When you walk in the door you are greeted with a wonderful warm and friendly hostess, who will get you seated and serve you some wine. And if your class requires cooking prior to the class, as ours did, you will not doubt be surrounded by some amazing smells. The kitchen is a dream. If you like to cook, you will fall in love with this kitchen. As we arrived, resident chef Candice Butler and her sous-chef Mark are doing some last minute preparations as clients arrived.
Guests are seated on stools around the kitchen. Stacey and I were attending a hands-on class called "The Art of the Crust". But if you are thinking we are going to learn how to make pie ... think again. This class is way more than desserts. We were learning mains and staples of many diverse ethnic foods which are cozied up in a yummy 'crust' of some sort.
For the hands-on cooking classes you get these swank aprons to wear, which include pockets on the front ... perfect for me to be able to keep my camera close to photo-document our experience. I checked with all the guests if they minded me taking pictures and every one was OK with it. There were 12-15 students. Registration for each class is limited and they sell out fast so if you are browsing the calendar and see a class you might be interested in, don't wait too long to register for it. We were also provided with recipes for all the dishes that we made that evening. Very convenient, so you don't have to be trying to write things down while trying to cook, but you may want to add some notes, tips and tricks that the chefs mention.
There were seven dishes on the menu for us. Dough was only being made for three of the seven dishes and Candice gave instructions to make the dough by hand and in the food processor. She demonstrated the dishes first, and then all clients hand the chance to jump in and pick one station to start at, but everyone would have an opportunity to make everything. One small complaint that I had, as soon as it was time for the class to choose their station, several people rushed to the three 'dough-making' stations (often both people in a couple chose a different dough-making station) and neither Stacey nor I actually got an opportunity to make dough from scratch. I have limited experience in making dough and I was really looking forward to have the chance to do this with an expert, so that was unfortunate.
Anyway, Stacey and I started at the Crispy Chicken Thai Spring Roll Station. For this dish, we were using store bought spring roll wrappers so we actually were prepping the filling. Here, we are getting directions as to how to chop the ingredients.
We had to shred the precooked chicken and chop cabbage, shred carrots and mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Then, you place a dollup of filling in the wrapper. The key to spring rolls, is to tightly roll the wrapper - especially if you are planning to deep fry them, which we were, to make sure the filling doesn't ooze out all through your fryer.
Next on the agenda for Stacey and I was Samosas. Candice had pre-made the filling for the samosas before the class arrived, because you don't want to be putting hot filling into the dough. It had time to cool, but walking into the kitchen, the aroma of the Indian spices ... the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, fenugreek, turmeric and cayenne were already making us hungry. Stacey and I love Indian food and we were thrilled to be learning this dish. Here is the pre-made filling.
We learned the technique to roll and shape the dough in that unique samosa shape. You start with a small ball and roll it into a circle. Candice actually made Stacey scrap her first attempt at rolling out the dough because it wasn't a circle. lol!! But she got it right on the next try! Then you cut the cut the circle in half and form the half-circle into a cone shape. Fill the cone with the filling and then use the top 'flap' to close up the cone. Finally pinch the three sides shut to make sure the filling doesn't leak out. We had the option to have our samosa deep fried (that's what I picked) or baked (Stacey's choice).
Next station: Rustic Cranberry Apple Crostata. This is essentially an individual tart. This was one of the dough making stations but, as I said, when Stacey and I got there the dough had already been made by other students. The filling was also made in advance by Candice but we were each able to fill a crostata and form the shape of the pastry. Here is Candice demonstrating the process.
Jamaican patties were the next dish we worked on. Do you know what the secret ingredient to make the dough of Jamaican patties yellow? Its turmeric. This dough was made by students in the food processor. We rolled it out (see the french rolling pin ... I have the same one!) and filled it with the pre-made filling. Again, the spices that Candice incorporated into this filling was already making our mouths water. We still had a while to wait before we could eat the fruits of our labour!
We moved on to spanokopita. This dish uses phyllo pastry. We learned the special folding technique to make these cute little triangles. Starting with the spinach filling in one corner of the strip of phyllo, fold the point on an angle to the opposite side; brush with melted butter, and fold the point straight up; brush with butter and fold one side to the opposite; continue the alternating fold process, brushing with butter at every fold till you reach the end of your strip of phyllo. You can adjust the width of the strip of phyllo to make large, meal sized spanokopitas or smaller, bite-sized appetizer ones.
Stacey and I moved on to the Mixed Mushroom Calzone. Again the filling had been made in advance so it was not hot, and the calzone dough which needed to rise, was also prepared for us. Candice demonstrated how to roll out and fill the dough with the mixed mushroom saute, basil pesto, bocconcini cheese and tomatoes. We had some laughs when I was rolling out this dough.
The final station was Cornish Pasties. This was a dough that the students got to make, both by hand and in the food processor. I don't have the photos of us rolling out or filling this dough and frankly it was both of our least favourite dishes to eat. We found the flavour a bit flat and not really tasty.
After all the prep was finished and all students had a chance to attempt every dish we returned to our seats, were served another glass of wine and watched and waited in anticipation as all the dishes cooked. Most things were baked in the oven but the spring rolls and samosas were deep fried.
We were served our dishes with appropriate garnishes/dips. We loved them all ... with the exception of the Cornish Pasty which, as I've said was a bit disappointing. But after seven dishes, we were getting very full. But then, as a special treat, Candice pulled out some of her home made maple ice cream. It was absolutely delicious and Stacey and I shared one serving because we were so full!
During the cooking, plate set up and eating portion of the evening we had the opportunity to ask the chefs questions, make notes on some tricks or techniques and just generally chat food with the other students and teachers.
If you are looking for a great food-based night out which is more than just going out for dinner, you should consider checking out The Urban Element. It is lots of fun, you might learn something new and you will meet some nice people. They have a wide variety of food themed classes and events so there is something for everybody! Stacey and I certainly enjoyed our night and have plans to go again sometime.
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