Team Cuisine at The Adventure!

Team Cuisine - or The Cooking Club - is generously partly funded by Thomas's Foundation. The Club meets most Tuesday evenings (at least during term time) at the SEAPIA Adventure Centre in Pineapple Park, Sands End.  Our aim is to learn basic food preparation skills, whilst at the same time having fun cooking our own, healthy dishes from around the world.  Scroll down to find your favourite recipes...

Pancakes are made on Shrove Tuesday which is the last day of feasting before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent (the 40 days before Easter during which time Christians traditionally fast). People would give up eating rich foods during Lent and so they would make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday to use up their food stores of things like eggs, butter and milk rather than wasting them. Today pancakes are made all over the world for all sorts of reasons and there are many different types.  We are making traditional pancakes, very like the French Crèpes but not quite as thin. 110g Plain Flour Pinch of Salt 2 Large Eggs 200 mls Semi Skimmed Milk About 50 mls water About 50 mls of melted butter (+ more melted butter for frying) To serve with Pancakes we had Lemon and Sugar Strawberries, Bananas, Blueberries Strawberry Sauce, Toffee Sauce, Chocolate & Salted Caramel ‘Gu’ and Maple Syrup Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl.  Make a well in ...

Mediterranean Puff Pastry Tarts with Pesto (Pizza Style!) These puff pastry tarts are easy to make and can be adapted to your individual taste.  We made them with a pesto base but you could use tomato sauce if you preferred.  They are nice served with salad (we made a Greek Salad).  They make a delicious alternative to traditional pizza Block of Just Roll Puff Pastry (500g makes 4 tarts) Flour for rolling pastry 100g Fresh Pesto (homemade or from supermarkets) Selection of pizza topping ingredients such as Fresh tomatoes Grated cheese Olives Peperoni or salami  Pepper (we used an orange pepper) Red Onion Oregano/Basil Black Pepper First  put the oven on at 200c and lightly oil a non-stick baking sheet Cut the block of Just Roll Puff Pastry into 4 squares and carefully roll out each square on a floured board into a larger thinner square about the thickness of a coin using a rolling pin. Then using a knife gently score a line ...

Moroccan cuisine often includes healthy vegetables and meat which are flavoured with aromatic spices including Harissa and Ras al Hanout which is a spice blend used widely in Morocco and other North African countries.   Chickpeas, nuts and dried fruit are sometimes added to dishes and fresh herbs are widely used.   There are many recipes but we are making a simple tasty dish which you can adapt to your own liking. A selection of vegetables for roasting: (We used carrots, pepper, potato, parsnip,  courgette) Any cooked vegetables you may have in the fridge (we added some green beans) optional 1 clove of garlic Fresh thyme leaves Olive oil Chicken breast fillets (cut into thin slices) Flour Moroccan Spice blend powder (Rasal Hanout/Harissa) 125g Couscous 200mls Stock (chicken or vegetable), boiling Juice of half a lemon 1 tsp of Harissa Paste Fresh chopped herbs (coriander/parsley), large handful Turn on the oven to 200c Pe...

Ingredients: 100g fine dry vermicelli rice noodles or bean thread noodles 12 round rice paper wrappers (available dry from Oriental food shops and some supermarkets)  Handful mint leaves and coriander leaves (no stalks) Cooked prawns, chopped (optional) Finely shredded salad vegetables such as carrot, peppers, spring onions, cucumber, bean shoots, crisp lettuce Rice Wine Vinegar or Soy Sauce Soak the noodles in a bowl of hot water for 15 minutes (or according to packet instructions) then drain well and put in a bowl Then choose some vegetables/prawns you wish to use in your Summer Roll and put in a bowl To make up the Summer Rolls, dip each rice paper wrapper individually in a bowl of hot water until soft (10-15 seconds) then carefully put on a board (these are quite sticky to handle so be patient and do one at a time). Quickly top with a few herb leaves and then prawns (if using) and vegetables and noodles and then season lightly with a li...

Ingredients: Cooked Rice Noodles from chiller cabinet (or use dried and follow instruction on packet) A Selection of salad vegetables such as peppers, beansprouts, carrot, spring onions 100- 200g cooked chicken 2 garlic cloves and a small piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped and mixed together Light Soy Sauce Chinese Five Spice powder Spring Roll Wrappers (available from oriental food shops and some supermarkets) Rapeseed Oil (in spray is the easiest) Sesame Oil (optional) Sesame Seeds (optional) Mild Chilli Sauce Heat the oven to 200c and oil a non-stick baking tray Put some rice noodles in a bowl (cooked and chilled) Prepare the vegetables by cutting them into matchsticks as finely as you can and put in another bowl Shred some cooked chicken and put in a bowl Add a little soy sauce  and a tiny sprinkling of Chinese Five Spice to each of the prepared ingredients and mix up with clean hands or a spoon.  You can add a tiny bit ...

