Happy New Year to all.
I hope 2015 brings you all exciting and delicious culinary experiences. This posting will discuss some of the dishes
I made over the holidays and will also preview the January 22 A.C.E. class,
Dinner in New York.
Holiday Cooking
On December 24th I made our traditional Christmas
Eve meal, Pasta e Fagioli, AKA Pasta Fazool.
This is a recipe from the Italian side of my family and as you can see
from the picture it is much thicker than what is usually served in restaurants,
which tend to be in a light thin-ish broth.
I used home made marinara sauce and then thinned it just a bit with
water.
Pasta e Fagioli
For Christmas dinner, the main dish was roast beef. For sides I made an Orange Couscous Salad
(pictured below) as well as roasted Acorn Squash (also pictured below). For the Acorn Squash, after scooping out the
seeds, I cut them into individual slices and filled the cavities with maple
syrup and some red pepper flakes. Before
placing the slices in the oven, I placed about ¼ inch of water in the pan,
making a Bain Marie. This was the first
time I tried this with the squash and found it reduced the cooking time by
about 30 minutes.
Orange Couscous Salad
Acorn Squash
For a New Year’s Day afternoon party, among other items, I made and served Spicy Meatballs, Panzanella Salad, Jumbo Pasta Shells stuffed with Ricotta Cheese, Asparagus with Mustard Sauce, and a Lemon Apple Cake. But the one item that guests talked about the most was my take on the Italian cookies called Brutti Ma Buoni (Ugly but Good), made with sugar, hazelnuts, egg whites, orange zest, and melted chocolate chips. They disappeared in about a minute of their plate was put out.
I have begun to put together the menu for the class and to run through the recipes. We will do a lighter take on the traditional Waldorf Salad, followed by a Manhattan Clam Chowder. I am still deciding on the main dish, but the dessert will be a no-bake New York Cheesecake. The allocated class time will probably not give the cheesecake enough time to set in the fridge, so this will be a dish that the students take home to enjoy later. Registration information for this class is below.
The winter classes start in January, and I have one class in
January and three in February.
January 22 - Thursday Evening – Dinner in New York – Woodson
High
February 1, 8, and 15 – Sunday Afternoons – Cooking Basics
for Novices – Plum Center
February 7 – Saturday Morning – Romantic Valentine’s Dinner
for Novices – Woodson High
February 26 – Thursday Evening – Dinner in Rome – Plum
Center
To register for this class, 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
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