For those of you who have missed any of these – read this cooking blog for a summary of our Top Tips for food and cookery to help you all out in the kitchen. Keep following us for your daily tip!

TOP TIP NUMBER 8 – ‘Eat foods made from ingredients you can picture in their raw state,or growing’

Homemade food is our passion!  Another gem from Michael Pollan – the fresher the food, the better!

TOP TIP NUMBER 9 – ‘Save leftover wine and freeze in ice cube trays. They can then be used when needed for any recipes asking for wine’

Don’t let leftover dregs of wine go to waste! Freeze them for cooking with…

TOP TIP NUMBER 10 - ‘Re-use the water used to cook your veggies in for sauces or soups- it will be packed full of vitamins and nutrients’

We like to steam or sautee our vegetables. These methods are quick so don’t allow as many nutrients to be lost from the vegetables through cooking  – maximising the goodness of the food and also the taste! If you do boil your vegetables – use the water for something else as any nutrients lost in the water will be transferred into the sauce or soup and you won’t lose out!

TOP TIP NUMBER 11 - ‘Don’t store bananas with other fruits – they release gases which will cause the other fruits to ripen more quickly’

There is nothing worse than soft, shrivelled tangerines or soggy grapes – keep your other fruit away from the bananas if you want them to stay fresh!

TOP TIP NUMBER 12 - ‘When you poach eggs, add a little vinegar and salt to the water. This will help set the eggs and keep their shape’

Our chefs swear by this for making the perfect poached eggs. This will stop the egg white from spreaded out in the water and keep your egg nice and round. Another tip if you are making lots of poached eggs at once, or for making them in advance – cook your eggs a few at a time and once cooked, place them in a pan of cold water until you are ready to serve. Heat them again by placing in a pan of simmering water for around 2 minutes.

TOP TIP NUMBER 13 - ‘Take the time to actually read recipes through before you begin- you can then be more relaxed when cooking - and enjoy it more!’

We’ve all been there , running around the kitchen like a headless chicken because we have forgotten a vital ingredient or missed a step out of the recipe! Have a little read before you start cooking – you will feel more prepared and can plan in stages how to tackle the recipe and make it easier for yourself!

TOP TIP NUMBER 14 – ‘Always use sharp knives. Not only is it safer, but it will make your work much more efficient!’

As our chefs tell people time and time again – a blunt knife is much more dangerous than a sharp one. If your knife is blunt, it will take much more effort for you to cut through whatever it is you are chopping up – you will be putting more pressure on the knife, and will be more likely to slip - and cause some serious damage to yourself! A sharp knife will glide through your food with ease and as long as you’re fingers are out of the way, you will be fine! See below for a video demonstration on how to sharpen your knives.

Keep following our cooking blog for more tips, interesting foodie facts & news and quick and easy recipes and remember – SPREAD THE #TLC WORD!

There has been lots of foodie fun going on in the Studio over the last week – with a load of happy Can Cookers cooking up a storm on our Middle Eastern Evening and Spanish Cookery Class!

 The food they produced looked phenomenal and we’re sure it tasted great too!

Take a look at the photos from both sessions, where you can also sneak a peek at the great facilities we have at the Studio - http://www.flickr.com/photos/53882532@N02/

Don’t forget we have just released our new course programme with lots of exciting cookery courses for you to choose from – don’t miss out!

We hope to see you in the Studio soon!

Check out the article we have written for the LoveFood website -
http://www.lovefood.com/journal/opinions/14611/can-you-teach-a-city-to-cook

As you know – we love anything to do with food and cookery and are passionate about teaching people to be able to cook for themselves and really enjoy the whole food experience, but sadly, there are less and less people cooking homecooked meals for themselves each day.

Young people in particular are not cooking, either through choice or simply because they do not have the skills. What we have is a situation where cooking could be lost in a generation. This is where our TLC Campaign comes in. We want to get this city cooking – and enjoying it!

For more on the campaign, and exactly how it will help our younger generation - see this article.

 The work environment can on one hand constrain our ability to make healthy choices: with little time, fast food solutions on the door step and little physical activity….

But here at Can Cook we also think workplaces are under utilised as a fantastic setting for promoting health – as a population we spend more than a third of our waking hours there! 

“Teaching Liverpool to Cook” is looking to get your workplace involved and cooking!! 

