Introduction

In this episode of the Vegan Cooking and Nutrition podcast, I'm going to talk about the Vegan Chef Training and I'm also going to give you some really fantastic tips on how to become a better cook, so that you can also announce to the world that you are a sensational cook. Maybe you can already announce to the world that you're a sensational cook, but if you can't, then this podcast is really important to listen to because these tips are fantastic. So for all the relevant show notes, go over to www.veets.com.au/14 

How I became a sensational cook 

I was super lucky that I got to learn to cook when I was a child. I know that's not the case for everyone. Cooking was one of the opportunities we got to hang out with our mum. She let us in the kitchen, we cooked along with her and she was a really good cook. 

She knew how to balance flavours and use unusual foods. She would come home with a new vegetable, a new fruit or a new product. She was always looking for different ways to make food taste amazing. And this transferred on to me like osmosis. I was pretty lucky that way. But when I left home, I started buying things like Patak's curry powder or paste and I loved the flavour

And I started to experiment. I could see the preservatives in Patak's curry paste and I didn't want to do that. I created my own curry paste and I would replicate the things that my friends cooked. I had this understanding with myself. It was a silent understanding, but since I've been teaching cooking, I have voiced it a lot. That if food didn't taste good or it wasn't nice or good quality, it wasn't worth the calories for me to eat it. Therefore, everything I made had to be good quality and taste good for me to eat.

Having said that, sometimes I am known to indulge in organic potato chips or lollies, so I am not a saint in this, but whatever I cook, it has to taste good and be of a high quality. 

In 2006, after being a school teacher for 13 years and before that, a support worker for eight years. I decided that I wanted to share my love of cooking with other people. 

I created a food business and I did catering until 2019. People loved my food and it was wonderful to see that people who normally would be eating meat were eating plant based food and they really enjoying it. Then in 2014, I realised that I wanted to share with more people how to make food taste good, how to make food the best ever quality it could be.

The very next year I launched the Vegan Chef Training. the first three days of the training is called the Vegan Foundation Cooking Course and so far 382 people have come through that course. That course is now run online and it really sets you up for creating nutritious and delicious food.  This year that course is being run online in a 1:1 or group capacity.

People have chosen to do the Vegan Chef Training for numerous reasons, but before I go into that and before I go into talking more about the Vegan Chef Training, I'd like to share with you a few ways to take your cooking to the next level. Some things that you can do at home.

Don’t trust recipes for flavour

Number one tip is, whatever you cook, don't trust the recipe for the flavour. Ingredients are different. For example, if the recipe says the juice of a lemon or two tablespoons of lemon juice and I have a Mayan lemon. Mayan lemons are the only lemons that are available in the shops at the moment organically,because they grow at this time of the year that Eureka lemons don't. 

Mayan lemons are sweeter so I put two tablespoons of lemon juice into the food. It doesn't taste quite right. I can't serve it before I taste it and so I might need to add more lemon juice to give it more of a punch.

Or the tofu might need more flavouring than suggested in the recipe you use. Or like for my banana cake. I have a great banana cake on my website. If the bananas are really soft you don't need as much oil. You pour the oil in until it looks moist enough. It's all those things you can't leave to chance. You can't trust the recipe, you need to taste, you need to balance the flavours, you need to see if it's salty enough or if it's too salty, if it's pungent enough. Does it have enough garlic or onion or hing in it? Is it sweet enough?

I am not saying that I put sweetener in my savoury. I don't. But there are certain foods, like does it have enough onion to give it that sweetness? Does it have that kick? You know that kick comes often from something acidic like lemon or vinegar. And does it have enough flavour from the spices and herbs. If you've tasted what you are cooking it's lacking in flavour or it's lacking in something, don't go and start adding more things to it, no no no no no. 

What I'll often do is walk away if I've got the time, think about what it might be and then grab a portion of it, maybe two or three spoons and put it in another bowl.  If it's a burger mix, for example, I'll put three spoons of that in another bowl and then if I thought it needed more lemon, I'll add a little bit of lemon to it and if it definitely needed more curry flavour, I'll add a little bit more curry powder to it. Mix that up and taste it to make sure it's right.  Having said that, I'll only do one ingredient at a time. I do that in the small bowl first so as not to spoil the whole burger mix with my experimentation.  

In the Foundation Cooking Course you really develop your skills in ensuring that every time you cook, you balance the flavours to make every dish taste amazing.

Evaluate what you've cooked before serving (even if it's serving to yourself)

Number two for being a sensational cook is that every time you cook something, evaluate it before you eat it and after you eat it. Did it taste sensational, what can you do to make it sensational?  

Then, after you have eaten it, was it the very best it could be and if not, what could you do next time to make it even better?

Take a note, think about it, take a note on the recipe, you can write in a pencil if it's in your cookbook, or you can stick a post-it note on so that the next time you make it, you try those different things to make it sensational and I suggest making that recipe really soon afterwards so that it's fresh in your mind.

