Cooking classes to focus on meats and sauces

Preparing Meats class tonight!
Thursday, February 18, 5:30-6:30pm
February cooking classes are filling up quickly, and last month was the best turnout that we have had to date.  If you wish to attend a class, and are put on the waiting list, call your friends and we will schedule another class.  Last month we did four different classes all of which were full. 

This month I'll touch on different meat cooking techniques.  I would like to demonstrate the proper way to grill and sauté a steak, how to braise meat resulting in a moist, hearty dinner, and roasting in the wood burning oven.  I’ve joked in many of the classes about not using the wood burning oven in classes, because not everyone has one in their backyard. Then it dawned on me one day that many of you do have a Big Green Egg, which for the most part, is basically a mini wood oven.   I will also touch on what to look for when buying different cuts of meat from the butcher, which ones are great when you have a little extra money to spend on a big steak and the cuts to get when you’re watching your pennies.  I would like to thank everyone that has come to cooking classes. I hope that all of you have had as much fun as I have.  I could talk for days about food, and this gives me an opportunity to do so.  I hope to see all of you soon.

Learn about sauces in March
Thursday, March 18, 5:30-6:30pm
In the beginning, five sauces dominated the culinary world.  These five sauces each have about half a million derivatives. Okay, I’m kidding — maybe only 1,000 each.  It’s not often that you will see us at SpringHouse use a traditional sauce.  I would rather use a vinaigrette of sorts or a sauce using the cooking juices.  All of these would be a derivative of one of the mother sauces.  We will touch on these mother sauces, but I won’t bore you with line and verse. You would quickly need to order coffee to make it through. 

All of you have at least one of these mother sauces in your refrigerator. That would be mayo or, as we commonly call it, aioli.  A lot of the time, sauces are used to cover imperfections.  When I think about sauce for a dish, I will ask myself the question “Can it stand alone?”  For instance, the Big Ol’ Steak that we are serving now has a chimichurri sauce, which is fresh herbs, roasted garlic, olive oil, and sherry vinegar. By no means is that a traditional chimichurri.  Would the steak be good without the sauce?  The answer is yes.  Take our Shrimp and Grits. Would it be as good without the tomato butter sauce? Not likely.  Please join me as we delve into the sauce world.

The cost for the classes is $25 per person. Please contact Michelle West at 256.215.7080 to reserve your spot.

Rob