Have you heard about the Workplace Wellbeing Charter led by one of our campaign partners Health@Work?  Its a great new opportunity for workplaces to demonstrate their committment to the health and well-being of their workforce. The new charter gets you thinking about how you do this more and also to document the many ways you probably already impact the wellbeing of your employees. If you want to sign up or get more information please contact keith.gorman@healthatworkcentre.org.uk or call 0151 2366608. 

So get started today – get involved in “Teaching Liverpool to Cook” and help your workplace to ‘get healthier’!

We design our cookery courses to suit all tastes and skills, and regularly ask for feedback off our customers to help us keep our cookery courses fresh and exciting!

We are also now offering our Chef Masterclasses for Indian, Thai and Italian Cookery. New to the programme this year, our Chef Masterclasses are perfect for those of you who already cook and want to learn more. A step up from our Indian, Italian and Thai Evening Courses – come and learn more about your favourite cuisine and pick up some new ideas along with useful skills and techniques from our Chefs. These courses are great if you are looking to be a bit more adventurous with your cooking!

Other cookery classes new to the programme include:

Cooking from Scratch - A great course for those wanting to learn more about the basics of cooking, or who prefer the more traditional cooking experience. Our chefs will teach and expand on essential cookery techniques that can be used across a variety of dishes.  A great starting platform for a budding cook or for those wanting to learn cookery techniques and skills from scratch!

Cooking from Scratch (11-15 years) - This course is just for young people aged 11-15. If you love cooking or would like to learn how to cook these half days are for you!

Simply Fish – this cookery course will introduce the techniques and methods used to fillet and cook fish, along with sauces and accompaniments to compliment perfectly!

Spanish Cook and Dine - New to our popular Cook and Dine Programme is our Spanish evening. Unwind and relax learning a tasty Mediterranean dish, before enjoying your food around the table with a glass of wine or beer – perfect!

Entertaining – For those of you looking for dishes to impress – our ‘Entertaining’ course is the one for you! Let our Chefs show you how to make a range of creative dishes suitable for entertaining small and larger groups.  Take home some tips in stunning presentation to wow your friends and family around the dinner table.

The old favouries – Thai, Indian, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Curries, Tapas, Spanish and Delicious Desserts are also still available – we hope you find a course you like!

For those of you who have missed any of these – here is a summary of our Top Tips for food and cookery to help you all out in the kitchen. Keep following us for your daily tip!

TOP TIP NUMBER 1 - ‘If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t’

This one comes from Michael Pollan – one of our favourite journalist/fod writers. He tells it like it is and we enjoy his honesty. He often talks about eating ‘real’ food, home-cooked and avoiding processed or man-made products. We agree – by cooking meals from scratch, you know exactly what is going into your food and can monitor the amount of salt you use, and can guarantee that there are no additives or preservatives packed in there to preserve the shelf life!

TOP TIP NUMBER 2 - ‘Less is more – the big trick to cooking fish is to undercook it slightly. It will continue to cook off the heat’

There is nothing worse than over-cooked, chewy and dry fish. Keep it moist and under cook it slightly. Whatever cooking method you choose – remember the thicker pieces will need longer, and the thinner pieces shorter time. Also – wen you place the fish in the pan or on the grill, let it cook undisturbed for 2-4 minutes before you touch it. The fish will develop a nice crust and will release perfectly when it’s ready to turn.

TOP TIP NUMBER 3 -  ‘Never stir rice while it cooks – this will release the starch in the rice and you will end up with very sticky rice!’

For a fool-proof way to get the perfect rice, follow our Chefs method – works every time! Click here. This recipe is for coconut rice, but works perfectly without, and using all types of rice, not just thai.

TOP TIP NUMBER 4 -  ‘Eat food, not food products. Don’t eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.’

Another great tip from Michael Pollan regarding processed foods – and why we should avoid them!

TOP TIP NUMBER 5- ‘Save overcooked or soggy vegetables by pureeing them with a little seasoning, butter, cream or herbs’

Soggy vegetables are the worst – spruce them up by pureeing and adding some flavour!

TOP TIP NUMBER 6 – ‘Chew your food properly – Digestions starts in the mouth and good digestion is key to health’

Your saliva contains enzymes to help you start to digest your  food – so if you swallow your food before it has had a chance to react with these enzymes – you’ve disrupted the digestive path already! Relax while eating – from the moment your mouth waters, it takes up to 20 minutes for your digestion to get started. Sit down while eating, savour your food and enjoy it! Never eat on the run. Gudrun Jonsson, a qualified biopath who uses the principles of nutrition and homeopathy to treat the whole person, explains that ‘an efficient gut is vital to feeling well’.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2024861/Health-notes-A-gut-reaction-good-digestion.html#ixzz1mN7hNgIo

TOP TIP NUMBER 7 - ‘Before peeling garlic, thump and crush the clove with the side of a knife and the skin will lift away easily’

Everyone hates peeling garlic – but this method really does help the skin to peel away more easily. Chop either end off too before you bash it!

