Beach House Brunch Class and 4th of July Party

Post Date: 8 July 2015

This week I will be previewing this Saturday’s Beach House Brunch class and discussing what I made for the family’s 4^th of July get together.

Beach House Brunch – July 11

This one session class meets this Saturday morning at 10:00 AM at the Plum Center in Springfield. 

The final menu is not yet set, but right now the class will include a chilled Mixed Berry Bowl which can be served alone or as an ingredient in other dishes, Strawberry Prosciutto Sandwiches, Turkey Sausage Patties, and Vegetable Frittata, which I also refer to as the “Kitchen Sink Frittata” as it can include everything but, if you so desire.

 July 4^th Party

For the 4^th we had 12 people for dinner before setting off fireworks.  We started with a Bruschetta on toasted baguette rounds and a fruit salad brought by one of our guests.  For vegetables we had corn on the cob and assorted grilled vegetables, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, and orange bell pepper (pictured above).  For the main course I served Balsamic Chicken and Baked Citrus Salmon with Orange and Lemon slices and fresh thyme sprigs (pictured below). For dessert we had a variety of cookies and cakes provided by my sister-in-law Lisa, a professional cake decorator.

Upcoming Classes

Here are the upcoming classes I will be teaching for the summer term. 

July 19 and 26 – Sunday Afternoon – Summer Desserts – Plum Center

August 15 – Saturday Morning – Lunch Along the Mediterranean – 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

 

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 3; Summer Desserts; Deboning Fish Videos

Post Date: 29 June 2015

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 3 – July 2

This week we will be doing something a little different.  Instead of a salad, we will me making a Minestrone, which will give us plenty of practice for our knife skills.  For our dessert, we will be using the oven instead of the fridge, making individual Olive Oil Lemon Pound Cakes.
Our main dish this week will be Salisbury Steak.  In the first class we prepared our main dish on the stove top and in the second we used the oven.  This week we will use both, pan searing the meat on the stove top and then finishing it off in the oven.  While finishing in the oven, we will deglaze the pan and make a reduction sauce.  To accompany the steak, we will me making Broiled Zucchini with Tomato.

 Summer Desserts – Clafouti and Strawberry Cheesecake

This past week I made a couple of desserts using fresh strawberries.  We will be making these in my Summer Desserts class in July.  The Clafouti (pictured above) is a French dessert from the Limousin region usually made with cherries, but any fresh summer fruit, like strawberries or blueberries will also work.  The berries are baked in a batter of flour, eggs, sugar and vanilla.  Here is a typical recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-clafouti

The Strawberry Cheesecake Pie recipe came from a June 2014 issue of Food Network Magazine (pie pictured above).  Its primary ingredients are cream cheese, plain Greek yogurt (I used non-fat) and lemon zest.  The topping is strawberries tossed with honey.  It is a no bake recipe, ideal for those hot summer days when you don’t want to turn the oven on.  Here is the link to the recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/strawberry-cheesecake-pie.html

Deboning Fish

In last week’s class, I was asked if any of the knife skills videos in the handouts from the first class included deboning fish.  They did not, so I am listing below some videos on this topic.

These first two show all the steps involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi31wlBEahs

http://www.inyourkitchen.com/video_detail.php?id=MjA=

This one shows how to debone a fish you have cooked whole.

http://video.epicurious.com/watch/seafood-how-to-bone-a-cooked-fish

This one has a great tip/technique for removing the pin bones, so it can be used in conjunction with either of the first two above.

http://www.finecooking.com/item/50277/how-to-de-bone-a-fish-fillet

This video focuses on techniques to remove the skin.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/cooking/videos/a30628/skinning-and-deboning-fish-fillets-video-822993324001/

 

Upcoming Classes

Here are the upcoming classes I will be teaching for the summer term. 

July 11 – Saturday Morning – Beach House Brunch – Plum Center

July 19 and 26 – Sunday Afternoon – Summer Desserts – Plum Center

August 15 – Saturday Morning – Lunch Along the Mediterranean – 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

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 2; Gelato in Boston’s North End

Post Date: 16 June 2015

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 2 – June 18

We will be following the same format as last week, salad, main course with vegetable, and dessert.  We will be starting with a healthy take on the traditional Waldorf Salad, substituting nonfat yogurt for mayonnaise, using Bibb lettuce, and making it into a wrap so they can also be served as finger food with your appetizers.

Our main dish this week is fish; we will be baking Tilapia with Italian seasonings, and our vegetable will be sautéed broccoli.  We will be making another no bake dessert, this time using marscapone, another soft Italian cheese, with strawberries.

Gelato at Caffe Vittoria in Boston’s North End  

I visited friends in Boston this past weekend.  On Sunday we went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, and after the game headed to the North End.  We went to the Caffe Vittoria on Hanover Street for gelato and it was excellent.  Pictured above is strawberry.  We also sampled the cappuccino and banana as well, all excellent.  Definitely worth a trip if you are in Boston.

 Upcoming Classes

Here are the upcoming classes I will be teaching for the summer term. 

July 11 – Saturday Morning – Beach House Brunch – Plum Center

July 19 and 26 – Sunday Afternoon – Summer Desserts – Plum Center

August 15 – Saturday Morning – Lunch Along the Mediterranean – 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

 

Next Cooking Basics 101 Class; Lemon Orzo with Chicken; Dining in Shepherdstown, WV

Post Date: 5 June 2015

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 1 – June 11

This class meets at Woodson High School, with the first class on Thursday night, June 11, at 6:30 PM.  The first session will have an Italian twist, with a Caprese Salad and Pan Fried Chicken Italiano with Asparagus.  For the first two sessions we will be making no-bake desserts featuring soft Italian cheeses (ricotta and marscapone) and fresh fruit.  In future classes we will be making fish and beef main courses.

