Lib Dems do lunch

Nick Clegg wants to provide free school meals for all
Image curtsoy of Gov.co.uk

Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has pledged that all infants at schools in England will receive free school lunches from September. The £600m-a-year scheme agreed by the Coalition is argued to be helping out all families with young children, as the scheme will save the average family £437 a year in meal costs. The scheme has also been backed by the Conservatives as it will ensure that more is done to promote healthy eating in schools, a task started by the Labour party.

The new legislation will see all children in state education aged between five and seven receive a free meal regardless of household income. The scheme rolls out across the country in September and is hoping to reach out to all primary school children by 2016.

Previously free school meals were means tested. An average household income would have to be below £18,000 for a child to receive a free school meal. Currently in Sheffield just 3,300 school pupils qualify to receive free school meals, this is set to increase to over 18,000 students in September when the new arrangement begins.

Nick Clegg told The Sheffield Star: “I’m delighted thousands of local children and families across South Yorkshire will see real benefits”.

The scheme has been challenged by many people as ‘taking from the poor to feed the rich’ and is believed that other sectors will suffer because of this scheme.

Mother of four, Suzanne Marshall from Dore said: “I think it is outrageous that any child should receive free school meals. People shouldn’t be having children if they cannot afford to feed them. I will still be sending my children to school with a packed lunch, I know school meals have got a lot better since Jamie Oliver but I still wouldn’t trust them.”

Example of exisitng school meal from Martha Payne's blog

One of the main objectives of the bill is to decrease childhood obesity in the UK by making sure that all children have a healthy and nutritious lunch whilst they are at school. An insight into the current issues with school meals was a hot topic for the press last year after 9-year-old school child, Martha Payne took a photo diary of her school meals with some shocking results, causing a much needed shake up to the meals available for children. Currently over a fifth of 4-5 year-olds currently overweight or obese in the UK (Public Health England) many are welcoming the change as a way to help better a child’s future.

Cliff Woodcraft

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Fulwood, Cliff Woodcraft thinks that children will benefit from the changes: “Too many children, do not get to eat a nutritious meal each day.  This is not just because their parents cannot afford it. The free school meal will ensure that all young children will receive at least one good meal each day. This will benefit their ability to progress individually and thereby raise general standards in the schools.”

The Coalition is also pledging £150million to ensure that schools can build new kitchens and increase dining capacity where necessary in preparation for the changes. This increased demand is thought to push smaller schools to their limits and will mean that more staff will need to be employed. Head Teacher, Robin Dungate will see the number of children receiving these meals more than double in September: “I think it is a very noble idea and I am sure that we would see an improvement in children's well-being as a result. However  it all has to be paid for of course and I am would be worried if we don’t get the extra funding into the budget for extra staff our existing lunchtime staff will be over worked and under a lot of stress which will not benefit anyone.”

Do you have any memories of school meals you want to share? Or have a view on the new legislation? I'd love to hear from you, tweet @Kelly_Kooks

Mother takes on Cake Boss UK

Maria's children and 'Pinkie' the My Little Pony cake

A 29 year-old Mother of three has been in the press this week after she revealed her 4 foot 3 inch My Little Pony cake which fed 900 people.

Maria
(Courtesy of SWNS Media)

Maria Young, of Dorking, Surrey spent a week making the cake during the evening for her daughter Emily’s eighth birthday. Speaking to Kelly Kooks Maria said: “I had a few days of not doing it, I had to rebuild some and with all my normal mummy duties could only spend the evenings doing it.” In total she spent over 35 hours making the cake her daughter wanted to be ‘big enough to ride’.

Making the cake came with several challenges and Maria would constantly have to run to the shops to buy more ingredients. In total the cake used 86 eggs, 26kg of icing and 32 boxes of Rice Krispies. It cost £160 to make and contained over 250,00 calories.

“The Rice Krispies fell to pieces a couple of times before I realised it was too hot in our home and had to turn the heating off and open the windows to keep it cool”

Maria herself has no baking qualifications and has learnt many of her techniques over the past year from American TV programmes, “I love Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, I would love to be able to produce something half as good as them one day.” She regularly makes cakes for her family and friends and would love one day to turn her self-taught hobby into a business.

Big cakes are not new for Maria after making a two foot high and four foot wide dinosaur cake for her son last year, it was after that her daughter wanted a slice of the action for herself and said she wanted a cake taller than her.

“I love making big cakes, I would love to make a life sized person. The bigger the better I say.”

