Cooking Up a Storm

One of my Christmas presents from hubby was a prepaid cooking course of eight 3-hr lessons at a reputed cooking school. He paid top money not because I can't cook (so he says), but more as an opportunity for me to hone my skills given my passion for cooking.

The lessons are the hands-on type and the Chef is a charismatic and very funny French Executive Chef-cum-owner of a newly opened French restaurant.

While I am not a novice at cooking, there are always things to learn, especially from the experts. 

In my 2nd lesson for instance, we learnt so much about beef - the different cuts, the best way to cook them etc. Each team of 2 - 3 pax made 3 sauces to accompany the sirloin steaks, a yummy pumpkin soup and a potato gratin. 

Though I have made the soup and gratin often, it is always interesting to try out different versions and recipes. 

Making the sauces were the real eye-opener. Of the bearnaise, black pepper and shallot-red wine sauce, I think the last one is a true knock out. I tried making it early this week to serve with a gorgeous ribeye steak. E was so full of praises! 

At $170/session, it is a fantastic deal that includes a large bag of quality goodies and a thick dossier of notes and recipes. There's free flow wines and gourmet coffee during the lessons and generous servings of whatever we cook for lunch. 

There was also so much (clean) leftovers to bring home!! Like last week, I brought back a 200g Angus sirloin steak for E as my team-mate doesn't beef. 

And oh! Can't forget the bag of approx. 1 litre of restaurant quality beef stock which was leftover from the big bag the Chef used to make the red-wine reduction. I used part of it for my shallot-red wine sauce I made at home this week and froze the rest. 

It has been a fabulous experience so far. I am already salivating just thinking of the savoury quiches and French style stews that I will cook in the next session.