gregk

The course was a lot of fun and lived up to the promise of being a protien fest. I missed the last class and appreciated the planning work Al and Brian for the black box class. I found these classes filled in a lot of gaps of my cooking knowledge and exposed me to cooking methods I would not have tried on my own. It was also a fun way to spend Monday evenings and meet a lot of great people.

Yesterday was: 1) thin crust pizza. Reviewed dough making. Put herbs and cornmeal in the dough. Tony's tomotoe sauce is great and this will be covered in a future class. Had shaved white asparagus as one of the toppings which was different in addition to cherry tomatoes and roasted garlic. Used fontina cheese instead of mozzerella. 2) lamb stew. Browned the meat which had a dry rub of smoked paprika, pepper, and marsala. Added this to onions, carrots, garlic. Deglazed pan with red wine and some orange juice. Topped the stew with a gremolata. 3) lemon tart. Learned how to make pastry dough and form the cups for the custard. Tony demonstrated the custard making but we made the pastry cups. Tony also provided a list of shopping spots in the Vancouver area. Class is getting a lot livelier. Greg ← 4) almost forgot, mashed roasted yam and garlic to go with stew.

Yesterday was: 1) thin crust pizza. Reviewed dough making. Put herbs and cornmeal in the dough. Tony's tomotoe sauce is great and this will be covered in a future class. Had shaved white asparagus as one of the toppings which was different in addition to cherry tomatoes and roasted garlic. Used fontina cheese instead of mozzerella. 2) lamb stew. Browned the meat which had a dry rub of smoked paprika, pepper, and marsala. Added this to onions, carrots, garlic. Deglazed pan with red wine and some orange juice. Topped the stew with a gremolata. 3) lemon tart. Learned how to make pastry dough and form the cups for the custard. Tony demonstrated the custard making but we made the pastry cups. Tony also provided a list of shopping spots in the Vancouver area. Class is getting a lot livelier. Greg

Chef Tony's guide to selecting Olive Oil 1) make sure the label says extra virgin olive oil. 2) make sure the label says first/cold press. 3) make sure label has acidity %, ideally less than 1%. If they do not have the % listed then it is likley higher. Chef Tony's home olive oil is a Portugeuse olive oil. In addition, Tony cuts his olive oil for use around the stove. He uses 1/3 olive oil and 2/3 nuetral oil such as corn oil, grapeseed, peanut, etc. He is not a fan of Canola oil. See you next Monday.

Last night was a busy night, we did not get out until 10 oclock. we worked on: A baked goat cheese salad with mixed green, blanched green beans, roasted hazelnuts and roasted garlic. A vinaigrette which we used for both the salad and to make a sauce for the chicken. A split chicken (Chicken under a Brick) which was soaked in brine, browned in a hot pan then roasted. - boy was that good. I know what I am making this weekend. ;-) Foccaccia which we topped with carmalized onions, dry baked tomatoes and olives. Basmati Rice Pilaf which Chef Tony demonstrated and made for everyone as time was tight. Tony also gave us his olive oil selection criteria and opinions. As I mentioned earlier, it was a busy class but extremely enjoyable.

I will be attending the Monday night class. I work with fud & achiu and their Tuesday morning discussions on the previous night's class convinced me to sign up. See you next Monday night! Greg