Listen to any feedback

Number three is to listen to any feedback that you're given. People may like to give you feedback but I always have a friend I know that I can really trust. Someone who isn’t just being picky. Somne who is giving constructive feedback to help you make your cooking the very best it can be.   I've been lucky with Mak because he gives me feedback and it's kind and very constructive feedback to make the food taste better.

Cook meals regularly and schedule an new recipe cooking session

Number four is to cook your regular meals on a weekly basis and set up a time in the week for days that you can just cook your normal regular meals, the meals that you are used to creating, or can make with your eyes closed.  Don’t complicate these days by trying something new.

Then set up a time in the week. It could be on a Saturday, or it could be a Friday evening, or whatever, where you're going to experiment and try a new recipe. If it doesn't taste great as you're cooking it, try to make it taste great and then think about what it might be that’s going to really lift this recipe.  This way you are increasing your repertoire of food and giving yourself time to experiment with food.

Cook my recipes

Number five is, cook my recipes from my website, because they're all pretty good.  They've all been tested, they've all had feedback from other people and they're relatively simple. They do pack the punch with flavour. Of course, don't trust my recipes completely, taste them and work them out for your palate. 

Hopefully, those five tips give you some idea on how to be the best cook in the hood. I'd love it if you could all say it, maybe you can already, but if you can't, I’d love you to work towards declaring that you are a sensational cook!

The Vegan Chef Training

Going back to the Vegan Chef Training. The Vegan Chef Training is run online and you can do it one-on-one with me, or you can do it in a group setting.

In May, we'll be starting the group setting online, it will be me and three other people, so that brings the price down considerably which makes it more available to more people and you get to be part of a group doing it together. 

There are 18 three-hour sessions and this training is for anyone who wants to really upskill their cooking and spend time cooking really good food.

Learning how to cook really good food that is completely nutritious that you would love to share with others. Or  you may like to do it just for yourself. You are worth cooking good food for.

I've had people come and do the chef training who've done it for themselves. I've had two beautiful people come and do the chef training who did it because they wanted to help their mothers who've got health issues. 

Then there's a whole group of people who are doing the Vegan Chef Training for their career, their business and their livelihood. We have the wonderful Tenzin and Ems, who have the beautiful cafe in Bermagui called Boneless. Ebony in Dwellingup, who has created the most sublime café/restaurant called Garden Eats, set in a gorgeous art gallery. Lauren, up in Townsville doing her magic. The cafe is out of a whole foods health food shop.

Pandora, who works in her local gym and also does nutrition. She is actually a nutritionist as well as having done Vegan Chef Training. She has also published her book and in two years sold 3,000 copies of it. 

There's Sammy, who works with well-being and food. Amanda, who had a business called Sweets and Greens but no longer does. Her life has moved on but she has lots of good recipes for her own diet because she's a triathlete. 

Andy worked for years at Smith and Daughters, which is a fantastic high-end vegan restaurant in Melbourne. Mandy works with people on the low FODMAP and SIBO diet in a plant-based capacity. 

There are people who've set up market stalls. Jesika is making tempeh.  Kato doing Retreat catering, Leesa provides meals to IGA in her home town and Natalia is a private chef.  Or you can just do it for yourself.

If you do the vegan chef training,  there is an early bird price and that pricing finishes on the 12th May, or you can make use of the payment program. Email me if you would like to set up a time to chat.

In the Vegan Chef Training we cover nutrition, ease of making foods taste incredible, raw foods, ayurvedic food, microbiotic food, Italian whole foods. We look at dietary requirements, menu planning, cake making, faux foods. A big part of the chef training also is establishing a business. If you aren't doing it for doing a business, you don't have to do that part, we can do other things. However some people have done the course just for themselves, done the business part of the course and then realised they actually do want to start a business.

If you are doing the Vegan Chef Training for a business, you then get a good start in getting your business up and running. 

If you want to have a chat to see if it is the right fit for you, send me an email and we can set up a time - info@veets.com.au

Recipes

Sensational salad dressing recipe 

1 red onion chopped roughly 

4 tsp Dijon mustard 

1/3 of a cup of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup  third of good quality olive oil and flax oil (combination)

¾ teaspoon of salt

Add to the blender and blitz it until it's smooth. 

If you're on a no-oil diet, what could you use instead? 

You could just put a little bit of tahini with it, or a little bit of avocado.

 Or you could put some hemp seeds with it instead of the oil. 

If you are on a low FOD map diet use garlic infused oil and omit the onion.

If you like a sweeter dressing you can add a couple of dates.

FCT (fun cooking tip)

Here's a fun cooking tip. 

Always buy organic olive oil and find a grower close to you. 

I haven't got one that's super close to me, but they're in Victoria. 

They're the Grampians Organic Olive Oil, and I buy it in bulk so that it's much cheaper. 

There is actually a shortage of olive oil at the moment, so they only allow you to buy a certain amount, but it's great quality olive oil, and you can really tell the difference if you buy organic olive oil.

Okay, wonderful chef, cook, sensational cook. Have a delicious time until you listen to me again. Bye for now.