April Cooking Classes

In April, I took two cooking classes at the Merc: "Still More Mexican" with Chef Nancy and "French Tarts--Savory and Sweet" with Chef Paige.

For Nancy's class, the menu was Fresh Flour Tortillas from scratch. Queso Fundido. Tortilla Soup with Crispy Tortilla Strips. Red Chili Enchiladas with Chicken. Mexican Chocolate Flan. The main reason that I took this class was for the flour tortillas as I am not a huge fan of corn tortillas which are in the soup and enchiladas. I am also not a fan of chocolate (gasp!), even though I am a lover of flan. It wasn't my favorite class that I have taken of hers, but I was glad to learn the flour tortilla process and will be making them in the future. The soup was good, but I wasn't a fan of the crispy tortilla strips or it could have been the fact that the soup wasn't piping hot (the only way that I think hot soups should be served). Enchiladas were decent, but like I said corn tortillas aren't my favorite. As for the chocolate flan, the Mexican chocolate was an interesting touch with the cinnamon. I think that if I was to make it for a dinner party, I would make chocolate and regular flan, so that guests can try both.

If you know me at all, you know that I am obsessed with all things French. I took French as my language (I speak it poorly, but can read French decently) in both high school and college. I studied lots of French art for my art history major plus have read French history just for fun. Paris is one of my most favorite vacations spot in the world. I just love French things. So when I saw the French tarts class open up, I was thrilled when Jackie and Kelly said that they were taking it too. They included a silver removable bottom tart pan in the $25 class fee. This was an amazing deal considering the pan was made in France (not that I needed another one since I have quite a collection of tart pans that I rarely use).

Paige's class was great and informative. She is a fun chef with a great sense of humor and knowledge of why certain things work and don't work in cooking (she'll pull out info from food science books and stuff like that), but it had been awhile since I had been to one of her classes. Her French tart class was great. The menu--Mushroom & Leek Tart. Classic Savory Quiche. Amandine (a divine dried fruit and almond frangipane tart). Tarte Citron (a classic lemon tart). Fresh Raspberry & Custard Tart. My favorites were the Mushroom & Leek (I have already made this. Expect a post later) and the Raspberry & Custard. This class made me want to experiment with tarts, so look forward to some tart recipes in the near future!

Excitement

I have noticed that my interest in cooking at home goes up when the weather gets nicer. When it's gloomy and dark outside, I just want to curl up on the couch with a good book, my laptop or a movie. I might think about food, but I don't want to get out from under my blanket. It's easier to order some takeout. But the weather is finally getting nicer here and my cooking will continue especially since the opening of the farmer's market is on April 11th! I can't tell you how excited I am for the farmer's market. Shopping at the grocery store just isn't the same!

On Thursday night, I took another cooking class with Chef Nancy. It was nice because Jackie brought along some friends and we talked about doing a huge cooking party at Jackie's house in the future (she has a lovely kitchen that I just LOVE). This class was a new concept at the Merc, where you pay a little more and receive a cookbook with your enrollment. I loved this idea (which adds another cookbook to my ever growing collection)! This class was called Vegetarian Thai and she choose the cookbook Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott. Unfortunately, this cookbook is no longer in print, but you can try getting used copies of it from various sources. I was a little iffy on taking a vegetarian class because we love meat in this family. It's not to say that we don't eat vegetables, but we do usually eat meat during dinner. Since Chef Nancy was teaching the class, I put my worries aside and still enrolled. She is also a meat eater, so I knew that I was in good hands. She picked four recipes for the class (not the real names of the dishes, but I don't have my cookbook with me at the moment); two potato pot stickers, a rice salad dish, a coconut sauce noodle dish and a sorbet. I will be making all of these in the future once I get to the Asian market in Kansas City, but I was especially impressed with the noodle dish. I can't wait to make this one myself! Expect future blog posts of the recipes from this class.

Other news is that we are going to New Orleans this weekend for a foodie weekend. Chris' favorite food website Roadfood.com is hosting a New Orleans food festival. We use their website a lot when traveling and have about a 90% success rate with the choices that they have picked on their website. I am really excited because one of my food blog idols will be there. Ed Levine, the creator of Serious Eats, will be part of the Q&A on Sunday and also join us at the crawfish boil/pig roast on Saturday night that we are attending. I read Serious Eats almost daily. It's a combination of recipes, food news and restaurant reviews. They also have a lovely weekly newsletter that you can subscribe to. When I read that Mr Levine would be there this weekend, I was thrilled. Can't wait to eat my weight (plus some) in food this weekend in NOLA!

I have a few new recipes that I haven't posted on here yet. I'll get them up before I leave!

Chopped Salad

Another delightful recipe from my last cooking class. It's easy, healthy and delicious. She didn't give out exact measurements, but I have given her estimations that she gave in class. You can toy with the ingredients and figure out what works best for you.

Chopped Salad from Chef Nancy

Cucumber, preferably hothouse, peeled and diced (if you use a hothouse or English one, you don't need to peel if you don't mind the skin. but if you have to use a regular one, you should peel the skin)

Tomato, diced

Red onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)

Garlic, minced (about one clove)

Jalapeno, finely minced, seeded if wanted (about 2 Tbs. This ingredient is optional)

Cilantro, chopped (half cup)

Scallions, chopped (half cup)

Olive oil (1/4 cup)

Freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (3 Tbs)

Cumin powder (teaspoon)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

***Tips--Do not skip the fresh herbs! The ratio of cucumber to tomato is supposed to be roughly 2/3 cukes to 1/3 tomatoes.

Toss all the vegetables together in a large bowl. Use lots of cucumber and tomato and little of everything else. Then dress with oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper, and toss very well.

January Cooking Classes

I took two cooking classes in January, which both happened to be taught by Chef Nancy (who is my favorite instructor at the Merc); Exotic Moroccan and Savory Pastries. The Moroccan one was AMAZING. Moroccan food is similiar to Indian food, but without burning your mouth off. Basically all the spices and favor without the extreme heat. The main reason that I took it was to learn how to make a chicken tagine which means that I can buy one of these pretty pots:

Nancy said that we don't need to buy a special tagine pot to make the dish, but I'll definitely keep my eyes open for one if I end up going to Spain this year. She made a harissa sauce (Moroccan hot sauce) which was incredible. I was just reading Gourmet magazine yesterday and noticed a soup recipe where they also used the harissa sauce (I'll have to try that out soon). In the chicken tagine, which was a complex dish made of 3 different recipes, she added preserved lemons (basically lemons preserved in salt for a long time). I need to start making these lemons, so that I can make this tagine dish in the near future. Amazing.

Last night, I took the Savory Pastries class. I had a nice surprise when I got to class and found someone that I knew there! In December, Terry had taken a class that I had also gone to, so I was glad to see her with her high school aged son (what a great thing to do with your older children). Nancy taught us how to make potstickers (her filling and sauce was yummy, but I prefer a more crunchy bottom), empanadas (these were amazing and I can't wait to try these at home) and samosas (Chris made me take this class just for these).

In a couple of weeks, I'll be taking another class of hers (I should just become a groupie) where she will be teaching recipes from her old Kansas City restaurant. I am really looking forward to that one. The Merc is also trying out a new type of cooking class where you pay a little more and it includes a cookbook that the chef chooses. Nancy will be teaching the first one, Vegetarian Thai, in March and I'll be signing up for that one for sure (even if I am not a vegetarian or becoming one anytime soon). I'm going to try out some of these recipes from the classes and post them soon!