A-Z: Cooking Class Night

Ever tried a cooking class? Ever had a wicked fun night full of memory making? YEAH, ME TOO.

I’m looking forward to breaking down this meal and experience! While I can’t package up my family to spread the laughs, I can share the details of our night!

We attended Tuscan night at the Auburn Watson Culinary Institute. The Tuscan menu option was a hit with our group! The glory of the class was the ability to choose a meal that we were most excited about.

• Roasted Rib Eye with Porcini Rub
• Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi with Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce
• Tomato Gorgonzola Salad with Crispy Pancetta

Some other meal options included a pasta making class or veal saltimbocca! I was excited about the porcini rub and learning to make gnocchi. Being gluten free, we also decided it made more sense to choose a meal where the main course wouldn’t require major adjustments. With that being said, AW was great about my gluten allergy and substituted Bob’s Red Mill White Rice Flour for the gnocchi (and they turned out perfectly, if you were curious)!

All in all, I would rate this experience five stars! The night started with our instructor going through each course and showing us what to do and how to prepare the food. For instance, the first walk through was the vodka tomato cream sauce, where we chopped onion, added it to sauté with butter, etc etc.

The stations were in groups of four, so I think this is something to consider when buying the experience! We went as a group of four, so we were together. If you choose to cook as a couple, you may be teamed up with two others. Maybe you can make some new friends and share cooking flare!

While the instructor was walking through each course of the meal, she covered basic cooking skills. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect as far as culinary technique! Growing up with my dad cooking for a good portion of his life, and Spencer a very talented cook, I feel fortunate to be surrounded by their expertise! If you’re looking for more advanced instruction on technique, I would recommend an alternate option. BUT, with that being said, I will do this again and we all loved it.

For logistics, I also wanted to touch on time! The class is booked for 7-9pm and we ended up sitting down to eat about 9:15. This was no biggie since we were all having fun, but a factor to keep in mind if you have a babysitter or something of that nature.

Alright, let’s jump into the food! The important part!

​Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi

Ingredients:
​Frozen spinach, 10 oz
2 T butter 🧈
1 shallot, chopped
Salt
1/2 t garlic powder
3/4 whole milk ricotta
1 cup parm, freshly grated
2/3 cup rice or AP flour
2 egg yolks
Fresh grated nutmeg

Directions:

1. Unthaw frozen spinach 6-8 hours ahead of your cook time. Squeeze out all the water using either cheesecloth, a mesh grater or whatever kitchen tool can make it happen 😂
2. Put a large soup/stock pot filled with water and several pinches of salt over medium high heat to bring to a boil.
3. Heat butter in a frying pan. When melted, add shallot and cook until translucent. Add two pinches of salt and garlic powder to combine flavors. Lastly add spinach and let cook over medium heat about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat once finished.
4. In a large mixing bowl, add parm, ricotta, egg yolks, 2 pinches of salt, a dash of grated nutmeg and mix well! Then, add spinach mixture and combine all the ingredients.
5. From the bowl, make all your gnocchi, about quarter size balls.
6. Begin dropping your gnocchi into the boiling water with a metal slotted spoon. Give the water a gentle stir to ensure they aren’t sticking to the bottom.
7. Once they float (~ 4-5 minutes), simmer for an additional 4-4.5 minutes. Remove with the metal slotted spoon and let rest on a plate. Test the first out and see if they need any additional time! Try not to crowd the pot. You will most likely need to do 2-3 batches.

This recipe served 4 with a delish tomato vodka sauce which will be the next recipe up! Stay tuned to complete the meal! Or honestly, just devour these however you want because they were so good!
​
Next up - Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce for the spinach ricotta gnocchi!
This is very simple and is a great pairing for any pasta dish!

Ingredients:
3 T butter
1 white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Canned whole tomatoes 28 oz, chopped
1/2 c vodka
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/2 c heavy cream
Fresh basil, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste


Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, with medium-high heat melt butter and add onion. Cool until translucent ~5 minutes!
2. Add chopped tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Keep on heat until bubbling. Remove from heat momentarily and add vodka.
3. Simmer at medium to medium low for 5 minutes and then add cream. Season with s & p, and add basil🌱. Stir to combine ingredients!
4. Enjoy! 🍝

Porcini Rub 🍄
Ingredients:
1/2 c porcini powder
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 t sugar
2 T salt
2 T pepper
2 T red pepper
2 T garlic powder

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together! 🎉
Rub over all sides of the steak! Let marinate for 1-2 hours before cooking, if you can! If not, just get after it!

This recipe should make excess, which can be stored for about one week!

If you can’t find porcini powder, you can find dried porcini mushrooms at most grocery stores. Then, you can grind them down in a spice grinder or blender!

​Now that we have the Porcini Rub, it’s time for the monster 2” Ribeye steak and how to cook it!

With winter coming in the Northeast, knowing how to cook a steak indoors is important! Like it or not, grill season is almost behind us 😆

The key kitchen tool to make this happen is an oven safe pan to not only sear the steak, but also finish in the oven. Another option is the reverse sear method.

A thick steak is crucial so when we sear the steak, you can develop a nice crust without cooking the steak.

Directions:

1. Let steak come to room temperature
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
3. Add canola oil to oven safe pan over medium high heat
4. Add steak and sear 3-5 min per side (depending on thickness of steak - looking for crust)
5. Finish steak in oven until desired temp is reached. We aim for medium rare so pull it about 125-130 and let rest and come up to temp (about ten minutes).
6. EAT 🤤🥩

Last and most certainly not least for this scrumptious meal is the tangy and addictive Garlic dressing.

I’m stoked about this salad dressing because it’s easy peasy to make AND it will put to use all the leftover egg yolks I constantly have 🤣

Served the dressing over arugula, crispy pancetta, tomatoes and Gorgonzola 🧀

Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic
1 lemon, juiced
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Add all ingredients to food process/blender and begin pulsing. Slowly add 3/4 c extra virgin olive oil and blend until completely emulsified.

​So, if you could eat your screen right now, would you? Is your mouthwatering? Just kidding! But, really this meal was special and a neat experience! Hit me up for more details, and until then eat well!