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.  We will also be covering safe food handling and knife skills as well as essential kitchen equipment and spices.

 Lemon Orzo with Chicken

I made this dish last weekend (pictured above).  It is based on a recipe entitled “Lemon Orzo with Scallops” from the June 2015 Food Network Magazine.  Here is the location of the original recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/lemon-orzo-with-scallops.html

For our version, we substituted boneless skinless chicken breast for the scallops cut into bite sized pieces and cooked in olive oil according to the recipe.  One other substitution we made was baby spinach for the arugula, as I find it a bit too bitter for my taste.   The lemon flavor makes it an excellent spring and summer meal.

Dining in Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Last week some friends and I took a bike trip along the C & O Canal, with Shepherdstown as our home base.  While there we had 2 excellent meals, at the Rathskellar in the Bavarian Inn and at The Press Room in Shepherdstown’s historic area.  Despite its name, The Press Room has mostly Italian entrees with very large portions.  The Rathskellar, as you might expect, features German food and great German beer on tap.

While there we went across the Potomac to Sharpsburg, MD, and did the tour of the Antietam Battlefield.  The tour takes you through the town and right past a great ice cream shop, Nutter’s, on Mechanic Street and East Main Street.  The ice cream is wonderful, the portions generous, and the prices reasonable.  Inside and outside seating is provided.

Upcoming Classes

Here are the upcoming classes I will be teaching for the summer term. 

June 11, 18, and 25 – Thursday Night – Cooking Basics 101 – Woodson High School

July 11 – Saturday Morning – Beach House Brunch – Plum Center

July 19 and 26 – Sunday Afternoon – Summer Desserts – Plum Center

August 15 – Saturday Morning – Lunch Along the Mediterranean – Plum Center

To register for these classes, 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

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 3 and Dining in Cape May, NJ

Post Date: 20 May 2015

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 3 – May 21

For our final session this Thursday night, May 21, we will be stretching ourselves a bit.  We will be making an Irish Potato soup, which will give us ample opportunity to work on knife skill, and preparing a Roux for the soup.  The main course will be Sautéed Broccoli Florets and Salisbury Steak with mushrooms.  For this dish we will see how to make a pan reduction sauce.  This time we will be baking a dessert, a Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake.  Please be sure to bring plenty of containers.

 

Dining in Cape May, New Jersey

Last weekend my wife Teresa and I went to Cape May for a few days to celebrate our anniversary, and I want to share with you the low end and high end dining experiences we had (both good).  I’ll save the high end for last.  As is usual on our first night there, we had pizza at Brothers II, a pizza joint (in the true sense of the word) at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Broadway.  With the exception of the last day, breakfast was at another joint, the Bagel Time Café beneath the Hotel Macomber at Beach Avenue and Howard Street.  Despite its size, it has quite an array of excellent breakfast dishes and a patio to eat outside.

On the high end, for our anniversary dinner we went to the Blue Pig Tavern in the Congress Hall Hotel and had excellent meals.  Teresa had a wonderful Baked Salmon with Risotto and I had Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce.  What made the sauce unique was just a hint of cinnamon.  For dessert there was Banana Cream Pie with some caramelized bananas on the side. 

For our last breakfast there we like to go to the Sea Salt Restaurant in the Ocean Club Motel on Beach Avenue between Madison and Philadelphia Avenues.  The food and service is always excellent.  Teresa had a ramekin with three baked eggs topped with goat cheese.  I had a cheese omelet with home fries and a fruit bowl on the side.  The only downside was that due to the weather we were not able to sit out on the patio, but as is the past it was a fine dining experience.

 Upcoming Classes

Here are the upcoming classes I will be teaching for the rest of the spring term.  The summer schedule has been published and my classes are listed below...

May 31 and June 7 – Sunday Afternoon – Beyond Biscotti – Plum Center

June 11, 18, and 25 – Thursday Night – Cooking Basics 101 – Woodson High School

July 11 – Saturday Morning – Beach House Brunch – Plum Center

July 19 and 26 – Sunday Afternoon – Summer Desserts – Plum Center

August 15 – Saturday Morning – Lunch Along the Mediterranean – 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

 

 

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 2 and a Dinner Party Menu

Post Date: 12 May 2015

                                                                 Panzanella Salad

Cooking Basics 101 Class – Session 2 – May 14

This week we will be making a Panzanella Salad, which will give us plenty of opportunity to practice knife skills; Pan Fried Chicken Italiana, for which we will do an egg wash; and Broiled Zucchini and Tomato.  For dessert we will be making another no bake one with Marscapone, another soft Italian cheese, and macerated Strawberries. 

 Dinner Party Menu

Last Saturday night we did a dinner party for 2 couples in Herndon and I just wanted to share with you the menu we put together.  For an appetizer we served strawberry sandwiches filled with basil leaves and a small slice of prosciutto with balsamic vinegar on the side for dipping.  The soup was creamy artichoke, followed by a Panzanella salad.  The main course was Pork Tenderloin with a port wine reduction sauce and grilled asparagus.  Dessert was a Strawberry Pavlova, mentioned in an earlier post.

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 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

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