Week 50: Cooking Class

My zucchini casserole that was mistaken for soup or maybe curry.

See that to the left?  That’s my contribution to my company Holiday potluck – Zucchini Casserole.  It doesn’t look very appetizing.  My new experience for week 50 was right on time – a cooking class at Whole Foods.

As 2010 comes to close, I think about what my New Year’s resolution will be for next year; I’ve decided I am going to learn to cook.  Not just cook, but cook well, so this week’s experience suits me perfectly and gives me some foundation for my 2011 resolution as we leave 2010 behind. 

I knew I wanted to learn how to cook in 2011, so I have been purchasing cook books and kitchen gadgets and doing some research into cooking classes.  I looked into Kitchen Window and Cooks of Crocus Hill, both had great reviews, but the classes were more money than I wanted to spend.  I googled cooking classes in Minneapolis and Whole Foods popped up.  I had no idea Whole Foods held cooking classes.  I viewed the classes, menus and price and I was sold – I signed up for December’s Catch on December 16th.  Each month Whole Foods devotes a class to seasonal and fresh seafood – you don’t know what you are going to cook until you get to class; the menu depends on what fish is fresh and in season.

The “classroom” seats 8, however there were only 7 students in my class: myself, a mother/daughter team and two married couples.  Chef Ani Loizzo began the class by speaking about the importance of choosing fresh fish and seafood and speaking to your local fish monger for selection advice.  The discussion also focused on the nutritional benefits of fish and seafood and general cooking information. 

We each selected a slip of paper with one of the five dishes for the evening and that was the dish we were going to assist with.  The five dishes were:

 Fritto Misto – fried calamari, scallops and shrimp

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp – pretty self-explanatory . . . bacon comes up again in this blog

Smoked Salmon Mousse

Crab Cakes

Cioppino – an Italian peasant fish soup 

I was to help with Cioppino.  The Cioppino had the most ingredients, so I was a little nervous – I like making dishes with the least amount of ingredients possible.  To my surprise the Cioppino was easy to make and so were all of the other recipes.  The recipes were not only easy but delicious.  As we worked through the recipes, Ani gave helpful tips on the recipes, ingredients and cookware, told antidotes about her experiences with cooking and answered our questions without skipping a beat.

I learned, I ate, I met new people, I was entertained – this was quite a steal of a new experience for $30 and I will be back for more classes in 2011.

Check out the pictures of moi and class cooking up a tasty storm.

INFORMATION:

www.wholefoods.com

Making Smoked Salmon Mousse

Smoked Salmon Mousse

Making Crab Cakes

Crab Cake

Raw squid

Making Fritto Misto

Still making Fritto Misto

Fritto Misto

Making Bacon Wrapped Shirmp

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Adding garlic to the Cioppino

Adding broth to the Cioppino

Adding mussels to the Cioppino

Cioppino

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