Hey friends! 😋 Can you even believe we’ll be heading into March next week!? Where has this month gone! It seems as though January drained the livin’ life outta everyone, but February has got us feeling well and truly back into the swing of things. 2018 baby! 😅 We’ve had yet another exciting and busy week in the kitchen and here we are once again to fill you in on all the Avenue gossip.

Monday meant one thing at the Avenue… Macarons baby! The weather was a little grey on Monday which always puts a dampner on things 😟 – but what better way to bring some colour back into our lives than pink Macarons! We had the lovely young Mia in for her 1:1 private lesson with our one and only, Richard (or as he likes to call himself Drahcir – his name backwards 🙊). Between them they made enough Macarons to feed a whole ocean of hungry mouths – us! Seriously, I think they may have gone a little overboard…but that’s Rich for ya! Not only did they whip up some delightfully pink and ever so perfect macarons, they also made choccy eclairs and the lightest Madeleines we’ve ever tasted! Great work guys – as always!

 

With Diana hoping to make it back from the slopes just in time for Tuesday evenings Peruvian antics, Rich was holding it down in the kitchen once again. Zoe was back in for a regular private class and like always, they cooked up a storm. Starting with her favourite – chocco brownies! We weren’t complaining 😉 the luxurious smell of chocolatey goodness seeped its way through the Avenue. Us office lot were lulled slowly into the kitchen where Zoe was whippin’ up something new for lunch – Gnudi. These tasty little Italian ricotta balls were perfectly pan-fried and smothered in salty Parmesan. Italian food isn’t really Italian without a grating of Parmesan, is it… 💁🏼 They also managed to cook up some delicious lookin’ Gnocci, we were spoilt for choice!

 

We tucked into our sensationally cooked lunch and followed this with yet even MORE homemade Madeleine’s! After polishing off an absolute truckload we had to begin prepping for the evening’s class. With Diana back just in time, we were ready to kick-start a boozy and bloomin’ delicious evenings Peruvian Cooking Class! Diana and Rich held a wonderful demonstration displaying how to make 2 perfect Peruvian savoury dishes and a creamy sweet dish. The students then took the wheel and whipped up their gorgeous looking dishes! The night drew to a close and happy, full-up and slightly tipsy, students left the kitchen with their new found Peruvian cooking skills!

Wednesday was another busy day at the Avenue! We had our long-awaited Clean Eats class running throughout the day taught by the lovely Eloise – followed by Vodafones Bloggers Event!
Eloise’s classes are delicious and designed for those wanting to cook with healthy vegan ingredients. The menu? Balsamic-Roasted Asparagus on a Bed of Broad Beans & Pistachio’s with Umeboshi Pickled Shallots and Microgreens followed by Roasted Sweet Peppers & Okra with Tricolour Quinoa, Creamed Spinach and a Basil Oil Drizzle…that was a mouthful – and you haven’t even tried the food yet! It was a lovely class with happy, relaxed and laid back students enjoying their gorgeous lunch! There are still some spots on our next Clean Eats class so don’t forget to check it out! The menu’s just get better and better.
As the day became night we were all getting geared up to throw Vodafone’s Bloggers a night to remember – Spanish Tapas style. Another fab evening with happy, hungry faces! They enjoyed an evening of bottomless booze, fun and most importantly – tapas! Deee-licious.

Thursday came around a little quicker than expected so it was out with the Spanish and in with the Indian. Yeah baby! Our lunchtime Indian Street Food Class kicked off with a heat wave. Rich started the day with an informative demonstration, showing the students how to perfectly cook Tandoori Chicken amongst other things. Well, we must say, the proof really is in the pudding – lunch was a total success! We had a variety of Spicy Lamb Kebabs with Mint Raita, Crunchy Samosas with Imlee and delicious Vegetable Pakora. The aromas began to transport us all the way to the streets of India…

…but we snapped back to reality when we realised we’d be heading all the way to Italy soon for our infamous Pasta Class. We may have over-used the word busy, but we were BUSY. By 7pm Butternut Squash and Thyme Ravioli were on the tips of everyone’s lips…it was dough central in the kitchen. Just over an hour in and all the students began to gather around our wonderful dining table and tucked into their delicious homemade ravioli dishes!

😍Here we are again – Friday! This week has been an absolute blast and we seem to have ventured into every foodie culture we possibly could have – picking up some Peruvian, Indian, Italian and French cooking tips along the way. Today we are hosting a Sushi Demo for the lovely people of Bishopsgate WeWork – you lucky lot. Rich and Diana will be holding it down in central London, Sophie has a meeting with a corporate at our new city location, and us office girls will just have to sit here dreaming of sushi! There really isn’t any Sushi just as delicious as Rich’s! Don’t forget we’ve got our popular Kids Weekend Class where they will be learning DimSum and our Sunday Brunch this Sunday! The fun NEVER stops…

Don’t forget to check out our winter tummy-warming Tomato Morocan Soup Recipe! We PROMISE it’s a winner 😊

We’ll catch up next week, but for now, I’ll leave you guys with this to dribble over…

 

The Avenue x