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Cooking is my passion. I am fortunate that this passion often overlaps my career in nutrition as we work to build healthy recipes, test cooking techniques, and write curricula that helps everyday cooks make healthy food for their family. As with any passion, you should sharpen your knives from time to time. The way I do this is to attend cooking classes.

I have had the opportunity to train at Le Cordon Bleu, Culinary Institute of America, and most recently, at the Institute for Culinary Education. My latest class was four days of intensive training in cooking skills. The class included traditional French techniques that are centuries old and are still used as building blocks for many cuisines of the world. This four-blog series will include one technique from each day that I believe may help you as a home cook. Cook along with me as we explore fine cooking techniques.

Day 3

The third class in this four-class series included poaching fish, poaching fruit, making handmade pasta, pasta sauce, and vinaigrettes. The skill that you, I, and anyone who cooks even a little will use over and over is a good vinaigrette. I have blogged several times about how easy it is to make your own salad dressing. It is cheaper, better tasting, and you know what ingredients are going into your dressing. To make a French vinaigrette takes practice and a lot of skill. Getting the emulsion just right so the sauce is perfectly blended is difficult. Don’t worry, you don’t have to do it that way; there is an easier technique that works like a charm.

You need a jar with a leak-proof lid.  Place all the ingredients into the jar and shake very well to combine all of the ingredients. Use what you need and store the rest in the refrigerator. The oil will harden slightly so pull it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you need it again and shake well.

Simple Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 4 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 Tablespoon minced fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, tarragon, rosemary)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a jar with a leak-proof lid.
2. Shake vigorously to combine all ingredients. Make sure the mustard is completely combined with the other ingredients.
3. Serve on mixed greens or any salad.
4. Store the remainder in the refrigerator for another meal.

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Cooking is my passion. I am fortunate that this passion often overlaps my career in nutrition as we work to build healthy recipes, test cooking techniques, and write curricula that helps everyday cooks make healthy food for their family. As with any passion, you should sharpen your knives from time to time.

The way I do this is to attend cooking classes. I have had the opportunity to train at Le Cordon Bleu, Culinary Institute of America, and most recently, at the Institute for Culinary Education. My latest class was four days of intensive training in cooking skills. The class included traditional French techniques that are centuries old and are still used as building blocks for many cuisines of the world. This four-blog series will include one technique from each day that I believe may help you as a home cook. Cook along with me as we explore fine cooking techniques.

Day 2

The second class in this four-class series included chicken butchery, stuffing and breading of poultry, pastry, and basic soup. The French know a lot about cooking but one of the things they do best, in my opinion, is soup. While traditional French soups usually have cream and butter, we can learn from how they combine flavors to make a very healthy and easy soup.  Here is an adapted recipe that you will make again and again. It can be served hot or room temperature.

Simple Potato, Leek, and Carrot Soup

Note: Only ½ of the soup gets pureed so make sure you dice the vegetables in small pieces that are of similar size.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large leek ,well cleaned and diced (white part only)
• ½ pound potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 large or 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (or another cup of water or milk)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Minced parsley or green onions for garnish
• Plain Greek yogurt for garnish

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium soup pot.
2. Add the leeks and cook on medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Do not allow to brown.
3. Add the remaining ingredients except for the garnish.
4. Cook until the vegetables are very soft, 30-45 minutes. Stir frequently.
5. Remove ½ of the soup and puree using a blender or emersion blender.
6. Return the puree to the pot and heat through. Adjust seasoning if needed. There is a good chance it will need additional salt depending on the type of broth you use.
7. Serve in flat bowls and garnish with parsley or chopped green onion and a teaspoon of plain Greek yogurt.

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Cooking is my passion. I am fortunate that this passion often overlaps my career in nutrition as we work to build healthy recipes, test cooking techniques, and write curricula that helps everyday cooks make healthy food for their family. As with any passion, you should sharpen your knives from time to time. The way I do this is to attend cooking classes.

I have had the opportunity to train at Le Cordon Bleu, Culinary Institute of America, and most recently, at the Institute for Culinary Education. My latest class was four days of intensive training in cooking skills. The class included traditional French techniques that are centuries old and are still used as building blocks for many cuisines of the world. This four part blog series will include one technique from each day that I believe may help you as a home cook. Cook along with me as we explore fine cooking techniques.

Day 1

The first class in this four-class series included fish butchery, searing fish filets, making the sauces Béchamel and Volute, fish stock, and cooking and seasoning couscous. The one technique I think I will use again and that you also can use is how to easily cook couscous. Couscous is a pasta; it is made by steaming semolina and passing it through a fine mesh strainer. Not to worry, you don’t have to actually make the couscous. It is easily found in almost all grocery stores. Sometimes you can even find whole-wheat couscous which is even better.

Couscous cooks quickly, making it a great work-night side dish. You can season it with many different combinations of flavors – saffron OR herbs from the garden OR cumin and cinnamon. Here is a recipe to get you started. This recipe uses instant couscous, as there is also Israeli or pearl couscous that requires a different cooking technique. Couscous is great with chicken or fish as a side dish. You can also use it as a base for a bowl meal. It is also good mixed in a green salad to add an interesting texture.

Couscous with Fresh Herbs

Ingredients

• 1 cup instant couscous
• 1 ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Fresh black pepper (about 6 grinds from a pepper mill) OR a generous pinch of ground pepper
• 2-4 Tablespoons finely chopped herbs (thyme, parsley, dill, tarragon, cilantro, chives, oregano – any combination or even a single herb)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• Lemon zest from 1 lemon (optional)

Directions

1. Place couscous in a medium glass, ceramic, or metal bowl.
2. Add the herbs to the bowl.
3. In a small pot, heat the broth with the salt and pepper until boiling.
4. Add the hot broth mixture to the couscous and herbs.
5. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let steam for 10 minutes.
6. Uncover and add the lemon juice and zest if using.
7. Fluff with a fork and adjust the seasoning.

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