Cooking Basics 101 Class, Curried Shrimp with Sautéed Vegetables, and Frozen Orange Vanilla Pie

Post Date: 4 May 2015

Cooking Basics 101 Class – May 7, 14, and 21

This class begins Thursday, May7, at 6:30 PM at the Plum Center in Springfield. As in previous versions of the class, students will prepare a 3 course meal consisting of salad or soup, main course with a vegetable, and a dessert.  We will also be covering safe food handling and knife skills as well as essential kitchen equipment and spices.

The course is designed to build confidence in the kitchen using the P.O.F. (Preparation, Organization, Focus) method.  Recipes are easy to follow and written in a way to reinforce the P.O.F method.  In addition to the dishes made in class, participants will receive supplemental recipes to try on their own at home.

 

Curried Shrimp with Sautéed Vegetables in Teriyaki Sauce

We prepared this dish in my recently concluded Quick Weeknight Dinners.  I came up with it after one of the students had asked about doing a dish with a dry rub.  To keep with the spirit of the class title, “Quick,” the recipe calls for few ingredients and can be prepared in about 30-35 minutes.  The shrimp, of course were purchased deveined and peeled in order to save time.  The rub consisted of salt, black pepper, ground coriander, and curry powder.  One team in the class wanted to kick up the heat, so they added crushed red pepper flakes to the rub.  They succeeded very well in their goal.

We sautéed the shrimp in vegetable oil for about 4 -5 minutes, then removed from the pan, and added to the pan chopped shallots and zucchini.  We cooked them until the zucchini was of the tenderness you get with a stir fry, then added some Teriyaki sauce, stirred to combine and served over white rice with the shrimp around the outside of the plate.  We also had a bowl of Teriyaki on the side for dipping the shrimp.

Frozen Orange Vanilla Pie

I was looking through some back issues of Food Network Magazine the other day and in the June 2014 issue I found the above recipe which my wife had checked off.  It looked kind of interesting, plus it is a no-bake dessert, which I have been getting into lately, so I bought the ingredients and assembled it.

The estimated time from start to eating is about 4 and a half hours.  Mine took a little longer because in lieu of the store bought Graham Cracker crust I made my own and let it chill in the fridge for an hour before pouring in the filling.  The filling consists of plain Greek yogurt, sweet condensed milk, vanilla extract, orange juice, lemon juice, and salt, then topped with orange zest.  We had a very late dessert last Friday night, but it was well worth the wait.

Here is where you can find the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/frozen-orange-vanilla-pie.html

 Upcoming Classes

Here are the upcoming classes I will be teaching for the rest of the spring term.  The summer schedule will be out soon.

May 7, 14, and 21 – Thursday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Plum Center

May 31 and June 6 – Sunday Afternoon – Beyond Biscotti – 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