Fat Tuesday, baby!

Last Tuesday I hit up another one of Viking's classes.  This time we tackled one of my favorites--Cajun cuisine.  We spent the class slow-cooking red beans and rice, seafood gumbo, and crawfish pies.  Lunch was topped off with muffalettas, king cake, and a hurricane or two.  Those hurricanes are dangerous; they could get me into major trouble on a hot summer day. 

Tips for newbies:

1.  Wear some seriously stretchy pants when you go to these classes.  You eat sooooo much--elastic comes in handy.  You'll thank me later.

2.  Wear comfy shoes. 

3.  Since we were working with the "trinity" of Cajun food--peppers, onions, and celery, and we were using a lot of garlic, I ended up smelling like I had just stepped out of the bayou.  Just warning you. 

The food was delicious, and I feel pretty confident that I can do this at home. 

The middle stages of our roux--it wasn't as hard as I had feared; just time-consuming. 

Yummy okra for gumbo

I always wanted to know how to properly julienne bell pepper.  Now I do. 

The trinity

Crawfish pies.  I had never had these before, but they were easy, delicious, and would be great for parties.  (And look how cute!)

These didn't even taste like they had alcohol, and I think this recipe is better than what you'd have on Bourbon.  Seriously.

Since summer is on its way, (hopefully) I thought you might like the hurricane recipe for those sweltering Mississippi afternoons that lie ahead. 

Ingredients:

11/2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 3 oranges)

1 cup pomegranate juice (such as POM Wonderful)

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice (about 4 limes)

1/2 cup grenadine

1/2 cup simple syrup*

11/2 cups light rum

2 tbsp. dark rum

1/4 cup Triple Sec

6 orange wheels, for garnish

6 maraschino cherries, for garnish

6 tall rocks glasses

1.  In a blender, combine all of  the ingredients except the garnishes; blend until frothy. (Note:  You will need to do this in batches.)

2.  Fill 6 rocks glasses with ice, then add the Hurricane mixture.  Garnish each glass with an orange wheel and a cherry, and serve immediately.

*To make 1 pint of simple syrup, boil 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves.  Remove pan from the heat, and cool to room temperature.  Place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly before serving.  Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

(Then, you'll already have your simple syrup on hand for some mint juleps!)

Cheers!

Thai trip...

In my quest to be a little more adventurous, I took another class at Viking. The subject? Yummy, delicious, Thai food. I love all the spicy, oniony, garlicky, peanutty tastes that Thai food has to offer, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get better acquainted.

I must admit, when I got to class and looked over the menu, I was a little daunted. I mean, I've heard of fish sauce, but galangal? Kaffir leaves? I was a little nervous. Turns out, all my worrying was for naught. Our fearless teacher had us read through each recipe beforehand and took us step-by-step through the meal. She went over the correct way to hold a knife, which I always forget, and a better technique for slicing shallots. We cooked for about 2 1/2 hours, and we had a great time. I didn't know a soul in the class when we started, but I was put in a cooking group of 4, so we got acquainted pretty fast. When the time was up, we sat, enjoyed our meal with a glass of wine, and topped things off with a mango sorbet. It was delicious. And surprisingly, Pad Thai isn't that difficult.

Menu: Thai Beef Salad with Lettuce Cups, Sticky Rice, Tom Kha Gai, Steamed Jasmine Rice, Pad Thai with Shrimp, Mango Sorbet "Martini," and Ginger Cosmopolitans.

Lettuce Cups--yummy

We really made this--scout's honor. It was sooo good.

Shrimp Pad Thai

These cosmos would get me in major trouble on a Saturday night.

I wish I had taken a picture of the Tom Kha Gai, but I forgot. It's a soup made with chicken, broth, mushrooms, coconut milk, etc. Really light.

The good news is they sent us home with the recipes, step-by-step directions, and grocery lists. When I'm feeling very, very, brave I'm going to give the Pad Thai a go.

Ace of Cakes?

First of all, I want to give a shout-out to my MSU bulldogs, who gave a valiant effort against the #1 ranked Gators. Progress, people...I'm seeing lots of progress from those guys.


Anyway, earlier this year, I attended a super-fun Viking Cooking Class with mis amigas. We ate, we drank, we conquered--pasta.

Monday I had the pleasure of attending another class, but this time I was solo. The goal? Decorating cookies in honor of Halloween. I had a blast. I love crafty stuff, so this was right up my alley.  We worked with rolled fondant and royal icing, and my work turned out pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.

Deciding on a plan of attack--this was before I figured out that I needed to pull my hair back.

Hair taken care of--working with some fondant

My witch--isn't she sweet?

Pumpkinhead

The finished product

This class was a lot of fun, and probably a good one to take if you're going on your own.  It's fairly independent.  I did come out of it feeling like I could buy some fondant and make some pretty cute cookies. 

I have a feeling that my Christmas cookies will be a little more sophisticated this year. My next goal is to round up my husband and some friends for a group cooking class. I can only imagine how that will go.

(October 27, 2009)

Just Call Me Julia...

Hold on to your apron strings. Yesterday some friends and I headed out to the new Viking Cooking School in Ridgeland to take a pasta-making class. 3 letters--F-U-N. The class lasted 3 hours, and by the time we finished, I FINALLY knew how to properly chop onions and tomatoes. I have had an epic struggle with my cutting board for years, so this was a huge accomplishment for me. I can also throw around terms like "chiffonade" like it's my job.

Aprons on and ready to go

Knocking out some homemade farfalle pasta. That's bowtie pasta to all you culinary laymen.

Yes, it looks homemade. That's because it is.

Fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomato to go with our farfalle. Delish. (And I don't even like tomatoes.)

My friends showing off their knife skills.

Attempting to cut a tomato properly.

Isn't the kitchen gorgeous? I think I'll put it on my Christmas list.

Homemade ravioli with goat cheese and herb filling. I could have eaten the filling by itself.

The finished spread: Farfalle with Fresh Mozzarella, Basil, and Vine-Ripe Tomatoes, Linguine with Peas and Feta, and Goat Cheese and Arugula Ravioli with Tomato-Pancetta Butter. 

My plating technique leaves something to be desired, but it's not like I'm on Top Chef or anything.

After cooking our meal, we sat down and enjoyed our food with a glass of wine. How very European of us. I know one thing--I will be going back. I want to take one of their cookie classes, and I'd love for a group to go to their date-night.

Bellissimo!

(August 27, 2009)