Alexandra Kalinowski gets lazy with Instagram sensation @hugdecook.
Me cooking? LOL. Good one.
I’ve just never loved being in the kitchen. Somehow I become impatient. Chopping up a million things is not my idea of a great time. Somehow the heat gets put on too high. Paprika or cayenne? Sorry what, those are different spices?
You’d think I’d be a pro at all this by now given how much I eat. But just the other day my flatmate asked me to guess what tea she’d made. I was listing off all sorts of aniseed and fennel when she said, “It’s vanilla. Just vanilla and peppermint.”
So it got me thinking. I should actually quit faffing about and take this seriously. By some weird twist of fate, the opportunity to cook with Hugo Davies (@hugdecook) appeared in my inbox. We were going to prepare a three-course meal using Very Lazy products and I was all aboard that lazy cooking express. Well heck, if he can do a day job and come home to prepare a wholesome feast, I could certainly do the same.*
So we packed ourselves into the beautiful basement kitchen at Food @ 52 Cookery School. We first began preparing the dessert so that it’d bake just in time: a blackberry and apple pie. It showcased how versatile the Lazy Food range could be. I mean, I’d never think to use ginger paste in a dessert but HOW MUCH SENSE does that make? Loads.
We then whipped up a Nicoise salad filled with chopped ginger, garlic paste, and more garlic paste. That was followed by honey & sriracha chicken, grilled pineapple and sesame broccoli noodles loaded with chopped chillies, garlic and all three pastes. And guess what? I kid you not, I’ve made this dish twice now. And the cooking class was only last week…
Because here’s what’s cool. These dishes aren’t that simple. They’re loaded with ingredients for marinades, sauces and dressings that could take agggges to prepare. Let me just puree that fresh ginger. Ooof hope the garlic I just chopped and got all over my fingers for 5 days doesn’t taint that fresh puree. But Very Lazy products cut down the prep time. Meaning complex three course meals can be accomplished in 30-40 minutes. And even though the desire to grab a kebab after a long day always hits hard, if you can just plop yourself in the kitchen for five minutes, you’ll find that you’re weirdly into cooking, and it helps cut down on how much you eat while knowing exactly what’s going into your body.
Since then, I’ve been in the kitchen every single night. And I’m expanding my repertoire. Come over?
*Except my ‘coming home’ means moving from the couch to the kitchen since I work remotely. Tough life.
You can find out more about Lazy Foods at verylazy.com. Food @ 52 Cookery School is located at 96 Central Street, EC1V 8AJ. For details go to foodat52.co.uk.
