Discover Cooking

Hi folks.
Sorry for the radio silence after the annual two week holiday. This involved metal music and the much needed company of friends the bearded one and I hadn't seen in nearly three years.
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Then this happened.
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I am super thankful for being completely vaccinated. I still did get quite ill and spent 6 days in bed feeling pretty rubbish. I completely lost all sense of taste and smell. This is NOT GOOD for a chef. I'm nearly back to 100%. I know this because I ate a stupidly sour grape last night and had to spit it out.
Yay!!! I can taste again!
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I will be opening up my diary from the 2nd of October for in person classes. These will be back up to 4 students per class.
For now I will be only running weekend classes.
Please check out the updated Covid-19 advice on the web page before booking.
And, as things happen in multiples, it seems that the Discover Cooking email account was non functional for a period.

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If anyone has attempted to contact me I do SOOOOOO apologize. It's working now thanks to the bearded one's mastery of all technical things.

Normal service has resumed.
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One of the hardest things to adjust to, as a former pastry chef, has been my diagnosis of now being diabetic.

I LOVE cakes and all things sweet.

I have a diploma in nutrition so I am keenly aware of what I should not be eating.
When your favourite sourdough bakery comes to the monthly farmer's market it's hard to be strict. Wild Hearth Bakery does make it difficult!

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This week I'm doing my best to "make up" for two beautiful croissants I stuffed into my greedy face this past weekend.

Balance is important, in any type of lifestyle change. Today's lunch is a bowl packed full of fiber, vitamins and a good portion of protein. By eating well and sticking to my diet I know I'm proactively managing my diabetes. The occasional treat isn't going to derail my progress.

Eating a beautiful lunch like this isn't exactly torture.......
I'm sure enjoying it.

Are you aware of the food waste app called OLIO - Share More, Waste Less ?
It's great.
There are food waste heros who work at local supermarkets and agree to take home the food that's nearing it's best before date. They then list it on the app and anyone can request the item.

Today I went on a little walk and collected all of this veg.
For FREE.
Ill be batch cooking some soups tommorow. The stirfry mix is destined for my belly tonight. This is 7.5 kilos of perfectly edible food. I didn't take more because I couldn't fit anymore in my rucksack!

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Have a look in your Apple store or Google play and sign up to the app.
It doesn't matter if you list or pick up food that otherwise would have wound up in the bin. Everyone on the app is helping eliminate food waste.

Do you shop for fruit and veg in the reduced section?
Does your local supermarket offer "last chance" boxes?

Did you know that food waste is responsible for around 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions?
When food ends up in the landfill the waste involved also includes the resources used to produce that food. When the food rots it produces methane gas which winds up in our atmosphere. Methane gas is far more potent than carbon dioxide.

By reducing food waste the resulting impact on our environment can be substantial. In the UK alone, domestic households are responsible for 6.7 million tonnes of food waste every year.
6.7 million tonnes.

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We can all do our part in reducing our food waste.

I buy from the reduced sections. This helps eliminate the amount of food waste coming from my local shop AND it saves me money.
I use all of the veg I buy. All my rouge veg goes into my five veg slow cooked tomato sauce. This is my base sauce for everything.
Pizza, curry, pasta sauces, soups........

This pile of veg was in a last chance box.
Baking potatoes, two bags of jersey royal potatoes, shallots, padron peppers, red onions, carrots, spring onions, a red pepper, a tomato, and a lemon.

All for £1.50

What are you doing to reduce your household food waste?

Just what sorts of things can you find in store bought bread?
You might be surprised.
In today’s blog I go over a few things that probably shouldn’t be in those loaves and the reasons why they are there.

What is in my Bread? — Discover Cooking Bread. We all know what it is. We all know what it smells like, but do we know how the bread we eat is made? The production of bread has changed vastly over the centuries. Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods, but it is no longer made by each household with hand milled grain. Gone are the day

Every two weeks I make bread.

Not only is it super therapeutic, but I know EXACTLY what goes into each loaf.

No preservatives.
No additives derived from GMO sources.
No dough conditioners.

Just flour, water, yeast, sugar, salt, and a wee bit of oil.

Pop over to the Discover Cooking website tommorow and have a peek at my bread blog.

Do you know what's in your bread from the supermarket?

Sixty seconds of soulful breadmaking.

discovercooking on Instagram: Hybrid Sourdough Bread. I love me some sourdough bread!!!!🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞This is a combination of a 100% hydration sourdough starter and active… Archive X • Up!

Salads don't have to be drowned in dressings to be flavourful. In fact, a salad with no dressing can be super tasty.
If you choose ripe ready to eat fruits and veggies and pair them with a strong flavoured protein you won't need dressing.
I always chose different textures to make the salad exciting.

This salad is made up of :
Baby herb and leaf salad- the coriander, rocket and chard all have distinct strong flavours.
Vine heritage tomatoes- these have been stored out of the fridge so they continue to ripen.
Radish- these are a favourite. Peppery and crunchy.
Nectarine- I always pick a ripe juicy fruit. The natural sweetness compliments the peppery flavours of the rocket and radish.
Baby cucumber: these little guys are crunchy concentrated cucumber yumminess.
Baby corn- more crunchy sweetness.
Avocado for some buttery rich fiber filled goodness.
And to top it all off, some rich smoked fish. In this case, hot smoked salmon. The strong flavour of the fish adds a great flavour.

All for a measly 414 calories! (I'm currently struggling to eat it all and will most likely have to finish it with my tea.)

So don't view salads as just green things.
They should be bowls of rainbow adventure.

I strive to customise each and every one of my courses to suit each customer.
There is absolutely no point in me teaching folk how to cook foods they hate.

Testimonials mean the world to me.

Ones that are full of praise make me proud.
Critical ones teach me to adapt and learn from my customers.

Thank you for your kind words and I can only strive to give each and every customer the same experience.

Do you wanna learn how to cook Superb Smokey Sweet Potato Burgers in 60 seconds?

Check out my new reel. All your questions will be answered.

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discovercooking on Instagram: Smokey Sweet Potato Burgers!! Chances are these never turn out right for you: burnt on the outside, rock hard on the inside and pretty… Alex G • Hollow (Instrumental)

Being diabetic can be frustrating.
True.
Being diabetic means I have to give up the treats I like.
False.
Being diabetic means absolutely no more carbs.
False.

Cooking a diabetic friendly diet doesn't have to be difficult. It DOES require you to look at how to balance your carb intake with fiber, fats and proteins.

Knowledge is confidence. Not only can I show you loads of simple carb substitutes, but I can teach you how to cook them well.

This is beautiful prawn, chilli and peanut stir fry.
It has: 19g of carbs, (7 of which are sugars,)27g of protein, 4g of fiber and 20g of fat.
This whole massive bowl is 370 calories.
It is weight loss friendly, diabetic friendly and very inexpensive to prepare.
It's tastier than a take away and it took me all of 20 minutes to prepare.

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If you are struggling with adapting your diet to be diabetic friendly, send me a DM and we can talk about what my Diabetic Friendly cooking course can offer you.

*Tips from the Chef*

Did you know if you give your stalky leafy veg a wee drink for a few hours after you bring it home it extends the shelf life?
Lettuces, celery, spring onions and most other leaves need to be treated like cut flowers.
This includes fresh cut herbs!

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Chop off a thin bit of the base and get those delicate leaves in a shallow bowl of water.

In a few hours when they have plumped up, dry them off and store them in your fridge.

I'd recommend keeping any fresh herbs in a small glass with water (like a vase of flowers). Just be careful not to tip it over in the fridge.

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