Last week, I attended a cooking class with
my friend Michelle at Saga Hill Cooking School. I love taking cooking classes, especially in
the fall. Even though I’ve attended
culinary school, I always feel that you can learn something new in every class;
whether it is a new technique or recipe or whatever.
This was my first class at Saga Hill and
it won’t be my last. The owner and Chef, Marianne Miller, probably had me with her #1 rule: Have FUN while learning culinary
skills. This is non-negotiable!
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Chef Marianne |
This
info, as stated on her website, will give you a feel for the vibe of the
classes: “I teach science-based cooking techniques, not stuff you can find in a
celebrity chef's cookbook. ALL my staff have worked or work in professional
restaurants, so we sometimes curse, berate Rachel Ray and use carrots as
double-entendres! If you are NOT OKAY with that, DO NOT come to our
cooking class! We are not like any other cooking school in the State and
we don't believe that you are always right, should always get your way,
or should sit by yourself at your own table. Nope, cooking is too
much fun for any of that silliness. What we do care about is that you learn in
a relaxed, communal setting that's free from marketing, bad hobby chefs,
and overpriced kitchen knick knackery. In a nutshell, we care only about the
REAL stuff. The time honored, kitchen tested, honest culinary skills that you
need to learn so you can have fun cooking.”
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The attentive class |
This class is perfect for beginners and
experienced cooks. Chef Marianne really makes cooking approachable, straightforward, and
fun. When trying to think of words to
describe Marianne, these are what I came up with: playful, childlike, funny (in
a stand-up comedian kind of way), down-to-earth, charismatic, and did I mention
funny? In the first 5 minutes I wrote
on my notes, “I love this chick!” Now
that is saying something. Her approach
to food is that it is subjective; we are not looking for perfection as it is
different for everyone. Amen to
that.
We started off with a Hollandaise sauce. I learned a
couple tips that I did not know before.
1) Crack eggs on a flat surface, not on a corner.
2) If your sauce
breaks, throw an ice cube in it.
(According to Chef Marianne, it reacts like a man when jumping in a cold
pool – it contracts and pulls in).
Great visual on how to save your sauce and bring it back together.
We
added some fresh tarragon, which turned it into a bearnaise sauce. We drizzled (ok poured) it over scrambled
eggs with bacon and it was delicious.
The sauce has a stick of butter in it so of course it was good.
Next up was Vegetarian (carrot,
cucumber, avocado) Sushi
Rolls.
I have to say that as intimidating as
making your own sushi sounds, it really isn’t that hard. That said, while I have everything I need at
my house to make it, I find that sushi is just one of those things that I like
to go out for. Plus I like variety and
I’m not about to make five different sushi rolls. The two tips that stuck out for the sushi
were:
1) When rolling the sushi roll, make sure you keep it
really tight. Pull and tuck, pull and
tuck; “tuck the baby in tight.”
2) When cutting the sushi roll, cut the roll in half,
then in quarters and go out from there. If you just start cutting it into pieces then
stuff inside will ooze out the sides.
After all that work, you don’t want that to happen.
Cocktail Break – Mojitos
Now, my husband is a self-proclaimed
mojito connoisseur. And I admit, he
makes the best mojitos. So, I was very
curious to learn this recipe.
I have to say, I think Chef Marianne is
onto something. Basically, why use
water for your simple syrup, which is usually a 50/50 sugar to water ratio,
when you can use booze. (She confessed
that swapping water with booze is how she makes all of her friends.)
Here is the recipe. FYI -he can’t serve
liquor in class, so this recipe uses a combo of sparkling wine and white wine. Personally, I think it’d be better with rum -
for sure.
Ingredients
Simple Syrup:
•3 Tbsp. sugar
•2 cups White Wine
•2 cups of Champagne or Sparking
•2 cups of Lemon/Lime Soda (like 7-Up or
Sprite)
1 Tbsp. Torn Mint (or more)
Squeeze of Lime
Method
•Create your simple syrup
•Combine the simple syrup ingredients
over heat for 60 seconds until sugar is dissolved, turn off heat
•Add torn mint leaves and lime juice
•Pour over ice
•Serve
While making the mojitios, Marianne was
listing off the different alcohols you could use, such as vodka, rum, or tequila. Without missing a beat, she mentioned that unfortunately she was allergic to
tequila and then went on to say “yeah, when I drink tequila it makes me break
out in.... handcuffs.” Seriously
funny. I'm pretty sure everyone out there has a tequila experience they'd like to forget; me included.
Now don’t start feeling bad for me for
only getting one mojito that didn’t even have the hard stuff in it…… I forgot to mention that for $15 extra (the
price of the class was $55) you can get unlimited wine. I dare you to find another cooking class
that offers that.
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Michelle & I enjoying our wine |
Next up was Stuffed Peppadews
Peppadews are these bright red,
bite-sized peppers that are perfect for stuffing. I usually stuff them with goat cheese but it
was fun to learn a new variation. The
debate is on as to whether they are spicy.
I don’t think they are. They are
sweet with a tiny bit of spice towards the end, but not “heat” – nothing that
would make your mouth feel like its on fire.
We stuffed the peppers with a
combination of Chorizo, Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, and Blue Cheese.

FYI - The Peppadew website has a library of
recipes for these little red numbers: http://www.peppadew.com/results_images/us/5/
Last up were Lobster Rolls
Who doesn’t love a good lobster roll? Chef Marianne reminded me how cheap lobsters
are right now due to the excess inventory, so I need to plan some lobster meals
soon! Maybe you should too. I have great pasta recipe with lobster in a brandy cream sauce = YUM!
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Mini Lobster Roll |
I will say I left class a little hungry. For some reason I was thinking there was a
grilled pizza course too? Not that I
need to be stuffed, but I think another course in there would’ve been good
because the 4 items we made weren’t that filling.
SIDEBAR: We met some fun people and I can’t resist
telling you a story that a lady at our table shared. She works for General Mills and got a
complaint from a guy who was making a cake for his wife. He buttered the bottom of the pan as
instructed on the box and when he put it in the oven it started smoking like crazy and the cake was ruined. Well, he literally
buttered the BOTTOM of the pan - on the outside rather than the inside. DUH!
Chef Marianne is one smart cookie and only changes the menu
quarterly. So you can go four times a
year and experience four different menus. I think
that is genius and a great way to get regulars (of which there were many).
I will definitely go back and if you live in Minneapolis, I suggest you do the same. Check it out: www.sagahillcookingevents.com.
If you don’t live in Minneapolis,
check out some cooking classes in your area.
A lot of grocery stores have them so that could be a good start.
Whatever you do, keep learning and experimenting.
Cheers!
PS – Please email me if you would like the recipes. I'd also love to hear about what good cooking classes you've taken?
Thanks for the kind words Penelope! We enjoyed having you in class as well. Great pics, by the way! We are starting our fall menu in October and hope to see you again soon. Remember, now you are a VIP guest and can reserve a space online through our website without any special voucher. Please let us know when you plan on coming back so that we may offer you wine on the house!
ReplyDeleteSee you soon,
Lauren, Marianne, and Millie