Chef Kevin's Cooking Classes: November 2014

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Buche de Noel and Recipe Beta Testing

Post Date: 19 November 2014

BUCHE DE NOEL

In preparation for the holidays, I made a Buche de Noel last week. This traditional French Christmas dessert, dating from the late 19^th century, is the culinary successor to the Yule Log whose burning at the time of the winter solstice dates back to pre-Christian times. To keep the ancient tradition alive, one faces a challenge in making the “buche” look like a real log. This can be accomplished by covering the rolled cake with a chocolate icing or ganache, cutting off each end and placing them on the “log” to represent cut off branches, and dragging fork along it to simulate bark. It is then decorated with such items as meringue mushrooms or small Christmas figurines.

As you can see, mine looks pretty plain in the photo. On Veterans Day we took a trip to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and hiked along the C & O Canal. While walking we observed fallen logs with lichen and ferns around them, which gave me inspiration for decorating the logs. I will be taking a limited number of orders for these for delivery a few days before Christmas.

BETA TESTING

The first beta test of the fall took place on Saturday, November 15^th. In preparation for my A.C.E. No Bake Desserts class at Woodson High School on December 4^th, we made a Tiramisu. Now a Tiramisu is traditionally made with alcohol. I use dark rum and orange liqueur. However, as Fairfax County does not allow alcoholic beverages in the school, we substituted orange and vanilla extracts. And the results were excellent. The recipes given in class will include both alcohol and extracts. In addition, the beta test helped me with time management for the classroom, as there are some preparations which I will need to be sure to do ahead of time for the students.

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR PARTICIPATION

This coming Saturday, November 22, 2014, I will be taking part in a Christmas Bazaar at St. John’s Catholic Church, 6420 Linway Terrace, McLean, VA. It runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, in the gym. I will be offering cups of one of my signature dishes, Chicken Spezzatino (an Italian chicken stew) for sale, as well as cookies and cakes, with plenty of samples. I will also be taking orders for holiday desserts and a limited number of Buche de Noel. If you are in the area, please drop in to say “Hi.”

UPCOMING CLASSES

December 4 - Thursday Evening - No Bake Desserts – Woodson High

December 6, 13, and 20 - Saturday Mornings - Getting Past Pasta - Italian Meat, Fish, and Egg Meals – Plum Center

To register for these, or any ACE cooking classes, please go to:

http://www.fcps.edu/is/ace/specialinterest.shtml and scroll down to the Culinary section

While there, be sure to check out the other culinary courses offered by ACE’s excellent chef instructors.

Till next time, keep cooking.

Contact Chef Kevin at: KJBrady@fcps.edu

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

A.C.E. Class Date Night Cooking for Novice Cooks - 6 November 2014

Post Date: 4 November 2014

Greetings, and welcome to the latest post of my cooking classes blog. This post will focus primarily on the subject class which meets Thursday evening, November 6, at Woodson High School at 6:30 PM.

THIS WEEK’S DATE NIGHT COOKING CLASS

The menu for Thursday evening’s class will have an Italian flair and consist of a Caprese Salad, Baked Salmon with Pesto and Blanched Asparagus, and a Strawberry Marscapone Parfait. The Supplemental Menu to try at home will have a Tomato/Basil/Avocado Salad, Pan Fried Chicken with Italian Spices and Sauteed Broccoli, and a Blueberry Ricotta dessert. Please see the sections below for more information on the pesto and the desserts.

As this class is billed as for “Novices,” in addition to just cooking the recipes, I will be introducing my P.O.F. (Preparation, Organization, Focus) method of preparation and cooking which is designed to help build skill and confidence in the kitchen. We will also be touching on knife skills and food safety topics.

PESTO

You may already be familiar with this Italian no cook sauce. Traditionally it is made with basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, and olive oil. However, there are many variations out there, and cooks are free to use other ingredients. For instance, baby spinach, arugula, or cilantro may be substituted for the basil. Other nuts, like almonds or walnuts, can replace the pine nuts (and they are cheaper too). Other “salty” cheeses like Romano can replace the Parmesan. For our pesto, we will go outside the lines just a bit and use baby spinach and walnuts.

DESSERTS

In my cooking classes I like to make no bake desserts using soft Italian cheeses. The dessert we will make in class this week will use marscapone, which is usually used in tiramisu (another no bake dessert), while the supplemental menu has one using ricotta. In December I will be doing a one session class exclusively on no bake desserts (please see schedule below).