Soup Jan 28th

The other day when it was 10* and raining, I thought winter was over and making soup was not on peoples radar anymore.
I was wrong.
Thanks to Mother Nature, Thursday ended up to be perfect soup weather. Blowing wind, snow and frigid temperatures didn't keep away our brave customers though. They battled the elements to sip down some hot soup, at the same time learn different soup making techniques.

The book tonight was called Soup by the editors of DK Publishing. There are many reasons I enjoyed not only cooking out of this book, but reading it as well. First off, as most people lie to see, it is beautifully illustrated with great pictures that seem like they are saying "Hey, you can cook me". Second, and one of my favorites, is the fully illustrated technique chapter. A picture by picture walk through of simple preparation and cooking. I really think this is great for people who don't have a whole lot of cooking experience. Reading through the first bit of this book teaches you how to cut up your vegetables, make a proper roux, or strain out a stock.
Thirdly, the recipes are laid out so in a very simple manner with concise explanations and easy to to read text. It's un-intimidating.

Lets get on with the food.
The life-blood to any soup (or cooking in general) is a properly made stock. Now I take great pride in making stock. It's a challenge for me to make it better and better every time. Tonight we prepared four different types. From left to right, Brown veal stock, chicken, fish, and vegetable. Making good stock is an art form. It takes time. Brown stock can take you up to 8 hours, chicken at least 2, and fish and vegetable 30-60 minutes. But there is no substitution to a good homemade stock. There is no store bought stock that can even come close to the purity of flavour that you can make on your own.
I do have to admit, I didn't use the recipes from the book to make stock. I used my own. But the base technique and ingredients are the same.
I started the veal and chicken stocks in the morning, allowing them to gently simmer all day. It filled the store with the smell we all love, cooking.
Once everyone arrived, we chatted about stocks and the importance of. Then we got right into it. Here is the menu:

Maple-Roasted Carrot and Ginger Soup
~
Cabbage and Tomato Soup with Meatballs
~
Creamy Smoked Trout Soup
~
Sausage and Bean Soup

To start, we tossed a whole lot of chopped up carrots, along with some ginger, onion, garlic, and maple syrup together in a large bowl. I realized as i was pouring the maple syrup over the carrots, i didn't have enough to cover the recipe. So I supplemented with equal part local honey. did the trick. That went into the oven, 425*, for 45 minutes, until the carrots were well caramelized in parts. After 45 minutes, i scraped the roasted veg into a large pot and added enough vegetable stock to cover and pureed with my immersion blender. Simple enough. You don't even need a recipe for a soup like this.
It was garnished with a dollop of Creme Fraiche and some chopped chives. Nice and smooth, balanced in sweet, salty and spice from the ginger.
After a few spoonfuls of this, you would feel pretty healthy. The colour alone screamed "I'm healthy, drink me down!!". My grandmother would have called it "Medicine Soup". And when I say medicine, i don't mean Buckley's cough syrup.

Next was the Cabbage and Tomato Soup.
I had made the meatballs earlier in the afternoon because the recipe says to let them sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cooking them. This is a great idea when making meatballs or hamburgers. When you work ground beef with your hands, mold it, then try to cook it, it's more likely to fall apart. If you chill it after you mold it, the meat firms up and is less likely to crumble when cooking.
Anyways, the meatball recipe was pretty straight forward. Onion, garlic, hot smoked paprika, cumin, thyme, breadcrumbs, egg, and the secret ingredient, lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Molded into walnut sized balls, i placed it into the fridge to chill.
Meanwhile, in a large pot i started preparing the base. Onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil. Then shredded savoy cabbage, and a can of whole tomatoes.
In a large saute pan I started to brown the meatballs. The recipe called to dredge them in flour. Initially I wasn't going to do this because, well, i didn't think it needed it. But for the sake of following the recipe, i did it. Adding them to a pan with some olive oil, I fried them until they were nicely browned. The good thing about dredging them in flour is that you get a nice crust on the outside of the meatball. Also, after putting them into the pot with the cabbage and adding in some of the brown veal stock, the flour helped lightly thicken up the soup. It gave it a slight, glossy look which was very nice. I added in just enough stock to cover and allowed to simmer about 10 minutes. The cabbage was well cooked. Still with a bit of texture but not overcooked. The meatballs were tender and juice. We served it with some grated Parmesan cheese and voila.