‘Pinkie’ the pony has been featured in both Maria’s local press and the national press and has certainly made a talking point and has even lead her to a potential magazine deal. “I have been shocked by the whole response. To me it’s just a cake”.

Have you made any cakes like Maria’s? Tweet your pictures to @Kelly_Kooks

Are allergies taken seriously?

News has emerged today that a 12-year-old boy has died of a several allergic reaction after eating a takeaway his parents were told contained no nuts.

Connor Donaldson from Manchester, who died in October, was diagnosed with a nut allergy at a young age and his parents, who also are nut allergy sufferers always made sure his food was nut free. Whilst ordering the Indian takeaway his mother specifically asked if his prawn balti would contain traces of nuts and was assured that it would not.

An inquest into Connors death revealed that the restaurant preparing the curry had been using the same serving spoon to dish up all of the food at the restaurant causing contamination. The curry which he had taken only a few bites from before suffering an asthma attack also contained a balti paste which contained almond and peanut paste.

Connor later died in hospital as a result of the asthma attack due to his reaction to the curry.

Coroner Mrs Lemming said that the public need to be aware of the risks associated with food outlets where nuts are used and that there is a high risk of cross contamination , 'A very small amount of allergen might be all that is required for a tragedy such as this. Depending on the individual cross contamination might be enough to result in this sort of desperate, desperate tragedy".

In the UK around 10 people die each year as a result of an allergic reaction. Kelly Kooks spoke to 21-year-old Mary Harding who suffers from an allergy to fish and walnuts.

Basa is off the menu for allergy sufferer Mary

Like Connor, Mary was diagnosed with her allergy at a young age after her parents gave her fish fingers as a toddler which resulted in her becoming very ill. In her early teens she went for allergy testing which showed the extent of her allergies and was told that if she ate certain types of fish it could be fatal.

"I have to carry an EpiPen around with me because if I eat anything containing white fish then I could die. "

From then she has always been very careful about the foods that she eats particularly now that she lives in shared accommodation at university "If I'm unsure what's in it I just won't touch it. The smell of fish makes me feel physically sick and if my housemates eat it they have to make sure the plates and cutlery gets washed really well."

She explained that because of her allergy to walnuts she has to constantly check packaging and ask restaurants if foods contain what she is allergic to because it is usually not clear on menus.

From hearing both Connor and Marys story I think more needs to be done to ensure that awareness of allergies is readily available for sufferers and that the food industry needs to be more vigilant in its methods of production to make sure tragedies like Connors death stop happening.

I spoke to café owner Adam Klauffman, of Tunbridge Wells, to find out what he does to prevent contamination in his kitchen and what he does to alert allergy sufferers who come to his café.

He explained that the majority of his produce is brought in from suppliers and has clear allergy labelling so he can always check a product if a customer has a query.

"We always make sure that the cakes we make at Adam's Café contain no traces of nuts as this is a common allergy. I cannot guarantee that anything I buy in is nut free but the information is always readily available for my customers."

From winner to peeler

My fantastic day at Fischer's Baslow Hall…

Fischer's Baslow Hall

Late last year I took part in a 'masterchef' competition between my university, Sheffield Hallam and our rivals The University of Sheffield through the Sheffield on a Plate project.

The build up to the competition included a six week training cookery course at Sheffield College with cookery experts Neil Taylor and Mick Burke. During the course the chosen six students from each university were taught different recipes and methods of cooking to make sure we were ready for the big day.

My winning dish

On competition day myself and the other students arrived at the College at 8am to make sure that we had all of the preparation ready for when our 70 guests arrived later that evening for dinner. Myself and another Hallam student were given the main course to cook which was a complex and demanding dish of honey glazed pork belly, alongside a curry pork fillet, pureed swede with sea kale and mustard mash potato topped with a pork crisp. The pork belly alone was slow cooked for 30 hours.

The competition was judged by Michelin starred chef Rupert Rowley of Fischer's Baslow Hall, Derby. Rupert watched us throughout the day preparing food and then during the hectic time of service in which myself and the other students were thrown in at the deep end plating up for our 70 diners. Rupert crowned Hallam students the winners and explained that my dish was the stand out dish of the evening. "I judged the food on various criteria such as the taste and the flavour, but the dish that really stood out for me tonight was the pork. For that reason I announce Sheffield Hallam University as the winning team of the Masterchef competition."

