Cooking class

Jonathan and Kaity gave us an awesome Christmas present - a gift certificate for a cooking class at Sur la Table!  Everyone knows Dave loves cooking, and though I'm not great at it, we like to make meals together (you may recall Dave's vows, I'm his sous chef).

On Monday night we headed down to our local Sur la Table for a class on local foods.  It was a little overwhelming for me because they expect that you, well, know how to cook (I think I needed a remedial course).  But Dave chopped, stirred, and seasoned with the best of them!  I definitely learned and had a lot of fun, too. :)

The class was great for us because it was mostly vegetarian (and luckily Dave doesn't mind cooking meat).  We were working in teams, so I just strategically avoided the chicken.  And we learned a great new idea for a veggie main dish - grilled cauliflower steaks!

We'll share more recipes as we try them out again at home, but here was my favorite item from the evening:


Grilled cauliflower steaks with tahini sauce
1 head cauliflower
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup tahini sauce

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Using a sharp, heavy knife and starting at the top of the cauliflower head, cut two 1-inch thick slices of cauliflower, cutting through stem end.  Set aside.  (Note: Do not remove the stem, just carefully remove the green leaves around the base.  You are going for a nice cross-section of cauliflower that stays together.)

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in heavy ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.  Brush cauliflower with additional oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add cauliflower steaks to skillet and cook until brown, about 2 minutes per side.  Transfer skillet to oven and bake until tender, about 10 minutes.

Toss with tahini and serve. Yum!

If you want to make your own tahini sauce, here's how:
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
3 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped (optional)

In a food processor combine garlic and tahini.  Add salt.

Remove and add olive oil and lemon juice.  If too thick, add a teaspoon warm water until desired consistency.  Stir in parsley.

Thanks J & K for the great present!