Cooking Class

Back on December 16 I turned 30... the BIG 3-0!!
My wonderful aunt told me that her gift to me was a cooking class at a little store here in MN called Kitchen Window - I posted about it here.

Well... somewhere along the line that class was cancelled because of low participation.  lame.  Because it was bound to be amazing.

We rescheduled and last night was our class.  I don't have pictures (dirty hands don't take good photos!), but I do have the class description:

Whether it’s a hearty swordfish steak or the local catch of the day, fish is wonderful on the grill. But cooking it takes some care. Because fish cooks quickly, it’s easy to overcook, and to lose delicate flavor and texture. This hands-on class will show you the way to fabulous fish every time – and you’ll get some great recipes as well. You’ll learn how to use different smoking woods to add flavor to your fish; the merits of gas vs. charcoal grills; and how to build a sauce. To kick things off, we’ll enjoy SMOKED SCALLOP TOSTADA with PICO DE GALLO & CREMA FRESCA. We’ll learn how to shuck oysters for BLACK PEPPERCORN SMOKED OYSTERS. We’ll follow that with SUGAR CANE SHRIMP with FRUIT SALSA and STUFFED CALAMARI – whole calamari filled with a savory stuffing and grilled to perfection. We’ll cook two kinds of fish: GRILLED ARCTIC CHAR with VERMOUTH COMPOUND BUTTER & GRILLED GREEN BEANS; and CRUSTED MAPLE-PLANKED HALIBUT, which will show you how much flavor a simple piece of wood adds to your cooking. For dessert, we’ll make STRAWBERRY-ORANGE S’MORES – grilled shortbread with Cointreau, strawberries and charred marshmallow.

The class was a 'grill masters' class, so they focus more on the grilling vs that basic chop some onion now type of thing - all the ingredients for our sauces or stuffing were pre-measured (which I like because going to a class to chop onion does not sound like a good time when I cry 5 seconds into cutting an onion).  We just mixed everything together and go about grilling the stuff.

It was an absolute wonderful time!  We drank wine while we cooked, mingled with the other cookers, and enjoyed being together - aunt and niece.
Not only do I have wonderful memories of the night, but now I have a good seafood market to go to when I want to get some good stuff :)  oh, and the skill to grill it :)