French Cooking Class

For Paul's last birthday, I bought him (well, us) a French cooking lesson. We finally redeemed our class last Friday evening. We attended a class at Cook Au Vin, which is in Chicago. They make it very clear that while we are actually going to be cooking, we're able to drink some wine and have fun at the same time.

We cooked the Vuitton Menu, with a couple changes. We did a roasted mixed vegetable dish instead of the Tournee vegetables -- and we had a prune pudding instead of a lemon pie.

Our prune puddings cooling -- we had to make these first.

Paul and our chef/teacher for the evening

Prepping all the ingredients

Putting together our scallop appetizer (cooked in a ceramic shell)

Paul stirring the main dish (Hunter's Chicken)

The roasted vegetables awaiting dinner

The finished scallops!

Overall, I thought it was a fun and interesting class. We did learn some helpful techniques during the process, like the easiest way to dice an onion, which herbs should go in at the start of a sauce versus the end, and learned more about making a roux. I am always worried that my roux is too thick, but apparently that isn't as big of an issue as I made it!

I thought the food turned out pretty good (considering a bunch of novice chefs were the ones cooking everything!). Our chef was kind and very thorough in explaining why he did things. He also did a great job of managing all the craziness that ensued once people had taken down a couple bottles of wine! I would be interested in doing another class like this in the future and learning some additional techniques.

Fiori di Zucca

One of Paul's patients was kind enough to share some of the squash blossoms she had growing in her garden. We had some delicious fiori di zucca while we were in Italy, so i was super excited to make them again. 

We used a simple recipe we found online (we found many, with variety in terms of the frying batter and the cheese to include inside). This recipe called for ricotta cheese (we had a cup or so left of skim ricotta, and an easy batter of flour, salt, egg and warm water.

The batter was not too bad -- I think I would have used either a little more salt or perhaps a saltier cheese (whether full-fat ricotta or mozzarella). I wanted (and did) add salt to these after I took the first bite.  I also tossed in a little thyme with the filling, which was pretty tasty. You could easily include chopped basil, rosemary, or sage to change up the flavoring of the filling.

They were simple to make and cooked quickly. You definitely want to eat them right away while the breading is still crispy! And I'd avoid eating the stem end (or getting too close to it) as well -- even after taking out the stamen or pistil, it can be bitter. 

I'm hoping we can another batch to fry up before summer is over! 

Grilled Skirt Steak with Poblano-Corn Sauce and Salsa

Food & Wine magazine had several recipes in their most recent issue that included only three ingredients (minus things like salt, pepper and olive oil). We made Grilled Steak with Poblano-Corn Sauce and Salsa. 

It was very simple to make, and tasted very fresh. However, I would make a couple tweaks to the recipe for the next round. 

The recipe suggests grilling the corn and the pepper for just a few minutes -- but I would keep the pepper on much longer. We couldn't peel the pepper, so just ended up dicing it an including it with the skin still on. If you grill the pepper and then cover it with plastic wrap in a bowl, you can essentially rub the skin right off. When it isn't as cooked, it's really difficult to get off. 

I know it's supposed to be a three-ingredient recipe, but I think I would also add cilantro and also lime to the salsa. I don't think it would take too much away from the recipe, and would add some additional flavor without losing the freshness of the recipe. 

Fish Tacos!

It's Mexican/Spanish/Argentinian week at Casa de Bissler! We kicked off the week with some delicious fish tacos. 

We were less enthused reading the recipe and realizing we had to deep fry the fish, but they turned out pretty darn tasty. We used about 1 lb of halibut, rather than 2 lbs, but kept the amount of breading, oil and sauce the same. I think that was smart for the breading and the cooking part, but probably didn't need it for the sauce (as we're trying to figure out what to do with all the extra!). 

We used a Kaliber non-alcoholic beer (they are good for something, amirite?) to make the beer batter. I pretty much want to cover everything in beer batter now.

Beer batter on top, sauce on the bottom

Prepping the fish pieces

The deep-frying was a little scary at first. We were a little afraid of catching everything on fire, and I hate oil splatters everywhere. We fried the fish in about an inch of vegetable oil, and kept a lid nearby just in case things got out of control. We also kept our distance (and those of us who hate wearing shoes inside kept our distance). Since the pieces were a little bigger, Paul did two or three batches to make sure they weren't too crowded. 
 

Fried goodness!

Ready to enjoy!

We topped them with the sauce, tomatillo salsa and red cabbage. They were DELICIOUS. Like good as the ones I've had in restaurants before.

As for what to do with the leftover oil, we let it cool for a few hours and then dumped it back into the (now) empty vegetable oil container to throw away.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

It's a big day, folks. I made my first pie EVER. We had picked up some rhubarb on our way back from Ohio, and the only thing I know how to make with rhubarb is pie.

Making the dough

I used a combination of dough and pie filling recipes. I didn't have any shortening, so went for a pie dough recipe that used butter. I'm sure it's horrible for you -- but it was delicious and easy to make, following the directions.

I used a strawberry and rhubarb filling, using the recipe I found here. 
 

The dough worked great -- and like the pie recipe said, it only took about an hour to cook in the oven. The filling was a little watery, but I also cut pieces when it was still warm because I couldn't wait any longer!

Looking forward to some dessert leftovers tonight!!

Artichoke, Asparagus and Sausage Pasta with Homemade Caesar Salad

This meal is from a while back,  but thought I'd revisit it -- as this Giada recipe for sausage, artichoke, and asparagus pasta is one we go to a lot. We found it in her Everyday Pasta cookbook, and it's easy and delicious. 


And since it's been so long, I can't find the recipe I used for the homemade Caesar dressing. I remember using real anchovies (I was so brave!) and raw egg. I'll try to track it down and add it to the post, though I think I already scared everyone off with those two ingredients.
 

Chicken Marsala

I found an easy recipe on Epicurious for chicken marsala. We didn't have any mushrooms, which I typically like to include with chicken marsala, but this recipe worked out just fine without the mushrooms. 

I ended up cooking the recipe a little differently, as I missed the part of the recipe where it asks for "chicken breast halves, each halved horizontally." I just halved full-sized chicken breasts instead. As I started to move through the recipe, I realized that the cooking times for the chicken seemed awfully short (hello, food illness). 

In order to adjust for this, I ended up browning the chicken breast halves for about 6 to 7 minutes (for each batch), and then put them back all in the pan when the sauce was reducing. That helped greatly -- ensuring that the chicken was cooked through, and helping the sauce to infuse.

I also added a little more sage when browning the chicken, but I really love the flavors of sage.