JULY 20 VIRTUAL COOKING CLASS

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Come cutlet with me next Wednesday, July 20 from 4-5:15pm ET! Cooks of all skill levels are welcome and our menu is vegetarian-friendly. $40 per Zoomer. Here is our menu:

Perfect Chicken (or Eggplant or Zucchini) Cutlets

Tomato and Crushed Olive Salad

Lemony Arugula with Shaved Parm

In my opinion, cutlets are a basic recipe everyone should have down pat. Well-executed, they are a meal that everyone loves no matter their age. Good ones are crackling crisp, moist and highly flavorful. The chicken cutlets and veg “cutlets” we’ll be making together are just that.

You can enjoy them in countless ways. Dipped in warm tomato sauce (or ketchup); slathered with marinara, showered with mozz and baked up as chicken or eggplant parm; served atop any green salad; or enjoyed as a fried chicken or veg sandwich in a soft bun with slaw and special sauce. Or you can eat them as we will, with a seasonal tomato salad.

The tomato and crushed olive salad is bright, fresh and acidic – three attributes that are needed to balance the richness of the breaded chicken (or veg). Any highly acidic salad pairs well – think an extra lemony arugula salad (which we’ll make last minute because I can’t help myself), a citrus and fennel salad, or mixed bitter greens with lemon-dijon vinaigrette and avocado.

Let’s be honest, cutlets are a labor of love. You slice, you pound (for chicken), you dredge, you cook….and then you’re left with….ONE thing? There is no way around the fact that you have to want to make your people happy when you embark on the project. Luckily, they freeze like a dream so you can make them once and enjoy them twice. We’ll be prepping a double batch so you’ll have the star of a second meal stored away in your freezer.

Register for the class here.  I will approve your registration, and send you an invoice and more information about the class including a grocery list, our recipes and answers to common questions. If you can’t make it live, the recording will be made available to all registrants after the class.

HOPE I SEE YOU THERE!

JUNE 28 VIRTUAL COOKING CLASS

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Join me Tuesday, June 28 from 4-5:15pm ET for my next virtual cooking class. Cooks of all skill levels are welcome and our menu is vegetarian-friendly. $40 per Zoomer.

We’ll be making three summer sides so you’ll have recipes you feel confident about going into BBQ season. (I’m looking at you July 4.) Each salad is a riot of colors, flavors and textures. They are each stand alone, knock-it-out-of-the-park sides, but they also complement each other perfectly. This means you will be praised if you make just one of them and will be worshipped if you make all three. Here is our menu…

Orzo Salad with Charred Broccoli, Cranberries and Toasted Walnuts

Corn Salad with Tomato, Cucumber and Basil

Peach and Burrata Salad with Spicy Arugula and Pickled Shallots

The Orzo Salad has all of the flavors of your typical broccoli salad but elevated. First of all, raw broccoli is…meh. It’s good but I’d choose roasted broccoli 10/10 times. We’re giving ours a little char and then we’re adding pasta to the party because who doesn’t love pasta?

Nothing says summer like a corn salad. After toasting corn on the stovetop (or you could use a grill if you have one), we’ll take it off the cobb and toss it in a bright vinaigrette. Then we’ll bulk it out with cherry tomatoes and cucumber and give it extra oomph with fresh basil. There are endless directions you can take this corn salad including the Mexican-ish vibe above with cilantro, lime and tajin.

Finally, we’ll make a peach and burrata salad to introduce a little sweetness into the menu. I think of any salad that includes fruit as a “gateway salad” – salads that entice even those so called “salad haters” out there. I love this salad with any stone fruit, so feel free to swap in cherries, plums, nectarines or a mix of all. Fruit + milky burrata = perfection.

Register for the class here. I will approve your registration, and send you an invoice and more information about the class including a grocery list, our recipes and answers to common questions. If you can’t make it live, the recording will be made available to all registrants after the class.

HOPE I SEE YOU THERE!

x

STICKY RICE WITH CRISPY TOFU AND BRUSSELS HASH

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My love affair with tofu started somewhere around age 10. My favorite Thai restaurant (which was the only Thai restaurant within a several town radius of my own) served the most perfect fried tofu triangles with peanut sauce. The tofu was crunchy on the outside and moist and simply flavored within. Smothered in rich peanut sauce and quickly dipped in the restaurant’s bright nuoc cham, each bite was an adventure for my inexperienced palate.

This flawless little appetizer is the reason I’ve stuck with making endless rounds of mediocre tofu for decades, ever in the search of some cooking method that would replicate that early food memory. I’ve shallow-fried, deep-fried and roasted infinite sheet trays. I’ve drained and pressed tofu overnight in the refrigerator, frozen and thawed it, and worked with every texture from silken to extra firm. I’ve quick-marinated and left tofu to sit with seasoning for several days before cooking. While much of these efforts came with some reward, the texture has always been…meh.

It wasn’t until I came upon a recipe from Cookies and Kate that I discovered the merits of cornstarch.

Continue reading “STICKY RICE WITH CRISPY TOFU AND BRUSSELS HASH” →

ROASTED ROMANESCO WITH PICKLED SHALLOT, CILANTRO AND GREEK YOGURT

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     I have a real love affair going on with full fat Greek yogurt. Yes, I like it like everyone else with granola and fruit or blended into smoothies, but my favorite way to enjoy it is in savory preparations.

I spoon a thick layer of it across the bottom of a platter and heap atop highly seasoned roasted vegetables like eggplant or the Romanesco here; a fresh salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and plenty of mint; dressed grains, or simple olive-oil fried eggs dusted with smoked paprika. The smooth Greek yogurt has a way of both carrying and mellowing out flavors. It adds richness to whatever you put with it, making it feel decadent and filling. Continue reading “ROASTED ROMANESCO WITH PICKLED SHALLOT, CILANTRO AND GREEK YOGURT” →