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).

UPCOMING CLASSES

I have 2 A.C.E. classes coming up in December.

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

December 6, 13, and 20 - Saturday Mornings - Getting Past Pasta - Italian Meat and Fish 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