Yay, I'm a Viking!

Monday was a sad day - my last day of class of Viking Cooking School University. Sad because I enjoyed the class itself, and the chance to get out of the house by myself. I learned a lot. Our instructor asked us if we felt more confident as chefs. The consensus was yes we do, but a lot of practice will be necessary to build proficiency.

Although I have shelves of cookbooks, the hands-on aspect was invaluable to me. Dividing the classes by technique was a great idea. Knife skills, making stocks/soups/sauces, roasting/baking, sauteing/frying/stir-frying, grilling/broiling, braising/boiling/poaching & steaming. All the basics: covered.

I now have some new & updated kitchen tools. An 8-quart stockpot. A chinois (a pricey mesh strainer resembling a Chinaman's hat). A new, metal microplane (our plastic one was cracked in four places!). A hand-held juicer. A 3-quart saute pan. And I bought my husband a hand-held butane torch; used to make creme brulee, most notably. He can't wait to set fire to something with it.

I'm excited to put my newfound skills to use - a homemade pasta sauce is in my sights, for one thing. That's the other point: home-made food is healthier than pre-packaged meals (the sodium content difference alone!) ... and infinitely better for you than fast-food/takeout. Oh, and it's yummier. Besides, you're probably not going to get wine-poached pears drizzled with Creme Anglaise unless you make it yourself. :) I'll keep you informed about future culinary classes I take; including one next week - that I'm taking with Mel S. - on CHOCOLATE.