SEND US YOUR TOP TIPS - POST ON OUR BLOG – GET INVOLVED WITH TLC!  

Its day 91 of the TLC campaign and we have some fantastic ideas of not just how to get Liverpool cooking but also WHERE to get Liverpool cooking!

We’ll not just be cooking from the Studio but all over Liverpool – our Pop Up Kitchen or inflatable Domes could be ‘popping’ up near you!

To help us get it out there – let’s get creative!  Help us think out of the box, where would you like to see this cooking taking place?

Perhaps your business is all about food and cooking and you have a great venue and would like to get involved!

Come and join us – help us to Teach Liverpool to Cook!

Get your ideas into us and comment on our blog………

BBC Health Reporter Philippa Roxby writes about the positive effects that cookery initiatives have on young people in schools and communities- and how this can be key to their good health – now, and long into their future.

‘By teaching our children to cook they are more likely to grow up to be healthy adults because they have a better knowledge of cooking techniques, preparing food and new tastes’ Phillipa reports.

As part of the report, Phillipa interviewed Jacqui Lawson, a teacher of food technology at Enterprise South Liverpool Academy, who knows just how valuable cooking lessons are for school pupils.

Jacqui entered a group of her students in the secondary school cooking competition that we run each year for years 10-12.

During the knock-out competition, at each round, the students receive three hours of training from one of our chefs. They then have the chance to practice their recipes before their dishes are judged by a panel of professionals. The winners proceed onto the next round and the final winning team work with the Chefs to produce a 3 course meal for up to 150 guests at our Gala Finale Meal.

Jacqui and her students found the competition an amazing experience – “They were trying things they hadn’t tried before, like Spanish cooking, Thai food and how to make burgers from scratch with lean mince beef.

“At first they were sceptical, but they learnt to cook restaurant quality meals and the experience also taught them about working as a team and independently – lots of skills useful for later in life.”

After the sessions, students’ comments included, “It was challenging in a good way”, “it was fun learning how to cook”, “taking apart the chicken was quite hard to understand but the chefs helped” and “I felt I could do all of the stuff we were shown”.

Rob Rees, chairman of the School Food Trust, says all children should have the chance to learn to cook.

“Fundamentally, being able to cook is a life skill which helps children grow into healthier adults, and that’s why our evidence to the national curriculum review calls for practical cooking to be compulsory for all children.”

Professor Martin Caraher (Centre for Food Policy at City University London) led the research on our sessions and believes cookery is vital for the health of the nation, and particularly children. ‘It is about changing the culture, giving children simple and healthy recipes to take home and cook and giving their parents the basic skills to help nurture their enthusiasm for cooking.’

We agree! Take a look at the full article here… http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16854572

 After the success of our launch last week, we already have 25 companies working with us on the campaign. Some of these have contributed much more than £100 which is amazing! We would like to give a big thanks to all of them for joining our cookery revolution and doing their bit for the health of the people of Liverpool.

So far we have raised £3000 and this is steadily growing as more and more companies get onboard… This is just the beginning though and we still need everyone to spread the word about #TLC and the benefits of supporting and contributing to this campaign.

As a summary:

• We need to raise £50,000 towards a huge cookery training programme that will roll out across Liverpool – starting in June. We are asking for the help of companies, organisations and schools across the city to do this.
• Each £100 donated will allow one member of staff from the donating company a place on our #TLC training – giving them vital cookery skills to take back into the workplace and their community to use as they wish, and as a way of promoting health.
• The rest of the money will go towards up to 3 young people learning to cook as part of #TLC – providing these young people with the vital skills that they need to be able to cook for themselves, and help them towards leading healthier and happier lives in the future.
• We aim to train 500 staff and 1,5000 young people as part of the campaign.  

           We want to start a cookery revolution across this City and give Liverpool the #TLC it desperately needs!

We have 100 days to raise all of the funds we need, which will be followed by another 100 days of cookery training. Please follow us on Twitter and Facebook  – spread the word, re-tweet to your friends and get passionate about food and cookery with us!