Cooking Class

It was cold and rainy out this morning. The perfect time to have some chefs come over and teach us how to make some wonderful Italian dishes. The menu was surprisingly large; Pasta Brisee, Gnocchi Pasta, Lentil Falafel and Strawberry Tiramisu.

There were 2 chefs, one who could speak English. The other, whose specialty was pastry, was there to assist. They were fun to chat with and did a great job teaching us.We did a mix of hands on work and watching in the preparation. At the end I felt that I could replicate the dishes but you never really know until you try on your own. And I definitely won’t try to make them all in one day again.

Pasta Brisee is a pie filled with vegetables. Ours had radicchio, walnuts and blue cheese. The dough was not difficult to make but rolling it out into a good circle was tough. I’m not a fan of blue cheese but my Mom and Kuah like it so I didn’t ask for a substitution. The result looked like a nice country pie. For me it was OK but not worth the effort to make it. I did find that I really enjoy the radicchio here. In the US it tends to be thicker and more bitter.

The next course was the Gnocchi Pasta. Although time consuming, this was not too difficult to make but you have to be careful about how you treat the potatoes so they don’t turn gluey or heavy. Ours turned out light and fluffy. The biggest surprise was the pesto sauce we made for them. It had sun-dried tomatoes, ricotta cheese and almonds. It had a wonderful tang and went perfectly with the gnocchi pasta.

The Lentil Falafel was one of the things I was most looking forward to making. I love lentil dishes and it seemed like it would be a healthy dish I could make for lunches in Dallas. It ended up being a great dish. Kuah even had the idea to add some green chilies to it when we make it at home. That should give it some extra zing.

The final dish was a strawberry tiramisu. It was originally supposed to be a regular tiramisu but since I don’t like coffee they changed it. The strawberries here have been so delicious with a combination of sweet and tangy flavors. It was put together on a plate for each person rather than in a big dish that sat in the fridge. This kept the savoiardi biscuits crisp which made for a nice textural element.

Overall it was a great morning. I was so stuffed afterwards that I had to go for a walk. Now our fridge is full of leftovers. Falafel for breakfast tomorrow!

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