Serious Foodie Class in Vancouver

[Daddy-A]

As mentioned in other threads, a number of local eGulleters are attending the "Serious Foodie" class at the Northwest Culinary Academy in Vancouver.

First night was September 19 ...

Chef Tony lead the group of 22 through some basic knife skills, and had us chopping cellery ad infinitum to practice. Personally, I think we were prepping mirepoix for the day-class's stock

It seems we'll be learning skills, and then cooking recipes to out those skills to work. Last night's skill ... stock making, simmering & braising. We cooked up a pretty decent "Gypsy Soup" (I would have called it something more Latin myself) and then ad-libbed a braised salmon.

This thread will be a blog of sorts for the 8 week course. I know Mooshmouse has some pictures to post, and others can chime in to offer their comments. Even if you're not taking the class, ask questions and we'll do our best to answer. Hopefully this will serve as an insight for others considering taking the course.

Let's get cooking.

A.

[fud]

I really like Chef Tony, he's so animated and fun. I'm looking forward to next class. I think the first thing that came to mind when the class was rolling was:

'I have no idea what I'm doing'

That pretty much stayed true till we made the salmon and then I was able to add some jazz to the fish. Regardless the knife skills and simply how to cut veggies was really useful and I'm shocked that I'd been doing it 'all wrong' before.

And I honestly had no idea you don't add garlic to the pan first. I always do that because it smells so good

Daddy-A, we used all our celery No Mire Poixe for the next class hee hee.

(actually it really was too much celery, and im not a huge fan of celery

[Keith Talent]

  We cooked up a pretty decent "Gypsy Soup"

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Ask the insructor if you're going to be preparing any specialties from Sambo's later in the class.

[jgm]

I'm extremely jealous.

However, since I can't be in class, I'm willing to attend vicariously. Be sure to tell us everything !

[*Deborah*]

I have to go get a head of celery to practice! I have the slicing motion down, I think, but the left hand is a bit tricky for me.

Daddy-A, I have to say, I didn't braise anything last night: we poached our salmon on Station 8!

It was lots of fun, and I think I could make a good attempt at chicken soup! which I never have before.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the course.

[Daddy-A]

Daddy-A, I have to say, I didn't braise

DOH! Okay, now everyone knows who's going to FAIL this course.

A.

[capers]

As mentioned in other threads, a number of local eGulleters are attending the "Serious Foodie" class at the Northwest Culinary Academy in Vancouver.

This thread will be a blog of sorts for the 8 week course.  I know Mooshmouse has some pictures to post, and others can chime in to offer their comments.  Even if you're not taking the class, ask questions and we'll do our best to answer.  Hopefully this will serve as an insight for others considering taking the course.

Let's get cooking.

A.

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I am really looking forward to hearing about your experiences. I took the serious foodie and a number of other courses at Dubrulle and enjoyed them, I learnt a great deal but more importantly, I gained confidence in what I was doing. I would have loved to have taken this and the french cuisine course but the timing wasn't right for me, so I will live vicariously through your blog and pictures.

carol

[*Deborah*]

Daddy-A, I have to say, I didn't braise

DOH! Okay, now everyone knows who's going to FAIL this course.

A.

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As if!!

[fud]

Daddy-A, I have to say, I didn't braise

DOH! Okay, now everyone knows who's going to FAIL this course.

A.

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As if!!

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But seriously....I didn't braise either

[achiu]

And I honestly had no idea you don't add garlic to the pan first.  I always do that because it smells so good

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I think that's the difference between how Asian cooking use garlic and how most other Western cooking use garlic. With wok cooking and stir frys, you want to fry up the aromatics and infuse the flavour into the oil for cooking. In Italian or French cooking, the garlic is infused into the sauce or soup while it is gently simmering away.

One of my biggest revelations last night was how you should never cook food in a violent boil because it tended to homogenize flavours.

Anyways, this is my first post here but I've been lurking for some time. It was good to meet some of you yesterday.

Alex

[Daddy-A]

Gadzooks! Is the whole class full of eGulleters? Can't get away from you freaks for a second!

One of my biggest revelations last night was how you should never cook food in a violent boil because it tended to homogenize flavours.

Yeah, me too. Explains why my chicken stock (broth from now on!) was always so cloudy. Turns out my wife was right ... again.

A.

[makanmakan]

i'm so excited about this thread! this is a course i've thought about taking for a while. i think that following this thread will finally get my butt in gear!!

thanks for sharing! looking forward to the rest of the course!

[taryn]

Have fun everyone!! I took the professional culinary (with HKDave) and pastry programs there and love absolutely everything about the school. All the instructors are amazing, sometimes I wish I was still there. It was a lot more fun than working!!

[HKDave]

Chef Tony lead the group of 22 through some basic knife skills, and had us chopping cellery ad infinitum to practice.  Personally, I think we were prepping mirepoix for the day-class's stock 

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You were. Nothing goes to waste in a good kitchen...

Try to plate a little extra for your student instructors. They'll be chowing down on your extras back in the pastry kitchen while you're sitting down to dinner. Ah, those were the days.

Have you noticed the way Chef Tony bounces up on his toes when he says "Deeeeee-licious"?

[Daddy-A]

Try to plate a little extra for your student instructors.  They'll be chowing down on your extras back in the pastry kitchen while you're sitting down to dinner.  Ah, those were the days.

Have you noticed the way Chef Tony bounces up on his toes when he says "Deeeeee-licious"?

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Dave! We were talking about you in class. Glad to see you've popped in.

