Sweating onions on a Saturday afternoon.
“You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.” Julia Child
It being the beginning of a brand new year full of “This is the year I will…!” aspirations, I grabbed the so-called bull by its horns and signed up for a cooking class. Lulu Agan was offering a class that promised to teach me how to make chutney, a soup, a pate, 2 salad dressings and 3 salads. In addition, I would learn some knife skills and would enjoy a sit down meal post-cooking. All this in three hours on a Saturday for $50. I signed on the dotted line.
Last Saturday, I drove up to Lulu’s home in Kula. She had asked us to bring an apron (I was pleased to have a reason to don my New and Very Pretty one), our favorite knife (I chose one that seemed manageable and rushed over to a friend’s house to use her knife sharpener), and Tupperware for leftovers. The class was maxed out at 8 students. Lulu asked us about our cooking levels. Did we consider ourselves to be novices, competent or experts? I raised my hand at “novice”; to myrelief, two others did as well. Never mind that they were easily half my age. Lulu asked us to pair up and gave each pair two of the eight recipes on her menu. My partner, a “competent” cook, and I were in charge of making tomato chutney and a spicy black bean, corn and red pepper salad. Other menu items included raw carrot pate, carrot & coriander soup (a huge hit) and a yummy roasted veggie frittata.
About two hours later, we all sat down to a set table on Lulu’s deck and enjoyed a delicious meal al fresco. Overall, I was very pleased. I appreciated the hands-on experience and learned a lot, including how to “sweat” onions (there must be a more pleasant term). Best of all, there were enough leftovers for me to fill all my Tupperware containers.
The next class is March 6th with more classes to follow. All of our dishes were vegetarian, but the food themes will vary with each class. (I heard rumblings of “Mediterranean” – Si, si!) Lulu also offers private chef services and gourmet fridge stocking. Bon appetit!
For more information, contact Lulu at luluscuisine@yahoo.com