I signed up for  a class at the new cooking school at Dulles Town Center – Cookology – which I attended last Thursday.  It was called something like ‘Mind of a Chef.’  I’ll admit I was somewhat skeptical about going to a cooking school in a mall.  Seriously….a mall??  After the all the great classes I’ve taken at L’Academie up in Bethesda?  I wasn’t blown away with it, and I didn’t really learn anything new, BUT what I did take away from it was a bit more confidence to cook without a recipe.  I feel like I’ve got enough technique under my belt at this point.  So I stopped by Wegman’s on the way home from the office today and just looked for something good in the produce section.  The oyster mushrooms looked fantastic, but there weren’t many left.  Clearly, there were some other shoppers who felt the same way, so I had to supplement with some Hen of the Woods mushrooms, which I’ve never used before.  Seemed like fun.  I did find it weird that there would be that many people buying oyster mushrooms in Leesburg, VA.  I picked up some baby spinach, a couple of shallots, fresh sage, and a lemon.  I originally intended to use some bacon with this, but then decided against that.  I changed my mind after I made the dish.  I sauteed the mushrooms in some butter, and popped a couple of sage bunches in the pan with them.  Once those were cooked, I pulled out the mushrooms and then dumped about 5 oz of spinach in the pan to wilt for about 3 or 4 minutes.  I then put the spinach on plates, topped with some mushrooms and minced shallots (that I sauteed separately), and grated Parm Reg cheese, squeeze of lemon.  Syd called it a hot spinach salad.  OK, that works for me.  Lesson learned:  I should have salted the mushrooms before adding them to the pan, and you need a LOT more spinach than you think when wilting it in a pan.  See what happens when one is rushed to get food on the table?

So, on top of continued cooking education, re-learning French, researching locations in France, AND my day job (which has somehow also become a night job over the past few months), I am also studying for some technical exams to become certified.  This is to help out SQ’s business – would be nice not to have to bring in another partner.  And Syd has started up with golf again…when am I going to find time to shuttle her back and forth for lessons and tournaments??  Yeah, it’s a lot.  I’m tired.  Especially right now as I’ve recently polished off a bottle of Cahors with SQ, which went really, really well with the mushrooms.  And I discovered I don’t really care for the Hen of the Woods, but those oyster mushrooms…wow!  Really earthy and kind of zingy on the finish.  I think not bad for my first real attempt at cooking without a recipe.

Yesterday was my birthday.  It rarely falls on a weekend – it often falls on spring break and we are out  of town.  It’s just tragic that I’ve had to spend some of my birthdays in places like Costa Rica, Mexico, and Hawaii.  All kidding aside (along with that spoiled brat comment), I was so excited that this year my birthday was on a Saturday and I could spend it with friends.  On my actual birthday.  But I wanted to really visit with them, and not have to pay so much attention to a fussy dinner, so I decided something easy would have to figure prominently in my plans.  I spent most of the day cleaning my ridiculously messy house (well, messy for me…I have a problem ‘letting it go’), and resenting SQ for being sick on my birthday and not being able to help me out.  I threw a bit of a tantrum around 4pm and almost just called the dinner party off.  Yeah, moment of complete selfishness…but it was my birthday!

It rather oddly came together as kind of an Italian-theme dinner.  I snagged some really pretty asparagus from Potomac Vegetable Farms on Friday evening, and a huge pork loin roast from Wegman’s.  Perfect – that could roast in the oven with little for me to do other than grill some veggies.  I made a salad out of the asparagus; tossed it with some lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, Parm-Reg cheese, salt, and pepper.  I roasted 4 bulbs of garlic along with the pork, then made that into a vinaigrette sauce.  I was really trying to work from memory of a presentation I saw Giada De Laurentiis give at a cooking show here in DC last November.  It was easy and it made a knockout presentation.

