A Sweet & Saucy Start to Sunday

Guess who has been at Cooking School?



(No, no, the cooking school isn't on Sundays, but since I am currently working 6 day weeks, Sundays are the only time I get to try what I have learnt.)
Months and months ago, when I was doing a lot of overtime I decided to put aside some of my extra earnings and earmark it for something special. My friend Vinny has always raved about Tante Marie's Cooking School so I decided to give it a try. It was a long wait, but finally the 6 week, one evening a week, Local Artisanal Ingredients Course, taught by Jessica Lasky started last Thursday evening.

Jessica is a lot like me, buying the best ingredients locally and being very happy-go-lucky in the kitchen, not following the recipes too strictly. This isn't a class where I am going to learn a lot of proper techniques. It will teach shortcuts, however, and answer little questions that have been niggling me over the years. Everyone in the class is great, we all band together to create a feast from the produce and recipes, before sitting down together to eat (and eat, and eat) at the end of the class.

Because I had ingredients that would pass for recreating one of Thursday's featured recipes already at home, I decided to assemble it for my breakfast this morning:

Fresh Figs with Greek Yoghurt, Caramel & Toasted Pistachios
I used figs from Knoll Farms which I stuffed with a new (to me) Greek Yoghurt I picked up at Rainbow Grocery, called Three Greek Gods' Artemis, dribbled with caramel and then topped with toasted pistachios. Instead of painstakingly making the caramel like I did last time, I tried it Jessica-style which just meant bunging some sugar in a tall-sided pan, adding just enough water to soak the crystals, heating it, swirling, not stirring, until it boiled and became golden, taking it off the heat and then quickly and carefully stirring in a dollop of creme fraiche. Hey presto - caramel. Easy!


Other delights on the menu for our first lesson: Nectarine Salsa & Triple Creme Crostini | Tiny Corn Popovers with Bacon, Avocado & Cilantro | Roasted Tomato Soup with Sunny Upside Down Crouton | Perigourdine Tartine with Grilled Eggplant & Warm Goat Cheese | Butternut Squash, Arugula and Apple Risotto | Panzanella with Artichokes, Olives & Manchego | Simple Artichoke Salad | Crispy Skinned Salmon with Shaved Fennel & Toy Box Tomatoes | Roasted Vegetables with Oregano Relish | Warm Goat Cheese & Peach Galette | Fresh Figs with Marscapone & Oranges with Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce | (yes we really did eat all that) !

Archive Alert! On this weekend 2004 we recieved an exciting Shipment from France and made Mustard Crusted Pork Loin.

Food | Eat Local | Artisanal | San Francisco | Cooking | Recipes

A Sweet & Saucy Start to Sunday