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
No comments:
Post a Comment