PUTTING ON MY APRON AT APRON'S

Fellow Students Watching the Cream Whip

I was greeted at The Basics of Culinary Class at Apron’s Cooking School with an apron and a name tag. I was beginning to feel like a real chef already. Being the last to arrive, I was pleased to see a small class of only nine people with an almost equal mix of men and women. “Good,” I thought “I won’t be making a fool of myself in front of too many people.” As I looked around the room, I was pleased to see a bit of trepidation on most of the students’ faces. By the time I heard the intro by the Apron’s staff, I felt confident that these faces and mine would be like the faces of the people in the relationship groups I’ve facilitated, relaxing by the end of our time together.

Staff encouraged us to make the kitchen our kitchen, helping ourselves to whatever we wanted. We were assured the class was suitable for any level of cook, from novice to intermediate. Apron’s resident chefs, Mike McClure and Bob Vitiello, made it clear; this class was meant to be fun. The class format involves cooking, eating, drinking (after the knives are put down) and taking home food to eat later. This class is definitely my idea of fun!

MAKING THE CUT
Bob and Mike were almost apologetic that tonight’s class required some basic introductory information, making it more formal than the remaining classes. Basic hygiene was first on the agenda, with a reminder to wash our hands, and wash our hands a lot. Proper knife care was emphasized. Here are a few of the tips:
*Plastic or soft polyethylene cutting boards are recommended; glass or marble cutting boards will dull your knives.
*Don’t put knives in the dishwasher; it will damage them.
*Sharpening is recommended with each use.

My images of being a chef only lasted until the knife and cutting board were put in front of me. How do you undo decades of cutting wrong? Am I the only one who doesn’t know the “rock and push” method or where to hold the knife? Fortunately, I wasn’t being graded because I would have definitely flunked the knife skills. “Don’t pick up the knife, Amy” -- I was the first student to be corrected as I diced the celery. I was also the only one to slice through the entire onion rather than stopping short of the root--the most efficient way to cut an onion. But, I was the only person who made fun of me; Apron’s staff were very kind and patient.

STOCKS
In this week’s class, we made both chicken and brown stock. The brown stock began with a new technique to me, roasting and caramelizing beef bones with tomato paste in the oven. If you don’t make your own stocks, you’re missing out. They’re easy to make, and you can keep them on hand in the freezer to use for soups and sauces. Here are a few tips for making stock:
*Save vegetable ends and cuttings to add to stock. Key ingredients of stocks are onions, carrots, celery, and bay leaves.
* Always begin your stock with cold water and bring to a boil. It gets out the impurities, which rise to the top. The properly named “scum” that rests on the surface of the stock should then be removed.
*The longer you cook the stocks, the better. After the stock comes to a boil, let it simmer for at least 4-8 hours.
*If you absolutely must buy prepared stock, the Kitchen Basics brand is recommended. Never buy bouillon cubes, the equivalent of a sodium bomb.

SOUPS
Next on the cooking agenda were Roasted Corn Chowder and Texas Style Chili, making use of our stocks. The roasting of the corn added great flavor to the chowder. Another handy tip I learned in class is to cook a large amount of roux (a mixture of flour and butter) and store it in the refrigerator, eliminating the need to make a roux each time you need a thickening agent (and hence, saving you time). For the chowder, Bob pureed raw corn and a small amount of cream in the blender and used it to thicken the soup. What a great idea! As with most soups, the chowder was even better the next day.

DESSERT
The final course was a simple dessert that anyone could make, and it’s great for this summer season: Grilled Pound Cake with Balsamic Berries and Crème Chantilly. Assorted berries were macerated in sugar and Balsamic vinegar, an unexpected but delicious addition.

It’s apparent that I’ve come to the right place to develop trust in my own creativity and skill. Although we’re given measured recipes to take home, the chefs only measure by sight and taste, pinching and throwing ingredients in the pot. Questions like “How long do you cook it” and “How much do you put in?” are answered with responses like “As long as it takes.” and “Until it tastes good.”

The tips here are a only a few of the cooking hints learned from this initial class in the 6 week course. I look ahead in my binder to the recipes for the next 5 classes with anticipation. One look proves the anticipation is well-deserved. All of the menus are inviting me back to class. Next week is Italian. I can’t wait! I'll share more of my learnings with you after next week's class. Til then, you might want to spend just a few minutes making this delicious recipe.

Grilled Pound Cake with Balsamic Berries and Crème Chantilly
Serves Six

Ingredients:
1 16-ounce Pound Cake

For the berries:
1 pint Strawberries (washed and cut in quarters)
1 pint Raspberries
1 pint Blueberries
1 pint Blackberries
¾ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 fluid ounces white Balsamic Vinegar
Toss all ingredients, excluding the pound cake, in a mixing bowl and refrigerate several hours.

For the Crème Chantilly:
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoons confectioners sugar

Method:
Whip the cream until soft peaks are visible. Add vanilla and sugar and continue to whip until firm peaks are formed.

To Serve:
Divide pound cake into 6 equal slices and “mark” on a hot grill, (this will only take a few seconds per side; it burns quickly). Top each slice of cake with the mixed berries and their juice. Serve with crème Chantilly. Enjoy this recipe from Apron's!

0 members like this