Cooking with Monkey

Image: www.himonkey.net

No, not cooking monkey brains (that was my first thought, when a friend told me about this site) but cooking a host of recipes narrated by (yes) a stuffed monkey.

One of the the best: a step-by-step lesson in how to cook a grilled cheese sandwich with a (clothes) iron. Urban legend, you say? Too messy? Monkey walks you through the steps, here.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Course Alert: Dish Development Seminar (Tonight!)

Image: http://www.culinarycommunion.com/

A seminar for those who know their way around a kitchen. With demonstrations in how to sauce, spice, and garnish a dish. You will consider texture, flavor, seasonality and look, among other elements.

For those that want a preview (or can't make it to class) consider the reading list: Grey Koontz' The Elements of Taste and Culinary Artistry by Dornenburg and Page. Yes, there's homework, but no, this is not a hands-on class.

Saturday, May 3, 6-9:00 p.m.

Culinary Communion House at Beacon Hill
2524 Beacon Ave S
Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 284-8687
$79, includes a full meal.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Cheese, Cheese, Cheese

You know the Seattle Cheese Festival is coming. You could do what you did last year, and wander like a lost goat through the crowd of other pushy cheese fiends. Or, you could forego that junior high instinct to shove as much dairy into your gullet as possible in the least amount of time, and actually learn something.

Behind the tastings and the (slightly anticlimactic) rolling of the truckles, you’ll find the Seattle Cheese Festival’s educational side.

Ever wonder what gives Northwest cheese its own unique terroir? Take a class from world-renowned cheese expert Jeffrey Roberts. Want to learn more about affinage, the art of caring for and aging cheese, and deciding when it’s stinky enough to eat? Sign up for a seminar with Peter Dixon, another big cheese of cheese, and one of the guys who helped get Estrella off the ground. Wonder what barriers cheesemakers face when trying to get their products to market? Attend a panel where reps from Mt. Townsend Creamery, Herve Mons Affineur Company, and DeLaurenti will walk you through what it takes to get the goods off the farm.

The classes are $50 or less, and based on my experiences last year, well worth it. Plus, you get to rub shoulders with the biggest names in cheese.

For a full seminar listing, see the Festival’s website.
Seattle Cheese Festival, May 16 to 18, Pike Place Market.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Cheese 101: Introduction to Artisan Cheese

Image: beechershandmadecheese.com

In this class, experts from Beecher's Handmade Cheese will school budding or full-fledged cheese-aholics in the history of the artisan cheese-making process. They'll also teach you how to recognize different types of cheese and offer a range of American artisan cheeses for tasting. There'll be wine pairings as well.

Beecher's Handmade Cheese class location
104 Pike St., No. 200 (one block from the Beecher's shop in Pike Place Market)

Wednesday, April 16, 6:30-9 p.m.
Wednesday, May 14, 6:30-9 p.m.
Wednesday, June 11, 6:30-9 p.m.

$50, 21 and over only.

(206) 322-1644 x25

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Pastry Arts Certificate Course

Image: www.breadart.biz/pastry.html

Do you fantasize about crafting your own pastries? Becoming an expert in that most elusive of skills, making perfect pie crust? If so, consider signing up to be a certified pastry artist. This 4 week class offers immersion in the schooling of pie and crust (April 8), Danish pastry (April 15), mousses (April 22), and cakes and butter cream frostings (April 29).

You'll learn to translate such culinary terminology as crème pâtissière and crème anglaise into actual pastry custard (think éclair filling) and pourable custard.

Tuesday, April 8, 7-10 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15, 7-10 p.m.
Tuesday, April 22, 7-10 p.m.
Tuesday, April 29, 7-10 p.m.

$375 (a 12 credit membership with 4 credits leftover, good for an additional two hands-on classes)
Bon Vivant School of Cooking
For specific address, call (206)525-7537

For more foodie events, visit Food Files, here.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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So Easy Souffles

Image: http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/pcccooks/classes/detail.php?id=62

At this point, the souffle is the only culinary delicacy left for you to master, right? Time to address the hole in your education. Both sweet and savory concoctions are on the class menu: a simple cheese souffle, polenta souffle with fennel and chevre, a chocolate roulade with vanilla whipped cream, and a chilled lemon soufflé with raspberry sauce.

$40. Wednesday, April 2, 6:30-9:00 p.m.

Greenlake PCC
7504 Aurora Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98103
525-3586

For more foodie events, visit Food Files, here.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Course Alert: Chinese Take-Out From Home

Image: http://letsvisitasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/chinese_takeout.jpg

If you're ready to try your hand at crafting dishes more often eaten out of a box than from your own kitchen, consider this class, tomorrow night: Wednesday, March 26, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

The menu includes a roster of take-out favorites: egg flower soup, pot stickers and accompanying dipping sauce, shrimp toast, orange-flavor chicken, and Ma Po Do Fu (stir-fried bean curd with pork).

Cook's World, 2900 N.E. Blakeley St., 528-8192
$60.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Course Alert: Grand Easter Brunch

Image: http://saveabunny.org/files/henry.JPG

This class offers a low-stress, make-ahead tactic for Easter brunch. Learn caterer's tricks for early preparation, and smart ways to present this holiday meal with ease. The menu includes mango orange smoothie (spiked, or no); cherry pecan scones; sweet yeast dough doves; and a mushroom, bell pepper, goat cheese and fresh sage strata (with prosciutto, if you like); smoked salmon potato cake with fresh dill, and finally; gingered pineapple crêpes.

