chef's school 101

A few months ago, I entered a contest on Cleveland Foodie's site and on Facebook and won three free Viking Cooking School classes courtesy of Heinen's. The BF and I have talked about signing up for a class or two because I've heard good things from friends. Plus, the BF thinks I can't cook (he can't either) so it was a win-for-win for both of us.

On Friday, we were present (slightly late) for our first workshop class called Date Night: In Sicily. The BF is half Italian and loves everything pasta, so I thought it was the perfect beginner class for both of us.



The menu consisted of roasted red pepper bruschetta, a grilled endive and radicchio salad, spaghetti alla Norma and mocha semifreddo.


Chefs Eva and Ron were there, walking the class of 12 through the whole process and we were paired up with another couple. Our meal turned out wonderful - it really did but I found ways to cut around some of the steps we had to do. For instance, I don't have a gas burner so I don't think I could roast a red pepper and I would also buy mozzarella versus doing the curd thing. Plus, we drank wine with our meal and I found my new favorite old vine zin blend by Brazin. Although, my group really thought we should be drinking wine throughout the meal and I continually asked Ron when he would be opening the bottles.

Next up are two more classes called French Bistro and Mexican Fiesta later this month. However, we might be adjusting one of these for a Chef's Table or another demonstration because the BF was jealous of the people sitting down and drinking, while we were learning all the techniques. I'm pretty sure the whole point of the class was to learn new dishes to cook and pick up a few techniques.

Have you tried formal cooking classes or an avid Food Network fan?