In my free time I occasionally go into several schools to give cooking lessons, so I know first hand that even if good healthy options are available kids don’t always make the right choice. Sometimes they spend their dinner money on buying junk food out of the vending machines, and I personally wish we would follow the French example and ban vending machines in all schools. While the weather is still mild, I think a nutritious packed lunch is a way to make sure your child eats a decent meal. If your child’s a vegetarian and he or she takes a packed lunch to school.... here is a simple but different idea. If your child is not vegetarian then add a little cooked chicken or turkey; either way the end result will be definitely better for them than Turkey Twizzlers!

3 tomato & herb tortilla wraps
Half courgette cut in two
Half yellow pepper cut in two
Half red pepper cut in two
Half red onion peeled & cut in two
1 large flat mushroom peeled & cut in two
50 grams chestnut mushrooms, washed
1.5 tbsp olive oil
100 grams sun blushed tomatoes
3 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
75 grams aubergine
4 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon finely chopped chives

1. Preheat the oven 180 C( gas mark 4)
2. Cut the aubergine into similar sized strips as the courgette.
3. In a large frying pan heat half tbsp olive oil then lightly fry off all of the vegetables & the garlic *except the sun blushed tomatoes. Fry a few pieces at a time so they fry not stew.
4. The vegetables should be fried until they are starting to go lightly brown, on a medium high heat then transferred into a large roasting tray ( making sure the vegetables are as spread out as much as possible).
5. Rub in half tbsp olive oil & season with salt and pepper.
6. Roast the vegetables in the preheated oven on the middle shelf, turning occasionally, cooking until all the roasted vegetables are quite tender, then allow to cool.
7. Peel the cooked cloves of garlic and smash them into a paste on your clean chopping board, then stir them well into the mayonnaise & add the herbs.
8. Now cut all the roasted vegetables (on the garlicky board) into small bite size pieces and put them into a bowl together with sun blush tomatoes, adding the remaining olive oil if needed.
9, Spread a teaspoon of the garlic mayonnaise onto the wrap then place a third of the roasted vegetable mix at one end then fold 25 mm in from each side and roll a tight cylinder that is about 45 -50 mm thick. Put some of the garlic mayonnaise into a small container so it can be used for a dip.

Chef Tips
If you make a packed lunch for your child during the warmer months, then find out whether the school offers refrigeration space to safely store it If not a cheap way to help keep the food items good & cold is to buy the single portions of juice drinks then freeze them the night before. Just make sure you put the drink carton into a plastic bag so your sandwiches stay dry.

Apologies
If you follow my weekly recipe column in the Birmingham Sunday Mercury, you will know there has been 4-5 Sundays this year when my column has not appeared. This is not down to my busy schedule but down to advertising revenues. You see the Sunday Mercury is owned by the Mirror Trinity Group (the same group owns the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and hundreds of other regional papers thought-out the UK.

Mirror Trinity has raised the advertising revenue targets for the Mercury this year. So when last minute advertising opportunities come along my column gets bumped. Now even though the paper allow me other opportunities to write food based stories, I would love for some of my friends and fans here to let the Mercury know that my column has a good following and they should stop messing it around.

Help
Though I’m embarrassed to ask…If anyone feels able to help me and show the paper my cooking and recipes are well supported and followed by lots of people then please email me. My email address is chefkevin1@hotmail.com

Drop me a line or two and I will mail you back with the address/email of the paper.

Hi all.......had a great relaxing break.......now back and hard at work.Lots of interesting things happening in my life right now and hope I will be able to explain more soon.

On the subject of Cooking Demonstrations, the British Culinary Federation has invited me to do several hour cooking demonstrations during August Bank Holiday at the Town & County Show which is held at Stoneleigh. During the three days of the show many top midland chefs will be performing in the cookery theater.

I will be posting a new recipe in the next24 hours.

I'm taking a week's holiday from Wednesday-Wednesday in the sun, see you all when I get back.
Regards
Kevin

In the last few years fresh cod has become more expensive than salmon. One………because of the scarcity of the fish in the wild and the other has been the lowering of the price of Salmon due to increased farming.

