Cooking En Pappillote

Did this as a paid class in April and everyone had good time and we ate way way too much each time I did it.  Sheesh, it is soo good how can anyone not eat a ton of the good stuff.  Anyway, baking at high temperature while sealed in a parchment paper container is pretty healthy way of doing things.  I admit that I do it a little different (BUT REALLY, DON'T I ALWAYS DO IT A BIT DIFFERENTLY?) and I never want to waste anything.  So I discovered that if i put a layer of cooked pasta down on the paper first, then all the juices that come out of the fish or chicken and the vegetables get soaked up by the pasta and it becomes a truly mind blowing dish.  Well, that is a direct quote from one of those above here at the class.  We all ate most of what was cooked and had a great time. 

Grains again, but one you never get tired of!

Always ready to help out when I can, Marjorie asked me to do a class about the Macrobiotic Diet.  Since the basis of going Macro is to get 70 % of you food from whole grains, I though that this class would be excellent to introduce her to some of the stuff that I sell, and how quick, easy and delicious cooking grains can be.  Sort of repeated two of the grains from last time, did Mushroom quinoa with red veggie curry to go over it.  Then this fantastic Bulgur dish with lots of caramalized onions, roasted tomatoes as garnish on top of the cooked bulgur.  Then my brown rice done in the interior Mexico fashion with carrots, peas, onions, bell peppers and lots of chili powder and other spices.  When partially cooked, we took off the pressure cooker lid and made indentations in the tip of the rice where we then cracked an egg.  A covering of cheese and 2 more minutes under pressure and it was very cool. 

Pizza Fun with Real Whole Wheat Bread

This is always the most popular bread class that I do.  So I did it twice in the first two weeks of May and had some people come.  Maybe to hot, or the rain scared some others away from the classes, but those that were here all enjoyed the stuff we made, and we all talked about how easy it is to make and eat healthy foods.  Well, they all said that I make it look easy.  In the first class, we had these two wonderful people here to help me eat some whole wheat crusted pizzas.  We made thin crust ones, and a thick crust one as well.  The thick crust was the breakfast pizza with beaten eggs and hot sauce used instead of a sauce.  Then lots of cheese, Bacon, onions, peppers and it was spectacular.  We then made a traditional pizza using my 20 minute marinara of which the recipe is on the website.  Then with sliced sausages, peppers, onions and lots of Mozzarella and Parmesan.  Then the really nice Asiago, smoked salmon and capers pizza that we served with pickled red onions which it sounds kind of odd, but it really does make the pizza.  Then a mushroom pizza, and we had a nice discussion about chemical additives in our food supply while we ate most of the pizza up.  I was stuffed, they said they were, so all in all, a successful little class.  The class from Wednesday the 11th was similar, just didn't take a picture. 

Thursday April 14 Grains Class. Extra Special Stuff

Take about a dozen grape tomatoes and cut in half.  Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil and one of balsamic vinegar and season with fresh ground black pepper.  As an option you can sprinkle a bit of organic evaporated cane juice on them when you place them cut side up on a baking sheet and bake in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a small pressure cooker, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil and cook a half an onion in medium dice, a couple of jalapenos that have been seeded and roughly chopped, and a couple of cloves of garlic.  When the onion is translucent, add one cup bulgar wheat.  Toast a minute and then add 1 ¾ cup stock.  Bring to a boil and put the pressure lid on, bring to pressure and cook for 12 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow the pressure to reduce naturally.  Take a half an onion and slice into thin slices.  Cook in skillet in 3 tablespoons olive oil until browned.  Sprinkle lightly with a ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.  Squeeze a half a lemon over the onions and allow juice to evaporate.  Remove from heat.  When pressure releases, remove lid and place 6 oz. of fresh spinach into pan, replace lid and allow spinach to wilt for 5 minutes.  Stir the spinach in well.  Fluff the bulgar and place on serving tray, place the tomatoes on top, then top with the browned onions.   Add some cilantro or parsley with some sliced scallions as a garnish and this dish is spectacular.  I had a bottle of Musto on hand so I added a couple tablespoons of it to the onions along with the lemon juice.  It added an extra bit of sweetness that was spectacular.  All that were here for the class loved it.  I also made some really nice Quinoa and a delicious chicken curry to serve over it.  Yummmm. 

Ravioli Class

Pasta Class, some fun with new friends

 I have been wanting to just do a couple of dishes with just pasta and so at the end of the month I did.  One of my favorite pasta dishes of all time is Carbonara. So Simple, yet so wonderful.  I took a package of my Roasted Red Pepper Linguine and cooked it.  Meanwhile I browned 4 strips bacon in large skillet.  When bacon is browned, I removed it and chopped it.  In same skillet, saute a half cup of finely diced onion until translucent.  Add the cooked pasta and pour into the pan, 3 eggs beaten with a quarter cup milk or half and half, and a quarter cup shredded Parmesan cheese.  Add a half cup of the water the pasta was cooked in and then stir stir stir until the eggs set and a thick sauce forms.  Turn onto a serving platter and place the chopped bacon in the middle and top with shaved Parmesan, and lots of black pepper.  You can add peas, that is pretty traditional, or I usually add sliced scallions as well. 