Next was the Creamy Smoked Trout Soup.

To make this soup right, we made fish stock. In order to make fish stock, you need white fish bones. Apparently, they are harder to find than I had hoped. Maybe it was because I went shopping later in the day. But I went to La Mer, no go, surprisingly. Then i went to Poisonerie Sherbrooke and he Costa didn't have any either. I was getting a bit worried. I didn't want to buy a whole fish just for the bones. Costa did have a fish head though. Now, I'm not really into making fish stock out of fish heads. In fact, in culinary school, they tell you fish heads are not good for stock. Something about it becoming bitter. But for lack of any other options and running out of time, i opted for the fish head. I got Costa to chop it in half. I brought it back to the store, cleaned it up, and made stock. While making it, i had flashbacks of a kid watching Much Music and waiting for that Barnes and Barnes song "Fish Heads" to come on. Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Eat them up. Yum!
I digress.
To start, i made a roux with butter and flour. Whisked in my hot fish stock and and allowed the flour to cook out for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile i added in some heavy cream, Worcestershire, and a bit of lemon juice. When the soup was smooth and creamy, I added in the smoked fish.
It's pretty impossible to find smoked trout around here. So I bought some hot smoked salmon and smoked haddock. When I saw the smoked haddock, I immediately thought of Gordon Ramsay and in all his British-ness, always convincing restaurants to make Smoked Haddock Chowder in Kitchen Nightmares.
The recipe didn't call for anything other than smoked fish in the soup. I had some fingerling potatoes that i par boiled and added them into the soup which complimented everything nicely. Finishing off with some chopped chives, the soup came out very smooth, rich, and smokey.

Last soup.
To start, the recipe called to lightly roast the cherry tomatoes in the oven. 350* for 30 minutes with a bit of olive oil and seasoning. When taken out, it's drizzled with some balsamic vinegar. Easy enough.
While the tomatoes were cooking, I prepared the base. Onions and garlic sauteed. The recipe called for a pork sausage i think, but I thought i would mix it up and buy some merguez sausage meat. At Atwater Market, you can sometimes buy sausage meat not in the casing. So that's what I did.
Once the onions were soft, i adding in the merguez and sauteed until browned. I added in a can of white beans, the tomatoes, and chicken stock to cover. It simmered for about ten minutes.
I carefully scooped out some of the tomatoes and beans and pureed them and added them back into the soup. So this soup was partially pureed and mostly chunky. I think it was my favorite of the night. A touch spice, and the lamb sausage really gave it something different. This soup was amazingly easy to whip together. I think it took less than 30 minutes to make. As similar in looks as it was to the first soup, the taste could not have been any more different. This last one, with the pureed beans and spice, was a lot more rich in flavour and texture. It was the perfect soup to finish off with. Everyone was warm enough to battle to dropping temperatures outside.


Hopefully winter will be over soon. But with the -30* outside, it doesn't look that way. It'll be a good weekend to stay home, make some stock and prepare a big pot of homemade soup.
Might I even recommend picking up Soup from the editors of DK Publishing?
This is going to be my go-to soup book from now on.


Next Class : Pure and Simple Homemade Indian Vegetarian

St. Mary's Ball Silent Auction Winners

Monday, January 25th

Tonight we welcomed the winners from the St. Mary's Hospital Ball silent auction. They generously bid on a Private Cooking Class w/ Chef Joe Mercuri of Bronte.
After much planning, Joe and his two sous chefs put together an amazing five course meal that everyone loved.
There were too many courses for me to remember exactly what was in each dish. But I'll try.

Snacks

When Joe arrived to start prep, we discussed menu. Earlier in the day, on the phone, he wasn't so sure of what was going to be made. And even when he came in at 5:15 (People arriving at 6pm) he still wasn't 100%. He mention right off the bat, he wanted to "bombard them with snacks". That he did. Three plates at a time. Starting with Beef carpaccio with some Gruyere cheese.

Scallop Crudo with blood orange gelee and candied macadamia nut came next. Then cubes of marinated Ahi Tuna that was so fresh, i could have sworn it was flapping around a few hours ago.
All three were beautiful to look at and tasted as good as they appeared.
On the side, there was "bread". Skewers of toasted focaccia chunks that you could dip into bowls of porcini cream. That's a bread basket I could have again.

