Are you keeping it personal?

I know, I'm asking crazy questions again!

But are you keeping your cooking personal?  And, by that, I mean, is your kitchen space personal to you, is your cooking the kind or the way you like to do it?  If it's not, then I bet you don't enjoy cooking (or at least, not as much as you could!).

Now, you're going to either say, huh? or, Candace, what are you talking about?  I don't know HOW to keep it personal!  Well...here are a couple of tips for keeping it easy and fun that will help simplify your life.  Remember, this isn't rocket science so don't make it that way!

But first, a little background...I'm all about making things easier for my students in my cooking classes.  My goal or maybe I should say, my mission is to show you how to make great food that will impress your family and friends and be as easy as possible to cook.  So, I try to show you sensible ways to have it going on in the cooking arena and not dazzle you with my fancy footwork.  That means that you take what we learned in class and do it at home.  So...keeping it personal is just an extension of what I teach in my cooking classes.

I don't emphasize recipes that need exact measurements (for me, that's most recipes, really).  I use ingredients that are not difficult to find but are not your run of the mill, ordinary meat and potatoes.  And, I show you techniques that will make your life easier.

Case in point, I get tons of questions about knives.  What knife should I get?  Frankly, I don't know.  You are the only one who knows what kind of knife you need.  So in class, I provide everyone with an inexpensive but very sharp knife to begin finding out what kind of knife they like.  The weight, the shape of the handle and the blade are all important but above all else, it must be sharp.  So you can have great success with a very inexpensive knife IF it is super sharp.  You can also have a disaster with a dull, expensive knife.  There's one way you keep it personal...get a knife you like.  And, don't buy a big set like that salesperson wants you to buy at the gourmet kitchen store.  Buy your knives one at a time so that it makes sense when you add a new one to your personal kitchen.  And, then keep them sharp.  Learn to use a knife steel that straightens the blade (that's another story) and then have them sharpened professionally when needed.  "When needed" is also personal because everyone uses knives differently.

Bottom line is choose knives, tools, equipment and food to suit your personal style.  You like Asian food...get a wok, go to the Asian market, familiarize yourself with ingredients and flavor profiles for Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or Vietnamese foods, search the Internet for ideas, that's what I do when I want to personalize my cooking or cooking classes.

Wouldn't it be cool, though, if there was a resource out there that provided you with a step-by-step method for personalizing your kitchen and cooking and making it super enjoyable.  Well, stay tuned my friends...help is on the way!

To that end, you know that I have to include a little somethin', somethin'.  Here's a great recipe for Grilled Romaine Hearts and the house vinaigrette from Urban Kitchen.  With Labor Day coming, this will change up your grilling routine.
Be sure to play around with it...make it you're own!

Grilled Romaine Hearts

Serves 8
4 romaine hearts
1 red onion, thickly sliced
4 oz. crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese                                                             
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Rinse romaine hearts and remove any blemished outer leaves.  Cut hearts in half lengthwise. Drizzle with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.  Drizzle red onion slices with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Heat grill to medium high.  Place sliced onions (oiled side down) on the grill and drizzle the other side with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill for 2 – 3 minutes until they have grill marks.  Flip onions and allow to cook until softened and slightly caramelized, about five minutes.  Remove from the grill.  Allow to cool and then chop the onions.  Set aside.

Place romaine hearts cut side down on the grill for about a minute until the edges start to wilt.  Remove from the grill.  Dress with your favorite vinaigrette (mine is below).  Followed by chopped grilled onions and crumbled goat cheese.

White Balsamic Vinaigrette
 Makes about one cup of dressing

1 garlic clove, smashed
1 heaping tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
¼ - ½ cup canola/olive oil blend

In a pint jar or squeeze bottle, combine all ingredients and shake well.
Enjoy!
And as always...
If you like this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it! 
Come join the fun and take a class with us!  
Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

I continue to get great feedback about my Complete Resource Guide to Stress-Free Entertaining.  If personalizing your cooking and making it fun is interesting to you, you might enjoy this free guide.  Check it out by clicking on the link.

The Curiosity of Cooking Classes Redux

There is so much going on!  I am catching myself coming and going!  But I can't let my blog go without a weekly post so I went through the archives and found this little jewel...honestly, this is one of my favorite all-time posts (with the exception of one about a particular "Throw Down with Bobby Flay" which I have promised not to re-post, for now anyway).  We do have a lot of great, fun classes at Urban Kitchen.  And, I am happy to say the Asian classes are much more popular than they were when I first posted this lament.
Warmest,
Candace
And as always...
If you like this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it! 
Come join the fun and take a class with us!  
Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.
 
