bereavement and divorce, after decades of being cooked for by their partners. Neither wanted to live off ready meals, but they lacked the basic skills and confidence to cook for themselves. Both managed to get by but confessed to me they didn’t enjoy cooking. Although after a few years, they learned to put a basic meal on the table, they didn’t know how to add flavor or variety to their meals (I’m pretty sure my grandfather subsisted entirely off boiled vegetables and fried meat in the later part of his life). So I wanted to create a course that would have given them the confidence and knowledge they needed at a difficult time in their lives.

The class contains meat and dairy products; please contact me in advance of booking to discuss allergies and dietary preferences.