Once the plates of snacks were cleared and all the bubbly was drunk, Joe and his team continued with the first entree.
Tagliatelle, Braised Rabbit Ragu with Carrot Foam. I love Pasta, especially fresh pasta. I never order it when i go out to dinner because anyone can make a really great pasta dish at home. But I would definitaly order THIS dish in any restaurant if Joe was making it. I'm a fan of rabbit to begin with, so braising it in a rich sauce really appeals to me, as it did with everyone who was there. The pasta was perfectly cooked with a light snap when bit into. The rabbit was tender as any meat could be when braised for hours. There was a light hint of porcini in the sauce which brought an earthy aroma. Paired with the sweet carrot foam, this was a quintesential cold weather dish.
The next dish, on paper, I was a little scepticle about. What the Chef called Surf and Turf. Olive oil poached salmon with crispy sweetbreads, celery root puree, madjool dates and toasted almonds and apple.
the salmon was cooked in an immersion circulator in a bath of olive oil cooked at, if I remember, 43.5* exactly. The pieces of salmon appeared uncooked on the plate, but were moist and rich when bitten into. Accompanying the salmon were crispy pieces of sweetbreads that were crunchy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth on the inside. Paired with some dated and the celery root puree, it was a well balanced plate and totally not what i was expecting. Salmon and sweetbreads, go figure.

Next was the meat. Magret of Duck. Earlier in the day, I Joe mentioned we would have duck. "With what?" i asked. "I don't know" he said.
And he continued not knowing until the duck was already cooked. But magically, Joe and his sous chefs put together some baby kale, tepenade, and a rich demi-glace to go along with the thinly sliced breast. Sweet, sour, duck fatty.

I think at this point, people were into sensory overload. It wasn't over. One more course to go.
Desert!

Half way through the evening, Joe asked if i had a microwave. I didn't. He seemed unhappy with that answer. "Is there somewhere where we can borrow one?" he asked. It was 9pm. Everything in the area is closed except the Metro across the street. We ran over and asked if we could borrow their microwave. Here we are at the grocery store, Joe, the chef of one of Montreal's top restaurant, his sous chef, and me, asking to borrow their microwave. Haute Cuisine at it's finest.
What is the microwave for you ask? Well, I had the same question. Cake. Microwave cake. The batter is put in small plastic cups, into the microwave and cooked very quickly, and voila, the puffiest cake you could imagine. This cake, scented with truffle, came with chocolate ganache and an ingenious "cookie" crumble with pop rocks. One bite of this and you literally get a flavour explosion in your mouth. After everyone's plate was licked clean, they were still grabbing for the bowl of cookie pop rocks.

We love it when guest chefs come and cook in our kitchens. There is a freshness that goes along with it. Inspiration for not only me, but for all that attend.
I want to thank the family that bid generously on our donation to St. Mary's Hospital Ball. We also want to thank Joe Mercuri and his team at Bronte for donating there time, ingredients, and skill.

River Cottage Everyday Jan 21st

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
I think I just like saying that name. It makes me sound smarter.
Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall.

On Thursday we did a class based on Hugh Fearnley Whitingstalls' newest book "The River Cottage Everyday".
The River Cottage H.Q. is located in Devon, England and is home to his "Real Food" campaign. With multiple books and television shows, Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall is a house hold name in his native England, but in North America, not so much. He has written some of the best books that i have ever read, most notably "The River Cottage Meat Book". His desire to educate the public about the joys of earth to table eating and food sustainability is followed by some of England's top chefs like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay.
The newest book does just what the title says. Food for everyday. Now i do have to mention, because Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and the River cottage is based in England, the food is very British centric. Using some ingredients not so common in North America. Sometimes people get a little confused when they see Roast Beef with all the fixings next to a recipe of Thai Curry. But don't let that throw you off. I'm a big fan of the River Cottage and everything that goes along with it.
Here is what we cooked.

