Top Chef Amateur Junior Competition
Our kind jury of grown-up chefs selected 8 of the best proposals, and the selected aspiring chefs competed at our cooking studio on Friday 14th of April.
It was gonna be a lot of competitive fun in the kitchen and we were overwhelmed by their focus and the quality of food they have produced.
We wanted to choose 2 finalists to compete at the Grand Final but the jurys shortlisted 4 of them, yes they were that good!!!
Stay tuned to see who will be Dubai's next Best Junior Amateur Chef! The Battle was tough as they had to make a Lemon Meringue Pie and Create a Savoury Dish with Chicken & Vegetables. They never stopped to impress us but our Winner started very nervous but delivered 2 great dishes!
Thank you to all our sponsors that made this competition happens and all the kids who have shown us courage, creativity and great cooking!
Healthy Tips for the holidays!
Focus on a healthy balance of food, activity, and fun. Follow these few simple tips so you can stay healthy through the holiday season.
-
- Be realistic and don’t try to lose weight during the holidays, just try to maintain your current weight.
- Try to still make time for exercise. Exercise helps relieve holiday stress. Moderate exercise of 10- or 15-minute brisk walks twice a day.
- Don’t skip meals. Before going out, have a light snack like raw vegetables or a piece of fruit to cut your appetite. You will be less tempted to over-indulge at a party.
- At buffets, choose your favorite foods and skip your least favorite. Include salads or vegetables and fruits to keep your plate balanced.
- Eat until you are satisfied, not over stuffed. If you want to have dessert, eat small portions.
- Be careful with sugary and alcoholic beverages. Alcohol can make you over eat and can pack on the calories; non-alcoholic beverages can be full of calories and sugar, choose ones that are low in sugar like carbonated water.
- If you overeat at one meal like lunch go light on the next like dinner. Don't worry if you over eat, you will never gain weight from overeating just one plate of fries.
- Practice healthy holiday cooking at home. Preparing favorite dishes lower in fat and calories will help promote healthy holiday eating. Incorporate some of these simple cooking tips in your holiday recipes to make them healthier.
- Gravy: Awesome tip! Refrigerate the gravy to harden fat. Remove the fat from the top layer. This will save a lot of saturated fat and calories.
- Stuffing: Use a little less bread and add more onions, garlic, celery, and vegetables. Add fruits such as cranberries or apples. Moisten or flavor with low fat low sodium chicken or vegetable broth and applesauce.
- Turkey: Enjoy delicious, roasted turkey breast without the skin to save saturated fat and cholesterol.
- Mashed Potato: Use low fat milk, homemade chicken broth, garlic or garlic powder, and parmesan cheese instead of whole milk and butter.
- Desserts: Replace heavy cooking cream with evaporated low milk in cheesecakes. Top cakes with fresh fruit, fruit sauce, or a sprinkle of caster sugar instead of frosting.
- On your New Year's Resolutions, pamper yourself with a Healthy & Fabulous class at Top Chef!
How To Wow Santa - by Nadira
Come on we've been waiting for him for a year... Are we really supposed to impress the old man with the same old red and green table setting combo?... As we say where I come from... Mais Non! Non. Let's amaze the white beard man with our Nadiresque table setting... Who knows, we may be extra spoiled for that... And having diner at this table is already a treat in itself!
Guess what, Nadira teamed up with Nadia, the owner of The Den to create this dreamy, joyful, arty Christmas table full of fantasy.
Those of you who know the two characters are getting excited, and those who don't will get excited in a minute. Just have a look!
A chic dark tablecloth to set a dramatic background, The Den plates, tree decorations in natural colours and materials spread out across the table, deer Rudolf as a table place card, a The Den deer laid in the middle of the scene as a centerpiece... A bit of gold, and you are done. Did anyone cook the turkey whilst our artists where setting this picture-perfect table?
Come on Santa, look at the super special table setting we've done for you... Would you have anything special for us in your sack by any chance?
Dubai Design Week is Here
There are a couple of very special moments in the year that get us really excited. Dubai Design Week has to be one of those!
Have you visited our studio yet? If so, you already know how much of a gourmet design lover we are… If you haven’t, then we have concocted two very special events that will give you the prefect reason to come and visit us!
As a start, we thought we would allow all our fellow gourmet and design enthusiasts to enjoy our signature Culinary Art class so all of you can fine-tune your cooking skills. On Wednesday October 26, our chefs will teach you how to master professional tricks and delicate techniques while cooking a sophisticated three-course menu at a very – very special price: 150AED!
What’s more, we got super inspired by the design vibe and we’ve designed a really special event open to everyone on Friday, October 28, for free!
Now we are torn between telling you all of it or letting you discover the surprise… Nadira decided to pay a tribute to Dubai from her kitchen – and we are not talking about Dubai’s gourmet specialties (Oh no… Too obvious for us J) . No, we are talking design here!... Nadira simply decided to replicate the making of our wonderful city of Dubai, in her kitchen…Think sand, stone, cement, construction workers buzzing everywhere, hard hats, cement mixers and skyscrapers... the full monty... We will take you through a journey of culinary discoveries.
From the raw material, to the transformation, to the final master piece. Fascinating, mouthwatering and delicious!
Incredible food design to be admired and tasted together on-site. A one-off experience into the fascinating world of culinary design, surrounded by music and art in the vibrant atmosphere of the cooking studio.
Let’s be honest, there is so much fun and excitement involved in the preparation currently at the studio that we cannot wait to welcome you.
See you on Wednesday 26th (limited seats, please book as soon as possible), and on Friday 28th, from 2 pm to 9 pm. Come whenever you like, be it for 10 minutes or 2 hours and bring your friends and family along for a unique moment of pure joy, food design and gourmet fun!
