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The New Orleans Meetup: The New Orleans School of Cooking
On Saturday, I had my cooking class with neutral observer, as well as Randy and Sarah Weivoda. Two other couples rounded out the class. First of all, any class that begins with, “What does everyone want to drink?” is my kind of educational lesson. I enjoyed a Bloody Mary (two, actually), while neutral observer got silly from a Mimosa (two, actually). As we consumed adult beverages (tea, lemonade, and water were also available), our master chef Joe went over the preparation of the Sausage and Chicken Gumbo. Then it was time to move to the cooking stations and begin for real (smile for the camera, NO):
I didn’t have time to take any pics of the Barbequed Shrimp & Grits (too busy). After we prepared our two dishes, we sat down to eat:
Yum! Now it was time to prepare Bananas Foster Crepes. First, we made the crepes (our instructor Joe makes an appearance):
Guess which two were made by Stad. Then it was time to flambé:
The Voodoo Fireworks you see were caused by Joe flinging cinnamon into the skillet. Let’s have dessert! Take a look:
After we finished the class, we got this picture with our instructor:
Joe also told us we get diplomas, retrievable online. After that, we thanked him and headed for the store. I would recommend the on-hands class for anyone interested in learning Cajun/Creole cooking. If it’s done during a Ricochet Meetup, it’s a great experience. Join Ricochet, and not only can you join the conversation, you can join the fun!
Published in Meetups
They let you play with fire?
Great photos! Loved everything but the grits. Taken lots of cooking classes and enjoyed them all. One of the best was in Danang on my Viet Nam memory tour. But didn’t save the recipes. Will check out the local Creole restaurant and see if they have the same stuff you learned to cook.
And knives!!!
The grits were to die for . . . they’d be good even without shrimp . . .
While drinking!
That’s how I’d have to eat ’em. I just had grits and andouille for lunch.
So much fun! Thanks for the tour!
Neutral Observer looks like a natural! Glad y’all had a great time. Nice pictures.
Edit: duplicate
Grits, or Polenta if one wants to pass themselves as an Italian gourmand make a great addition to many different meals. Great pics Stad and a great post for a Sunday evening.
A good cocktail is always a good way to start prepping a good meal.
My wife and I were in New Orleans for a meeting last year. She went to the school and had a great time. I met her in the store, bought too much (we both like to cook), had a great time. Highly recommended.
It’s not the cookin’ that’s dangerous. It’s the eatin.
I thought Detroit was in Michigan . . . you had grits?
Duplicate
“Like” . . .
Oh yeah . . . I spent over $100 in the store, but that included shipping . . .
Not sure whether your spelling of Detroit is a typo or just funny. But, yes. I’m a Southron. We import grits up here. We import andouille and other good things, too.
Mental dyslexia … did I spell that right?
But yes, it’s great we can import foods from all over the country. In fact, neutral observer will be ordering a case of Hatch green chiles (28 oz cans) soon . . .
Yeah, that was a lot of fun. I’m glad you thought of it, Stad.
If anyone hasn’t seen this yet, Melissa has a post about Friday night at the meetup.