I am constantly amazed by the number of people who want to learn how to make pasta...often to the exclusion of anything else.
Take this week's classes as an example:  Wednesday was Vietnamese Street Food which I cleverly titled "What the Pho?" and Thursday was Ravioli.  To me, the opportunity to make a dish as thoroughly fascinating as pho and the banh mi sandwich would win hands down over ravioli.  Boy!  Was I wrong!
My poor little East meets West fusion class would have been canceled had it not been for two stalwarts and, frankly, I should have canceled it anyway (didn't have the four required) but I couldn't bring myself to deny these gals the wonders and utter simplicity yet flavor explosion of these two dishes.  Plus, I really wanted to prove that I could make an acceptable pho (I already knew I owned banh mi land).  So we had a great class and explored the ingredients and methods of Vietnamese cooking with all of its French influences.  We even snapped a quick pic of the pho yummy-ness.  Not up to Melanie Dunea quality but passable.

Now on to my quandary...what is this fascination with pasta?  The ravioli class on Thursday was packed...I even had a woman in there who just found out she had to cut out gluten...yet she was still in class!
Don't get me wrong (I know I say that a lot but I don't want to be misunderstood, of course), I love pasta!  But please, please, please...I don't want to be reduced to becoming the Pasta Teacher of Tulsa...sounds very grand, doesn't it?
I agree...it IS fun to make pasta and it IS easy but come on, people, let's branch out!  I have soup, puff pastry, pie, roasted chicken, appetizers, and grilling, grilling, grilling classes but nothing fills up like pasta.  We've made simple pasta, all kinds of ravioli and gnocchi.  We've made sauces and fillings until they're coming out of our ears but it's never enough!
Yes...I will continue to teach you how to make pasta but couldn't you throw in a little excitement here and there? 
I'm just sayin'...

It IS entertaining...

So what if I told you, anybody can be successful at entertaining?  Already scoffing at me, eh?
OK...what if I told you that you can not only be successful at entertaining but can also enjoy it?  How about that one?  I hope, at this point, that you're intrigued enough to keep reading or...you have decided that I have completely gone 'round the bend on this one.  But hear me out!
Personally, I have always enjoyed entertaining.  My mom was a great hostess on the order of Perle Mesta.  How's that for a very old, obscure reference?  How many of you even know who Perle Mesta was?  And, yes, I know I'm dating myself!

Suffice it to say, my mom was a superb entertainer.  She and my dad would have holiday open houses where hundreds of people would come and go over several hours in an entire evening,  It was a true open house, in every sense of the word, back in the good old (bad old?) days of the 1960's.  Copious amounts of food and adult beverages as well as the occasional romantic tryst in the coat closet with people not married to one another.  Yes, definitely the good old days!  HAH!  Anywho, my mother managed to prepare most all of the food but then hired people to help serve and bartend so that she could be "the hostess with the mostest" at my father's side.  Those parties and her aplomb associated with them were my introduction to Entertaining...I was going to say 101 but there was nothing simple or introductory about the way my mother captained that ship.  So, I internalized my maternal rendering of Martha Stewart and thought that was what I needed to do.  And, I did!  I loved throwing great parties that totally stressed me out but they were perfect and beautiful.  I loved them but I couldn't say they were "fun" for me.  Everyone else had a wonderful time, though.  I guess the question is...how did I get from there to here?  Here being the place where I not only enjoy but have put together a lovely stress-free evening.

The "aha" moment came over twenty years ago when I was running behind getting things together for a small dinner party and was, of course, completely panicked.  One of the couples arrived a bit early (that about put me over the edge but she was a very good friend) and she said, as she watched me race around, "well, it's so nice to see that you're human."  That was my tipping point!  Indeed, I am human and why not stop trying to be Martha Stewart (who at the time had a staff of 700+) and actually enjoy the evening and my guests?  And, from that moment forward, that's exactly what I did and continue to do.

At Urban Kitchen, I teach cooking classes but I am also creating a warm and inviting environment that provides entertainment and something a little different for people to do together.  So I am entertaining guests in my kitchen anywhere from 3 to 5 nights a week.  We turn on the music, pour everyone a glass of wine and start cooking up some fun.  The atmosphere is light and easy.  No intimidation from complicated food, just delicious, straightforward dishes that are as comfortable to make as that old pair of slippers is to wear.

Now...do you believe that anyone can entertain AND enjoy doing it?  I hope so!
Keep an eye out because a complete guide of how-to do this whole entertaining thing is coming your way very soon!

