London Restaurant Festival ‘Cooking the Roux Way’ with Kenwood

In partnership with Kenwood

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a cookery school at Cactus Kitchens (it’s where Saturday Kitchen is filmed and yes the set looks just the same as you see on TV).

I went along to a masterclass ‘Cooking the Roux Way’ as the guest of Kenwood to celebrate the London Restaurant Festival. I was super excited when I found out that the course was taught by Steve Groves – a winner of MasterChef the professionals who is now head chef for Roux at Parliament Square.
As you know I’m a self-taught cook and my recipes are all vegan, a world away from traditional French cooking and techniques. Which makes attending all the more interesting as I knew I’d learn lots of new techniques about maximising flavour and presentation – I absolutely love learning new cooking techniques.

The day didn’t disappoint, I met some lovely people and learnt loads.

A few tips I’m taking away from the day;
o Beetroot – Cook with vinegar to help stop the bleeding.
o Quick pickled carrots – We made a quick ginger syrup to pickle the carrots. Delicious!
o Look for carrots grown in sand for the best flavour.
o How to make carrots perfectly round – peel then rub a scrubber over them. It really works!
o To make the perfect sauce – add the alcohol, stock and then the fat.

We cooked three courses under Steve’s guidance – roastcarrots with pickled carrots and grapefruit, beetroot tart with blackberry sauce and fondant potatoes and the dessert was a caramelised banana soufflé topped with banana & peanut butter ice-cream. The dessert of dreams!
We used the Kenwood Chef Elite to make the dessert and I was super impressed. It whipped the soufflé mix like a dream.

We also made the best banana peanut butter ice cream using an attachment, you can’t beat it right?

Thank you so much to Kenwood for a wonderful day! Fantastic tips, delicious food and lovely company.

Kenwood Chef
The Kenwood Chef represents the very best of Kenwood design and engineering. This specific product has been chosen for the masterclass as it allows you to create restaurant quality food with simplicity and versatility at home.
No matter which model you choose, you can push your culinary boundaries further than you ever dreamt of with a selection of over 25 attachments, including pasta rollers and cutters, juicers, food processor attachment, meat grinder, blender and ice cream maker.

London Restaurant Festival
o City-wide celebration of eating out
o Over 350 restaurants involved and 55,000 take part in over 70 ticketed events – from Champagne Gourmet Odysseys and Restaurant-Hopping Tour to Tasting Menus and dinner hosted by London’s most celebrated chefs
o The UK’s largest Festival Menu programme is now firmly established as the greatest showcase of London’s extraordinary restaurant scene