Category: cooking class

three minutes at home to change into jeans and tennis shoes and I forgot my camera!! Class last night was an odd mix of flavors and colors. It wasn’t my favorite menu but my group cooked the takeaway for me, an apple chutney on cheese pate.

• Spicy Apple Chutney Cheese Pate (no liver, just a cheese loaf flavored with sherry-the chutney would be amazing on meat.)
• Bourbon Marinated Pork Tenderloin -the sauce a smoothly sweet reduction and tasty blank canvas tenderloin.
• Fruited Curry Rice Bake – unsure about this one. I should have sampled it further.
• Broccoli with mushroom cheese sauce – tasty
• Veggie Cheese Bread – I am neutral on this.
• Almost Pecan Pie Bar Cookies – buttery and sweet.

I will take time soon to input the recipes for each week so you can try them and let me know what you think too.

a long day at work and straight to class. Feels like I could be a bit too old for this. But tonight was actually the most interesting night we’ve had at class, food wise. 8 recipes and Karin and I made 2.
I realized one thing big thing tonight. It is good to have the food taste of someone else once in a while because we made things I would never try – and I liked them.

• puffed salmon hors d’oeuvres with sour cream sauce (puff pastry and salmon, dill – which I thought I dislike but might not)
• Heart of Palm Salad – heart of palm is like tofu but not. weird, but ok.
• ‘unbelievable’ biscuit muffins – is it a muffin? is it a biscuit? no one knows.
• Herb crusted Salmon with sun-dried tomato sauce – excellent salmon with a nice dry rub
• Blue Cheese and Cheddar Potato Gratin (Karin and I made this one – it was super-rich and had great flavor)
• Asparagus with Shittake Mushrooms and Bacon (We also made this and it was, dare I say, almost too bacon-y)
• Hibiscus Mocktail. Funny. No hibiscus. Fuzzy pop.
• Chocolate Velvet Cake with Two Sauces–white chocolate and raspberry – very nice, a nearly flourless densely chocolaty cake with lovely raspberry puddles. Delightful.

I also just want to say. Presentation is everything. The most lovely food on a paper plate with a plastic fork is just not the same.

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tonight was appetizer night in preparation for the Superbowl. This isn’t your standard pizza, nachos and layout of chips and dip. Our group made two, a caramel apple upside down cake and a rummy cheese loaf. The offerings were:

• Crabmeat Avery – A hot & spicy crab dip in honor of the Saints
• Toasted Tuscan Walnut Squares – kind of a pizza base thing with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes
• Tortellini Kabobs w/ Red & Green Sauces – pesto & marinara
• Adobo seasoned Chicken Wings – I have issues w/ chicken on the bone.
• Date-nut dessert cheese aka rummy cheese loaf
• Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake – it was good but could’ve stood more caramel…

tonight I started a six week ‘gourmet’ cooking class put on by Winter Park Tech with my friend Karin (pictured at right). I don’t really know what Winter Park Tech is but when you look it up online it comes up under OCPS (Orange County Public Schools) and is really glorified adult education. It is a funny class and not really what I would label gourmet and I don’t really think it will exactly stretch my skills to their limit but I do think it will be pretty fun. We broke up into small groups and each took a course and at the end we got to try each one. I am hoping for some good takeaway recipes. I think there was one so far.

On the menu tonight

• App – Cheese & Bacon Puffs (Puffy Cheese & Bacon )
• Soup Course – Mushroom & Leek Soup with Parsley Dumplings (This was impressive with morels someone had picked in WA -I would make this recipe.)
• Sandwich – Open Face Sausage & Veg Melt (meh)
• Salad Course- Spinach ambrosia salad w/ garlic orange dressing (I made this course. Weird but ok.)
• Dessert – Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Brownies (It has to be a special brownie for me to like it. Not quite this one.)