Cooking Basics 101, Session 3; Easy Cannoli Shells; Have My Eggs Gone Bad?

Post Date: 23 April 2016

Cooking Basics 101 continues with Session 3 on Tuesday April 26; an easy way to make Cannoli Shells; and a quick way to check if an egg has gone bad.

Cooking Basics 101 – Session 3

Session 3 of this class meets on Tuesday, April 26, at 6:30 PM at the Plum Center in Springfield.  The first 2 weeks we did no bake desserts, but this week we will be baking, a Lemon Olive Oil pound cake.  We will return to salads, preparing either a Tuscan White Bean Salad or a healthy take on a Waldorf Salad.  Our main course will feature Salisbury Steak and a Vegetable Medley cooked in parchment paper.  For the steak, we will be stating it on the stovetop and then finishing it in the oven.

Easy Cannoli Shells

If you have ever tried to make your own cannoli shells you know how labor intensive and time consuming a task it is.  So I was excited to try a recipe I found that did not call for a high degree of mixing and then deep frying.  My wife gave me a new cookbook entitled Flavors of Sicily by Ursula Ferrigno (Ryland, Peters, and Small, London and New York, 2016).  As Cannoli are native to Sicily, I did expect to find a recipe for them in the book, and I was not disappointed.  However, the recipe does not involve any frying.  You simply mix together the ingredients (egg white, cocoa powder, “00” Flour. Sugar, and melted butter), then spread the mixture out in one tablespoon increments on a parchment lined baking sheet, spread out to a diameter of 4 inches, and cook at 375 for about 7 minutes. (see photo above).  You then lift them from the parchment paper with a spatula and wrap around cannoli tubes (or anything you can improvise), and let cool and harden.

Have My Eggs Gone Bad?

One way to tell if your egg has gone bad is to crack it open. But if it has, then you have the smell of Hydrogen Sulfide filling your kitchen and your nostrils.  But there is another, easy way that will not assault your olfactory sense.  Simply fill a glass with water and gently drop the egg in.  If it sinks, it is good.  If it floats, it is bad.  This is because the Hydrogen Sulfide gas has built up inside and causes the rotten egg to float.  An egg has about 7000 pores through which bacteria can enter the egg and cause decay, which produces the Hydrogen Sulfide.

Here is a link to a very short video demonstrating this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNOko9I6aso

 Reminder – A.C.E. 60^th Anniversary Party on Sunday May 22.

I hope to see you at this event on May 22^nd.  I will be performing a demonstration of a Quick Fire Chicken Parmesan, cooked entirely on the stovetop (sorry, no flames are involved).  There will be other cooking demos as well from other A.C.E. chefs.

Reminder - Instagam

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

Upcoming Classes

Here are my classes for the rest spring term.  The summer schedule will be out soon.

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

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

May 22 – Sunday Afternoon – Cooking Demo at A.C.E. 60^th Anniversary Celebration – Plum Center

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