St. Patrick’s Day Meal, Artichokes, Fruit Kabobs, and Easily Peeling Garlic

Post Date: 22 March 2016

Spring is here, at least according to the calendar.  I’m looking forward to the fresh fruits and vegetables, but in the meantime I got a jump on things with some fruit kabobs, artichokes, and Brussels sprouts this past week, and combined my Irish and Italian heritages in our St. Patrick’s Day dinner.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

 

Well, there were no potatoes or corned beef and cabbage, but there was plenty of green.  I had Spinach Pesto form a cooking class earlier in the week, so I used it on some thin whole grain spaghetti.  For the side, Brussels Sprouts, I blanched them in boiling water for 4 minutes, then placed them in a bath of ice water for about 30 minutes, then finished in olive oil in a skillet, 10-15 minutes.

Artichokes

Artichokes were big in my house when I was a kid, but I never really cared for them, perhaps it was my innate laziness, so much effort with so little return.  However, we used artichoke hearts in a salad we made in class a few weeks ago, and we got into a discussion about them.  And this in turn lead me to try them with dinner the other night.  I boiled the artichoke in 1 quart of water into which I had placed 2 whole peeled garlic cloves and cooked covered for 25 minutes.  For dip for the leaves, I mixed 2 tablespoons of melted butter and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

Fruit Kabobs

This was also for a recent class I did on side dishes. They could also serve as a nice spring/summer appetizer.  It is a bit early in the season, but the fruit I was able to find was pretty good.  To save time, instead of cutting up a whole pineapple, I bought the pineapple slices in the refrigerated case.  As you can see from the picture, I used Blueberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, Kiwi, Seedless White Grapes, and Pineapple Chunks, then refrigerated before serving.  But you have many choices to pick from.

Easy Garlic Peeler

We were peeling garlic in a recent A.C.E. class, and one of the students had a silicone garlic peeling tube.  I had not seen this before, so she demonstrated.  It is a flexible tube about 5 inches long.  You insert a clove of garlic and rub the tube back and forth between your palms.  You hear the familiar crunch, and when you tip out the garlic it is peeled.  Here is a link to information about it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=e+z+roll+garlic+peeler&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=77830354851&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10138189173098008411&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_18uobok84o_b

 

Reminder - Instagam

Follow me on Instagram at #senseichef.  I look forward to your comments on my posts.

Upcoming Classes

Spring schedule and catalogue is out.  Here are my classes for the spring term.

April 12, 19, and 26 – Tuesday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Plum Center

April 15 – Friday Morning – No Bake Desserts – Plum Center

May 10 – Tuesday Evening – Holiday in Sicily – Woodson High School

May 19, 26, June 2 – Thursday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Herndon High School

May 27 – Friday Evening – Date Night Cooking for Novice Cooks – 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                                                           

 

 

 

 

Sessioin 3 of Quick Weeknight Dinners; Special Edition of Cooking Basics 101 in July; and the Wienermobile

Post Date: 13 March 2016

Just thought I’d throw this picture in, it is about food after all.  I was in downtown McLean last week and saw the Wienermobile parked in the Holiday Inn parking lot. 

Quick Weeknight Dinners – Session 3

The third and final session of this class will meet on Tuesday evening March 15^th.   This week we will be cooking vegetables in parchment paper in the oven.  We will also be doing a little different, and more economical, take on pesto.  We will be using spinach instead of basil and walnuts instead of pine nuts, then sampling it with penne.  We will finish off with the classic Roman dish, Cacio e Pepe, Spaghetti in a butter, cheese, and black pepper sauce, quick and delicious.

Special Edition of Cooking Basics 101 in July

This A.C.E. course is geared specifically to young adults (millennials, college students, and recent high school grads off to college) who want to improve their overall kitchen skills.  It will be given in a “bootcamp” format, three straight nights of 3 hours each, July 19, 20, 1nd 21, a Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night.

Reminder - Instagam

Follow me on Instagram at #senseichef.  I look forward to your comments on my posts.

 

Upcoming Classes

Spring schedule and catalogue is out.  Here are my classes for the spring term.

April 12, 19, and 26 – Tuesday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Plum Center

April 15 – Friday Morning – No Bake Desserts – Plum Center

May 10 – Tuesday Evening – Holiday in Sicily – Woodson High School

May 19, 26, June 2 – Thursday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Herndon High School

May 27 – Friday Evening – Date Night Cooking for Novice Cooks – 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                                                           

Session 3 Cooking Basics 101 Class at the Plum Center, Session 2 of Quick Weeknight Dinners at the Plum Center, Quick Vegetable Soup

Post Date: 2 March 2016

I have two classes coming up, Session 3 of Cooking Basics 101 at the Plum Center in Springfield on Friday evening March 4, and Session 2 of Quick Weeknight Dinners on Tuesday, March 8, also at the Plum Center.  In prepping for the Cooking Basics 101 class I went through a Vegetable Soup recipe we will be doing.

Cooking Basics 101 at the Plum Center – Session 3

The final session of this class meets Friday evening, March 4^th. This week we will be working on expanding our skills even further.  Instead of a salad, we will be making a Quick Vegetable soup (see below for details) which will give us plenty of opportunity to practice knife skills.  And instead of a no bake dessert, we will be baking a Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake.  For our vegetable, we will be making Baked Stuffed Zucchini, and the entrée will be a Salisbury Steak with a reduction sauce.

Quick Weeknight Dinners – Session 2

The second session of this class will meet on Tuesday evening March 8^th.  The main dish for this session will be a Quick Fire Chicken Parmesan, which is made exclusively on the stove top in about 30 minutes.  We will need a sauce for this, so we will start off with a basic Marinara Sauce which can also be used in a variety of recipes.  We will also be making a Tuscan White Bean Salad and possibly a Baked Stuffed Zucchini.

Quick Vegetable Soup

This is a good soup for the windy March days.  It is rather easy to make and can be used as the starting point for more elaborate dishes.  For instance, if you have any leftover chicken, you can add it and make chicken soup.  It starts with a mirepoix (onion, celery and carrot) cooked in olive oil, then add minced garlic, then add and wilt baby spinach.  To this I added low sodium chicken broth.  In a separate pot, I cooked a cup of Orzo pasta until it was almost al dente – the inside was still “raw.”  I then drained the Orzo and added it to the soup pot for10 minutes where it finished cooking and picked up some of the broth.   Had I cooked the Orzo entirely in the soup broth it would have absorbed so much of the liquid that just a porridge-like dish would have remained.

Reminder - Instagam

Follow me on Instagram at #senseichef.  I look forward to your comments on my posts.

 

Upcoming Classes

Spring schedule and catalogue is out.  Here are my classes for the spring term.

April 12, 19, and 26 – Tuesday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Plum Center

April 15 – Friday Morning – No Bake Desserts – Plum Center

May 10 – Tuesday Evening – Holiday in Sicily – Woodson High School

May 19, 26, June 2 – Thursday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Herndon High School

May 27 – Friday Evening – Date Night Cooking for Novice Cooks – 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