Ready-pack-and-go! 6 healthy lunch boxes your kids will love
Back to School (Yay!) – Daily lunch box challenge (Oh no!)
Summer has been great, we had the family time we were longing for, and the lighter, healthier summer food we naturally get back to when on holiday. We felt relaxed, happy and energized…
Well, how about keeping up with the healthy food habits? We all do have a sense of sensible nutrition’s basic do’s and don’ts (do: proteins + calcium + fresh fruit and veggies + carbs. Don’t: over use processed food, salt and sugar. Right…), the thing is that all that processed food with its funky, colorful, ready-packed portions does often look like a Oh-so-much easier option when it comes to packing the kids lunch boxes!Believe it or not. On the long run, it’s not. Balanced lunches-on-the-go can be made as easy. Promised! Plus, they are much funnier and immensely more rewarding, today and later. Really small changes in your lunch box packing routine can help you raise a healthier eater.
Hold on, it’s not about spending the night working in the kitchen on a piece of gastronomy for toddler… No. We love gastronomy, we love toddlers. But, just… no. Let’s be down-to-earth moms. It is just about making sensible choices at the supermarket (my personal rule: if I can’t spell what’s written on the label, I probably don’t want my kids to eat it), having a bit of family fun in the kitchen every now and then, and making sure my kids will actually eat their lunch and not their little friends’ one! …
We’ve been around our kitchen studio and trusted friends circle and asked them about their all times lunchbox favorites…
We’d love to know yours. Please share your own tips and recipes in the comments below!
- Caro’s wraps on whole-grain tortillas
Add turkey ham, lettuce and cream cheese,
Or crispy veggies and cream cheese,
Or avocado and sesame
Or chicken, apple slices and shredded cheese
Or hummus and cucumber
roll and go!
- Geny’s heart and stars shaped, whole grain bread sandwiches
What do you think a princess’s tuna/cheese sandwich looks like?
It looks lovely of course, in a heart shape! add a sprinkle of sesame seeds so it tastes even better.
…And how about this egg sandwich in a star shaped brown bread?
- Iris’s Mini muffins
Zucchini and cheese, or turkey ham and cheese, or tuna and olives…
Bake them in cupcakes baking pans so they look cute and yummy!
- Vero’s mice egg/radishes
A winner. Boiled eggs + radishes turned into pretty mice.
Cut the boiled egg into two halves. Use slices of radish for the ears, chives for the eyes and tail. All it takes is 2 seconds and many smiles. Pack them on a leaf of salad, with a piece of emmental. Bim. You’ve just been elected the school’s best mum ever.
- Laura’s Apple sandwiches
A fruit option … spread peanut butter between two slices of apple. Try to not eat it. Pack it in your kid’s box and keep the left overs for your own lunch!
- Our all-time favorite: The French pancake – la crepe!
Fill it with anything sweet or savory: melted cheese and scrambled eggs / tomato and mozzarella / honey / jam or just a bit of sugar. Pack some greens and fruits on the side. They can be prepared ahead and are an all time winner!
Breakfast Class at Top Chef
Learn how to stir, blend and whisk while enjoying the enticing aromas of a Cafe de Olla or mouthwatering French Toast that you have always dreamed off making.
Now be honest, has a morning meeting or a coffee with your friends ever sounded more appealing?
Hurry, check our schedule now to see when our next class will be!
Top Chef Kids Camp
Running from Sunday to Thursday from 9am to 1pm, these half day classes will cover basic cooking skills under the guidance of Top Chef’s professional team such as how to use age-appropriate kitchen equipment through to ensuring your kitchen’s always clean. Aside from cooking, Lebanese/Korean artist Rania Daou from mylittlepainter will be leading fun arts and crafts classes and they’ll be able to work off that energy with an extra 1h activity that will be different everyday.
New Chefs at Top Chef
Chef Cristina Mennah has joined Top Chef Team with International Culinary Experience in France, Thailand, USA & Mexico. She teaches at Top Chef every Thursday and Saturday. She will take you on a journey to South America and Thailand through her mouth-watering menus every month and she will also lead our Mini Chefs and Vegetarian classes.
You will discover new culinary horizons whilst learning new cooking techniques. Have a look at our schedule to see the next available class.
Smoked Duck Salad
For 5 persons
Ingredients:
2 smoked duck breasts
5 figs
50g of butter
100g of balsamic vinegar
20g of sugar
1 spoon of mustard
2 spoons of pomegranate molasses
Olive oil FM
1 bunch of spring onions
250g of rucola leaves
15 sundried tomatoes
100g of Parmesan cheese
50g of nuts mix
Preparation:
Slice thinly the spring onions.
Shave the Parmesan cheese.
Cut in half the sundried tomatoes.
Cut the figs in quarters.
Slice thinly the smoked duck.
Baking:
Roast the figs with some butter for 2 minutes, and then add the sugar and the balsamic vinegar boil for 30 seconds.
Reserve the balsamic vinegar in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, mustard, pomegranate molasses and add some olive oil for the dressing.
Dress the figs on a plate on top add the smoked duck then decorate with the rucola seasoned, the Parmesan, the spring onions and the sundried tomatoes.
Serve it right away.
The Famous French Crêpes
For 5 persons
Ingredients:
60g of flour
1 egg
125g of milk
15g of caster sugar
10g of butter
1 small pinch of salt
1 pod of vanilla
Preparation:
Open and grated the vanilla seeds.
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
In a bowl, mix the flour and the sugar then add the egg and the milk. Mix it well with a whisk.
Add the melted butter and mix it again.
Let it cool down in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Baking:
Pan the crepes in a pan with some peanut/canola oil.
Make thin crepes, colour them on both side but not too much and serve it right away, or keep them in the fridge.
You can fill them with some jam, nutella or lemon juice & sugar, etc…