The world’s first truly sustainable white fish, organic cod is now being farmed in the Shetland Islands, and recently it has won one of the Scottish food industry’s top awards.“No Catch” Organic Cod, produced by Johnson Seafarms at Vidlin in the north of the islands, has taken the supreme prize in the 2006 Scottish Food and Drink Excellence Awards.

Johnson Seafarms have worked with the Organic Food Federation and the RSPCA on developing organic standards for farmed cod.The cod are reared to the highest standards of welfare leaving the fish free to express their natural behaviour.

The company only uses as brood stock first generation wild cod native to Shetland thereby avoiding genetic manipulation. The Organic Cod is being raised to maturity over a 2 to 3 year cycle.A combination of low stocking densities, pens situated in strong current flows and feed from sustainable sources produces a fish with a milky white flesh, flaky texture and mild sweet taste.

The cod has already won the approval of some top chefs and is now being sold in leading restaurants in the UK and the USA. Another interesting point about farmed cod is that it hasn’t sat in the hold of a fishing boat for several days waiting to get back into port, so it should be fresher.A spokesman for Johnson Sea farms said: “Our fish meet the consumer’s insatiable love of cod but in a way which avoids further depletion of the world’s rapidly diminishing wild stocks.”

I haven’t personally tried this farmed cod yet so I will reserve my judgement until then. I do hope this farmed cod can truly overcomes the problems associated with farmed salmon such as texture (due to lack of space) and flavour. I hope to later this year to sample some cod for myself so watch this space.

I mentioned some months ago how I intended to revisit old traditional British recipes from time to time. I have fond childhood memories of Eccles cakes and yet these little buttery gems seem out of fashion at the moment? Eccles Cakes originated from the town of Eccles in Lancashire, at least 235 years ago maybe longer. Like many sweet pastries & cake recipes they were created for a religious festival and I guess like other food items they became too popular to be made just once a year. Eccles cakes are very easy to make, and are a deliciously different dessert idea for any time of the year. They go particularly well with custard, or clotted cream, I’m even considering serving Eccles cakes in place of mince pies at Christmas!

250 grams Puff Pastry
60 grams currents
25 grams butter
25 grams golden granulated cane sugar
Pinch cinnamon
20 grams white granulated sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1 egg white
*Splash of brandy (optional)
568 ml (1 pint) of custard
1 vanilla pod

Usually frozen puff pastry comes in 500gram blocks so cut one in half with a sharp knife and freeze the rest.

1. Mix the currents, orange zest, golden sugar, butter and cinnamon in a bowl.
2. *Hold your thumb over the top of a bottle of brandy and add a very small splash ( the brandy will help get to mingle the flavours).
3. Preheat your oven 200 C gas mark 6
4. Cut the puff pastry into 4 equal squares then on a lightly floured surface roll each square out until they are slightly larger than 6 inches by 6 inches.
5. Find a suitable saucer or plate that measures 6 inches across to cut around and turn your squares into circles.
6. When you have 4 circles divide your filling between them, making sure the filling is in the centre.
7. Brush the edges of each pastry circle with cold water.
8. Now gather the edges together to create a “beggers purse”, then trim the excess with a pair of sharp kitchen shears or scissors.
9. Turn each Eccles cake over and on a lightly floured surface roll out each cake just enough so you can see the currents through the pastry and keeping the cakes circular.
10. Brush the cakes with egg white then sprinkle lightly with the white sugar.
11. Use a small sharp knife and make 2-3 small cuts in each cake, then transfer them to a baking tray that is lined with buttered baking parchment.
12. Rest the cakes in the fridge for 20 minutes then bake for 25 minutes until they are golden and crispy.
To serve Make 1 pint of custard then enrich it with the seeds from 1 vanilla pod and a splash of cream.
Chef’s tip
Instead of throwing the vanilla pod away after removing the seeds put into a jar with sugar (granulated or castor) and use in recipes that call for vanilla.