Week 6: Hands on Desserts

Wednesday February 10 , 2010

The fee covers all 6 weekly classes.

This class could last for weeks before we get tired of it! We'll cover a variety of techniques associated with this last course of the meal. Soufflés have an undeserved reputation of being fickle. But with a few tricks in your pocket, this will become your go-to dessert. And the luxurious yet easy crème anglaise sauce will quickly become part of your repertoire.

Recipes Include: Chocolate Soufflé, Caramelized Pear and Mascarpone Crepes, Bananas Foster, Crème Anglaise with Berries. (A light dinner will be served.)

This series of classes will be taught in our Lake Oswego facility.

Love Me Tender ~ All-Chocolate Dinner

Love Chocolate? Is there a special someone in your life that does? Why not have chocolate for dinner in every bite from amuse to dessert.  Chef and Chocolatier Robert Hammond will guide you through the wonderful world of chocolate course by course in the creation of dishes both savory and sweet.  By the end of class you’re sure to be so coco-satiated that you’ll be singing Love Me Tender.

Bruschetta of Chocolate Scented Roasted Eggplant Caponata and Prosciutto

Papparedelle with Ragu of Rabbit Braised with Chocolate and Red Wine

Blood Orange and Shaved Fennel Salad with Toasted Cocoa Nibs, Citrus Vinaigrette

Mole Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin, Peanut Mole

Sweet Potato Tumbleweed

Flourless Chocolate Pine Nut Cake, Cinnamon Scented Chocolate Whipped Cream Mousse

Celebrate Mardi Gras with Chef Amy Jermain and In Good Taste! We'll teach you how to
prepare the traditional foods of Fat Tuesday. Master the classics, Creole Gumbo and
Jambalaya, and learn to impress with Oyster Rockefeller and Beignets.

Techniques you will learn include: Creole cooking, working with shellfish, working with beignet dough, roux thickening

Discover the joys of making fresh pasta!  Forget the dried stuff in a box. There's nothing like the taste of freshly made pasta.  We'll make a spinach and plain flavored pasta from scratch, filling it with a unique cheese filling topped with brown butter and amaretti.  Arrive with an empty stomach because we'll also prepare meatballs and a light but flavorful salad rounded out with two gelatos and a crisp cookie.  Italian wines will be served with the dinner. As always, you'll be greeted with a glass of bubbly and an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms.  Come celebrate the flavors of Italy!

Techniques you will learn include: How to make pasta from scratch; how to make and fill ravioli; how to make gelato; proper ratios for a balanced salad dressing; and how to make brown butter sauce.  

To start, enjoy a glass of bubbly with an appetizer prepared in advance by the chef.

Week 1: Hands on Knife Skills

Tuesday March 2, 2010

The fee covers all 6 weekly classes.

Sin City isn't just slot machines and blackjack anymore.  This class is inspired by Las Vegas' top notch chefs.  In recent years, Vegas has become one of the top dining destinations in the world.  World renowned chefs are flocking there, making your gambling getaways a little more decadent - and delicious.

Techniques you will learn include: How to sear steak; how to check the steak's temperature for doneness; how to make pastry dough and choux pastry; knife skills. 

 Couples only, please
[The price listed is per person]

Hands on Asian Noodle Suppers

Move over Pasta!  Head east for a delicious new direction - Asian noodles to slurp, twirl and savor.  In their natural habitat, these noodle dishes are eaten as snacks rather than served as part of an everyday meal. But for those with busy schedules or tight budgets, noodle suppers provide a single dish meal that are both relatively inexpensive and quick to prepare.

Chef Robert Hammond will guide you through the world of Asian noodles and specialty ingredients with a variety of his favorite noodle recipes.

Techniques you'll learn: Choosing and usage of the different types of Asian noodles, stir fry, pan fry, deep fry, marinating, slippery coating, knife skills, and organizational skills.

Pad Thai
Thai sweet and sour stir fried rice noodles with shrimp

Beef Chow Mien
Chinese stir fried beef and vegetables in savory gravy over thin crispy noodle pancake

Pork Lo Mien
Chinese stir fried garlicky pork and vegetables in savory gravy over egg noodles

Hawaiian Style Chow Fun
Stir fried wide wheat noodles with minced pork and vegetables

Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass Chicken
Served over salad, rice vermicelli noodles, roasted peanuts and Vietnamese dipping sauce (Nuoc Cham)

Vietnamese Imperial Rolls
Fried rice paper rolls stuffed with pork, shrimp, vegetables and cellophane noodles

Yee Foo Wor Wonton
Fried Wontons in chicken broth with chicken and bok choy

This class will be taught in our Lake Oswego location

Cucina Fresca

Like a patchwork quilt, Pacific Northwest cuisine is an amalgam of the immigrant cultures that make up its fabric. Food and cooking in the Pacific Northwest have always been based, regardless of style, on the bounty of ingredients from field and stream, forest and sea - the fundamental ingredient to the cuisine of the Pacific Northwest.  