And as always...
 If you liked this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it!
Come join the fun and take a class with us!  Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

Tomatoes today, tomorrow and the next day...

Roasting tomatoes is a great way to use all those fresh tomatoes that may be starting to go bad on you.  Smells great when they're roasting and it is super easy.  Use them on pizza, bruschetta, in pasta, just use your imagination.  Keep this in mind when you've got all of those beautiful, local, vine-ripened tomatoes later this summer...

Preheat oven to 425.  Place whole tomatoes and unpeeled and smashed garlic cloves on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast about 25 minutes until the skins pop.  Baste with the remaining oil and you're ready to go!
They will keep in the fridge for a week or so.  Put them in storage containers with enough olive oil just to cover.

~This was a post from June, 2010.  It seemed appropriate for almost late summer with an update here and there.  I also love that picture!~

And as always...
 If you liked this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it!

Come join the fun and take a class with us!  Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

And, if you haven't already...don't forget to read my July 4th post and answer The Girl's Super Simple Survey!

It's not about the nail (applied to the kitchen)

Have you seen the viral video, "It's not about the nail."?

If you haven't, you really should.  I won't spoil it for you but it is the ubiquitous couple's "conversation" where he is trying to be practical and she just wants him to listen to her and stop trying to fix everything.  I was watching this video again last night for, oh, I don't know, the fifteenth time and it hit me (again)...it's not about the food, cooking or recipe, it's about listening to yourself.

You know how I hate it when people are slaves to recipes.  It happens in my classes all the time.  It is the bane of my existence and I feel it is my mission in life to lead you down "freedom's path" to the place without recipes.
The inevitable (and constant) question is: "How much of that did you put in?"  And, my inevitable response is:  "Um, I don't know, maybe a (fill in the blank with a form of measurement)."  It's not that I mean to be oppositional; it's just that as I stand in my mother's shoes, I really don't know for sure, exactly how much I put in.  So, I often have some frustrated people in my classes, especially the accountants and engineers.  At least in the beginning.  Then, they learn to relax, have another glass of wine and just go with it or I guess, they find another kind of cooking class.
Because it's not about the measuring!  It's about tasting the food and thinking or feeling something about it.  Does it taste salty, sweet, bitter, tart, bland or whatever.  If you don't think about or feel something about those taste experiences, I'm afraid you will be trapped in Recipeland, forever.  EEK!!

Here's the thing, recipes are created by people who like things a certain way.  That's why sometimes when you follow a recipe exactly, you think it tastes like crap because it doesn't suit your taste.  The person who made up that recipe does not have your taste buds or flavor memories so how in the world can he/she tell you about making something?  It may taste perfectly fine to them but not to you.  And, you know what, that's okay!  You are entitled to your opinion, so disagree!
Day in and day out, you follow the recipes of other people because you think they know more than you do.  Well, maybe they do but only you know what you like and how you like it.  Would you let someone pick out your clothes and tell you what to wear?  Of course not!  Unless you're five.  So why do you allow other people to dictate how you are going to have your food?  It's one thing to go to a restaurant or someone's home to enjoy their food.  It's something else to be making your own food by following someone else's rules, don't you think?
So here's another little recipe exercise to help you find your way out of Recipeland and back to freedom!  This is one I made up from different foods and flavors that I really like.  We'll start simple with a salad  because I'm only going to give you the ingredient list and no measurements! But I will give you a picture.

• red onion
• cucumber
• grape tomatoes
• feta cheese
• romaine lettuce
• white balsamic vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and ground black pepper

Here's what you do.  Gather YOUR ingredients.  Add, subtract, and/or modify to your heart's content.  You don't like red onion?  Fine, leave it out.  You love red bell pepper?  Great, add some.  See what I mean?  This stops being my Chopped Greek Salad and becomes your salad, isn't that cool!  So take ownership and do what you like to it.  Make it taste the way you like things to taste.  Then let me know how it turned out!  Because it's not about the nail!
And as always...
 If you liked this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it!

Come join the fun and take a class with us!  Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

And, if you haven't already...don't forget to read my July 4th post and answer The Girl's Super Simple Survey!

To Cook or Not To Cook...or maybe the question is...

Here I go again...starting off with a weird title.
So I guess I need to explain...but first...thanks so much to everyone for their responses to my Super Simple Survey.  It gave me lots of food for thought, so to speak.

And, here's one of those thoughts - maybe it's not about the cooking or even the food, maybe what it's really about is how you go about the cooking and thinking about the food and the process.