 Wild Mushroom Linguine is the base of this quick and delicious dish.  I sauteed some sliced celery, onion and yellow peppers along with some mushrooms.  I added a bit of Reisling to the pan and it smelled heavenly.  I cooked the Linguine and added it to the skillet and then turned it out onto the platter.  Some shaved Parmesan again on top and it just tasted incredible.  Simple, fresh ingredients, whole wheat pasta, some olive oil and Parmesan.  It was very healthy eating.  And spectacularly tasty as evidenced by the happy faces of those that were there to enjoy the excellent food with me. 

 Now look, my hair is not that funny looking Carol. 

These ladies are SLUTS.  Yes it is true, look close at their name badges.  True SLUTS.  Ah, I believe that the world would be a better place if we had more wonderful, wholesome, interesting and fabulous SLUTS like these ladies and the group that they were here with.  Hey, I was in heaven, I had ten SLUTS in my store at once and loved every minute of it!

Basic Bread and PIZZA!

Tuesday, March 22, we made pizza.  And of course since it was me making the pizza, it was not your usual pizza.  My philosophy, I quote it a lot, comes from the old Monty Python show, "And now for something completely different"  First off, I made a basic bread dough.  From this, we made a few loaves of bread.  Then because it is for pizza, we added more whole wheat flour to the dough to give it some strength and stiffness.  Rolled out two deep dish ones and set them aside to rise awhile.  Then, I rolled out a thin crust pizza and placed it on my peel.  Yes, it's true, and an old joke, but I nicknamed my peel, Emma.  I had made some of my 20 minute marinara and we spooned on a big amount.  Lots of Mozzarella and then I sliced some Eichmann's smoked sausage into thin rounds and placed them onto the cheese.  Then I took 2 jalapenos, sliced off the top, cored them and sliced into slices.  These I put on top of each sausage slice.  Baked in the oven on a pizza stone until crisp, it was spectacular.  Onto one of the deep dish crusts, I spread out some medium salsa.  Then I spread on a layer of the very popular Mexican Style 3 Cheese Blend.  On top of that, I put a bunch of my carnitas that were left over from a previous class.  Then a bunch of thin sliced onions and red bell peppers. 

The last one was somewhat unique.  I made sure the edges of the crust were higher up the pan all the way around.  Then I beat 3 eggs and poured them on.  Spread them around and covered with Mozzarella.  Then added some chopped bacon, cooked potatoes, sort of a breakfast pizza.  This was my favorite. 

Fun at Basic Bread Making Class

Well we had some fun here at the store on Wednesday evening with this group.  I was teaching just basic bread class.  We made basic whole wheat bread that we made into little loaves for everyone, and then we took some of the dough and made stuffed rolls.  Some had a mixture of dried fruit, some had scallops, bacon and chives (leftovers from ravioli making) and then some we stuffed with my refritos from Tuesday nights class.  And then just to introduce all the new people to my stuff, I sauteed some celery, onions, red bells and jalapenos in a large skillet.  Then I cooked up a package of my number 2 selling pasta, Roasted Garlic and Jalapeno Linguine and tossed it with the veggies.  Served with some of the fresh baked bread and we all enjoyed the meal.  Thank you to all the wonderful young ladies that came to visit and talk food with me.  And thanks Victor for making sure I was not the only guy there. 

Mexican Pressure Cooking Class III

Tuesday March 8th was a tasty evening indeed.  Victor and Desiree came in and we talked about food a little, chopped some veggies and made three fabulous Mexican inspired dishes.  The one pictured is Pollo Frito Receta.  Sort of a thick stew made with onions, peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes and chicken.  I served this over a bed of my own personally made Smoky and Spicy Chipotle Linguine.  Garnished with avocados, scallions and cilantro.  It was yummy, although I have to admit that the chicken was a little tough, I was in conversation with my guests and forgot to turn the pressure cooker off that when the timer went off.  Oh well, who can blame me, Desiree is very nice to talk to.  Anyway, I then made some nice spicy pinto beans, and a favorite of mine is potatoes and eggs poached in the pressure cooker, in salsa.  Those were yummy.  Recipes will be added to the website probably tonight.  Well, after the basics about making Bread tonight at 6. 

Some rather unusual Lasagna,

Saturday, March 5 was Fab Lasagna class here at Austin Healthy Cooking.  We had 8 wonderful people here for the class and we made some rather, well, not your typical lasagnas.  I baked fresh bread for us to enjoy with the one lasagna that I was going to bake for us all to enjoy.  That one was a Cajun one.  We started out by making our own sausage.  Ground pork mixed with Cajun spices that I mix myself, then we browned that.  We chopped a mountain of onions and red peppers and sauteed them.  Then sliced a bunch of cooked smoked spicy jalapeno sausages to add, just as a textural component.  Then we made a spicy red sauce.  We assembled the lasagnas using my "Spicy Cajun Lasagna" noodles and added a ton of Ricotta mixed with eggs and lots of Thyme, Mozzarella, and the fantastic stuff above.  Everyone was amazed that the things weighed in at over 3 pounds each and that I charge so little for the class.  Some of the people there promised to email me some of the photos they took and as soon as they do, I will post them here.  And I will put the recipes in the recipe section of the website as well.  We also made a chocolate lasagna with raspberry jam, almonds, and cream cheese with a chocolaty Bechamel.  Then we made a fantastic mushroom and garlic lasagna with Gouda cheese.  Yummy  

Doing things a little differently at Austin Healthy Cooking AGAIN!

