Kitchen Fundamentals Class Number 3

Hi ya!! It's Tuesday! Know what that means? It's time for another one of our cooking class at Charleston Cooks in Greenville, SC. Our "lesson" for tonight's class was Everyday Sauces in which we learned how to make the following: Tomato Bruschetta with Balsamic Vinaigrette, Grilled Steak with Basil Pesto, Lemon Caper Chicken Piccata, Classic Marinara Spaghetti and Meatballs and Chocolate Ganache Covered Peanut Butter Cakes.

 

Tonight was another really fun night! The food wasn't nearly as heavy this week as it was last week. Here's how everything turned out:

The plating was a bit messy tonight. I think there were too many hands involved in trying to get everything on the plates so folks felt rushed and just started tossing stuff on them. The food itself still tasted pretty good. I think I'm spoiled by Dan's handmade marinara sauce as I didn't really think what was made tonight was all that great. The sauce needed a lot more seasoning and needed to be blended more as well (but I'm not a fan of chunky sauces anyway). I did like the freshly grated parmesan cheese that was on top (I'm so used to the stuff we buy in the bag!). We got to make the meatballs tonight. If you know me at all, you'll know that I run away at the thought of handling raw meat of any kind. Well, I toughened up tonight and actually helped roll the meatballs. They were so simple to make - who knew?! And, we didn't fry them but rather baked them in the oven and they were YUMMY! As far as the pesto dish goes, I learned that I don't really care for basil pesto. I did give it a try though but ended up scraping it off lol. Also, the steak needed to be cooked longer for me (I prefer my beef NOT to moo lol). The lemon chicken was great (especially after I scraped the capers off LOL). What can I say, I guess my palette is very plain :). The bruschetta was fabulous. I never knew I liked balsamic vinager but the drizzle on top of it was really good. If we ever make this at home, I'll toast the bread just a little less and lighten up on the olive oil. Last but not least, the peanut butter cakes were AWESOME. I could have eaten more than one of these for sure LOL. Too bad we're watching what we're eating as I would really like to make these at home ;).

 

Well, that wraps up this class ... check back next week for more cooking goodness. Dan may actually expect me to start cooking after all these classes! Yikes!