Cooking up a storm
Out of all the tales I had to tell and pictures I had to share on my return from Paris, only one garnered the same stunned reaction, especially from men. It was the image of me, armed with a blowtorch!
Now keep in mind, this was a small kitchen blowtorch, designed for caramelizing the top of a creme brûlée, not some construction monstrosity, but apparently in my hands it stirred an element of concern. Maybe I'm perceived as more dangerous than I ever imagined. I kind of like that!
At any rate, after an endless amount of research on just the right cooking class for us -- one that didn't involve rabbit or escargots -- my friend Charlotte and I landed at Cook 'n with Class in the heart of the Montmarte neighborhood of Paris. One of its selling points was English-speaking instructors, though I'm not sure either of us were prepared for a very funny chef who grew up in Texas! Chef Alex is an amazingly tolerant, determinedly hands-on instructor who insisted that the five of us in the dessert class do a little of everything, from separating an endless number of eggs, weighing flour and sugar to whisking. There was a lot of whisking! And a lot of laughter as new skills were discovered...or determined to be out of reach.
During the three-hour class -- just right for non-serious cooks who wanted just a taste of
the French cooking experience -- we made a fabulous frozen grand marnier mousse, a delicious chocolate mousse, madeleine cookies, an apple tart and, best of all for me, a strawberry creme brûlée. I've never met a creme brûlée I didn't love and would have been perfectly content if we'd stopped right there, though I wouldn't have wanted to miss Frank from Boston flaming the apples for that tart, either. Surprisingly, they didn't let the rest of us near that particular fiery experience. Hmmm.
One of the best parts of these experiences is sampling the end result. Of course, not even on my best days can I eat that many sweets in a row. A taste or two of each was enough, except for -- you guessed it -- the creme brûlée. Oh my!!
This was the perfect introductory cooking class that actually made me feel at least a tiny bit like a pro in the kitchen. And with a Sweet Magnolias cookbook coming out next September, it actually boosted my confidence enough to assure that I'll be attempting all the incredible recipes created by Georgia chef Teddi Wohlford for that book.
If you're heading to Paris anytime in the near future, I highly recommend taking a cooking class as an introduction to the local foods. There's even a class that includes a trip to the market to learn how to select the freshest, best ingredients for the dishes you'll learn to make. It's a way to bring a little bit of France home with you and make it part of your next dinner party. Check out www.cooknwithclass.com to discover all the possibilities. And ask when Chef Alex is teaching. He might let you use the blowtorch!
For pictures and a recipe for that strawberry creme brûlée, go to my Facebook fan page. I'll have those posts up soon.
