insideKENT Magazine Issue 100 - August 2020 | Page 42

FOOD+DRINK
SIDESTEP THE SUPERMARKETS AND MOVE OVER HELLO FRESH,
THERE IS A NEW LOCAL BOX IN TOWN:
YES CHEF!
WITH THE COUNTY ON LOCKDOWN AND LOOKING FOR WAYS TO NOT ONLY MAINTAIN AN INCOME,
BUT ALSO TO KEEP US KENT-BASED FOODIES WELL FED, THE CHEQUERS IN AYLESFORD, ALONGSIDE
ITS SISTER RESTAURANT THE HENGIST, HAVE LAUNCHED BRAND NEW, BESPOKE RECIPE INGREDIENTS
BOXES, PACKED FULL OF LOCALLY SOURCED INGREDIENTS AND DELIVERED TO YOUR DOORSTEP FOR
YOU TO COOK AT HOME! SAMANTHA READY TAKES ON THE RECIPE CHALLENGE...
It’s fair to say that eating has formed a vast percentage
of my lockdown life, (well to be totally honest eating
took up most of my life pre-Covid too…) but when
the emphasis is on your home culinary creations,
rather than sampling the incredible dishes on offer
in Kent’s booming gastronomic scene, it's all too
easy to lose momentum and lack inspiration… and
that is where Yes Chef! came to the rescue!
The concept is refreshingly easy, boxes are available
to feed 2 or 4 people and provide four meals a week.
There are a range of different recipes available which
can be selected from ‘meat’, ‘fish’ or ‘plant-based’
categories; as well as handy ‘lazy day’ options, which
include dishes like home-made pies or lasagne, for
a whack-in-the-oven-and-indulge kitchen rest day.
The excitement was palpable, particularly from Mr
Ready who hovered like a half-starved lockdown
prisoner, as the well-packaged, bursting with fresh
produce box arrived on the doorstep.
Opening the box revealed pre-measured ingredients,
all handily labelled; full colour step by step recipe
cards; and a tempting chicken pie which can also
be popped in the freezer should you wish to save for
a later day.
To mix things up we’d opted to try a recipe from
each of the categories; starting our day one with the
plant-based Eqyptian aubergine with spicy red pepper
quinoa. Ranked easy with a prep time of 20 mins
and a cook time of 30 mins we were sat alfresco
tucking into a never made before, yet totally tasty
dish, with palette hits of dukkah, cumin, chilli,
coriander, garlic, and Piquillo pepper, in under an
hour - happy days!
Day two we went traditional with ground beef
polpette with rich tomato tagliatelle, again ranked
easy and prepped and cooked in less than an hour.
The simple Italian meatballs with hints of sage were
so successful we were fighting off the kids’ advances
for extra helpings.
Pumped with kitchen inspiration and fuelled with
previous successes Mr Ready took over the kitchen
on day three, ready to rank up the flavour with our
fish dish, the Thai red fish curry with jasmine rice.
Happily chopping, stirring and demanding sous chef
support; amongst the heady aromas of coconut,
sesame oil and lime; to prepare a packed-with-flavour
dinner again in less than an hour!
With plans to expand the recipe collection to 100+
dishes, and with weekly specials and baking boxes
for the kids in the pipeline too, Yes Chef! promises
to be a safe and delicious home-cooking experience,
with the added bonus of supporting local too!
You won’t be disappointed!
www.yeschefboxes.com
yeschefboxes
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