Beetroot Soup with Spiced Yoghurt
~
Warm Leek and White Bean Salad with Mustard Dressing
~
Shin of Beef with Ginger and Soy
Caramelized Onion and Thyme Mash
~
Apple and Almond Pudding Cake



The Last time I made a puree beet soup it was horrible. The worst thing about it was I made it during a class. I was so embarrassed that it tasted horrible, it scarred me and I haven't made a beet soup since. Redemption time.
It was a simple soup using the basic techniques used for any puree soup.
Starting with onion and garlic, this soup is spiced up with some cumin seeds in the beginning and then with the beets and stock added, simmered for bout 15 minutes and pureed. While it was cooking, we whipped up the sliced yoghurt with toasted ground cumin, coriander and caraway seeds, paprika, Cayenne and some olive oil.
I dollop of that on top of this beautifully red soup really brought out an exoticness that every one loved.
I was so preoccupied with the sop tasting good I forgot to take a picture of the final product. So a picture of an empty bowl will have to do. I guess that means they liked it.

Next course was the perfect winter salad. Warm leeks with white beans and mustard. Simple enough to do. I sauteed the leeks on a medium heat with a bit of olive oil until wilted. Then I added the beans (which were canned, which I got a little flack for using, understandably) and sauteed them with the leeks until warm. Season with salt and pepper and done.
In a small bowl i made the dressing with some Dijon and grainy mustard, vinegar and olive oil. I added a bit of the dressing in with the leek and bean mixture and the remaining with some salad greens. I layed the greens on a large serving platter and put the warm leeks and beans on top. I think the best part of this salad was the dressing. I like the idea of using both kinds of mustard. Added great texture and creaminess. Also, the fact that it was a warm salad is great for a cold January night.
This can be a meal in itself, but we were only half way through.


Shin of beef is not something we in North America are too familiar with. Although, we have all had Osso Bucco. That is a cut from veal. What we cooked was a cut of beef. I ordered a whole shank from my Tony the Butcher at Boucherie Westmount.
I brought it back and cut and trimmed this huge piece of meat. I do this to try and keep up with my butchery skills or the lack there of.
I started by searing the meat in a large pot until nicely browned. After removing the beef, i added big chunks of ginger and garlic and slowly sauteed for a few minutes. Then I deglazed the pan with a combination of soy, vinegar and apple juice. The addition of the apple juice was really weird to me, but after thinking about it for a second, the sour, salty and sweet elements were all there, so i trusted my good friend Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.

Once the liquid came up to a boil I added the seared meat back into the pot and laced it in the oven at 250* for a total of 3 hours.
While cooking we caramelized some onions and thyme and added it to some simply mashed potatoes. As simple as it sounds, this was a hit. I loved the texture of the sweet onions mixed into the smooth and creamy potatoes.
There was no recipe for it, but we needed some greens so i sauteed some escarole on the side.
The beef same out and it was a lot better than I though it would come out. Even with the all that apple juice in it. It was amazingly tender (anything will be after cooking for 3 hours) and really flavourful. All the plates were empty and no leftovers. That's a good sign.

Dessert was something I was really impressed with. The apple and almond pudding, once out of the oven, looked just like the picture. I LOVE it when that happens.
To start, we sauteed the apples with a little butter, sugar and cinnamon. while they were cooking, i made the batter. Nothing really special about it. A very basic cake batter incorporating ground almonds. It was thicker than i thought it would. I reminded me of a coffee cake batter. I spread the batter into a lined 9 inch spring form pan then placed the sauteed apples on top. Into the oven for about an hour and voila.
I should also note, I bumped up this recipe by 50%. After reading the amounts initially, i knew it would not feed 10 people. Originally it says to bake in a 20cm pan. Way too small to feed us all.
Even with the alteration of the amounts, it came out how I had hoped. The apples were perfectly tender and the cake was moist. I'll be making this again for sure.

So all in all, I have to say it was a successful class. Much easier to do than the River Cafe classes earlier in the week. I was happy with all the recipes and the final flavours were pretty much what I expected.
Whether or not all the recipes in this book is designed for "everyday" it's a great book to explore. The passion of Hugh Fearly Whittingstall really comes out. It's an eclectic mix of tastes and techniques that will hopefully get everyone cooking at home.

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.
I just can't say it enough.

Next Week : Soup!

