Summer 2014 Cooking Classes

I have several new classes on the Kitchen Conservatory summer schedule, including a burger class (July 6), Girls' Night Out tropical seafood feast (July 11), Girls' Night Out vegetarian (August 23), boozy desserts (August 24), and Girls' Night Out pizza & pasta (September 6).

Below is my schedule through September. To register, call Kitchen Conservatory at 314-862-2665 or register online.

DATE NIGHT FOR COUPLES: SUSHI U FOR TWO - June 29 @ 5:00-7:30  OR August 8 @ 6:00-8:30 (hands-on)

• This menu includes tempura-fried shrimp rolls, sesame tuna hand rolls, smoked eel rolls, spicy scallop rolls, hot-smoked salmon rolls with mango and jalapeño, plus ginger-peach green tea ice cream - all served with cold beer.

BURGER U - July 6 @ 1:00-3:30 (hands-on)

• Cuban-style beef burgers, Carolina barbecue pork burgers, tuna burgers with roasted garlic-tomato aïoli, perfect French fries, beer-battered onion rings with blue cheese dipping sauce, and roasted pineapple-rum milkshakes.

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT: SOMETHING TO BEACH ABOUT - July 11 @ 6:00-8:30 (demonstration)

• I'll create a tropical feast perfect for a hot summer night, starting with cod fish fritters with spicy cilantro sauce. Sip on a rum runner cocktail and enjoy hearts of palm and mango salad with avocado dressing, smoked jerk-rubbed shrimp with yogurt-lime sauce, cumin-spiced black beans and rice, plus coconut sorbet with macadamia sablé cookies.

DATE NIGHT FOR COUPLES: READY TO RUM-BLE - July 19 @ 6:00-8:30 (hands-on)

• Learn to prepare coconut bisque with rum flambé, macadamia-crusted scallops with rum beurre blanc, jerk pork tenderloin with spiced rum glaze, Caribbean rice, mini-hot buttered rum cheesecakes with caramel sauce, plus a piña-limonada cocktail.

HEIR AND A PARENT: WIZARDS IN THE KITCHEN - July 27 @ 1:00-3:30 (hands-on)

• Attention all Muggles! Experience the world of Harry Potter and make magic in the kitchen as I help you prepare delightful dishes described throughout the J.K. Rowling series, including The Three Broomsticks' butterbeer, ham-and-cheese pasties from the Hogwarts house-elves, and Mrs. Weasley's potatoes with béchamel sauce. Before you apparate home, you'll make Aunt Petunia's individual berry-pudding trifles. This class is designed for children, at least 7 years of age, plus a parent.

DATE NIGHT FOR COUPLES: HOMETOWN FAVORITES - August 1 @ 6:00-8:30 (hands-on)

• Leave St. Louis for a week, a month, or heaven forbid - to live in another city, and the cravings for hometown favorites is undeniable. We'll sample some local beers, then prepare St. Louis-style thin crust pizza with locally-made sausage, toasted beef ravioli with marinara sauce, smoked pulled chicken sandwiches with St. Louis-style barbecue sauce and vinegar slaw, plus frozen vanilla custard and baked chocolate cake doughnuts with peanut butter glaze.

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT: WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, GO CHOPPING - August 23 @ 6:30-9:00 (demonstration)

• Enjoy vegetarian pho with soba noodles, mushroom-lentil burgers with garlic aïoli, roasted tandoori cauliflower with mint chutney, tarragon green bean salad with almonds and feta, plus raspberry-peach crisp with vanilla ice cream.

LIFT YOUR SPIRITS WITH SWEETS - August 24 @ 12:30-3:00 (hands-on)

• We'll raid the liquor cabinet to add a little spirit to five exciting desserts that are adult-rated: chocolate-bourbon crème brûlée, coconut-rum mousse cake, gin and tonic lemon sorbet, Pimm's cherry pie with vodka crust, plus Irish cream-pistachio fudge.

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT: FOR PIZZA'S SAKE, LET'S EAT PASTA - September 6 @ 6:00-8:30 (demonstration)

• Cider bellini. Chopped salad with artichokes, chickpeas, olives and creamy lemon dressing. Classic margherita pizza and roasted fennel & sausage pizza. Linguine with clams in brown butter-white wine sauce. Hazelnut gelato.

DATE NIGHT FOR COUPLES: SALSA SALSA DINE AND DANCE - September 27 @ 6:00-9:00 (hands-on)

• Grab your partner and join us for a unique experience of dancing and dining. The evening begins with a one-hour Latin salsa dance lesson with a dance instructor from COCA, that will spark your appetite for an incredible evening in the kitchen. Refresh your thirst with a mojito, as this hands-on class prepares fried corn tortilla chips with black bean dip, grilled shrimp quesadillas with smoked tomato salsa, roasted pork tenderloin with papaya-mango salsa and yellow Cuban rice, plus banana cream pie with chocolate crumb crust.