The Delicious Bite: My Culinary Experience

For my birthday, my wonderful husband chose a gift he knew I would absolutely love. What can I say...the man knows me!!! :-) I got an all day cooking course at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Now, my birthday is in July, so I had to wait until September for the class. Not that this was a bad thing, but of course, I honestly couldn't wait for the day.

I was lucky to have a small class that consisted on only 12 people. The class was taught by the amazing Chef Remolina, head chef at the French restaurant over in the Culinary. I haven never been to the French restaurant before, or any of their restaurants for that matter, but now it is a restaurant goal of mine. :-) There were also 3 other chefs working to help us, 2 of which were students.

**Just a little side note here (and I love this!), but there was a student chef that worked with my team. Her name is Pam. She was a really knowledgeable Asian girl, and I was blown away by what she already knew being a 1st year student. I asked about her expertise. She told me that she had gone to a cooking school in her hometown, but really wanted to learn more. She came all the way to Hyde Park from Thailand!! How amazing is that?! Ok, rant over.**

Back to my story :-)...we were all in groups of 3, and each group was responsible for making a certain meal. My group had to make lamb meatballs with spicy tomatoes, zucchini cakes, and a tzatziki sauce. (Sorry to all my Greek friends; I know I'm spelling that wrong!! I think.) I really loved making every single thing from scratch. There was nothing in a box, nothing in a can...great vegetables, meats, and so on. Every grate zucchini by hand and not use a food processor? I found it slightly therapeutic and enjoyed it!! Laugh at me all you will. :-) To make a VERY long story short (just look at these blog posts), it was so much fun to prepare food that I might not have made at home.

During our cooking time, the chef showed us a demonstration on how to make Tiramisu. It was then served to us later as we sampled all the rest of the food. The chef showed us how to plate our dishes, and they were served buffet style. We all ate together in the dining room as we sampled each other's dishes. And I have to say...each and every dish was delicious!!! Did I mention Tiramisu for dessert?? Just checking. ;-)

If you get the chance to take a cooking class, or if you live remotely close to The Culinary (even if you don't), these classes are worth it. There were people in my class from North Carolina, New Jersey, Oneonta...they come from all over. It's one of the greatest experiences. And of course I promptly cooked one of my recipes that night when I got home. Zucchini pancakes. :-)