The Dirty Apron Cooking School opened its doors in August of 2009. It took almost a year and a half later, but after much anticipation, we finally managed to take some classes, with many thanks to the wonderful women who threw me a Food Is Love wedding shower. Brent and I took our first of two classes in November, and I've finally uploaded the photo's so I could blog about it.
Ocean Potion - The Seafood Class
We weren't really sure what to expect when we arrived, but checked in and were handed aprons and a folder. We waited anxiously with the other attendees, until they rang the bell and announced we could enter for the class. Having been to The Dirty Apron for a fundraiser for Growing Chefs (check them out, they do fantastic work), we had been in the space before, but not seen it set up for a class. There was a demonstration station at the front of the class, with chairs of varying heights so everyone could see. The perimeter of the room was lined with cooking stations. We took our seats and waited to find out what the class was really all about.
First Course - Mussels Congolese
For our first course we were going to learn how to make one of Chambar's famous mussel dishes. What a surprise to have Nico Schuermans, Chef and Co-Owner at Chambar in the class. He even came to the front and taught us how to cook his mussel dish. This is when we learned how the class was going to work. The instructors - David Robertson and Takashi Mizukami - would demonstrate how to prepare the menu before sending us to our stations to try our hand at the dish. When we arrived at our station all of the ingredients for the dish were set out for us, pre-measured. All we had to do was chop and season and cook! We got right down to it, with both David and Takashi roaming the room to answer any questions and guide us along the way.
Once our dishes were prepared, and plated, we moved to an adjacent room and took a seat at some long wooden tables. This is where the class started to get really fun. At this point we were served red or white wine, and got a chance to not only try our food, but discuss our trials with other members of the class. We ate and drank to our hearts content, and headed back inside to tidy our stations. What a lovely surprise to find that most of the dishes were gone and all we had to do was tidy our knives and spoons.
Second Course - Maple-Seared Scallops on warm Chorizo with Kalamata Olives & Pea Coulis
Next we headed back to the seats to have the demonstration on our second course - seared scallops. Until this day, I had never cooked scallops before, and was pleasantly surprised to find out how easy they are. Once again, following the demonstration we headed back to our station to find all the ingredients laid out, and began cooking. After the cooking, again it was back to the wooden tables to enjoy our food and have another glass of wine.
Third Course - Pan-Roasted Halibut with Lemon and Olive Oil Crushed PotatoesFor the third course we prepared halibut. Again, I had only really cooked white fish one or two ways. We learned the secret to a crispy crust, as well as some neat plating techniques. Once again, we headed back to the wooden tables to enjoy our food and drink. But we weren't finished yet! Although we were done with our cooking for the night, we were also going to enjoy dessert, Poached Pears that were stuffed with ice cream and served with a Chocolate Sauce. We definitely left there stuffed to the gills!
Overall, the entire experience was absolutely wonderful. We were sent home with take-out containers of our leftovers, as well as copies of all of the recipes from the evening. I'm not going to publish the recipes on this blog, because I think you should really go and take the classes. I believe that some of the recipes are available online on their website though. The instructors really took the time to make sure everyone was comfortable with what they were cooking, and the camaraderie amongst the fellow students as we laughed about failed kitchen mishaps could be felt around the room.
I would definitely recommend The Dirty Apron to anyone who is interested in taking a cooking class. Not only do you get to learn amazing tricks of the trade, but you also leave feeling as if you've eaten at a fine dining establishment, and guess what? You did all the cooking!! Classes average at $145/person, and after taking the Mama Mia Italian Class as well, Brent and I are going to be saving up to do another class. It's definitely a memorable night out.