Myself and the rest of the winning Hallam team on competition day

As a prize we were awarded a day shadowing Rupert in his kitchen at Fischer's. This was something I was really looking forward to, having worked in kitchens before in pubs and small restaurants I was excited to see the detail that goes into food of such a high standard as well as picking up some tips on how to make my food of a Michelin star quality.

On Sunday 23^rd March 2014 I had my day at Fischer's Baslow Hall, which was definitely an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry, for all the wrong reasons.
 Upon arrival I was issued with my apron which was nicely embroidered and ironed and was given my name badge before being led into the busy kitchen. 

The chefs were all lovely and welcoming but Rupert was nowhere to be seen, after asking where he was I was told "Oh no he doesn’t work on Sundays…", which left me wondering why invite us down on this day when you're not working? I put that aside and asked what it was I was going to be doing for the day, I was then paired up with chef Sam Baker who was in charge of the vegetables for lunch service.

The best peeled parsnips you'll ever see

For the next two hours I was peeling, chopping and grating vegetables, something I do at home every weekend in preparation for a Sunday lunch. There was no skill required, nothing was new to me and it certainly wasn't something I would consider a prize. I was then asked to prepare a basic béchamel sauce, again something I have made a hundred times in the past but I was excited to be near an actual cooker. While making the sauce I asked a chef what it was going to be used for, I was told it was for our lunch before the diners arrived...

I spent the afternoon in the gardens of Baslow Hall potting cabbages with the gardener Terry who explained that they would be used in the summer in the restaurant. This filled me with a bit of joy that at least something I have tendered would be used eventually. 180 cabbages later Terry and I realised my 3 inch acrylic nails weren't ideal for gardening and had just about put the world to rights over several cups of tea.

 I couldn't help but feel deflated about my day. Although the staff could not have been more welcoming at Fischer's I walked away feeling disappointed that my day in the Michelin starred restaurant wasn't what was sold to me. I never saw any of my perfectly peeled parsnips on a plate, I never shadowed the head chef because he 'doesn’t work on Sundays' and I ruined my nails. My personal highlights of the day, eating the fish pie I made at lunch time and the lovely drive through the Peak District on the way home. 

I guess I did learn something at Fischers, in the restaurant industry you really do have to start at the bottom, in my case giving it the chop.

Butternut Squash Soup

Having developed an unhealthy obsession with junk food in the build up to deadlines it was time to cut back on the rubbish and fill myself with something that doesn't contain enough calories to feed a whole family for a week. This vegetable soup is a great balance of flavours and for me a little taste of home, as it is one of my Dad's signature dishes.

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
1 parsnip
1 red chilli
1 large onion
3 large tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
Mixed herbs
Calorie controlled cooking spray
1litre vegetable stock

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200oC/ Gas mark 4.5
2. Peel and de-seed the butternut squash, chop into bite sized pieces along with the parsnip
3. Chop the onion and tomatoes into quarters
4. Finely dice the chilli and put in a roasting tray with the rest of the vegetables
5. Peel the garlic and leave whole, put with the vegetables
6. Spray all the vegetables with cooking spray and sprinkle with herbs
7. Bake for 40 minutes, turning frequently to ensure even cooking
8. Place all of the vegetables in a large bowl, slowly add the stock, blitzing with a hand blender until you have the required consistency.

For best results serve it just like my Dad does, piping hot with crusty bread and a good film on a Sunday afternoon with your best friend.

The Last Meal

It is impossible to think what life would be like knowing that your death was imminent. The ‘Last Meal’ tradition offers death-row prisoners the chance to request a final meal the day before their execution of whatever they want*. The tradition is believed to stem from the Christian story of ‘The last supper’ and is still practiced across America.

Food photographer Henry Hargreaves used the stoppage of the ‘Last Meal’ in Texas as a way of exploring through photographs what it is that people want in their last moments of life. He asked whether or not the meals that these inmates were choosing showed something about their personality and why they committed the crimes that they did.

“I felt it could be a really interesting idea to try to represent visually. Researching this topic strangely personalised these people for me and for a moment was able to identify with them through the common dominator of food.”

In the series of photographs Hargreaves details the names, ages, where they are imprisoned, crimes committed and the method in which they are to be killed. He then details the meal itself and gives some additional information about the person if it relates to the meal they have requested.

This unique experiment and insight inspired me to think about those last few moments and what it is that makes people choose the meal that will be there last. With this in mind I asked people what they would choose as their ‘Last Meal’ and why.

