Cooking Basics for Young Adults and Cooking Basics 101 Classes; Bastille Day Dinner; Recap of Farmhouse Dinner in Provence Class; Strawberry Clafoutis

Post Date: 16 July 2016

 

Continuing with my summer desserts project, I made Vanilla Ice Cream (pictured above) and a Strawberry Clafoutis for dessert for our Bastille Day meal.  I have 2 Cooking Basics classes coming up in the next 2 weeks, which will finish out my summer schedule.

 

COOKING BASICS FOR YOUNG ADULTS CLASS AND COOKING BASICS 101

This month I have 2 Cooking Basics classes.  The first one, Cooking Basics for Young Adults, is in a “boot camp” format, running on three consecutive evenings, Tuesday July 19, Wednesday July 20, and Thursday July 21 starting at 6:30 PM at the Plum Center in Springfield.  The Cooking Basics 101 class runs on Sunday afternoons July 24, July 31, and August 7 starting at 1:00 PM, also at the Plum Center in Springfield.

Dishes to be prepared in the first session are a Caprese Salad, Pan Fried Chicken Italiano with Blanched Asparagus, and a no bake dessert with blueberries and ricotta cheese.  Each session we will also be covering knife skills and safe food handling techniques.  In session one we will cook on the stove top, session 2 in the oven, and session 3 start on the stove top and finish in the oven, three basic and essential cooking methods.

 

Bastille Day Dinner

 

For our Bastille Day Dinner I prepared Poulet a la Diable (pictured above) and a Strawberry Clafoutis (pictured and discussed below).  The chicken recipe is from French Country Light Cooking by Evelyne Slomon (Putnam Publishing, New York, 1993).  You prepare a mixture of Chopped Shallots, Dijon Mustard, Cayenne Pepper, Worcestershire Sauce, Chicken Broth, and Dried Parsley.  I poured this into a zip lock bag, then added 2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts to coat them with the mixture.  I then poured everything into an 8 x 8 pan which I had brushed with Olive Oil, added a chopped Zucchini, and placed under the broiler.  Dessert was the Strawberry Clafoutis.

Farmhouse Dinner in Provence Recap

 

Pictured above are some of the student dishes form the Farmhouse Dinner in Provence class, Lemon Basil Aioli, Salade Nicoise, and Chicken Provençale. We had a very ambitious menu, making 5 separate items (the three shown above, a White Bean and Olive Tapenade, and a Peach Clafoutis), but everyone did a great job and we got through all 5 successfully.  In keeping with the French theme, in the fall I will be giving a one session class called Bistro Lunch on Sunday, October 30.  For the winter session I am thinking of a Dinner in Normandy class.

Strawberry Clafoutis

When we made the Peach Clafoutis in the Farmhouse Dinner in Provence class, there was discussion about what other fruits you could use. Cherries are the usual one, but we discussed pears and strawberries.  I got to thinking I had never made one with strawberries, and since they were looking pretty good at the store, I decided to try it.  I did things a bit differently from the Peach one.  After hulling and cutting the strawberries into smaller pieces, I placed them in a bowl, added a tablespoon of sugar, covered the bowl, and placed them in the fridge for a couple of hours to let the sugar draw out some of the juice.  I used a slotted spoon to remove the strawberries from the bowl and placed them in the baking dish, reserving the juice.  After combining the wet ingredients of milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract, I added the strawberry juice before putting in the flour and salt.  The resulting dish, pictured above, was delicious.

 

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Upcoming Classes

Here are my classes for the summer term.  The Fall 2016 list will be in the next blog post.

July 19, 20, 21 – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Evening – Cooking Basics for Young Adults – Plum Center – different format, 3 straight evenings.

July 24, 31, August 7 – Sunday Afternoon – Cooking Basics 101 – 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