Yesterday, I went to a cooking class with a colleague of mine. See, around Beaumont, it seems that there really isn’t much to do. So when I heard about the cooking classes held at the Kitchen Shop/Green Beanery I nearly jumped out of my chair with excitement. A few weeks back, there was an Italian chef (from Tuscany!) who would be the guest chef, but we found out about it too late to get a spot. So this week, I jumped on the opportunity. Monica Cobb is the chef at a little grocery store here in Beaumont called Jack’s-Pak-It. I’ve shopped there once, and know where it’s at, but didn’t know they had pre-made meals that you can order to-go. Anyway, she’s a great chef who had no cooking experience, no cooking education, but went to Hollywood, and didn’t give up trying to find a cooking job until she stumbled on a chef at Spago Hollywood (the flagship restaurant of the Wolfgang Puck fine dining group) who gave her a chance. She worked hard, got a scholarship to cooking school and the rest is history!
Unfortunately, the class wasn’t hands-on, but we got to eat all the yummy food being demonstrated, and didn’t have to worry about messing it up and tasting bad.
We ate:
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Italian Sushi – Prosciutto wrapped around goat cheese, fig preserves, basil, and asparagus. Delish and oh so easy to make!
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Wilted arugula salad – topped with pancetta, walnuts, pears, and a tangy champagne vinaigrette dressing.
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Pork chop with a yummy sauce (sorry i don’t remember what was in it!), layered on top of spinach and Parmesan cheesy polenta . I didn’t know that polenta came in any other form than the pre-made, tube-o-polenta (similar to what ground beef comes in), but this is definitely something I’ll try to make.
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Chocolate chili creme brulee – The recipe seems super easy (I’ll have to see how using a water bath turns out) and it was oh so good. It only had a little bit of chili powder in it, and you couldn’t even taste it, but Chef Monica assured us, that it’s the thing that brings the whole creme brulee dish together.
By the time the demonstration was over, we were all stuffed. It was really a fun experience, and hopefully I’ll make the time soon to try out some of these recipes at home. And of course, I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!
Andrea Unplugged 