stir boston

My friend Laura and I took the "Passion for Pasta" cooking class at Barbara Lynch's Stir in the South End last night. I have to say that it was truly one of the most amazing culinary experiences I've ever had! Not only did we get to learn the art of making pasta, we each received an autographed copy of Chef Lynch's cookbook, Stir, to take home. And the bonus? Chef Lynch was there that night to cook for us!


On the menu that night were four dishes: Lemon Corzetti with clams and oregano; Tomato Gnocchetini with mussels and saffron; Strozzapretti with rabbit and olives; and Orecchiette with cauliflower and anchovies.




These photos cannot even do justice for each dish - the aroma of all the freshly prepared ingredients, the delicate texture of each pasta, and the intricate little details of each plate were awesome. It was so much fun watching Chef demonstrate how to make pasta from scratch, listening to her tips and suggestions on cooking, and laughing with her and the executive sous chef, Molly Loveday.

The kitchen was warm and cozy, and the maximum number of students is ten so it's nice because you don't get lost in a big crowd. The wines that they paired with each dish were phenomenal and they were quite generous throughout the entire session. A group of women were there celebrating their friend's birthday, and there were two couples in attendance in addition to me and Laura. A gift certificate to Stir would be such a great idea for anyone you know that loves to cook, or for someone who simply appreciates a top notch dining experience. I certainly hope to be able to attend more sessions in the near future!

Stir
102 Waltham Street
Boston, MA 02118
617.423.STIR
www.stirboston.com

To see more photos, click here.

sushi class

Tony and I took a sushi making class at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts on Friday night. I had taken two French cooking classes there and wanted him to see what it was like -- plus we LOVE sushi -- so I convinced him to take the class with me. It was a lot more stressful than he thought it would be, but we still managed to have a fun time learning various things.

Our instructor, Chef Hong, taught us about shopping for sushi grade fish, how to roll a couple of different ways, about the various filling options, and -- most importantly -- how to make sushi rice. We all did the prep work of cutting up vegetables, frying the tempura pieces, and prepping the dessert stuff in groups of two. Tony and I made the components for the dessert pieces -- mango with coconut rice and chocolate nigiri -- plus made the sushi rice. Then we cleaned up our boards and all learned how to make rolls at the same time. We could use any filling we wanted to which was really cool since I was a little bit worried that I wouldn't be able to eat much due to my food allergies. We will totally do this at home some time!

Here's a video of Chef Hong seasoning the rice that Tony and I [nervously] made:



And here's a video of Chef Hong assisting Tony-san with his rolling techniques (sorry for my little comments in the background - LOL):



Anyway, if you're in this area, I highly recommend taking a cooking class at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts some time. It's a lot of fun and you learn a lot while making yummy food and meeting interesting people. :)

cambridge school of culinary arts

Last Christmas, Tony gave me a gift certificate to the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts so that I could take any of their cooking classes. I enrolled in their "City of Light" class which features French dishes. There were 18 people enrolled in the class and we had 2 teaching chefs, so it was quite a crowded kitchen!

We made nine dishes total: Mussels in Cream Sauce; French Onion Soup; Chicken Fricassee with Cognac; Individual Beef Wellingtons (with a Mushroom Duxelles stuffing); Asparagus with Tarragon Butter Sauce; Pommes Dauphinoise; Salad de Bleu D'Auvergne; Fraises au Poivre et au Rouge (fresh strawberries with peppercorns and red wine); and Cream Puff Croquembouche.

Some seriously good food, ya'll.

Each of us wore an apron and had our own little station. We went around the room and the two chefs, Peter and Scott, asked if anyone had particular dishes that they wanted to work on. I picked the pastry cream for the puff pastries and got to work with a nice man named Phil who had arrived just as early as I did. He made the choux paste which was then piped out to form the cute little cream puffs.

Before we got started, Peter explained that we should read through the entire recipe to prepare for the various steps by gathering equipment and ingredients. Of course, I didn't realize until my arm wanted to fall off how much whisking I would have to do for the pastry cream! Man! I think my right bicep is much thicker than my left one after last night.

Although it was pretty hectic with that many people, it was fun to be able to watch others prepare the various dishes while I was waiting for the cream to chill in the fridge. Everyone was really friendly and helpful so people would ask if you needed help if they were done with their dish. A couple of people came alone like me, and there was a cute father and daughter team, plus two or three couples so it was a nice mix of people.

Of course, I ended up not being able to eat all of the dishes because they would have one or two ingredients that I'm allergic to. So I kind of planned ahead anticipating this problem and brought some tupperware containers to take my portions home in. Yes, I got a few strange looks, but after I explained my situation everyone understood and some even told me that it was a good idea because we ended up having a ton of food and a bunch leftover. Anyway, I brought them home and let Tony enjoy them. He said they were really delicious! I plan to make a couple of the dishes for us in the future and will just alter the recipes to exclude the things I'm allergic to.

I had a really fun time last night meeting new people and working with them in the kitchen. I'm enrolled in another French class called "Voila!" in May and my friend Stephanie will be with me that night, too. They do a lot of "Couples Cooking" classes on Friday nights, so I want to see if I can get us into a Sushi making one.

Bon appetit!