Nine of the best online cooking classes to join

Posted on by Patrick

Food and laughter are popular ingredients at Platinum Skies retirement living locations and enhances retirement. With fantastic bistro facilities and communal dining that allows homeowners to share their passions and interests.

Our Lifestyle Managers also organise regular cookery classes with top chef’s that are always very popular.

In need of some dinner inspiration? Follow these foodies for tips and know-how.

While we’re in lockdown there are quite a few chefs, food writers and culinary enthusiasts that are hosting video cookery tutorials to help us all up our game in the kitchen.

It’s basically free, online culinary school. Here are just a few to follow…

  1. Ravneet Gill @ravneeteats

Pastry chef and cookbook author Ravneet Gill has amazing skills when it comes to sweets (just check out her debut recipe collection, The Pastry Chef’s Guide). She’s been teaching us how to make perfect cookies that are gooey in the middle, but crisp on the outside – and has very firm rules about resting batter overnight, however tempted you are to just eat it raw from the bowl.

  1. Claire Thomson @5oclockapron
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Simple, quick, a good lunch for all the family … as you can see I helped a bit, but Dot pretty much made this for her family today. 200g Broccoli or Cauliflower, boiled until tender and drained 1 large white onion, diced and fried in olive oil with x2 cloves garlic until soft 4 eggs Herbs, any really, small bunch 120g flour (we used 90g pasta flour and 30g buckwheat for extra flavour) 180g grated cheese, any 1 1/2tsp baking powder 1 small red onion, finely sliced Nuts or seeds, any and about a small handful 1tsp ground cumin 1tsp ground turmeric Salt and pepper FOLLOW THE VIDEO FOR METHOD. This cake cooked at 180C for 35 – 40mins #the5oclockapron #lockdownlunch #cookingwithkids

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Chef and Bristol-based mum of three Claire Thomson has been doing daily recipes with her kids (so you have no excuses) that you can follow along with. The dishes are mainly from her cookbooks, New Kitchen Basics and The Art Of The Larder, which champion store cupboard essentials and putting your pantry to work. Plus, Thomson is always making swaps, so if you’ve run out of flour, she’ll likely offer a reliable alternative to sub in.

  1. Livvy Potts @ahalfbakedidea

Food writer and chef Livvy Potts has been doing daily #isolationbakes – all the recipes are in her Insta story highlights. She often shares what she does with her leftovers too. Her bacon-stuffed hot cross buns were particularly enviable.

  1. Chetna Makan @chetnamakan

Whether you’re in need of a chickpea curry recipe that’ll keep your whole lockdown household happy, a decadent chocolate brownie tiramisu, or a new veggie option, check out Chetna Makan’s YouTube channel Food with Chetna. She’s been posting easy recipes practically every day.

  1. Honey & Co. @honeyandco
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It’s time for another cookalong! This is a tuna dip from our book #honeyandcoathome We usually make it when people come over or for an easy sofa dinner. You whiz all the ingredients together and then serve on a platter with whatever veg you have for dipping. Follow the recipe in our stories… Tonight we have an imaginary dinner party. Who shall we invite? Here are the ingredients for the recipe…. For the dipping sauce: 1 tin tuna in oil (160g) drained 1 tsp wholegrain mustard 1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard 2 heaped tbsp mayonnaise 2 tbsp yogurt 1 tsp lemon juice 1 tbsp vinegar Whatever veg you have for dipping e.g. Potatoes Tenderstem broccoli Cauliflower leaves Carrot sticks Celery We usually use boiled eggs too but couldn’t spare any today #honeyandcoathome

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Even with their restaurants closed, Honey & Co owners, Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich are still feeding us. They have taken to Instagram, sharing cookie ideas, and how to eke three meals out of a chicken. Plus, videos of them dancing, which is always brilliant.

  1. Oliver Tarrant @otcooks_eats
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Korean. Fried. Chicken. // I’ve been informed by my best mate that this would be his desert island main meal, which I think is maybe the highest praise possible. This is one of my all time favourite things to make. It’s just got everything. The chicken thighs are burned in a spiced buttermilk to make them go extra tender, then put through a simple dredge of seasoned flour. Cooked until dark brown and crispy, then tossed in one of the best sauces ever. Gochujang, rice vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, sriracha, soy and mirin make for the most delicious korean chilli sauce – sweet, pretty spicy, tangy, salty, incredible. Topped with the obligatory OT black and white sesame seeds, spring onion, chilli and coriander. Unreal. Made this thanks to the incredible mind games of @elljpearce and @dougscott11 – we are all but pawns in their game of chess… ? // #Chicken #FriedChicken #KoreanFriedChicken #KFC #Korean #Gochujang #Chilli #Spicy #Buttermilk #Asian #AsianFood #Cooking #HomeCooking #Homemade #FamilyFood #Dinner #FoodBlog #FoodBlogger #InstaFood #InstaFoodie #StudentFood #StudentCooking #SheffieldIsSuper

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Recent university graduate Oliver Tarrant loves his food, and shares his culinary adventures via Instagram. Expect everything from sushi and poached pears, to Korean fried chicken and classic crumbles.

  1. Massimo Bottura @massimobottura

Endlessly energetic, legendary Italian chef Massimo Bottura (he’s got three Michelin stars for Osteria Francescana) is sharing his #KitchenQuarantine escapades on IGTV. Pick up knife skills, ask him questions live, and discover his pizza recipe – which is undoubtedly excellent.

  1. Rosetta Costantino @rosettacostantino
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As I promised here is another pasta shape, maybe more of an unusual technique than a shape, that I learned in the Arbëresh town of Firmo, Calabria. It is shaped just with your hands from beginning to end, no rolling pins, no knives. It starts out with a round of pasta dough that is cut in the middle to look like a doughnut and from here it is stretched until it looks like fettucine or lagani as we would call them in my town. This is typically served with legumes, either chickpeas or poverelli beans and a simple sauce that consists of olive oil, garlic and pepe rosso (sweet pepper powder). You can add a bit of tomato to this sauce as it is in my cookbook under Lagani e ceci recipe if you like a bit more of a sauce color. This is my third time making this pasta by hand, the previous times we made it during a cooking class in my Calabria culinary immersion tour. Give it a try, it is not difficult. As I mentioned in the videos I have seen this technique used in the making of Maccheroni alla Mugnaia or Molinara but I think they are rounder and not flattened like fettucine and kept as a long rope. Interesting technique that is used in other regions of Italy but in Calabria I have only found this pasta in Arbëresh towns located inthe Pollino area of Calabria.

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For further Italian inspiration, tune in to culinary instructor Rosetta Constantino’s site. The author of My Calabria and Southern Italian Desserts, she’ll have you whipping up fresh, homemade pasta in no time.

  1. Isa Guha @isaguha

Former England cricketer and sports commentator Isa Guha is cooking recipes from her mum Roma’s cookbook, to raise funds for Rennie Grove Hospice Care and The Kindness Factory. Get involved and try out some traditional Bengali dishes.