For my birthday this year, my incredible family members gifted me with donations toward taking cooking classes! I've wanted to take classes for a while but it was so expensive - this was the perfect gift! I chose a culinary school that meets nearby and picked the basics class in their gourmet series. A few friends have asked me why I signed up for the basics class since I already cook so much. I told them that since I've never had formal training, I wanted to see if there were any habits I could change with my cooking techniques and you always learn new things from classes like these! My coworker, LM, signed up to take the class with me, too!
Our first class was Thursday. We walked in and we were in a professional student kitchen. There were three other students, the chef, and a dishwasher. During the introductions, it was interesting to hear why people were taking the class - anything from being a fresh out of college student to a sweet woman who claimed she couldn't make anything other than spaghetti. Our chef explained to us that she had once worked in the corporate world and decided she needed a life change. She says she is much happier now!
We learned a lot of basic skills in class including how to hold, use, and sharpen knives but the big focus was cutting different vegetables. Each class has a menu of recipes designed to teach us different techniques. We received a page with notes of kitchen skills. Here are some of my favourites:
Prep your ingredients. Having everything ready to roll before you actually start cooking will make you more efficient and your cooking more enjoyable.
Cook onions more and garlic less. Give onions time to take on some colour and develop a sweet, round flavour. Bot don't add chopped garlic, which burns easily, until you've given other ingredients a head start.
Clean as you go. A neat workspace is safer and more efficient. Plus, you get to enjoy your meals without the dread of washing all those dirty dishes. *I already do this one, I learned it from my mommy, but it is something everyone should do!*
Let all meat rest before carving. Without a rest to let the meats juices redistribute, your meat will be dry.
*All of the above tips are written in my notebook and belong to LCA
Our next discussion was about pantry basics. Things you should always try to have on hand to cook most recipes. The list includes food items, cookware, and tools. I'm excited to say that I'm only missing 11 out of the list of 67 items and most of those are things like olives and a stove top smoker.
We began chopping and cooking vegetables for our recipes and I more excited than I should have when I realized I had already been prepping green beans and asparagus correctly (Thanks mom!) and cutting onions the right way (Thanks Aunt C!). There are so many other great tips I learned that were new to me:
- Prepare all citrus and salt but only add half to the recipe. Then taste and add as needed. You can always add more but you can not take away.
- Use white pepper for light sauces and fish
- 'Seasoning' just means salt and pepper
- Asparagus is fresh if the tips are tight. It is old if the tips are frayed
- You should wait for water to boil before you add salt, except with potatoes
The recipes we made were so fresh and delicious! I enjoyed eating vegetables I hadn't been a fan of before (like peppers). Our chef explains each recipe then we all get to do different parts to work together to create the beautiful plates below. I made sure to get tasks that I hadn't done before in order to practice (like this really amazing way of cutting peppers!) Once all done, we plate the food and get to enjoy it together as a class. Here are our dishes:
Sauteed Green Beans with Almonds and Blue Cheese
Gazpacho (we added creme fraiche after I took the photo)
Grilled Vegetables with Smoked Tomato Aioli and Ponzu Dipping Sauce
Crostini with Roasted Peppers
We got to take leftovers home which Mike enjoyed that evening. Everything was incredible - the food, the people, and the experience. I can't wait to return next week!
"Cooking is not a particularly difficult art, and the more you cook and learn about cooking, the more sense it makes." ~ Julia Child
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