River Cafe Jan 18th & 19th

I think I was a little ambitious for this one.
Picking the menu for a class is a simple recipe. There is two and a half hours to cook a four course meal for ten people. Pick recipes that fit into the allotted time and pick recipes using techniques and ingredients people may not be familiar with.
Flipping through the newest book by the famed River Cafe in London, i got a bit excited. The River Cafe Cookbook Classic Italian Cookbook is so full of amazing looking and sounding recipes, it was difficult to narrow it down to just four. Luckily for me, there was two nights to try out as many as I could fit in.
Jan 18th:

Tuscan Kale and Polenta Soup
~
Pizza Frita
~
Bollito Misto
Rich Lentils
Salsa Verde
Horseradish Sauce
~
Torta di Capri

Lets start with the soup. Tuscan Kale is a great ingredient to use in general. That's why this soup was really appealing. It's not an easy vegetable to find. With it's dark leaves and great crunchy texture, it just screams "good for you"! Adding it to a polenta along with carrots, celery, onion, potato and garlic surly makes it a hearty, wintry soup. Perfect for the middle of January. When I cook polenta in classes, i tend to opt for instant polenta due to time constraints. The problem is that when it cooks, it gets really sticky and stiff FAST. So for this soup, i went with a regular cornmeal, and I'm glad i did. The book says to cook it a total of one and a half hours. You braise the kale in water , along with the other vegetable, for an hour, then add the cornmeal and simmer for another thirty minutes. I cut down the cooking time for the kale by half because i don't like the idea of cooking greens for that long. I also cut down the cooking time for the polenta because i like my polenta with a little bit of texture, not completely smooth. It had a great texture and people loved it. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. The kale added a great look and texture. So far off to a great start.

Second course was the Pizza Frita. This was basically pizza fried in a pan. Pretty good idea right? The picture in the book looked great and the recipe sounded simple enough. I started making the pizza dough earlier in the afternoon. While making it, it seemed really familiar. The use of rye flour in the sponge reminded me of my favorite pizza dough recipe from Chez Panise. Going back and reading the blurb before the recipe the authors mention its a variation of the Chez Panise pizza dough. Pretty good memory Jonathan. Now you just have to remember what you had for breakfast.
The pizza dough was easy to put together. I found it a bit wet, but this could all be because of the type of flour i used and not knowing exactly the texture or wetness/dryness they want. That's the thing with breads, they can't really tell you what the exact moisture of the dough, so you usually are guessing. Maybe that's why home made bread usually sucks. Anyways, because i found the dough to be a tad moist, it fermented a lot faster that the two hours mentioned. But that's OK, it came out pretty good in the end. One recipe yields ten thin crust pizzas. We rolled out the dough and placed it in the pan with a bit of olive oil. On medium heat, I cooked one side til sort of brown and flipped, dressed with thinly sliced potato, boconchini and fresh basil. Put a lid on the pan and cooked another 2 minutes.

Voila! Pizza Frita.
Not really what i was expecting. But pizza is always a hit. I thought the dough would puff more, or get more crispy, but it didn't. Maybe it needed more olive oil and higher temperature. It was a cool concept and I would for sure try it again.

Main Course was Bolitto Misto. The picture in the book is what inspired me to make it. Table side Bolitto Misto looked like a thing of wonder. Essentially boiled meats and vegetables with a rich meaty stock and a variety of sauces and side dishes to go along. It was a hard sell this boiled meat concept, but i assured everyone that they have to try it first.
I followed the recipe pretty closely. Using brisket, chicken, veal tongue, and sausage. The recipe called to use Cotechino sausage which i couldn't find. I opted for sweet Italian sausage instead. The Brisket and tongue took a total of three hours to simmer in water along with carrots, celery and onion. The chicken only and hour and the sausage ten minutes. I altering the recipe slightly, i cooked the brisket and tongue in one pot and the chicken and sausage in another. The brisket and tongue was melt in your mouth and everything was served with two very simple sauces of Horseradish cream and salsa verde. Both brought the meats to life with a little heat and freshness.

On the side we made lentils that were cooked with carrots, celery, onion, pancetta and lots of red wine and stock. Very rich and was a hit with everyone.
after the first bite, the people who were sceptical of the idea of boiled meat were excited to recreate it on the weekend. I hope they do. Although cooking time is long, it's so easy to throw together and is a great dish to entertain with.

Dessert was a chocolate torte that had no picture so there were no preconceived ideas of how it would turn out. It's a flourless cake using lots of ground almonds and bits of chocolate. Easy enough to put together. I liked the bits of chocolate strewn throughout. when it came out of the oven it looked like big chocolate chip cookie. after about one hour at 300*, the cake came out looking really rich and delicious. But being a bit worm while eating, it was very light on the palate and not as rich as it looked. I like those kinds of desserts.
All in all the class was a success. People had a great time eating and watching me run around. It was a very consuming class because all the dishes were very time consuming. I didn't have time to wash dishes in between courses. So once everyone left with full bellies it was a late night washing all the pots and pans, which i don't mind. Keeps me grounded. I may be a cook, but I'll always be a dishwasher at heart.