Saturday the 5th was a fun afternoon at Austin Healthy Cooking.  We did our "Stuffed Stuff" class and we all had some fun doing it.  My three guests enjoyed some hands on experience making stuffed whole wheat bread rolls.  We stuffed some with Italian Sausage, peppers, onions and Ricotta and Mozzarella cheeses.  Then we did some with dried cranberries, golden grapes and dates that we soaked in a bit of Amontillado and mixed with slivered almonds.  Those were spectacular.  Then, just for fun, we stuffed a few with eel in black pepper sauce and hardboiled quail eggs.  And then the picture here is of bell peppers that we stuffed with Chipotle Linguine that I made for lunch for all of us and then topped with Mozzarella and a quail egg.  These we cooked in the pressure cooker in just 12 minutes and they were spectacular.

Stuffed stuff Whole Wheat Rolls with stuffing

Was just practicing some bread making skills this fine Sunday afternoon and thought I would make some of these stuffed rolls, sort of a practice for the Stuffed Stuff Class this Saturday the fifth.  I have been making these little rolls for about twenty years now and am always amazed at how fun they are, and how delicious.  These have two different stuffings, one is caramelized onions, black forest ham and swiss cheese.  The other larger ones are for me and they are onions, jalapenos, thinly sliced cabbage, diced tomatoes, lots of my Roasted Garlic and Italian Spices.  I start with just a regular all whole wheat bread dough and then go from there.  I find that lately I have been making a sponge a couple hours before I actually start the bread and that seems to make a much softer loaf of bread.  So, to that end, here is the recipe.  In a large bowl, place 3 cups warm water.  Add a teaspoon of yeast, a tablespoon Organic Evaporated Cane Juice and 3 cups freshly ground whole hard white wheat.  Mix well and set in an out of the way place.  Let stand at least two hours.  Dump the whole bowl into your mixer along with a 12 ounce bottle of warm beer, I just happened to have some 1554 in the fridge, so took one out and let stand awhile.  Then add a teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 cup olive oil, and enough of the whole wheat flour so that it begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  Let knead for 9 minutes and it should look sort of like the picture.

Throw the dough into an oiled bowl and cover it, then let it rise for an hour.  Now, cook the ingredients, certainly you don't need to use the same things I did, I have made these with scrambled eggs, italian sausage, strawberry preserves with almond butter, taco filling, spicy black beans, use your imagination.  Now, take out about an ounce and a half of the dough, and onto the oiled surface of your counter, press it out into a circle.  Pile on some of the filling, then pull the edges over and press together to seal

Stick them on a sheet pan with an inch between them and let them rise until they are doubled in size and touching each other.  Bake in 425 oven until browned.  Take them out and enjoy. 

Artisan Bread Class on Saturday the 8th

Well, waited a while to add this to the blog.  We did have some fun though with this class.  Some very nice people came, we drank some wine, we talked food, and we made a bunch of different breads and i made a nice Chipotle Linguine pasta dish with some chicken breasts that I demonstrated how to cook in a pressure cooker so that they are really tender, really delicious, and really fast.  But don't take my word for it, check out what Julia had to say about the afternoon. http://juliagulialivesinaustin.blogspot.com/ 

Mozzarella Cheese making class

Tuesday the 11the, a fine day indeed.  It was 01,11,11.  A weird day to make cheese.  I have made my own mozzarella back in Arizona on a number of occasions, but for some reason, the stars, the planets, the world around me and life itself conspired to make my foray into cheese making  on this day and at that time, difficult.  First off, getting the milk was a problem.  I bought organic milk from Whole Foods, and the dairy manager assured me, after looking at the label, (a process that I had already done) that this milk was not homogenized.  I still have no idea what happened, but lets just say that the cheese we made, did indeed form curds, but that the melting process that I normally use to melt the cheese to form the balls, did not work at all.  These curds stubbornly refused to melt even when we dunked them in boiling water and we attempted to form the balls, but the curds remained dry and crumbly.  As my technique hasn't altered, my age and memory may have, but I still think that it has something to do with the milk we used.  I will try to get some raw milk this week and make some more before classes on the 22nd.  Anyway, all of the lovely young and luscious ladies that were here still told me they had a good time, we made a mess, got our hands heated up to hot, and then ate some delicious pasta with the rather dry mozzarella balls on top. All in all, with some very nice wines, we had a great time.  The guys did not like washing all the dishes this morning, but hey, that's what they get paid to do.