Bon Vivant School of Cooking
$78
Tuesday, March 11, 7-10 p.m.

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Chicken Class at the Seattle Free School

I swear, I'm done with poultry as of this post, but I just learned about this class and wanted to post a notice. The brand-new Seattle Free School is offering its first class the weekend after next:

Keeping Chickens in the City
University Branch of the Seattle Public Library
Saturday, March 15, 10:30 a.m.

The teacher is Jessica Dally, who appears to be the driving force behind the Seattle Free School. That's because, of the courses that are currently being planned — several of which I want to take — she possesses the qualifications to teach most of them:

Cheesemaking (Dally was a former cheesemaker for Samish Bay Cheese)
Canning (she's also a Master Canner/Food Preserver)
Basic Auto Repair (former ASE Certified Automotive Technician)
Keeping Chickens in the City (chicken-herder in Seattle for 4 years)
Beekeeping (has kept bees in Seattle for 3 years)
Getting Your Irish Citizenship (you can guess this one)

There doesn't seem to be a sign-up policy for the chickens class, but if you want to be put on the mailing list or if you're interested in teaching a course yourself, email the school at seattlefreeschool@gmail.com.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Course Alert: Simply Serafina

Image: http://www.serafinaseattle.com/menus/lunch.html

A cooking lesson with Serafina's John Neumark. If this cozy, romantic spot is one of your long-time favorites, consider this class an opportunity to take some of that mood home with you. The menu includes cauliflower and potato soup, puttanesca con tonno fresca (spicy pasta with seasoned fresh tuna), smoked duck breast with lentils, and profiteroles (filled pastry with bittersweet chocolate). With wine-pairings.

$50, includes $5 for wine tasting.
Wednesday, February 27, 6:30-9 p.m. Redmond PCC
Wednesday, April 9, 6:30-9 p.m. Issaquah PCC

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Course Alert: Simply Ming - Soups and Dumplings

Image: http://ming.com/simplyming/index.html

In a class designed by TV chef Ming Tsai for Sur La Table, you'll have the opportunity to prepare and sample recipes from all three of his cookbooks.

The menu features a range of dim sum compatible items, from Thai-spiced mussel soup with leeks and carrot spaghetti, to Ming's pho, smoky turkey shumai (steamed dumplings) in pea broth, and finally home made pot stickers.

$69
Monday, February 25
6:30 p.m.

Kirkland Sur La Table
90 Central Way
Kirkland, WA 98033
(425) 827-5541

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Course Alert: Spice Route-Best of Malaysia

Image: http://importfood.com/saso0801.html

Dish It Up hosts chef Christine Arokiasamy for a hands-on lesson in Malaysian-spiced delicacies. The menu features dishes including saffron orange pilaf, stir fried greens with mustard seed, shrimp in tangy chili sambal (an Indonesian hot red pepper sauce), and chicken stir-fry with sweet Asian basil and chiles. A little culinary heat, this cold season, perhaps?

Wednesday, February 20
6-8:30 p.m.
$70.

Dish It Up!
2425 33rd Ave West
206-281-7800

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How to: Creme Brulee

Image: http://www.fragranceoilheaven.com/BakeryScents.html

Literally translated as "burnt cream", creme brulee is, for many, a favorite restaurant indulgence.

This two hour morning class promises to teach you how to make it — caramelized sugar topping an all — at home. And this creamy, custardy dessert will be prepared three ways: classic, raspberry and almandine. Also on the menu creme brulee French Toast.

10 a.m.-noon.
$25
Saturday, February 16
Salud, Bellevue Whole Foods

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Spanish Wine Tasting

Image: balmar.com

The BalMar hosts wine tasting of five small, artisanal, Spanish wineries. A few selections from the tasting list include: Avinyo Cava Brut NV, Xarmant Txocolina 2006, Ostatu Rioja Crianza 2003, and Rotlan Torra Priorat Reserva 2001. Spanish-influenced appetizers accompany the wines: pacilla peppers stuffed with veggie paella, chorizo stew, and churros with dulce de leche.

Monday, February 18th, from 6-8 p.m.
Pre-register by 2/15 at www.thebalmar.com.
$20.

BalMar
5449 Ballard Ave. NW
Seattle, WA 98107

Topics: Culinary Classes

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Course Alert: A Culinary Trip To Vietnam

Image: http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/10/27/vietnam300,0.jpg

Vietnamese cuisine expresses a clear French influence, melding traditional Asian stand-bys like fish, rice, and noodles into more nuanced dishes, creating a cuisine that many consider highly sophisticated.

Chef Suzanne Hunter will tell stories of her own travels to Vietnam with TV chef Jacques Pépin, while leading this hands-on class. The menu includes such restaurant favorites as: salad rolls with shrimp, nuoc cham and peanut dipping sauces; shredded cabbage and chicken salad, firecracker prawns, and-on the sweeter side- coconut rice with mango.

Tuesday — tonight— February 12, 7-10 p.m. (Space still available.)
Bon Vivant Cooking School
For exact location call (206) 525-7537.
$78.

Topics: Culinary Classes

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