Join Chef and Master Gardener® Robert Hammond in celebration of the bounty of Oregon with a menu that reflects both his Southern heritage and embrace of ethnic cultures, featuring local and seasonal products, many grown in his own garden.  As is his tradition, he will offer a lagniappe (a little something extra) or two not included in the menu.

Hands on Dim Sum Favorites

In Cantonese “dim sum”, meaning to touch the heart, is a collective name for a variety of snacks enjoyed with tea.  Anyone who has enjoyed the pleasures of these little morsels and been intrigued by the carts of delicacies whizzing by has inevitably wondered what it would be like to create these treats at home.

Chef Robert Hammond will guide you through the world of dim sum assisting you to create some of the most popular of these tasty treasures that will surely touch your heart.

Techniques you will learn: making dim sum - boiled water dough, wheat starch dough, preparing sweet rice, stir fry, pan fry, deep fry, steaming, braising, and forming different dumpling shapes

Cha Siu Bow (Hum Bow)
barbeque pork buns

Ha Gow
steamed shrimp bonnets

Siu Mai
steamed pork and shrimp dumplings

Chun Guen
fried spring rolls

Kuo Teh
pot stickers

Dow See Pai Gwat
spareribs braised in black bean sauce

Nor Mai Gai
sticky rice with meat filling wrapped in lotus leaf

 Week 3: Hands on Grilling

Tuesday March 16, 2010

The fee covers all 6 weekly classes.

In this country, most outdoor grilling is over direct dry heat. This is the hottest and often the quickest way of cooking and what we’ll focus on in this class. We'll also make marinades, dry rubs and compound butters and we'll move beyond just grilling meat to explore lesser known grilling options. Although we’ll cover the concepts of slow grilling and barbecuing, time constraints don’t allow us to actually do them in class.

Recipes Include: Grilled Caesar Salad, Marinated Chicken: Beer Marinade and Moroccan Chermoula Marinade, Best Burgers, Grilled Pineapple with Balsamic Honey Glaze and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

This series of classes will be taught in our Lake Oswego facility.

This series of classes will be taught in our Lake Oswego location     

 Week 4: Hands on Braising and Stewing

Tuesday March 30, 2010

The fee covers all 6 weekly classes.

For this class, we need to review the basic methods of cookery: dry heat, moist heat, and "combination" cooking–which utilizes elements of both "moist" and "dry" techniques. Braising, simply stated, is a combination cooking technique using both methods in one recipe. Applications include pot roast, curries, stews, and osso bucco. We'll use several recipes to highlight the differences between braising and stewing.

Recipes Include: Beef Burgundy, Braised Chipotle Beef Short Ribs with Creamy Polenta, Braised Chicken Around the World: Thai Red Coconut Chicken Curry, German Beer Braised Chicken with Red Cabbage, Moroccan Chicken Tagine, Indian Chicken Curry, Mexican Chicken Chili Verde. (And you thought chicken was boring! Each group with prepare a different 'around the world' braise. When we're ready to eat, we'll sample each dish).

This series of classes will be taught in our Lake Oswego facility.

 Week 5: Hands on Soups and Quick Breads

Tuesday April 6, 2010

The fee covers all 6 weekly classes.

A good soup is liquid magic. You'll quickly understand how classic techniques like deglazing, caramelizing and thickening will make your favorite soups divine.  And what's better with soup than bread? We'll work from master recipes to bake perfectly tender muffins and breads each time. Quick breads use chemical leaveners like baking powder instead of yeast. They're a valuable part of any baker's recipe box.  

Recipes Include: French Onion Soup (demo), Cream of Cauliflower, American Beef Chili, Creole Seafood Gumbo, Cranberry Cornmeal Bread, Killer Banana Bread, Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping.

This series of classes will be taught in our Lake Oswego facility.

Week 6: Hands on Desserts

Tuesday April 13 , 2010

The fee covers all 6 weekly classes.

This class could last for weeks before we get tired of it! We'll cover a variety of techniques associated with this last course of the meal. Soufflés have an undeserved reputation of being fickle. But with a few tricks in your pocket, this will become your go-to dessert. And the luxurious yet easy crème anglaise sauce will quickly become part of your repertoire.

Recipes Include: Chocolate Soufflé, Caramelized Pear and Mascarpone Crepes, Bananas Foster, Crème Anglaise with Berries. (A light dinner will be served.)

This series of classes will be taught in our Lake Oswego facility.

Award-winning cookbook author Grace Young shares tips and techniques from her newest cookbook Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge. Young is the winner of numerous IACP culinary awards including the Jane Grigson Award for scholarship. The Breath of a Wok also was selected as one of the best cookbooks of the year by numerous publications including Food & Wine, Fine Cooking, Bon Appetit, the Chicago Tribune, and Epicurious. Young's first book, The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, won the 2000 IACP International Cookbook Award.

Grace will devote special attention to the secrets for stir-frying with success emphasizing the particular tips you need to know for stir-frying meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, and rice. She will also demonstrate the unusual stir-fry technique of velveting chicken revered for the exceptional succulence it brings and share with students how to season and care for your wok.