Category: In the Kitchen

Work Perk (Food!)

Also Titled, “That time I took a cooking class at Sur La Table”

Cooking at Sur La Table

Yes! It’s true! There is a gigantic kitchen in the back of our store where certified chefs teach classes almost daily. A few weeks ago Doug and I were invited to take part in the Szechuan cooking class!

Now, I love Chinese food but have always been really mystified when it comes to preparing it. In this class we made a peanut glass noodle dish, spicy stir-fried eggplant, hot and sour soup, and pork potstickers. Everything was incredibly delicious!

Szechuan Cooking

I don’t think I will be cooking a lot of Chinese food from scratch at home though, because all the recipes required just a few tablespoons of like six or more different kinds of vinegar, oil, paste, etc. That’s a lot to keep on hand if you’re going to be using them in small doses! I did learn some useful tips like adding sugar and/or vinegar to counteract something too spicy.

The most exciting part for me was folding the potstickers shut. Doug actually got really good at crimping the edges like the potstickers you might buy in the freezer section. I was less successful, and just made sure to seal them shut smoothly (photo above). Making potstickers did seem like something I would be able to make at home sometime!

Here’s the part where I make this post relevant to you. Taking a cooking class like this was so fun! I think that it would make an awesome date or an awesome Christmas gift, if you have a friend that likes to cook. I appreciated learning more about a cuisine that I generally do not make at home.

Check out a list of Sur La Table locations, or for my readers in Kansas, call Apron Strings in Hutchinson and ask if they have any info on their cooking classes! Many smaller kitchen stores (non-chains) have classes so make sure to ask!

[And no, although I do work part-time at SLT, I am not getting paid to write this post. I just felt like it :) ]

Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Tips

I am not gluten-intolerant, but I am noticing an increasing number of people around me with gluten intolerance, which in it’s simplest essence, is a wheat allergy. (I know it can be more complicated/nuanced than that, though. Here’s a great resource.) Growing up with a sibling who has a food allergy (peanut) I can sympathize with the importance of awareness and the ability to accommodate someone’s food requirements. Just in case you need to bring a GF contribution to a Thanksgiving gathering next week, this post is for you.

My friend Amy has been modifying her diet in the past year to be gluten-free. I asked her to curate a link round-up of Thanksgiving favorites which have all been pre-screened by someone “in the know” to be GF! So, feel free to get in the kitchen with any of these! 

Alton Brown’s Good Eats Roast Turkey

Rachael Ray’s Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Spinach

Corn Bread Stuffing (A great alternative to regular bread stuffing)

Oven Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts

Sweet Potato Casserole (Amy’s note: this recipe calls for flour in the crunchy topping. Leave the flour out and everything will be OK, or simply pick up a GF flour from a grocery like Whole Foods.)

Fresh Pumpkin Pie (note: use this GF recipe for pie crust)

My take-aways: Luckily, it would appear that most Thanksgiving foods do not need to be altered. Turkey? Sure, as long as you stuff the bird with vegetables or corn bread stuffing. Mashed potatoes? Yams? Cranberry sauce? In the clear. It’s when you get to the dressing/stuffing, rolls, pies, and casseroles that a chef needs to use caution. In regards to marshmallows, the normal ones are GF but use caution when considering ones with fancy flavors or anything. Also, be wary of canned soups (cream of chicken, cream of celery, etc) due to preservatives that might include modified food starch or malt flavoring. And for salads, don’t use croutons, but use nuts, sunflower seeds or tortilla strips to add a little crunch.

Now, I know GF baking is a whole different animal! So many different kinds of flour to keep track of! Luckily for me, I prefer making savory dishes and leave the baking for someone else. Have you ever created a special menu due to one of your guests having an allergy? Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s challenging!

Choripan with Pebre

I don’t write about recipes very often, but cooking unique meals is one key to having a fabulous kitchen. Take mine for example–it may not have much going for it in the decor category (currently), but I make up for it by making delicious food! So, when I come across something amazingly delicious, I have to share it with the world!

Right after we moved here, my best friend (since 7th grade!) Angela invited Doug and me to her house for a Chilean Independence Day party–September 18. I’ve loved her family’s cooking for years, so I would have been crazy to decline! Angela has declared me “Chilean by association” so I was happy to participate in the evening’s meal!

Back in high school, I did not know the first thing about cooking so I never lent a hand in the kitchen. These days, I love to cook, so I was given instructions to make the incredibly simple Pebre, which could be classified as a very mild salsa, I guess?

Note: Our dinner contained about six or seven different Chilean dishes. This was just an appetizer! 

Pebre Ingredients: 

1 large bunch of cilantro
6 to 8 green onions
Some tomatoes (I picked these heirlooms up at a farmer’s market. If using Roma, maybe use 5 or 6?)
Olive oil
1 large lemon

This salsa will be very green with a little red in it–very different form the kind of salsa people normally expect!

  1. Cut the tips and ends off the green onions, and dispose. Then chop the onions in small pieces, the green part and the white part, and put them in your bowl.
  2. Dice the tomatoes into very small pieces. Include all the seeds and juice. If you look at the photo below, I suppose my tomatoes could have been diced even smaller.
  3. Divide the cilantro in half. Pull off the long stem part of each piece of cilantro–You don’t have to take each leaf off the stem, just get rid of the longer part (before the leaves start).
  4. Chop the cilantro finely. Use a very sharp knife so you are actually chopping it, not just mashing it into the cutting board. Alternatively, you can use a food processor/quick chop tool.
  5. Combine everything in the bowl, stir, and eyeball the cilantro. If there’s to much red (tomato), repeat step 4 until the mixture is predominantly green.
  6. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze one half into the mixture (watch out for seeds!). Drizzle with olive oil and stir. Then, set aside to allow flavors to mix while you make the Choripan!

Fun fact: In certain regions of chile, this contains no tomatoes whatsoever. It has to do with whether or not tomatoes even grow there. This leads to disputes regarding which recipe is the “right” version. 

Choripan Ingredients: 

Sausage- Linguica (pronounced leen gwee sa)
Hoagie rolls

Choripan is a combination of Chorizo and Pan (bread). The Linguica I used here is a portugese sausage that I was able to find at Vons (here in California). If you are unable to get this where you live, I guess you could try making this recipe with an Andouille sausage? Try to stay away from heavier bratwurst- and summer-style sausages and use a light, slightly spicy kind.

  1. Grill the sausage on the barbecue (preferably) or on George Foreman device, frying pan, etc.
  2. Cut hoagie rolls (toasted on grill, if you want to) in half.
  3. Cut sausage to fit in half-hoagie rolls.
  4. Top with a generous spoonful of Pebre.

This was served to us as an appetizer (hence the small size). The flavors haunted me for days, so it wasn’t long before we were making this at home! The great part about this is although the sausage will be slightly spicy, the Pebre is cool and refreshing, which makes for a great complement. Even those who don’t like spicy foods should give this a try! Or, just come on over, I will cook for you. :)

Also, check out this Huffington Post slide show containing beautiful pictures of Chile!