I recently had a wonderful experience that involved gorgeous, fresh ingredients, new ideas, two great chefs, sparkling wine, delicious food and Willow Creek Extra Virgin Olive Oil – of course! I had the good fortune of attending a cooking class on the 1st Thursday of the month at the Superyacht training academy at the Waterfront – hosted by Stir Crazy Cooking School.

Willow Creek is in collaboration with Stir Crazy Cooking school – where various cooking courses and demos are held. Willow Creek is one of the choice quality ingredients selected by the training academy to use in all their recipes. We love the fresh ideas the academy brings to the TABLE and look forward to our next adventure.

Stir Crazy hosted a demo evening that involved the chef demonstrating how to make a 3-course meal. What I really loved about the evening was the fact that it was informal. No sitting on a chair, viewing from a distance and listening to a speaker about how to cook food. No – it was an intimate interaction between chef and guests around the cooking station. We could watch his hands and ask questions as he prepared the food, while sipping glasses of bubbly.

What really got me excited and motivated during the course of the evening, was the simplicity of preparing these meals. Every ingredient was carefully selected – yet easy to find in most stores. The simplicity of the recipes also made it believable that I can actually go home and prepare these meals myself and still WOW my guests. And the bonus – I walked away with many tips from the chef!

Our STARTER meal was an old favourite – REVIVED with an infusion twist. Grape and Goats Cheese Bruschetta! Instead of using traditional cherry tomatoes, the chef roasted grapes in the oven – drizzled with BAZIL flavoured Willow Creek Olive Oil. The combination would never have crossed my mind – but what a scrumptious surprise! It was a flavour burst when I popped the first bruschetta in my mouth!

We moved on to the main course – where I had my first introduction to POKE BOWLS. Don’t know what Poke Bowls are? A Poke Bowl is typically made up of raw, marinated fish like tuna or salmon – cubed or sliced and packed on sticky rice and served with pickles. There are so many variants and ideas and raw veggies can also be added. What I loved about this dish, was the fact that everything was uncooked and in its natural form – a HEALTH BOMB that tasted scrumptious! The chef used beautiful Norweigan salmon that was marinated in salt, gin, beetroot and LEMON flavoured WILLOW CREEK olive oil!

We were shown how to sharpen knives and even received some tips on slicing veggies fine and making it pretty before adding it to your bowl.

Quite full and satisfied from the starter and main – I was delighted with the lightness of our dessert cupcakes. The cupcakes were made with BLOOD ORANGE flavoured Willow Creek olive oil and were yummy – I had mine without cream.  So quick and easy – a handy recipe to have around for those un-announced guests!

Our olive oils and olives were on display for the guests to taste and enjoy while I shared some olive oil facts with everyone and bragged about Willow Creek.

Thank you Stir Crazy for a wonderful experience. Watch both our sites and social media for more information on demos, cooking courses, recipes and olive oil news!

By: Alina van Dyk

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