Tom Aikens (left) shows Isaac the ropes
I’m no master chef. Ninety per cent of my meals are a variation of the meat-and-veg theme and, aside from a couple of years in my mid-teens – spent pot washing, peeling potatoes and spooning jus onto rich people’s plates – my kitchen experience is limited.
Nonetheless, when Lucozade Sport invited me to their ‘Marathon Cooking Class’, with top chef Tom Aikens, I knew I owed it to my future self – a regular dinner party host in my grand mansion with a beautiful wife, two angelic children and a needlessly quick car – to learn how to cook something other than roast chicken.
And a couple of hours, extensive professional help (falling just short of doing the whole thing himself) and just the one cremated pumpkin seed side dish, later I was the proud creator of two genuinely tasty pre- and post-marathon meals – that may just have convinced me of the need to branch out from my usual plain pasta and tinned fish combo.
Pre-marathon:
High Energy Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 4g spiced and cooked pumpkin seeds
- 1 tbsp crushed walnuts
- 3g sliced spring onions
- 2 handful of baby spinach leaf
- 4 – 6 florets of lightly cooked broccoli
- Handful of watercress leaf
- 4 heaped tbsps of cooked mixed red and white quinoa seeds
- 1 tbsp of walnut vinaigrette
- 2 x poached egg
- 230g sweet potato
- 16 cooked edamame beans
- 1kg of Broccoli
- 400ml water
- 150g mixed quinoa, red & white
- 2g salt
Sweet Potato Mash
- 1kg of peeled sweet potato diced in 1cm dice
- 40g honey
- 50ml lemon juice
- 20g walnut oil
- 8g Salt
- 200ml water
Walnut Dressing
- 50ml white wine vinegar
- 150ml sunflower oil
- 200ml walnut oil
- 100g finely chopped shallots
- 100g chopped toasted walnuts
- 3 cloves chopped garlic
- 2 x large pinch of salt
- 12 turns of milled pepper
Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
- 200g pumpkin seeds toasted taken from butternut squash or bought in seeds
- 1 fresh lime zest
- Large pinch of coarse sea salt
- 14 turns turns of milled pepper
- large pinch of smoked paprika
- small pinch of cayenne
- 1g ginger powder
- 1g mixed spice
- 20g soft brown sugar
- 20g melted butter
- 80g Acacia honey
Method
- Fill a large, shallow pan with water and bring to a simmer, adding some white wine vinegar (2-4 tbsp per litre of water and 12g salt per litre)
- Break the eggs into separate small bowls, and when the water is simmering, take a spoon and swirl the water round in the pan adding the eggs
- Poach for 3-4 minutes till the white is soft and the yolk is runny
- Once the eggs are cooked remove them from the pan and place into iced water. When reheating place into a pan of simmering water for two minutes, them on a small plate with some kitchen towel to dry them off
- Place the washed quinoa into a pan with the stock and bring to a slow simmer, cook for approx. 15-20 minutes till they are just tender and the husk has just separated from the grain, they must remain a little al dente, once cooked add 2g of salt – leave to cool
- Place all of the sweet potato puree ingredients into the pan at the same time, then cover with a lid and cook until soft on a medium heat for approx. 12-15 mins
- Remove the lid and reduce any liquid that is left in the pan, then leave approx. 100ml liquid in the base – then mash
- Add the broccoli into boiling water with a pinch of salt and cook, BE CAREFUL not to overcook as it just takes a minute or two to cook. Must be lightly cooked, then refresh in iced water
- For the edamame beans use the same seasoned water as the broccoli and cook just 200g at a time as you don’t need much for the salad, cook for just 1 minute then refresh in iced water and then leave for two mins to chill, then pick out of the shell
- For the walnut dressing place into pan with 150ml of sunflower oil, add the chopped shallots and garlic with the salt and pepper, place onto a low heat with a lid and cook for 3-4 minutes till just tender, add the vinegar, the chopped walnuts and remaining oils, take off the heat, and check the seasoning
- Once the pine nuts are toasted add them with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and then place onto an oven tray and bake at 170c for approx. 10 mins till they are caramelised
Construction of salad
- Place into the bowl, the cooked quinoa seeds, walnut pieces, spring onions, broccoli, edamame beans, and the salad leaves of watercress and spinach, then add the dressing and a little seasoning, mix well
- Warm the poached egg through in simmering water for a minute, then drain and season with salt and pepper
Place in a shallow bowl the sweet potato puree into the middle of the bowl then ½ the mixed salad around, place the poached egg into the middle and the remaining salad up and around the egg. Then place the sweet potato crisps around the edge of the salad along with the flaked almonds and pumpkin seeds.
Post-marathon:
Rocket Pesto Chicken With Piquillo Peppers And Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 2 peeled red onions cut in half and each half into 4
- 2 red peppers sliced
- 25ml balsamic creama
- 25ml olive oil
- 20g brown sugar
- 1 tsp of chopped thyme
- 1 tsp of chopped rosemary
- Large pinch salt
- 12 turns of milled black pepper
- 200g whole-wheat pasta
- 4 chicken breasts – 480g
Rocket pesto
- 100g rocket
- 50g pine nuts
- 100g grated Parmesan
- 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 15 turns of milled pepper
- 2g sea salt
- 200ml olive oil
- 2 Peeled sweet potato’s cut in half
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- Large pinch of coarse salt
- 1 tsp honey
Assembly
- 15g toasted crushed pine nuts
- 180g roast balsamic onions sliced
- 480g sliced cooked chicken
- 200g cooked hot pasta
- 15 ripped basil leaves
- 100g rocket
- 2 tbsp of pesto
- Large pinch of salt
Method
- Set oven to 160 degrees
- Make the rocket pesto by placing all the ingredients into the blender and puree for 30 seconds and then place in to a clean container and into the fridge
- Place ½ of this over the chicken to marinade for a day if possible, if not possible a few hours is fine, remove from the fridge an hour before cooking, cook these in a low oven at 160c covered in tin foil and cook for 12-14 minutes, leave to cool a little, then slice the chicken breasts into strips across the breast
- Place ½ the olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs de provence, thyme, rosemary, sugar, crema onto a tray lined with tin foil, place on the onions in neat rows and add the rest of the ingredients
- Bake in the oven at 160c and roast in the oven till tender, approx. 15-20 mins basting the onions whilst cooking. Once they are roasted then leave to cool
- Cook the pasta in 2.5 litres of boiling water with 12g salt added, cook till al dente at a simmer, once cooked, drain and toss in a little olive oil
- Set oven to 180 degrees and place the sweet potato into an oven dish add the olive oil, seasoning, honey, cook at 180c for 20 mins, turn over ½ way through and then once cooked, leave to cool
The assembly
- 2 roast red peppers cut into strips (roast these on an open gas flame till black all over, place into a bowl and cling film leave for 15 mins, then remove the outer skin under cold water)
- Combine all ingredients from the assembly ingredients list above
- Place the pasta into a big bowl when cooked, adding the roast onion, chicken, pinenuts, peppers, then the basil, add the pesto and seasoning and stir well, then serve up
