Cooking classes, almost like being in O chem again...

[dickens]

I've taken three cooking classes this month, 'cause I'd been intending to for years and finally decided I might as well do it now.

I now know how to make sweet and savory souffles, brioche, and I've perfected my scone technique, and tonight there were many, many dumplings.

Pot stickers, pierogi, kropkakor (potato dumplings stuffed with ham and bacon which are poached and then fried and served with more bacon) gnocchi, apple dumplings and a dutch dessert dumpling made of cheese, sugar and bread crumbs that I can't remember the name of just now.

But! And here's the cool thing, I taught the teacher the trick for peeling ginger... put away the peeler and use the side of a teaspoon, the skin just flakes off like paper.

The teacher? He's a pastry chef, teaches ~20 cooking classes a month, speaks Chinese, and he's currently working on an engineering degree in his spare time. It makes me feel like less of a dilettante...

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Brioche. Ooooh.

[hypatia-j.livejournal.com]

The trick is lots of butter and you MUST put up with really sticky dough, no adding flour until you're actually forming it. (Or rolling it out for pastries.)

[laffingbuddha.livejournal.com]

I love that ginger peeling technique. I think I learned it from Cooks Illustrated or The Splendid Table years and years ago but it is slick! I watched Julia Child's bread episode from the French Chef and was intrigued at how sticky her dough was. Crazy!

[rmnilsson.livejournal.com]

There's an episode of the West Wing with a discussion of a state dinner, one course of which is hot pumpkin soup with cheese gnocchi and chevre brioche. That always sounded really good to me. Perhaps I'll have to get you to teach me to make brioche, since I already have a pumpkin soup recipe that's really good.

[hypatia-j.livejournal.com]

This could be done.