Cook'n With Class

Cook'n with Class....probably one of the best things I've done since I've been in Paris for many reasons.  My friend, Val, came to town for a few days because her husband was supposed to go back to Houston for work (she lives in the Brittany region of France) and she had a friend who recommended this class.

Read on about our day of adventure and delicious food!

Some of the hard cheese family at the fromagerie

We met up with our chef and 4 other class participants at a Metro stop in the Montmarte neighborhood of Paris.  After a little confusion of who our chef actually was, we were on our way to the market.  (We were told be there SHARP and look for the green shopping cart.  So, when it was 3 minutes past time and we saw a woman walk up with a green shopping cart, we thought it must be our chef, even though she looked a little like a homeless person.  Definitely not the case--this woman didn't speak English and our chef showed up a few minutes later.)

Just some rabbit, baby pig, and pigeons
(thankfully, we didn't buy any of
this for our meal this day!)

Chorizo and sausage--the chorizo is so good!

Chef Constance led us to a fromagerie (cheese shop), boucherie (butcher), poissonerie (fish shop), boulangerie (bakery), and finally to a fruit and vegetable shop.  At each place, she explained to us about each product and how to order from these various shops.  Which was great for me because I am still intimidated to go in and order things.  Chef Constance told us that it's important to build a relationship with your local shop keepers so that you can ask them for their opinion on which things are best, and even to go in back and get a fresher salmon, as she did for us!  After her tour, I was inspired to try this in my neighborhood.  So far, I've only been to the fruit and vegetable shop, but I think they're starting to recognize me.  I'm still terrified to go to the butcher because I have no idea what to ask for!  I may have to start pointing to body parts for them to understand, haha!

With all of our ingredients in tow, we headed back to the kitchen to start cooking!  The class was great because we got to be hands on at all times, mixing, cutting, measuring, etc.  Chef Constance told us what we were making she would do in 1 hour by herself, which you'll see is crazy when you see what we made!

For a starter (which is called an entree here--that's not confusing, huh?), we made Salmon gravlax, which is salmon "cooked" in a sugar/salt/herb marinade.  It was super delicious and served over lentils.  I've never had lentils before, but paired with the delicious salmon, it was amazing.  I could've just eaten this as my main dish!

Then, for our main course (le plat principal) we made chicken basquaise served on roasted peppers, chorizo, and an amazing sauce!  This chicken started as an entire leg of a chicken.  We de-boned half of it, cut it in half, and chopped off the foot with a HUGE knife.  I had a little trouble chopping my foot off--Chef Constance had to help me.  She said I wasn't angry enough, haha!  The sauce was made by simmering the chicken bones, left over spice twigs and onion pieces, and some carrot and celery.  Then you add red wine and water.  I think the sauce really made this dish, and I can't wait to try some of my own now!

There's the big hunks of
raw milk butter...mmmm!!

After our chicken, following French tradition, we had our cheese plate (le fromage) with all different cheeses from the fromagerie and bread from the bakery.  We also to taste "life-changing butter", as Chef Constance put it, and life-changing it was.  It is butter made from raw milk, and it was so delicious that I can't even put it into words.  You will just have to find a fromagerie and taste it for your self!

And finally, dessert (don't worry, this is called dessert here too!)  We made a chocolate tart with homemade dough and whipped cream.  That's sea salt on the top, which gave it a sweet and salty taste.  So yummy!

We left feeling extremely full and pumped to try and conquer some of our own French cooking!  If you're ever looking for something to do in Paris, I'd highly recommend checking out a Cook'n with Class course!