Yes, Chef Tony is very animated ... obviously loves what he does. And we did in fact make extra for the assistants ... hopefully up to an acceptable standard.

A.

[fud]

Dave!  We were talking about you in class.  Glad to see you've popped in.

Yes, Chef Tony is very animated ... obviously loves what he does.  And we did in fact make extra for the assistants ... hopefully up to an acceptable standard.

A.

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I love animated instructors, they make the class go by so well! I recall our helper scoping out the different stations to see which people had the yummiest looking food. No doubt they are now well versed in finding the good eats

Boy talk about deluxe. When Sandy's cousin took the full chef course at dubrelle they had to do all their own dishes and certainly there wasn't any wine with dinner! We're spoiled! Even Dan said that he was surprised what we "got cellery" to work on for our knife skills.

Dan: "Wow! You get cellery already!!??"

Dan: "You know...we got flour for the first two days!"

I feel so privilidged now.

P.S. Welcome aboard Alex! (who sits one cubical over from me ;p)

P.P.S. Yes I'm working and I'll have that TPS report ready for you soon.

[CanadianBakin']

Thanks for starting this blog. I went looking for it the other day thinking it was about time. I'm so excited to see what you do and how you like the course as I am planning on taking it next year.

[Mooshmouse]

As with any foray into the unknown, I was a bit nervous before the start of Monday evening's first installment of the Serious Foodie course, wondering how my kitchen skills would stack up against those of my classmates. However, this small case of nerves was quickly put to rest as we all settled in and got to know each other a little bit better. By the time we sat down to partake of our Gypsy Soup with a glass of white wine (Talus '04 Pinot Grigio), there were lots of "Cheers" among the folks at our table. Chef Tony quickly commented that ours was a very "clinky" group since, in the past, this level of camaraderie usually didn't develop until at least the second or third class.

To prepare our dishes, our class of 22 was split into working groups of 2 and 3 people each; we'll be rotating cooking partners over the duration of the course. Fortunately, everyone in our group was reasonably handy with a knife as there were a lot of vegetables to prep.

First up: Gypsy Soup. There are chunks of fresh avocado beneath the mirepoix with shredded chicken mixed in; the topping is crushed blue corn tortilla chips and grated mozzarella. Accent flavours include cumin, coriander seed, cilantro and parsley. A little lime juice, perhaps a little jalapeno for heat, and it would have been perfect.

Moving right along, Chef Tony deemed us competent enough to give us the run of the spice cupboard for flavouring our own poached salmon. Fennel, red potato and saffron were our only two required ingredients, and we were free to choose any or all of the vegetables we had prepped earlier for our mirepoix. After a quick huddle to strategize, our group opted to keep it simple and focus on a somewhat Middle Eastern flavour, using crushed cardamom pods to complement the saffron and a squirt of lemon juice at the end rather than lemon zest to avoid overpowering the dish. There may have been a pinch or two of either coriander or cumin thrown in there for good measure, but I can't recall exactly as we didn't write anything down. We also used a sprinkling of wild rice (emphasis on sprinkling) for textural contrast.

Garnish for our group was a few pieces of finely minced lemon zest, a tiny pinch of crushed cardamom in lieu of pepper and a sprig of parsley.

I'll let *Deborah* and Daddy_A weigh in on their groups' chosen salmon prep. In the meantime, here are photos that they snapped of their respective dishes.

All in all, a fun first class made that much more entertaining by Chef Tony's relaxed, humourous teaching style. Can't wait until next week!

Edited because, apparently, I had a momentary spell of illiteracy with my wine notes.

Edited September 21, 2005 by Mooshmouse (log)

[fud]

I had NO idea someone was takin pictures! I'll try to remember to bring mine next time Get the action shots of us not know what we're doing hee hee.

Nice job! Brings back memories of the celery I cut!

[nwyles]

I met Chef Tony the other day. He dropped by the restaurant as we had not met in person. We talked about all of the egulleters taking this class ! He thinks he could probably do these classes 5 nights a week they are sooo popular. I might pop into one just to check out what you are doing and see if I like you guys enough before thinking about teaching one. I do not know if I could handle seeing egulleters in my "off" time as well as in the restaurant.

[*Deborah*]

I made broth tonight:

And then chicken soup for supper:

ETA: I'm going to be pretty darn tired of celery by the time I'm any good at slicing.

Edited September 22, 2005 by *Deborah* (log)

[Vancouver Lee]

Nice job on the Gypsy Soup and the salmon, everyone. They all look good.

I'm seriously bummed I had to back out of the class. It sounds like loads of fun.

[*Deborah*]

We wish you were there, too, Lee.

[*Deborah*]

Oh, boy! good lamb stew for dinner last night! my first roasted beet! such excitement!

Moosh has pics...

Next week: gnocchi and a BAGUETTE!!!!

[fud]

Oh, boy! good lamb stew for dinner last night! my first roasted beet! such excitement!

Moosh has pics...

Next week: gnocchi and a BAGUETTE!!!!

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I've discovered a love for plating food. I tried to make a twist of lemon peel for te lamb stew but it didn't work ;p

Really really good stew last night. I can't wait to try that one. Daddy-A you going to be making that recipe we made up last night? We expect some Smoked Lamb Shank by next week! I'll make the Bannock!

Chef Tony has got to be one of the funniest chef's I've ever met. I was almost rolling on the floor when he went into his tirade on people improperly cooking pasta!

Moosh post them pics! I wanna see!