Vegan Cookery Course - "Winter Warming" at Demuths Vegetarian Cookery School.
As a Christmas present from my dad I was bought a day long (well, 6 hour) vegan cookery course. I was a little apprehensive at first as I thought I was going to be the youngest by far but the course, teachers, food and other 'pupils' were all ever so lovely. :)
We started by making a 'Roasted Celeriac and Caraway Soup - with herb and caper croutons'.
This was delicious. We could choose our preferred consistency and I think it would've been nicer completely smooth but nonetheless I enjoyed it. The croutons were kind of incredible - cubed sourdough, baked in an oven with some rapeseed oil, then later minced garlic, fresh coriander, parsley and capers were all added and scattered across for the final 10 minute bake. This was the only element of the whole menu that contained wheat, too!
Next was the 'Crispy Ginger and Lime Tofu with Five Spice; Seasonal Greens and Spring Onions.' The whole kitchen smelled so aromatic - we dry roasted spices that had been freshly ground on site so the five spice was firey with flavour.
We marinaded the tofu for a little while before rolling it in cornstarch and sesame seeds then frying in sesame oil. The marinade wasn't wasted though - a good deal was then added with the stir fried vegetables for flavour.
(The hand belongs to one of the people I worked with throughout called Gregor!)
The finished result! I'm not really a fan of spring onions or kale, which is almost entirely what the stir fry subsisted of - but I really enjoyed it! This type of kale is called cavolo nero and is far less bitter than your standard kale (it's also known as dinosaur kale, so the name alone should swing you). It was so flavourful that there was absolutely no bitterness at all.
Next was the 'Spinach, Blood Orange and Beetroot Salad'!
(That was Jo - our main tutor for the day and former head chef of Demuths Restaurant.)
The salad had a base of spinach, then blood orange segments, roasted beetroot, shaved fennel and red cabbage were added with a dressing consisting of pomegranate molasses, tahini, olive oil and the juice of the blood oranges. It's so colourful! :D
To go alongside the salad for our late lunch we also made "Persian Onions Stuffed with Spiced Rice and Lentils." I couldn't tell you how many spices went in this but trust me - there's a lot. The filling was very pungent but not in a bad way - it's a very memorable taste! There's basmati rice, Puy lentils, wild rice, toasted pine nuts, garlic, onion, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses and then the million and one spices.
There was also a roasted chilli and tomato sauce to go with this - both mild and blow-out-your-brains-hot - but I'd already taken a picture by the time the sauce came!
Lastly... dessert. Which I think was a unanimous decision that this was the best of all the dishes. It was a 'Pink Rhubarb and Almond Pudding with Vegan Vanilla Custard.' The pudding was made with ground almonds, polenta, cinnamon and soy yoghurt (as well as a few other things) so there was no gluten. The rhubarb was first baked/roasted with maple syrup before topping the puddings/being mixed in with the puddings, just in case it wasn't already ridiculously delicious enough.
The custard was made using a vanilla pod - seeds and bean -, soya cream, soya milk, cornstarch, sugar and a touch of saffron to make it the colour of custard. Usually I'm not the biggest fan of custard but I could've slurped this custard from a bowl!
And that's it! We were given all the recipes at the end of the day in a pack so we can make them again at home - and we get 20% off our next course if we choose to do another one. If you're interested in taking a course at Demuths - their website is here! :)