Rose Atherton

-28

-Sales Assistant

-Brighton

-Enchiladas

-Sponge cake

-Cup of Tea

“It was one of the first meals my girlfriend and I had together when we first started dating”

 

Rachel Cummins

-21

-Student

-Sheffield

-Kedgeree with extra sea food

-Chocolate banoffee pie

-Champagne

“My Dad only makes kedgeree on Boxing Day so its something special to me”

Annie Moore

-21

-Florist

-Kent

-Herby lamb steak, sweet potato fries and vegetables

- Milk chocolate fondue with fruit

-Red wine

“I had that meal on a romantic night in with my boyfriend and I love fruit but also love chocolate so the fondue just makes sense”

Lisa de Garston

-51

-Business owner

-Kent

- Thai Curry

-Toast with butter, brown sugar and lemon juice

-Fresh lemonade

“I don’t really have a favourite pudding but the ultimate comfort food for me is toast”

Alex Martin

-19

-Student

-Leeds

-Roast Dinner

-Banoffee pie

-  Bottled Corona

“A roast because I have the fondest memories of enjoying it whilst family members are crammed round the table on a Sunday. It’s simply the best family food”

I found the results heart warming as each person chose their meal to be one that comforts them or has a special memory linked to a loved one, instead of a meal based on greed and price.

Me, Kelly Crampton

-21

-Blogger

-Sheffield

-Steak, served blue with Dauphinoise potatoes

-Cheese board with red onion chutney

-Gin and Tonic

"A cheeky gin has been my saving grace through my degree, whether it’s getting me through a deadline or helping me celebrate the hand-in"

What would your last meal be? Tweet @Kelly_Kooks

*In Florida all meals have to be locally sourced and cost no more then $40. In Oklahoma, cost is limited to $15.

Green tea weetabix or lemon flavoured crisps?

In the food world nothing is more humble than the simple Weetabix or the flavour of a nice packet of cheese and onion. It has recently emerged that across the globe the foods we know and love have been given a very unique twist to adapt to an ever changing population of food tastes.

Weetabix

Green tea flavoured Weetabix are to go on sale in China to appeal to the savoury tastes of the orient. The popular cereal brand is hoping to crack the market by adapting its original recipe that we know in the UK to that of green tea, which originated in China. 

KitKat

Have a break have a sweet potato KitKat, doesn’t really have the same ring to it does it? But in Japan these seem to be being snapped up everywhere. In Japan alone there are 80 flavours of KitKat to choose from including miso, Earl Grey tea, camembert and peach, putting our measly peanut butter and mint varieties to shame.

McDonalds  

A few years ago in the UK McDonalds launched a range of salads in Britain that left people wondering ‘what will they do next?’. Well in Canada and other countries where lobster is cheap and plentiful you can sample a McLobster, "It’s the perfect combination of diced celery, light salad dressing and shredded lettuce all on a soft roll. You’ll miss it when it’s gone, so catch it while summer’s here.” Who’d of thought?

Walkers Crisps

Here you can argue that we have a huge range of crisp flavours to suit everyone. Each year Walkers seem to run a competition to either get people to  make up their own crisp flavour or to try and guess a new weird and wonderful flavour with past examples including ‘Cajun squirrel’ and ‘Piri Piri pigeon’. Across the pond it seems that weird and wonderful flavours are the norm with lychee, lemon tea and kiwi crisps all being sold in the US.

Coco-Cola

Coke Blak, “Coke effervescence with coffee essence", basically fizzy coffee is sold in many European countries including France and Spain. This drink is something that would definitely give you that morning buzz! I can see a petition to get this in the UK sharpish.

Have you tried any of these weird and wonderful takes on our British classics, or have you tried anything I haven’t heard of? Please get in touch and let me know.

Almond Milk

A fellow blogger friend of mine Kieran has recently turned Vegan with his girlfriend, because of this regular cows milk is no longer a 'done' thing for them these days. As an alternative they both drink almond milk which is just as easy and available to buy in the supermarket as cows milk.

The health benefits of almond milk seem to be endless. It has no cholesterol and is said to improve eyesight, skin, bone strength as well as being blood sugar friendly due to its low sugar levels, making it ideal for diabetics.

 Because of these health benefits I was dying to try some. So myself, Kieran and his girlfriend, Mary decided to give making our own almond milk a go. Before you imagine us trying to squeeze milk out of individual almonds please know that this recipe is so simple and involves no cooking, no effort what so ever and was actually a lot of fun. 

