Lunch along the Mediterranean Class, Mini-Braciole, Instagram, and Fall 2015 Schedule

Post Date: 13 August 2015

Lunch along the Mediterranean

This week’s class, Lunch along the Mediterranean, meets Saturday morning at 10:00 at the Plum Center and will feature dishes of the Provençale region of France.  For an appetizer we will be making a White Bean Tapenade with 2 kinds of olives.  A traditional Salade Nicoise will follow (pictured above), with potato, hardboiled egg, and tuna.  The main course is Chicken Provençale with fresh summer vegetables, all prepared on the stove top (see below).  And for dessert a Peach Clafoutis.

 

Quick Mini-Braciole

This Italian steak dish was a staple in holiday dinners at my uncle’s house.  A flank steak is pounded out, covered with herbs, spices, and fresh vegetables, then rolled and tied up with kitchen string before cooking.  When done the roll is sliced and served with marinara sauce.  The other day at the super market I saw some very thinly sliced Top Round steaks labeled as for Braciole.  So I bought them with the idea of making a quick version.  Since the steaks were so thin I could not cook them with the vegetables rolled in, so in a frying pan I cooked green peppers, onions, garlic, and zucchini, then drained them on a paper towel.  I then seasoned the steaks with salt, pepper, and oregano and cooked in olive oil over medium heat for 25-30 seconds per side.  I then transferred them to a cutting board, spread the cooked vegetable on each one (see picture below), then rolled them up and served.  Since this is much quicker than the traditional Braciole, I plan to use this recipe in a future class.

Reminder - Instagam

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

 Upcoming Classes

The Fall 2015 schedule has been published.  Here is my fall schedule.

October 1, 8, and 15 – Thursday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Plum Center

October 13, 20, and 27 – Tuesday Evening – Cooking Basics 101 – Marshall High School

October 18 and 25 – Sunday Afternoon – Dolci Italiani/Italian Desserts – Plum Center

November 8 – Sunday Afternoon – Twilight in Tuscany – Plum Center

November 6, 13, and 20 – Friday Evening - Cooking Basics: One Step Further – Plum Center

December 3, 10, and 17 – Thursday Evening - Cooking Basics 101 – Herndon High School

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                                                           

 

Beef Stir-Fry, Mussels in Spicy Tomato Broth, and Instagram

Post Date: 30 July 2015

My next class in not until Saturday, August 15^th, so in this post I will be discussing some dishes I made recently and how you can follow me on Instagram.

 

Beef Stir-fry

I had not made a stir-fry in a very long time.  In fact, my wok was being used to hold food storage containers.  However, when shopping the other day I noticed a package of beef already cut for stir-fry, so I decided to make one.  For a recipe I followed a stir-fry matrix that I had found in a Food Network Magazine a few years ago.  You pick your protein (say beef, fish or chicken), your sauce (spicy, sweet and sour, brown, etc.), and three vegetables.  The constants are garlic, fresh ginger, and scallions.  I made the Brown Sauce, which uses chicken broth, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and rice wine.  If you have never made stir-fry but would like to try, below is a link to a Food Network site that has a short video to take you through the basics.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/stir-fry-basics-0154951.html

 

Mussels in Spicy Tomato Broth

I am planning on serving mussels at a large family gathering this weekend, so I went looking for a good recipe.  The one I used I found in Giada de Laurentis’ Everyday Italian cookbook.  I have provided the link to it below.  I made a few modifications though.  As you can see from the title, her recipe includes clams and shrimp as well as the mussels, whereas I did just the muscles.  For the tomato broth, you use a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes.  Then the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.  This seemed like an awful lot, especially given the amount of tomatoes, so I cut it down to ½ teaspoon.  Even then, it was quite spicy and may be a bit too much for many palates.  The broth includes 1 cup of dry white wine; I used Pinot Grigio.  I made it for dinner as a practice run and it came out great.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/mussels-clams-and-shrimp-in-spicy-broth-recipe.html

Instagam

I got a new smart phone last week and decided to take the plunge with Instagram.  I’ll be posting pictures of my dishes and other interesting items.  You can follow me at senseichef.  I look forward to your comments on my posts.

Upcoming Classes

Here is the next class I will be teaching for the summer term.  The fall catalogue will be out soon.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

More on Clafoutis and Music to Cook By

Post Date: 18 July 2015

Peach Clafoutis

In my June 29^th post on summer desserts, I discussed the Strawberry Clafoutis I had made.  This past week I made 2 Peach Clafoutis, so I thought I would talk about that this week.  Technically speaking, a Clafoutis should be made only with dark cherries; using any other fruit makes them Flaungardes.  However, if you do an online search you’ll find recipes called Pear, Peach, and Berry Clafoutis, among others.
In the first Peach one I made, I used just one large peach.  It came out well, but the ratio of the custard-like batter to fruit was high.  So I made a second with 2 peaches (pictured above), and the ratio was just right.  In addition, you can fan out the peach slices for presentation.  Some participants in last weekend’s class were asking about it, so here is my recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2 Medium/Large Peaches

4 Eggs

Pinch of Salt

Stick of Butter for Buttering Pan

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1 Cup of Milk (if desired, can do 2/3 cup Milk and 1/3 cup Cream)

½ Cup of Granulated Sugar

2/3 Cup of All Purpose Flour

Confectioner’s Sugar for Serving

DO FIRST

Turn on your oven to 350 degrees.

Butter the bottom and sides of your pan, then sprinkle on sugar

MAKE THE CLAFOUTIS

Cut the peaches in half, cutting around along the seam.

Twist to separate the two halves, then use your paring knife to remove the pits

Slice each of the 4 halves into ¼ inch slices, then cut off the hard sections that were next to the pit and place them in the bottom on your baking pan.

Break the 4 eggs into the bowl of the electric mixer.

Add 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract, ½ cup of Granulated Sugar, 1 cup of Milk, and a pinch of salt to the bowl.

Turn the mixer on at a low speed to combine all the ingredients.

Gradually add in the 2/3 cup of Flour and continue mixing until just combined.

Pour the batter (it will be thin) on top of the peaches.

Place the Clafoutis on the cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees on the middle rack for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes on the cooling rack, then sprinkle Confectioner’s sugar on top and serve.

NOTE: When the Clafoutis comes out of the oven, it may have risen higher than the edge of the pan, but as it cools it will settle down.

Music to Cook By

In an earlier post I had mentioned that I like to listen to jazz while cooking, either vinyl, CD, or on my phone at jazzradio.com.  It is a great site with 36 different categories to choose from, so you can always find a style that suits what you’re making.  Lately I’ve been listening to the Hard Bop channel, which is great for sautéing and stir fry.  For Risotto, I go with Smooth Jazz, and if I feel like belting I go with Vocal Legends.

 Upcoming Classes

Here is the next class I will be teaching for the summer term. 

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

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