Heights Eats

Sarah and I recently won a gift certificate to a Viking cooking class from Live to Cook at Homeand Heinen’s. We’re looking for uses for our upcoming bountiful crop (hopefully), so we took the From Farm to Table class.

Viking has a very nice kitchen complete with envy-inspiring Viking appliances everywhere. All of the students sat around a large granite counter with the instructor at the end.

The class started with a mini knife skills course as there’s plenty of chopping when you’re using fruits and vegetables. Our instructor, Jen, was very helpful in showing us how to do this. I’d already taken a Viking Knife Skills class, so I helped Sarah a bit while we were chopping.

Our first task was chopping everything we’d be using for the whole night. This was both for the sake of mise en place and so we could start on the wine (for obvious reasons it’s not brought out while people are … continue reading

Sarah and I attended the Bread Communion at the Unitarian Universalist Church a few weeks ago. The idea of the service is that people bring bread that has familial or cultural significance and share both the bread and a few words with the congregation.

I brought whole grain challah from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads. Here’s the bread before baking:

And this is afterwards:

It was 50% whole wheat, but it was as soft and satisfying as any challah I’ve had. I mentioned that challah always reminded me of my grandmother on my dad’s side, who served challah with most meals she made us.

Other breads included beignets from someone who was from New Orleans and skillet cornbread. The woman who brought it admitted that she usually used mixes but made this one from scratch as her mother always made it that way. Other yummy breads included pumpkin bread, chocolate spice bread and a couple … continue reading

I recently took a knife skills class at the Viking Cooking School at Legacy Village. It was an extremely useful class. I have always disliked extensive chopping, but the techniques you learn in this class make using a knife much easier. We made salsa fresca and a stir fry, both of which required a lot of chopping vegetables (and, for the stir fry, chicken).

The main “revelation” of the class is that you should hold your knife not with your hand in a fist but more like you hold a pencil. See this post from the Amateur Gourmet for some useful photos and discussion on this. Holding your knife this way gives you a bit more power and a lot more control. There’s a lot more you learn in the class, though, especially about how to cut specific vegetables. Mark, the instructor, was very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. I no longer dread chopping, and I can do it somewhat faster than before. … continue reading

I recently took a class at Viking Cooking School at Legacy Village called “Indian Feast.” Everything we made was good, and I learned a number of techniques including peeling ginger, making samosas and some basic knife skills. While all the dishes were good, my favorite was Chicken with Roasted Coriander in a Coconut Curry (Dakshini Murgh). The fragrance of th e coriander (almost 1/4 cup of seeds!) is wonderful, and the finished dish is rich, flavorful and satisfying. Even Jonathan liked it, although I made his serving without the final addition of the chili peppers.

Chicken with Roasted Coriander in a Coconut Curry (Dakshini Murgh)

(adapted by the Viking Range Corporation from Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery)

3 tbsp coriander seeds1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds2 tsp black peppercorns
6 TB. (3÷8 cup) canola oil1 tsp black mustard seeds1 cinnamon stick1 1/2 lb. (or slightly more) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces2 medium onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced to … continue reading

I took a class at the Loretta Paganini School of Cooking last week with award-winning chef Peter Reinhart. The focus was whole grain breads. Most people, as Reinhart pointed out, know very well that whole grains are good for them, but they’ve also discovered that they often taste bitter and not nearly as good as, say, a fresh baked Italian bread. To quote page one of his newest book, we will only eat whole grain breads “if they taste very, very good.” The class delivered on this promise.

Reinhart’s emphasis is on pulling out the flavor hidden in whole grains, which includes converting some of the starches to sugars. Reinhart’s technique is to make two pre-doughs and combine them after a day or so of flavor development. He called this “the epoxy method,” because, like epoxy glue, two substances that are relatively inert on their own combine to make something much more … continue reading

I saw Michael Ruhlman, the food author and Iron Chef judge, on Saturday at the Cleveland Heights Borders. He was discussing his new book The Elements of Cooking. He’s a bit more laid back in person than on television, but that’s probably because, well, most of us would act a bit differenty in front of a camera. That said, his drive to get people to understand the “fundamentals of cooking” (a phrase he uttered around four times), finesse, etc. is just as salient in person as in his most recent book or on television. He gave an “extra condensed” version of cooking basics in response to a question a woman had on how to cook with only a small apartment and an electric range. He essentially said to salt liberally, frequently and as far in advance of cooking as possible; and to sauté on very high heat with a sturdy pan (not a nonstick one) for … continue reading

I took Junior to the Loretta Paganini School of Cooking today for a pizza making class. Sarah was originally going to take him, but she wasn’t feeling well today. Junior and I both really enjoyed it. The instructor, Annie ‘B,’ was really good with both the kids and the adults. We made pizza, braided bread and salad. Junior did a good percentage of the mixing and kneading of the dough as well as the assembling of the pizza, salad and bread. The salad was so good–complete with balsamic dressing, homemade croutons and cheese–that Junior even had some of it. The pizza was excellent as well. Annie recommended preheating the oven with an upside-down cookie sheet and then placing the pizza on another sheet on top of the preheated one. This allows a lot of the stored heat under the cookie sheet to conduct to the pizza, which makes it rise more (apparently most of … continue reading

Viking’s Farm to Table Class

Bread Communion

Knife Skills: Viking Cooking School

Chicken with Roasted Coriander in a Coconut Curry

Whole Grain Breads w/ Peter Reinhart

Michael Ruhlman

Tots in Toques: Pizza