After 45 days of hybernation, it's time to get out of the house and make use of my remaining maternity leave wisely....


Today's the first day of Basic Culinary Class at Maya's Kitchen. While I was handing the (expensive!) enrollment fee to the cashier, I have this thing at the back of my mind to withdraw the tuition as it might just be waste of money. I don't really know what to expect. I simply want to be able to cook decent meals (period). And I have to do it now or God knows when.

I was caught by surprise when I scanned through the cooking manual distributed at the start of the class - a lot of french culinary terms! Oh ha! Parang Ratatouille (Rat-a-too-ee)! *LOL* The topics are very interesting and at the same time confusing! A lot of which we haven't even heard of.

Here's the outline on the manual:
1. Kitchen Organization
2. Hygiene & Sanitation (basic microbiology, safe food handling: source, receiving, food storage, temperatures for food storage, temperature & it's effect on bacterial growth, general guidelines on how to store food, food preparation, thawing)
3. Kitchen Tools, Equipment and Measurements
4. Methods of Cooking (dry heat, moist heat, basic cuts of vegetables)
5. Basic Stock and Preparation (white stock, brown stock)
6. Basic Soups (clear, cream, puree, chinese)
7. Thickening Agents
8. Basic Sauces
9. Nutrition and Health
10. Meat
11. Fish
12. Vegetables
13. Eggs
14. Common Herbs and Spices
15. Ingredients Chart and Recommended Usage
16. Menu Planning
17. Garnishing
18. Meal Presentation

Interesting right??? :)

We're 10 in the class - 4 girls and 6 guys. The guys were mostly seamen on training while the girls were (oh well) attending for fun I guess? *LOL* The first part of the class was purely lecture. A lot of cooking terms and explanation of which is which. Cutting palang nakakalito na! There's coarse chopping, mincing, julienne and batonnet (ano daw?), dicing, cubing (iba pa pala 'to sa dicing), brunoise (ano ulit?), Paysanne/Fermiere, Rondelle at kung ano ano pa. In my world, it's just plain cutting! *LOL* Ang galing din ng trainor... she made the class very interesting and lively. Yun talagang narerelate talaga sa daily life even though you're not a chef like her.


Second part of the class was hands-on cooking. The class was divided into 2 groups and our first assignment was to prepare a full meal complete with appetizer, soup, rice, main course, and dessert. Of course, with recipe and instructions. Medyo sayang lang kasi we have to prepare the dishes as a group. Ang tendency, hindi namin nasusubaybayan kung pano niluluto ang isang dish if we're busy with another. Oh anyways, sariling practice nalang. After cooking all the dishes, we have to prepare 6 sets - 1 set for presentation and the other 5 for our own lunch. Thank God, the first meal wasn't a disaster! In fact, the food was yummy! I did the appetizer (which was admittedly weird) and the main course (the beef was tender!). The other group did better than us though. :)


After class, I immediately went to the grocery and bought the ingredients needed for the main dish and rice. Kailangan mapractice na agad otherwise I might forget the details if new recipe comes in. Most importantly, I want to know if I can cook them by myself; and whether or not hubby will like my cooking.

It took 2 hours to prepare everything...



Here's the finished product... latest addition to "Cooking ni Wanda" series :)


Time for taste test....


and the verdict?


The taste was a-ok naman... but the consistency is not. I dunno what's wrong, the beef was stiff. I'm not sure if it's because of the cookware or the gas stove at home. Food usually burns easily and feeling ko ang lakas ng apoy even if I set the heat to low. May idea kayo? By the way, I use tefal pans para easy to clean. Yun pan kasi sa Maya yun bakal na makapal at mabigat. Parang mas mabilis icontrol yun steel pan, pero mabigat lang nga. The rice naman turned out too soft. I followed the recipe naman though I was a bit hesitant when I saw the ratio of rice VS stock/water. Tama ba 2:5? Buti nalang I practiced at home. At least I can raise questions tomorrow para masagot nung trainor. (ETA: I asked Teacher Imee this morning, she said the amount of liquid is variable depending on the type of rice. So, same amount of water/stock din like the way you usually cook rice in rice cooker. I used Jasmine Rice and normally the ratio is 1:1. I was fortunate coz my tucsan rice didn't turn into tucsan porridge. *LOL*)

Is the class worth the money? I'd definitely say YES! Enroll na rin kayo! Masaya sya! :)

Before I say tata, here's the recipe for the beef and rice, in case you're interested. Easy to prepare. Try it and lemme know how yours turn out. :D

Grilled Beef in Herbed Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
500 grams beef sirlon, sliced thinly
salt and pepper to taste

For the Sauce:
1 cup tomato sauce, prepared
1 tablespoon onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1/8 teaspon minced dried garlic
1/8 teaspoon pepper
oil for pan frying

Steps:
Season beef with salt and pepper. Pan-fry in a sauce pan. Top with prepared herbed-tomato sauce.

Tucscan Rice (yumminess!)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk green onion, slicked
1 pc. green bell pepper, brunois (smaller than diced)
1 piece zucchini, brunois
2 cups rice
5 cups stock or water (ETA: I have to double check this tomorrow adjust accordingly)
pinch of thyme
piece of bay leaf
dash of salt
dash of white pepper

Steps:
Heat oil in a casserole. Saute garlic, green onion, zucchini and green bell pepper. Add rice, stir everything gently and evenly. Make sure all rice grains are coated with oil. Add water. Mix again. Cook further as in cooking traditional rice when water boils, add the spices. Stir gently. Reduce heat. Right after cooking remove from heat and immerse pot in cold water. Fluff rice.

Note: in class, after adding stock/water and herbs to the rice and boiling it for a while, we transferred the mixture to the rice cooker and let it cook there. ETA: Possible na yun 5 cups of water is for casserole cooking. Baka pag sa rice cooker less water needed. (hm...) Question answered above.

Labels: cooking, food tripping, wifey diaries