Culinary Boot Camp Week 5

Tuesday night was my last Culinary Boot Camp class. It was hands down my favorite class of the series. The chef asked us last week what we wanted to do for tonight's class. We all wanted to make pasta and some type of bread.

We made pasta dough, focaccia bread, alfredo sauce and marinara sauce. We made ravioli's with the pasta dough. The fillings for the pasta were ricotta cheese with basil or chives or butternut squash. (Oh and I did remember the camera BUT the batteries were dead.)

The bread used a Poolish starter. This enababled us to make our focaccia bread during our two hour class time. The alfredo sauce was quick and easy but tasted like you worked on it for hours.
I was sad to see my classes come to an end. After the holidays, I plan to take a few more. The Classy Gourmet offers a wide variety of classes and I would also like to take a Wilton Cake Decorating Class.

In the meantime, you can bet I will be making these recipes. Look for them to be blog topics in the weeks to come.

Culinary Boot Camp Week 4

Tonight we learned poaching and braising. I braise meats, especially ribs, so I was pretty familiar with this technique.

Tim asked me what we did in class tonight. I said we learned how to poach chicken. Now remember this is the guy that last week thought we were learning how to trust our chicken. He said "Poach chicken, did someone shoot the chicken on someone else's property"?

I've never poached anything before and I am not sure it's a technique I will use. I like my chicken or fish to have some color to it. While the fish and chicken we poached in class had wonderful sauces, they were very pale and just not as appealing as a nicely browned piece of meat.

We also learned about "mother sauces". Mother sauces are the five "grand sauces" as defined by Auguste Escoffier. Escoffier was one of the most famous chefs in the early 1900's. The sauces are Bechamel, Espagnole (the base for demiglace), Tomato Sauce (creamy, not marinara),Hollandaise and Veloute. We made Veloute. It was a wonderful, creamy sauce we used on the poached chicken. Veloute also makes an excellent base for creamed soups. I think my first veloute at home will be the base for Cream of Mushroom soup.

Next week is the final class in the series.

Culinary Boot Camp Week 3

Tonight was my favorite night so far! Of course, I forgot the camera! We roasted a chicken the chef had brined prior to class. We learned how to truss a chicken. I was telling my husband and he said "You learned how to trust the chicken?".

The techniques for tonight's class were dry heat methods, roasting and grilling. We grilled pork chops and served them with a delicious mustard sauce. These were the most tender pork chops I've ever eaten. They were marinated in a simple marinade of oil, worchestershire, garlic, and salt and pepper.

We made Spinach with Bacon and Pine Nuts. Bacon makes everything yummy! Our other side dish was glazed sweet potatoes. They were beautiful and delicious.

I am really enjoying these classes and it's only increasing my desire to go to cooking school. Next week poaching and braising. I've never poached anything, so I am looking forward to learning about this technique.

Culinary Boot Camp Week 2

Culinary Boot Camp Week 2 was non stop. There were 8 of us and we cooked in teams of 2. We made 3 main dishes and 3 soups. Our soups were made with the stocks we made last week. My partner and I made Potato Soup flavored with tarragon. The other soups were Shrimp Bisque and Cream of Mushroom. Our main dish was Chicken stuffed with Prosciutto and Mozarella. The other main dishes were Pork Schnitzel with Savory Tomato Sauce and Rainbow Beef. The techniques we worked on were breading, pan frying, sauces and soups.

My favorites were the mushroom soup and the chicken. The flavors in the mushroom soup were robust and earthy. The herb pan sauce for the chicken added wonderful aromatic flavors to an already delicious dish.

I had hoped to have a picture to show the dishes we made in class this week. I know I took the pictures but tonight when I went to download them...no pictures. Next week I will have pictures for sure!

Culinary Boot Camp Week #1

Although I have no regrets about the path my career has taken me, if I could start over I would go to culinary school. My dreams are to own a small restaurant where I would serve breakfast and lunch or to own my own bed and breakfast. Who knows maybe someday these dreams will come true? In the meantime, I am aspiring to become a more knowledgeable and proficient cook.

This week I began a series of 5 cooking classes entitiled Culinary Boot Camp. The classes are based on the book of the same name by Martha Rose Shulman. The classes are held at The Classy Gourmet. Colleen Cleek, the owner, was a contestant on Season 5 of Hells Kitchen.

Our class is small, six total students. Last night's class focused on knife skills, stocks and pan sauteing. I just want to be like a giant sponge and soak up all of the knowledge and cooking hints passed on by our instructor. Next week, I am going to remember to bring my camera.