Makes 1.5 Pints

Ingredients

300g almonds

1.5 pint water

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Method

Kieran and Mary with our makeshift muslin

1. Place the almonds in a large container and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for a minimum of 6 hours, ideally overnight
2. Once the almonds have been soaked drain away the excess water and rinse thoroughly
3. Place the almonds in a blender along with the water and maple syrup
4. Blend on a high speed for a minimum of two minutes until no large pieces of almond remain
5. Put the mixture through a piece of muslin (we didn't have any so we improvised with a pair of tights- I would like to add they were new!) into a jug or bottle
6. Refrigerate and serve. 

Doncaster Market

I am a firm believer that every real foodie should take an hour out of their week to go and visit their local market. They can be a treasure trove for good quality ingredients as well as a way to meet like-minded people.

The Doncaster food market is short 30 minute train ride for me from Sheffield, so I thought I would make a day of it and see what it has to offer.

The market is vast inside a large old building and is full to the brim with a large variety of stalls. From fish, to meat to sweets, I can almost guarantee that anything you want to buy from there- no matter how peculiar can be found hidden on one of the stalls at Doncaster.

I have always found that at any market stall holders at markets are always helpful and give the best advice on how to prepare and cook your purchases.  The stall holders at Doncaster were particularly helpful and had learnt their knowledge through a long standing family tradition of butchery or fishmongers which is something I love having come from a butchery background myself. This type of product knowledge is something that you don’t tend to get from the spotty, bewildered teenager in your local supermarket when you ask how to braise your ox tail to get the best stock from it.

Many stall holders are also more than willing to do individual portions of meat and fish which is great for when you just want to try something to see if you like it. Or if like me you fight for freezer space the last thing you want to be doing is bringing home a whole salmon (although I would love to see my housemates faces if I did).

Another great thing about shopping at any market is that you know exactly where the food is coming from. Many of the stall holders at Doncaster market told me that they source their produce from within a 50-mile radius of the market site. Which I’m sure many of you will agree after the horsemeat scandal is something to ease the mind that little bit more.

All of the produce at the market was of great quality and seemed to be at much lower prices than the supermarket which is always a plus. Many of the vegetables had good offers and at the market you can always try your best at haggling down the prices (something that definitely wouldn’t go down too well in Tesco!).

Overall the market experience at Doncaster was good.  It was nice to head out of Sheffield and explore a different market to my usual one, The Moor and I would definitely recommend it. The market itself is just a short five minute walk from the train station and easily accessible by car.

If any readers know a good food market in Yorkshire or Kent then please let me know via twitter, @Kelly_Kooks or comment below.

Salad Nicoise

Before Christmas I took part in a 6 week cookery course in training for a ‘Masterchef’ competition between my university, Sheffield Hallam and our rival, the University of Sheffield.

The course was funded by the Sheffield on a Plate project, a project set up to teach students like myself the importance of cooking good food using quality ingredients from in and around Sheffield.

My university won and in a few weeks I will be doing my prize, a days work experience at Fischer’s at Baslow Hall, a Michelin starred restaurant.

Excited doesn’t come close to explaining how much I am looking forward to it. A post will come about all of my experiences on the day!

Before that I thought I would share a recipe I learnt while on the course. A delicious and quick Salad Nicoise, which is always a hit with my friends.

4 Servings

Ingredients

• 160g anchovies
• 200g tuna chunks
• 400g green beans
• 2 cloves garlic
• 300g cherry tomatoes
• 30g basil
• 3 shallots
• 300g new potatoes
• 4 eggs
• 25g capers
• 25g gherkins
• 50g pitted black olives
• 30g french mustard
• 200ml olive oil
• Pinch of sugar
• 50ml white wine vinegar
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

1. Top and tail green beans and place in boiling salted water and cook for around 5 minutes until tender, drain and then plunge into ice water, remove and leave to one side
2. In another pan add the potatoes and boil until they fall off the point of a knife. Drain, cut into quarters and place in a bowl.
3. Halve the tomatoes, slice up the shallots thinly and chop the basil add to the bowl with the potatoes
4. Chop up the gherkins, add to bowl along with the olives, capers and green beans
5. Crush the garlic until it resembles a puree and mix into the bowl
6. Drain the tuna from the brine and add along with the anchovies and their oil and mix in
7. Hard boil the eggs for 8-10 minutes, remove shell and slice, set aside for decoration at the end.
8. To make the dressing put all of the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk, pour over the salad and serve.