Cooking at Jamie Oliver's Place

Last month, a group of us took a cooking class at Jamie Oliver's Recipease cookery shop.

Jamie Oliver has developed an interesting concept--an informal food shop/ cafe/ cooking school with all sorts of items to interest everyone from the casual cook to serious foodies.

The selection of breads,

muffins,

and focaccia were so tempting, either for take-out or for dining in with friends over a cup of tea or coffee.

This shop is located in Clapham Junction, but how handy it would be to live nearby and have access to all the take-out meals his team has prepared for your convenience.

Plenty of his Dream Team trio of sauces: wholegrain mustard, "real" tomato ketchup, and "marvellous" mayo.

Of course, there was a huge selection of his cookbooks for those hoping to attempt some cooking on their own.

Our group assembled in their open kitchens to take on our lessons for the day: how to make Mexican street food. Imagine me, a gal from Texas, taking Mexican food classes in London!

The fresh ingredients were prepped in advance and we started out with our first project: fish ceviche.

Ingredients included squid, scallops, white fish and prawns

and plenty of fresh herbs.

Jen was our teacher for the day, walking us through every step,

and before we knew it we had a batch of fish ceviche, ready to be enjoyed.

We rounded out the meal with the other foods we made--gorditas (little corn tortillas,) served with the chipotle sauce we prepared, salsa verde, and soft chicken tacos cooked in a sticky chipotle chili sauce.

Yum! The class was informative, the lunch delicious and the camaraderie of friends as we laughed our way through the experience was priceless. Perfect way to spend a frigid January morning!

Here's where you can find more about Recipease, if you please.