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Mixed Baby Greens with Gorgonzola, Pears, Walnuts and Honey
High Heat Pan Roast Halibut, Cod or Hake OR Chicken Paillards — Pan-Sauted or Grilled with Fresh Tarragon Sauce (also recipes for and discussion of other sauce options (WE WILL MAKE BOTH IN CLASS but OBVIOUSLY YOU WOULD CHOOSE WHEN MAKING THE DINNER AT HOME IN UNDER TWO HOURS!)
Green Pea Smash
Crispy Pan Roast of Potatoes and Onions with Fresh Herbs and Pink Peppercorns
The Best Make-Ahead Ice Cream Tart, plus recipes for Molten-Center Individual Chocolate Cakes with Vanilla Ice Cream (or serve ice cream with fresh berries or a make an affogato with ice cream, espresso and Kahlua or buy a best quality bakery dessert and serve a la mode ETC. We will discuss all sorts of options)
About the Class
It begins with a sumptuous (elegant comfort food) salad--an ideal early fall combo: Greens with Pears, Walnuts, Gorgonzola and a drizzle of honey. For those of you who don't like blue cheeses, shavings of Parmesan can be substituted or even crumbled chèvre or feta. Ditto replacing the walnuts with almonds or pignoli. (the nuts and/or cheese can also be omitted).
A single chunk of fish fillet or (your choice) individual portions are roasted in 10 minutes (even less if portioned) and chicken paillards (pounded for you by your butcher) cook in just a couple minutes per side. .We'll make both the fish and the chicken in class as both work with the menu and you'll then have a choice at home.
Veggies include smashed green peas (an even easier version of mushy peas--beautifully bright green and so tasty) and a garlicky, irresistible version of crispy potatoes and onions----tarted up for company with fresh herbs and pink peppercorns.
In class we'll go through the entire meal step-by-step as TIMING and ORDER OF PREPARATION are critical here. To prepare the entire menu in under two hours without going nuts, one must know the chronology of working on the recipes simultaneously rather than one at a time.
I've been assured by some of you that the "under two hours" requisite needn't include dessert, that you all are perfectly willing to serve a fabulous store-bought, local- bakery find ( a la mode!!) and call it a day. An always-welcome, no-brainer alternative.
For those of you who really want a homemade dessert, we'll make an ice cream tart that can be prepared months ahead and frozen till needed. I'll also give recipes for (but we won't prepare in class) super simple individual Molten-Center Chocolate Cakes to be made, frozen and baked off--in under 7 minutes--for serving. I often have a dozen or more stowed away in the freezer to pull out for both drop-in guests and serious entertaining.
This is a delicious and really handy menu for your repertoire. In addition, each iindividual recipe is excellent on its own--even more so considering how easy they are.