Ice Ice Baby

Last week I took a cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education with my fabulous friends, Chad and Julie. I've taken classes at ICE a couple of times before (Thai cooking, cheese and wine pairing...) since they offer a ton of recreational courses. On Friday night we opted for The French Steakhouse...for obvious reasons (see photos below!) and because Chad and I had been talking about taking some meat centric classes (fortunately Julie agreed with the theme). I've always wanted more experience cooking meat since a.) I live alone so never buy large cuts of meat and b.) I live in a small space, NOT a particularly high-heat cooking friendly environment, as searing or grilling meat instantly sets off the smoke detector and the lingering smell of smoke lasts for at least a week. So, I took a class.

Our class of 16 broke into 3 groups in order to complete our vast menu. The one common recipe among the groups was the Pommes Anna (though some burned theirs...) but beyond that, the remaining recipes were unique to each group. Group #1 (ours!) made Celeriac Remoulade, Huitres Mignonette (oysters with a sherry-shallot sauce), the aforementioned Pommes Anna, and Onglet Bordelaise (hangar steak with red wine sauce). Don't ask me how to pronounce any of that. Not even the English words.

How did it all go down? I would call it organized chaos. But once everyone figured out what to get started on, peeps seemed to relax into their assigned tasks. Our leader, Chef Sue, was a calming presence despite the shouts from across the room. "CHEF! CHEF SUE! SUE! SUE! SUE! SUUUUUE!" She was able to attend to everyone and, according to her, we all finished in record time. (More time to eat!) Chad, Julie and I decided that we would revisit some of our favorite recipes and remake them together at home. And by home I mean Chad's.


Chad musseling an...oyster. He shucked them all. Good job, Chad!


Oyster close-up. Lacking focus. Too. Hungry.


Frisée aux LARDONS! Nuff said.


Butchering the onglet. That's hangar steak to you and me.


Grillin' & chillin'.


Tasty morsels of beef.


Potatoes that I sliced on the mandolin. (That's a mandolin with a sharp blade, not a mandolin from the lute family.) I managed to keep all of my digits intact.


Another group's Pommes Anna. (My group's PA might have been accidentally burned...and I might have been partially responsible.)


Meat fest 2010!


Pile o' French food.


Profiterole with ice cream and chocolate sauce.


Sliced celeriac relaxing in some acidulated (lemon) water.


Remoulade deconstructed.



Celeriac Remoulade

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
3 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
3 tablespoons chopped cornichons
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped chervil
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 – 4 dashes Tabasco
1 pound celery root, peeled and julienned (keep in acidulated water until ready to use - see photo above)

1. In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, capers, chives, chervil, tarragon, mustard, anchovy paste, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco.

2. Drain the celeriac well. Add to the remoulade sauce and toss gently until lightly coated. Season to taste with salt and pepper.