My favorite kitchen store is Sur la Table. A few times when I’ve been in there shopping, a cooking class has been taking place back in the kitchen. I’ve always thought they looked like so much fun. Finally last month I signed Big Eagle and myself up for one. We attended last Saturday night. I let him pick the one he thought he would enjoy the most. He picked Date Night: New York Steakhouse.
The class started at 4 in the afternoon. We thought we were doing good getting there 5 minutes early. I was surprised when we walked in the kitchen and saw that out of the 8 couples attending, we were the 7th to arrive. Our name tags were waiting for us just inside the door. We chose one of the two stations still unoccupied and donned our aprons. Let the cooking begin!
Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee
Groups of 4 shared the stations. We were next to Chris and Catherine, so they were our workmates. The first thing we were instructed to make was the Creme Brulee. Separating eggs was the first step. There were 4 of us and 4 eggs, so we each took one egg to separate. Big Eagle broke his yolk when he cracked his, so he had to ask for another one. By golly, if he didn’t break that one too! But he salvaged what he could and slid it in with the other yolks.
Here are the creme brulees from the whole class. They’re cooling after being removed from the oven.
Garlic Creamed Kale
I’m not a huge fan of kale, so I was hoping that maybe I would like it cooked this way. First there was some chopping to do. Catherine diced the shallots, I minced the garlic, and Chris and Big Eagle split up the kale to chop.
Here’s a shot of our handiwork! While Big Eagle was chopping his kale, the instructor came by and complimented his great knife skills. Nice! Kale is like spinach in that it cooks way down, so you end up with way less than it looks like you’re going to have at the beginning. And I’m going to say that that’s a good thing, because the final product did not change my dislike for kale.
Gorgonzola-Shallot Butter
After getting the kale going, we made the flavored butter that would be served on the steak.
Here it is all done! Now it sits for a while to let the flavors marry. (I’ve always wanted to say that! Ha!)
Break Time
Next we had a 15-minute break. All class participants get a 20% discount the night of the class. I had been wanting to try their counter top cleaner, but I’ve always thought it was too pricey. This seemed like a good time to break down and buy a bottle with the advantage of the 20% discount.
I really wanted an orange scent, but they didn’t have that. The lemon-basil is what I chose instead. Sorry to report that I don’t like the scent as much as I thought I would. When I used it, it smelled too much like a cleaning agent. I was hoping for more of a lingering citrussy scent. I’ll use this bottle up, but I won’t be buying it again.
Herbed Gruyere Popovers
After break, we made the batter for the popovers. For these we had to chop up a lot of different herbs. Chris and I pulled the leaves off of the stems, and Catherine and Big Eagle did the chopping. Once again, the instructor came by and praised Big Eagle on his knife skills. OMG … teacher’s pet! Did I get praise for mincing the garlic so beautifully? NO! Did Catherine, Chris, and I feel the teacher’s love because we separated our eggs without incident? NO! I mean, she didn’t even blink an eye about having to give Big Eagle a second egg when he destroyed his first one. And she was never aware that he messed up the replacement egg, too. Yep … teacher’s pet. But that’s okay. He ate it up. (smile)
Here Chris is whisking while Alan gradually adds the flour to the popover batter.
Seared Steak
Before the break Big Eagle had seasoned our steak. It was actually then that I think he won the teacher over. It was even before she had witnessed his knife skills. Another student asked what kind of steaks they were. She replied that they were rib eyes. Alan piped up and said that they were New York strips. She thanked him for correcting her mistake, and told him he had a good eye.
Anyway, steaks in the pan!
We cooked on an induction burner, which none of us had ever done before. It heats with magnets, and when you turn it off, it is immediately safe to touch. Very interesting.
Here’s what my plate looked like when everything was served. Two popovers, the steak topped with the gorgonzola-shallot butter, and the creamed kale.
Dessert and Summary
One more task was left to be done when we finished eating. No … not dishes. That was a big perk of the evening. None of the participants had to do dishes. What we did still have to do was sprinkle sugar on the creme brulee, and then hit it with a blow-torch. I have never used a blow-torch, so Big Eagle encouraged me to do it. Being the chicken that I am, though, I asked him to go ahead and have the honor.
In this photo he’s already put the sugar on and is browning it with the blow-torch. And yum – were they good! The melted sugar makes this crunchy sweet top that you break through with your spoon to get to the creamy part. Delicious!
Before we left, we had our picture snapped with our instructor, Chef Celisse.
In summary, the steaks were good, but Big Eagle makes steaks that are just as good if not better on our outdoor grill. I didn’t care for the kale, which is no big shocker. The popovers were good, but at home I’d just as soon have a loaf of crusty French bread. And while the creme brulee was delicious, that is a dessert I will have when we eat out if I’m so inclined. I don’t think I’ll be making it at home. But we had a really fun time, met some people we liked, and went home with full bellies. So I’m glad we did it. And, yes – I would sign up for another class in the future.
How about you? Do you like to cook? Have you ever taken a cooking class? Would love to hear your thoughts! Comment below with whatever you have to say. And bon appetit!
This post linked to the Grand Social