Back to School

For our wedding, my sister, Christine gave us a really awesome and unique gift: a gift certificate to the Institute of Culinary Education in NYC. The school's recreation department literally has TONS of different classes to to choose from and after many inquiries from my sister on which one we were going to pick, we finally decided on "Pancakes, Crepes, Belgian Waffles and Syrups." Matt is the breakfast chef is our house and we both have this big dream of hosting a huge family brunch when we finally buy a house. This class seemed like a great way to expand our repertoire.

It was a small class of twelve and we were split into three groups of four, each responsible for three recipes. Our group made Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes, Ricotta Crepes With Strawberry Wine Jam, and Pecan Waffles With Cherry Butter. When everything was finished, we all sat a huge table with a white table cloth, champagne and orange juice and enjoyed our efforts.

After the day, I gained a renewed perspective and huge respect for the amount of work that professional chefs put into a working kitchen. Things got a little hairy there at the end as we sped towards the end of the class time, trying to get all of the dishes done together. Timing, it seems, is just as much an art to learn as cooking itself. Though I love to cook, I'm not so sure I could stand the heat in a busy restaurant kitchen.

We had a great time, learned a lot and left with a bunch of new recipes to experiment with. Here are some snips from the day.

Chef Matt

A worried look as I prepare the wet ingredients for the Pecan Waffle batter.

Our wet and dry ingredients for the Pecan Waffles.
Just waiting for the eggs.

Dutch Apple Pancake:
We didn't make this one, but it's definitely in the hopper to try. It begins by cooking in the skillet and then finishes in the oven to make giant pancakes that you can serve in slices. Great job to the group who worked on this one. It was very tasty!

Pecan Waffles and Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes
The pancakes inspired me to try a twist.
An experiment for the test kitchen coming soon. Stay tuned!

Ricotta Crepes With Strawberry Wine Jam
This was my favorite of the three we made, mostly because it's a little different from the average breakfast entree. In Matt's family, we make the Hungarian version of crepes, Palacsinta. They are traditionally filled with cottage cheese and other ingredients, but this ricotta filling would be a great addition to the old favorite. I also just stocked up on strawberries and have a ton of red wine left over from the holidays. Looks like those vacuum sealed jam jars are finally going to come in handy.

What We Learned:
• Salt and sugar look the same. Taste before using.
• You can make the liquid part of any batter ahead of the time as long as you don't crack the eggs until the very end.
• When attending a 5 hour cooking class, you should still eat something before you leave the house. Working on your feet for 4 hours and then loading up on carbs at two in the afternoon will ensure a long nap on the train ride home.
• Even professional kitchens should have microwaves.
• There are many types of flour. They are all different. Make sure they're labeled.
• Always add wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold in. Don't whisk.
• Lumps are good.
• The mixer is your friend. Especially is your haven't worked out your arm muscles lately.

Many thanks to Chef Gerri Sarnataro and the ICE kitchen staff. And a HUGE thanks again to Christine for sending us this culinary adventure. We are hooked and will be back!