Consider this...you get home from work and you are dead tired.  The last thing you want to think about is making something to eat.  Cooking sounds like a death sentence and certainly the last thing you would do for fun.  Dragging yourself into the kitchen to stare into the refrigerator or the pantry with those sunken eyes that just seem to spin in your head as you come up with, well, nothing.  Finally, you grab a cracker and a glass of water and go to bed.  If you have kids, you give them a cracker, too.  Well...I think I may have to go jump out the window myself...This kind of mindset leads to books like this!  YIKES!!!

How about an alternative scenario....you get home from work and yes, you are dead tired once more.  This time, you turn on some music, pour a glass of wine and head to the bedroom.  Now wait a minute...we are going back to the kitchen!  Change out of your work clothes into something more conducive to a relaxed and comfortable experience.  I know...yoga pants and flip flops!  Now, you return to the kitchen.  Slightly refreshed and certainly in a better frame of mind.  Instead of staring into the refrigerator for inspiration...because believe me, it does not exist inside that box, you consider what would make you feel good about this whole situation.  Sometimes it might be ordering pizza or Chinese takeout but let's stay with this vision of actually cooking something.  You remember some things that you have learned recently like...start with a meat or fish or even vegetable that you really like to eat, then you think about how to fix it so it tastes even better.  Maybe you do a quick saute in a little olive oil with garlic and onion and then make an even quicker pan sauce with one of your favorite herbs,a little wine (that you're drinking, of course) and finish it with a little butter or cream or cheese.  Then you stop to consider how great the music sounds, the wine tastes and how much better you're feeling.  Wow!  I already feel much better than that jumping out of the window thing.  Woohoo...we're having some fun, now!

No, I do not know who this person is but she sure is happy!

See...it's really not about cooking or food...it's about the attitude.  You can cook anything and make it a pain or you can make it a pleasure.  Let me give you another example...
When you watch cooking shows or just watch people cook...it's boring, right?  The actual cooking is super boring.  In my classes, when we have to wait for things to finish cooking....Lordy!  Takes for evah!  That's because nothing is happening except cooking.  So the reason we watch cooking shows or take cooking classes is to be entertained (not just to learn something although I like to think that you learn a little bit in my classes).  If you watch the online cooking courses, pick one, it doesn't matter which one, they're boring!  I want to poke my eyes out!  It isn't about the cooking or the food...it's about the person doing it.  Again, a fer instance...I would watch Michael Symon make mud...he could just mix dirt and water all day as far as I'm concerned because he's so cool and attitude...for days!  Not to mention, he's cute AND bald which is a huge bonus for me.  Now, when I watch him cook real food, do I learn anything?  Sometimes.  But he mostly cooks stuff I already know about so why do I watch?  Because of the "feel" of his show or the "feel" of how he cooks.  And, yes, he is cute and would probably be very fun to party with but I also watch Alex Guarnaschelli because of the " C" factor...not because she's cute.  Although, I think she would be fun to party with, too.

See what I mean?
Now, here's the rub.  In order to create the coolness factor, you've got to do A LOT of WORK and spend A LOT of TIME not to mention MONEY on cookbooks and cooking references and utensils and heavy equipment and food magazines and watching food shows with lots of trial and error involved.  Notice I didn't say anything about going to culinary school?  No, because you don't need to go to school to create this.  But you do need all this other stuff because you need to have your own library (for lack of a better word) to pull from.
What if someone did all that work FOR you?  What if all that information was in one spot for you to refer to without you doing much of anything?
I know...sounds crazy doesn't it?  And, since I am just a little crazy, I'm going to have an answer to those "what ifs" in the very near future. So keep the faith, baby.  Help is on its way...
And as always...
 If you liked this post, SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter or with someone you think needs to see it!

Come join the fun and take a class with us!  Visit my website at Urban Kitchen on Cherry Street and check out the Class Calendar.

And, if you haven't already...don't forget to read my July 4th post and answer The Girl's Super Simple Survey!

Is it eggplant or is it aubergine?

No matter your preference...I apparently can grow it.  It's a good thing because not much of anything else is knocking my socks off!
But!  I am going to have a lot of eggplant.  I guess the bunnies don't care for it and maybe the birds can't find them because they are up under those giant leaves.  I bet you'd like to see a picture of these guys, wouldn't you? 
They really are pretty and I am impressed with them and the quantity.  The flowerbuds are even nice...a kind of white and lavender.  Imagine that, a purple veggie with a lavender flower!  OK, here goes.  This is one side of the plant but let's get a different view...

Here's the other side...