Tuesday, February 23, 2010

February 2010 -- Lebanese Cooking Class

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lebanese Taverna Market
4400 Old Dominion Drive Arlington, VA
Time: 6:45-9:30pm
Cost: $60/person
http://www.lebanesetaverna.com/cooking_classes/

Description from Lebanese Taverna web site:

Class starts with wine and appetizers while you introduce yourselves and get to know your classmates. Then we get to work with the preparation of the menu. Our Chef is a master of his art and he truly enjoys sharing his knowledge and skills. The classes are "full participation" and use the hands-on approach as the best way to teach and get you involved in the cooking process. This one-on-one opportunity to work with the Chef gives the feel for what it is like to prepare the recipes so you can more easily repeat them at home. Class size is controlled so everyone has a chance to participate.

The menu for our cooking class included the following:
                     Arugula Salad: arugula, scallions & olives tossed in a vinaigrette salad
                     Sayadieh: broiled grouper over a spiced rice pilaf with grilled vegetables
                     Lubieh BelZeit: green beans simmered in tomatoes, garlic cloves & spices
                     Um Ali: bread pudding made with phyllo, pistachios, pine nuts and raisins

Well, this class was not as "hands-on" as we had hoped. The chef who ran the class did most of the food prep up front while we (and about 15 other students) watched. Lebanese Taverna did provide us all with copies of the recipes so that we could make any of the dishes we learned about at home, although the fact that the recipe for the entree began with cooking a whole fish scared us off a little bit. (And did make us wonder what is wrong with fish stock, which would cut about two hours and the entire "yecch" factor out of the recipe.)