Dinner was perfect, but the real fun of the evening for me was that it turned out to be more of a cooking lesson with my girlfriends.  I also had a new TableTopics card set…absolutely helps to keep the conversation going, and you learn a LOT about people.  I finally admitted to them what ‘The Plan’ is for us after a bunch of questions like ‘Would you ever live in another country?’ and ‘What is your dream job?’  Dream is really the operative word there.  After all the questions it hit me that it still feels like a million years away.  I get a bit verbose after I’ve had a drink – and the cocktail Shayne put together for me hit me like a freight train after not really eating anything all day but cake batter and frosting.  I stumbled across some recipe called a Galliano Breeze, which seemed sort of like an Italian martini.  I’d never had any drink made with Galliano, and it turns out that I don’t really care for it.  We moved on through a couple of bottles of wine, which was a safer bet at that point, but just not as much fun.  I did get the chance to use my ‘new’ martini glasses that I picked up in Mexico a couple of years ago.  The wine glasses get a lot of use….cocktail glasses not so much.  I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but I’m thinking that this year mine should have been ‘drink more cocktails’.

Oh, I almost forgot about my red velvet cake.  The frosting was perfect – just like my Grandma’s.  The cake was good, but should have been pulled out of the oven a couple minutes earlier.  I’m working on that baking thing.  I don’t like it, but I’m working at it.

I’m exhausted…what’s new with me these days??  Cook something new, or go with a tried-and-true recipe?  I opted for the latter as my brain just wasn’t functioning by the time 5pm rolled around.  I can’t remember where I found this recipe, it’s been several years.  I’ve tweaked it and altered it quite a bit, so here’s the current version I’m working from:

• 3 tsp olive oil, divided
• Four 4-oz chicken cutlets (thin-sliced chicken)
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth (I like Swanson Organic chicken broth best)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme
• 2 Tbsp butter

1.  Heat oven to 200 degrees F.  Mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish; coat the chicken.  Heat 2 tsp of the oil in a large skillet.  Panfry the chicken for about 1 1/2 minutes per side or until cooked through.  Remove to a platter; place in oven to keep warm.

2.  Add remaining tsp of oil to skillet; add onion and saute until translucent and soft.  Add chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, and thyme to skillet; if you can, add any accumulated juices from plate where chicken is resting.  Bring to a boil, scraping up bits on the bottom.  Simmer for 1 minute or until slightly thickened.

3.  Remove skillet from heat and stir in the butter.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon sauce onto chicken and serve. (This makes perhaps more sauce than necessary…but I love sauce, so this is what I go with)

I love that it’s also asparagus season right now, and I found a really nice bunch at the market.  I wrapped 5 or 6 spears in prosciutto, then made 2 more bunches like that for Syd and SQ.  I grilled them for about 10 minutes, until they were nicely crisp-tender.  The whole meal was done in about 30 minutes, and it didn’t take up too much focus or brainpower on my part.  I didn’t drag out a bottle of wine, however, or I’d be asleep right now.

I have, very inexcusably, not updated in a while.  Honestly, my day job has been just kicking my butt over the past several weeks.  I wanted to cook Easter dinner so badly yesterday, but my mother-in-law insisted on cooking.  I was really, really worried about the outcome of that meal, so I weasled my way into her kitchen and played uninvited sous chef anyway.  Not in a mean, belligerent way…but when she asked I was willing to give guidance.  I also insisted on bringing dessert since I couldn’t wrestle the whole meal from her.  I made a Strawberry Cream Cake recipe that I found on Cook’s Illustrated.  I’m sure I’ve said this before – desserts are my downfall in the kitchen if there’s baking involved.  But this turned out seriously divine.  We are still finishing it off today.

So, Saturday is my birthday and I’ve decided to have a party at my house.  I never get to spend my birthday with my friends – booooo – but this year I get to do that AND cook for them – yeah!!  Still not sure what I’m making for dinner, but I definitely want caipirinhas to drink and my Grandma’s red velvet cake for dessert.  She used to make them for me, but we don’t live in Ohio anymore, and she’s not doing so well these days.  Mom emailed the recipe to me – cant’ wait to make it!  I need to remember to tell SQ he’s only allowed to play music I like….  Well, I can’t give away my grandma’s recipe just yet.  I need to try it out to make sure it’s just as wonderful as my memories think it is.  You know how those things can go.  I’d like to cook something French(ish) for dinner on Saturday, but I fear none of the kids will eat it.  Well, except mine…but, anyway, I guess that would be selfish.  I’ll have to plan something like that for another night as I am celebrating birthday MONTH this year.  It’s the last year of my 30′s, so I need to go kind of big.