#111 - Continuing education (aka Toys, toys and more toys!)

Kitchen toys
Williams Sonoma opened their first store outside of the US.  Of course I had to check it out.  They have different things in the store, but the really great part is that they have my brand of cleaners which I was having a hard time finding (Murchinson Hume, if you're interested).  They have a cooking school with pretty stations so I had to check that out too.

Class - because you never stop learning...
Class was on a Sunday - a seasonal dinner party class.  I was hoping it would help with timing.  I'm not sure if the dishes we did would work for me, personally, since risotto always seems to be a bit tricky to serve correctly if you're doing more than 4 portions.  It was good for things like alternatives, variations and seasonal ingredients.  I have to say, the classes are a perfect way to sell their products, from kitchen equipment to ingredients.  They offer a 10% discount on anything you buy on the day of the class - an incentive that I believe a few people took advantage of during the break.

I got there just a little after class was supposed to start, but luckily they were still setting up for coffee / tea and the last station.  This is a sample of one of the stations.  People worked in groups of 2 but since there was an odd number of people, I got to work alone.  It all worked out really well because one of the girls was tiny so they swapped us around the stations after we made breakfast.

Breakfast
We worked at this station (above) for breakfast.  They had us make breakfast - an organic polentina which is like a more runny polenta-ish porridge but made of organic corn, served  with bananas and honey.  Gluten-free, since it's made with corn so definitely something to keep in mind for my gluten-free family members.  I'm not a huge fan of how sweet it is with the banana (my own food prejudices are alive and well) but it was pretty good.  Also another example of how you have to think about plating before you start spooning things on the plate.  The honey was really runny, but delicious.  It's the polentina which was a bit problematic - a bit too runny and loose to make a good quenelle.  The leftovers came home with me so tomorrow will be an experiment - frying the leftover polentina in a tiny bit of butter and brown sugar for breakfast.  I'll be skipping the bananas.

There were also some nutritional tips, so I felt like the time was well spent, in that respect.

Kale chips for snack (I was still waiting for the dinner party bit).  Not my favorite thing to eat ever, but a healthy snack and possibly an inspiration for variations.  I know it's supposed to be really good for you and apparently it's expensive to buy at the health food store so I'm happy to make my own at home if people want it.  Some were a little burned where the oven was uneven.  Smoked paprika, salt and olive oil - very simple. 


Lunch
Then "the real work" - risotto and fruit salad with a red wine vinaigrette, which might sound weird but the vinegar is hardly noticeable.  The teaching chef demonstrated the lamb shank (and made it - we didn't cook it, sadly enough).  It was a  straightforward pumpkin risotto and fruit salad for the last little while, then eating what we cooked.  It was a bit of a luxury not to have to weigh out ingredients, but it felt wrong somehow.  I think because I'm used to having to do all the prep as well, but our fruits and veggies were already washed and ready to go as well.  Leftovers are currently residing in my fridge, but slated for tonight's dinner.

The current courses are geared towards people who might not be used to cooking a couple of things at once.  I quite liked having the risotto to stir while I sliced the fruits for the salad (they caramelized the onions in bulk after everyone chopped their own) and I peeled a couple of grapes because there was time while cooking the risotto.  They like more butter to finish it (it makes it a little more creamy) but personally I like it a little less rich.  Especially since the lamb shank was still to come.  Love the lamb shanks with gremolata - the smell of the red wine in the sauce was mouth watering.  I have a feeling that it was part of the reason why store shoppers were coming to the doors and looking into the kitchen.

A great class for those who want to learn how to multi-task a bit more and the chefs said Williams Sonoma plans to add advanced classes so I'm interested to see what those might be like.

Until next time - happy cooking and eating!