Cooking by heart

Tonight I had my first cooking class!!  I've been waiting for this night for many reasons, including but not limited to 1. the fact that I'm getting tired of eating the same thing (either tortellini mixed with some frozen veggies and pesto or brown rice with frozen veggies, maybe an egg thrown in there, and soy sauce.. even though I do love soy sauce) and 2. as soon as I realized DIS offered an optional five part cooking class, I signed up-- I love food, and I've been excited ever since.  The course is five parts, and tonight was vegetarian night.

After a brief tutorial from our instructor, we were set off to our cooking stations, armed with the supplies to make three delicious creations.  Our most important direction, however, was that no measuring cups would be used- we would cook by heart.

First, we worked on our portobello mushrooms filled with chili peppers, garlic, thyme, butter, white wine, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Totally a normal amount of butter..

As the mushrooms did their thing in the oven, we worked on the risotto with squash, zucchini, and eggplant.  During this part we got to use intense words like "reduction."  As the risotto simmered, we explored four different variations on how to cook cauliflower- sautéed in oil and butter, steamed in white wine, pureed after heated in a cream mixture, and blended/mixed with some olive oil and salt and pepper.

Everything only took about 45 minutes total to make.. which was a very good thing, because I was starving and my stomach was growling the entire time.  Our finished products did not disappoint.

The happiest :)

Next week, we tackle chicken!  In the meantime, I cannot wait to put my new culinary skills to work in St. Kannikestraede!  Get excited housemates!  :)