Ingredients: 8 Chinese Pancakes (available in the Fresh Foods section of major supermarkets) Half an Aromatic Crispy Duck -(oven ready) ½ Cucumber Bunch of Spring Onions Hoisin Sauce To make authentic tasting Chinese Duck Pancakes cook the Aromatic Crispy Duck according to packet instructions (usually half an hour in the oven) and once cooked shred the duck using 2 forks discarding the bones but keeping the skin as this is especially nice in the pancakes.  Put in a serving dish and keep warm Meanwhile heat the pancakes in the microwave (keep warm covered in a dish) Finely shred the Cucumber into very thin matchsticks and do the same with the Spring Onions and put in separate dishes Put some Hoisin Sauce in a little dish To serve:  each person can make their own Chinese Duck Pancakes by spreading a little Hoisin sauce on a warm pancake and then adding some shredded duck and topping with some cucumber and spring onions and then rollin...

Beef Enchiladas (for 6 Enchiladas) Ingredients: 200g Lean Beef Mince 1 onion 1 red pepper 1 clove garlic 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g) ½ tin kidney beans in chilli sauce (200g) 1 tbsp tomato puree 200 mls water 10g fresh basil (or coriander if preferred) 1 tsp dried oregano Chilli flakes (optional) Salt and pepper Olive oil 125g grated mature cheddar 6 regular size Corn & Wheat Tortillas (Old El Paso) Heat a frying pan and add a drizzle of olive oil then brown the mince in the pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.  Add a pinch of salt and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the onion, garlic and pepper into very small dice.  When beef is cooked tip it onto a plate and set aside. Add another drizzle of oil to the pan and add the onion, garlic and pepper and cook gently to soften.  Meanwhile chop the basil (including stalks). Once onion, garlic and pepper are softened add the browned me...

Italy's national dish... Pizzas are as old as the hills.  People were making pizzas long before anyone called them “pizzas” and much longer ago than Dominos or Pizza Hut.  The “Pizza Margherita” was created 130 years ago for the Queen Of Naples: she liked it because it was the same colour as the Italian flag, which is red, white and green.  Red for tomatoes, white for cheese and green for the herb, basil. Pizzas are easy and fun to make and because they are really just a hot “open” sandwich, they can be a very healthy meal. You can make your own pizza dough and your own tomato sauce, but that will be for another lesson.  Today we used ready made dough (from the Northern Dough Company) and some home made tomato sauce (from Rosie) How To Make Your Pizza The first thing we did was to prepare our toppings and put them to one side.  We chopped some onions, then sliced some peppers, olives & mushrooms. N...

A word about potatoes... Potatoes come from the Moon!  Not really… potatoes originally came from South America (probably Darkest Peru, like Paddington Bear) but are now grown around the world.  There are hundreds of different varieties of potato: these have different colours and slightly different flavours.    There are two main types of potato: floury and waxy.    Floury potatoes are best for chips, while waxy are best for boiling.    In the supermarket, look for “baking” potatoes, as these are great for chips. How we made our chips and dips We were shown how to prepare and slice the potatoes for making chips.    Remember that thick slices take longer to cook (these are called “chunky” chips) but thinner slices will cook more quickly (these are more like French Fries).    Choose whichever you like but be careful not to burn thin chips! We put a small amount (about 2 dessert spoons) of oil in a bowl. ...

Today we made Rocky Road to serve at the Summer party to celebrate the opening of the new SEAPIA Shack.   Ingredients: 200g milk chocolate 200g plain chocolate 100g unsalted butter 75g mini marshmallows 100g digestive biscuits broken into small pieces 100g unsalted dried fruit and nuts of your choice (any large nuts to be chopped  up small) Mix the marshmallows, broken biscuits and fruit and nuts together in a bowl.   Break up the chocolate and melt it with the butter in a large heat-proof bowl placed over a saucepan of barely simmering water (so that it melts without getting too hot).  Stir it with a spoon.  When the butter and sugar have melted add the contents of the other bowl and mix thoroughly to combine. Lastly, you transfer the mixture into a shallow baking tray lined with foil (about 20cm square) pressing it down with the blade of a knife or the back of a spoon to even it out....