Jan 19th:

Potato, Rosemary, Pecorino Pizza
~
Tagliatelle with Porcini
~
Bollito Misto
Rich Lentils
Salsa Verde
Horseradish Sauce
~
Almond, Ricotta and Polenta Tart

I was ready for this one. More organized and practised.
Pizza this time was done in the oven. I didn't own a pizza stone so i went to Home Depot to buy something along those lines. I purchased two slate tiles for $6. Wasn't sure of it would work. Placed them in the oven and after reading up a bit on it, slowly started to heat them up in the oven. One at 450*, we were ready to make pizza.
The dough was the exact same as last night. We rolled them out and dressed the pizzas with thinly sliced potato, fresh rosemary, and pecorino. We made some variations using more boconchini and anchovies (my favorite). Pizza's came out better than last night. More crisp because of the slate tiles. Half way through the slate cracked in half though. No worries, it didn't stop is from making them.
Next time, I'll buy an unglazed ceramic tile from home depot. Apparently that will work without cracking. Good thing they only cost a couple bucks instead of the $50+ for "proper" stones at some kitchen retailers.

Next course was the pasta. I made fresh pasta in the afternoon. Haven't made fresh pasta in a while. What better class to do it. There is no fresh pasta recipe in this book. So I took a recipe from another book, Pasta Sfoglia, that I'll be doing later in the season. The dough was nice. I ran it through the pasta roller attachment for the Kitchen Aid.
The final dish was so simple to put together, as any good pasta is. After soaking some dried porcini for twenty minutes, I drained it, chopped it up, and reserved the liquid. Saute some garlic, sage and chile, then add in some of the liquid and reduce to almost nothing. Add in the chopped porcini and some heavy cream and stir together.
Because the pasta was fresh, it only took two minutes in boiling salted water. Directly from the boiling water into the pan with the sauce, a quick toss, salt and pepper and you're done. We added a bit of the pasta water to loosen up the sauce. The fresh pasta had a great texture with a little snap when you bite into it. Cooked perfectly. The sauce was rich with the cream and porcini. A meal in itself.

The main was the same as last night. And everyone loved the tongue. At least that's what they told me.

For dessert tonight, we made an Almond, Ricotta, and Polenta cake. Again, it was a flourless, using lots of ground almonds and polenta. With the incorporation of ricotta, this cake was super moist. The recipe called for fine cornmeal flour, but I used a courser grain to give it the cornbread-y kind of texture i like. Great for breakfast, with coffee in the afternoon, or dessert. Refreshingly lemony, we served it with a dollop of freshly whipped cream. Just like last night's cake, it baked for one hour at 300*. Nicely golden and a winner. If you're going to make a dessert out of this book, the Almond, Ricotta and Polenta cake would be a wise choice.

Another successful class with The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook. It will be a go too for solid Italian recipes from now on.



Next Class: River Cottage Everyday

Knife Skills

First day back after a few weeks no classes. But we got into it right away.

Knife skills is the most important skills to have in the kitchen. It's amazing that some people, after so many years of cooking, have no idea how to hold a knife properly. Maybe that's why this specific class is popular at the store.
During this class, one is taught how to hold a knife like a real chef, arm and hand placement, and various classic french cuts like baton, jullienne, and brunoise among others.



As simple as this sounds, it's a struggle to learn them properly. Some say you can't teach old dogs new tricks, but after this class, most of my students walked away with a greater knowledge and confidence in using a knife. They also walk away with a knife. A brand new Victorinox 8inch Chef Knife.
Even though this is all hands on, we still had time to whip up something to eat. With expertly cut vegetables, we made a Indian Spiced Sweet Potato Soup, and a very simple Raw Vegetable Pasta taken from the River Cafe Cookbook Too Easy.



The class went great. No one cut themselves which I'm very proud of (keepin' the streak alive). Everyone left happy, knowing their kitchen/cutting skills are greatly improved. It's the knife Skills Class' that i get the most response from. Students who took the class years ago still come in and mention how this class has changed the way they cook.

Next Class
River Cafe; Classic Italian Cookbook