I came across Bridget Davis’ Healthy 20 Minute Express Meals cooking class on the Salt Meats Cheese website when I was looking up where their pop up store was as I had run out of my favourite chai tea and needed to restock. I always like to attend classes to learn new recipes and the quicker and healthier they are the better.
I once attended a pasta making class that taught you how to make pasta from scratch and to be honest, after about an hour, I was pretty sure I would never do that again as I couldn’t justify the extra time of making pasta from scratch versus the incremental difference in taste of freshly made pasta versus pasta off the shelf. Not to mention the stress of getting it right. By the way, Salt Meats Cheese has an awesome healthy range of off the shelf dried pasta. Try their handmade on site dried saffron pasta together with their housemade Bolognese sauce – add fresh herbs and it’s delicious (cooks in 10-15 minutes).
I enrolled in Bridget Davis’ 2 hour class on the weekend and can I say her class was a stand out for the following 5 reasons:
#1 Experience. Bridget Davis, ‘The Internet Chef’ has 20 plus years experience working in kitchens at some of Sydney’s most famous dining establishments including as Head Chef for Bill Granger in his famous Sydney institution, Bills.
#2 Personality. Not only does Bridget have kitchen experience under her belt, she has one of those rare dynamic personalities that keeps you engaged for the full 2 hours. It feels like you are in her kitchen at home. Normally in cooking classes, I’m regularly glancing at my watch for the time. Not in Bridget’s class. I was pretty engaged and could not believe 2 hours went by quickly. It was a cooking demonstration but its pretty interactive – you’ll ask questions, laugh, eat, drink, watch, learn and repeat all of that again and again. I loved it.
#3 Healthy eating for the time poor. We learnt how to make these delicious dishes, each dish taking less than 20 minutes. It’s so easy that it sticks in your memory.
· The perfect quinoa every time and turn it into a roast pumpkin and goats cheese salad
· Chicken baked in a parcel with haloumi and lemon
· The perfect grass fed steak with sticky port wine onions
· Salmon cooked to perfection with spiced lentils and beetroot
· Chia pudding with berries and acai
This class will teach you to cook delicious meals with minimum fuss, effort and time without sacrificing quality or flavour.
#4 Educational. You will discover the secrets and tricks that will help you in every aspect of the kitchen. There were a few kitchen tricks I learnt from Bridget such as getting a meat thermometer to work out if your meats are cooked to your liking, use avocado oil instead of canola or olive oil to cook, sweet potato is likely to be the super food of the future that will replace kale. Also, Bridget shared some interesting insights about eating certain foods that complement your blood type. I can’t remember what my blood type is but god I hope I’m not blood type O (I need my coffee fix every morning!).
#5 Something exotic. In a discussion about food of the future and getting your nutrients from alterative sources, Bridget encouraged us to try an alternative source of protein – crickets. Yep, the insect. It was dried and shrivelled up. After you get over the mental hurdle that it looks like a mini cicada or a small dried up dead cockroach you may see in your cupboards at home because you forget to do your annual pest control spray, and manage to put it in your mouth like I did, it’s not too bad. It was crunchy. It was like eating salted peanuts except with the extension of tentacles that you can feel on your tongue as you first place it in your mouth. My vegetarian friend nearly squirmed off her chair as she watched me eat it. Apparently, we unconsciously swallow a few thousand insects each year already without knowing it, so what’s another one? Looks like there are no true vegetarians around if that’s the case.
Overall
This 2 hour workshop is a cooking demonstration that allows you to watch how a healthy meal can be expressly done in 20 minutes, and healthy doesn’t mean taste is compromised. Bridget’s 20 minute dishes are quick, easy and healthy. Bridget’s mantra is “inspiring and empowering you to cook and eat better”. This certainly shines though during the workshop. Her enthusiasm and passion for cooking and healthy eating catches on and Bridget makes cooking look pretty simple and taste delicious.
Where? Salt Meats Cheese, 41 Bourke Road, Alexandria NSW 2015
When? Check timetable on the Salt Meats Cheese website for next Bridget Davis’ next class.
Cost? $89 per person includes class, tasting, recipe cards & 10% off all purchases made on the day
To learn more about Bridget Davis? Go to http://www.theinternetchef.biz/