Kate Clarkson of YORKCakes and YORK Cookery School shares her ideas to ease you into the New Year
Anybody who knows me well enough will be able to attest to the fact that the New Year is not my favourite time of the year. So this year, I’ve decided to approach it all very differently.
Rather than make resolutions that I’ll fail to stick to (as has happened every other year), I’ve decided to be kind to myself.
So, instead of throwing myself on the diet and exercise wagon as in past years, I’m going to try to eat more of the food that my body needs and less of the stuff it doesn’t. However, I’m not denying myself anything. No. That is tantamount to disaster! The way I see it, I’m accessing much more of everything but using moderation as my guide.
Drink more water, get more sleep, go to bed earlier, walk instead of drive where I can. Little changes that are realistic and that I can enjoy in the hope that they’ll stick!
Making positive statements and doing more of the good things seems far more preferable and inevitably kinder than saying “stop” or “don’t”.
So, with the recent launch of the YORK Cookery School, 2013 is about having fun with food. There will be healthy eating courses but a lot of what we want to do is to give people the confidence and skills to cook more at home using locally sourced, fresh ingredients.
I plan to take part in as many of the cookery classes as I can so I can learn about new food and meal ideas and take away new skills too.
We all have busy lives and there is a huge temptation to get a ready meal out of the fridge or freezer or grab a takeaway. For me, in 2013, cooking is going to become a much more family based and social experience coupled with taking a small, but significant and, hopefully, long lasting step towards a healthier lifestyle.
It’s a new approach. We’ll see if it works!
As part of our range of cookery classes, the YORK Cookery School runs a Healthy Mediterranean workshop which features a range of dishes. This class is run by our expert chef, Keith Miller, who has devoted much of his life to food. Over the years, he has visited many different countries, learning about their food and culinary methods. The following recipe is one of his…
Balsamic roasted salmon with jewelled couscous
Ingredients
1 Salmon Fillet steak
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Chopped basil
Pinch sugar
1 clove garlic crushed
75g couscous
¼ diced red pepper
Chopped parsley
¼ diced courgette
1 tablespoon finely chopped carrot
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Method
Skin the salmon and marinade in the vinegar, basil, sugar and garlic for at least 30 minutes.
Cook in a foil parcel (en papillote) in a preheated 180C oven for approximately 15 minutes. Gently cook the red pepper, carrot and courgette in the olive oil.
Re-hydrate the couscous according to the pack instructions and add the vegetables.
Serve the salmon on the couscous and pour around the juices.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year.
- For full details of the classes and to see what’s coming up, go to the Cooking Rooms website