Pechluck's Food Adventures

I recently attended a Caprial + John cooking class. This class was titled “Sunday Supper Tuesday” because the class was being held on Tuesday Oct 9th at 6:30pm, but was composed of recipes that would be perfect for a family Sunday dinner. The various menu items for the class included

• Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese Dip with Crostini
• Cappy’s Biscuits
• Bacon Cured Pork Chops with Honey Glaze
• Roasted Cauliflower with Crispy Breadcrumbs and Garlic
• Parsnip and Caramelized Apple Puree
• Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust

All my previous experiences with John and Caprial had happened to be in the summer, where they had held a supper club dinner and one cooking class both which were held at their beautiful home property (and which I blogged about previously). This time, I got to experience a class at a more professional location, Abby’s Table for the Kitchen at 609 SE Ankeny.

Similar to the setup at their home, they had lots of tall stools/chairs placed around the kitchen area so we could observe as they demonstrated the cooking techniques and their recipes coming to life, step by step. They also had long tables set up for when we could then eat the results of their demonstrations as our dinner not far away. Their recipes are already printed out and stapled together at the beginning of class so that as they were talking through creating each dish, you can write down any notes or extra tips they shared. As before, it is BYOB, whether your beverage be soda or beer or in most cases, bottles of wine.

We started out with the appetizer of roasted garlic goat cheese dip, which was placed in the oven and then we were served while we continued the class. I appreciate this pacing where we were allowed a snack, especially since as we get into more of the dishes the kitchen begins to smell torturously tantalizing. This dish was very quick, though they had already prepared the roasted garlic beforehand and just summarized what it took and showed us the end result because, well it is slow-roasted garlic.

Meanwhile, Cappy carefully instructed us on how critical it is not to overmix the pie dough or the biscuits, and showed us how even though the mix didn’t look that smooth or pretty, how it would turn into moist tenderness later. She also advocated not using biscuit cutters because of the extra dough you end up having to reform and cut again, resulting in tougher biscuits- instead, she utilized a pastry dough scraper to create triangle pieces.

Seeing an experienced chef who’s done them hundreds of time from start to finish is definitely a great way to see exactly what it needs to look like, including how to eye it, which you can’t get just from following a recipe or watching a video or quick segment on show.  The fact that biscuits was on the menu was specifically one of the reasons I signed up for this class, and it was a successful lesson I hope (we’ll see when I try this myself next month).

Meanwhile, we were shocked to find that she was not putting the pie dough in any pie tin- instead it went straight onto a baking sheet for more of a “free form” pie in which the dough is just folded into the center over the filling (sort of like a giant galette). I did not take a photo of the finished pie before the oven, but I do have the piece that was cut for dessert during dinner… personally I think I would added X-sharp cheese, and more of it… both in the crust, and probably sprinkled on top afterwards. Never can have too much cheese! And, pair it with a port.

The other two vegetable sides included Parsnip and Caramelized Apple Puree and Roasted Cauliflower with Crispy Breadcrumbs and Garlic. Although the flavors of the puree were fine, I think I still prefer mashed potatoes or “faux” mashed using cauliflower. However, I appreciated learning the trick of heating the sheet pan in the oven so that when you pour the seasoned cauliflower onto the sheet to start the roasting process, you can get a sear on the side resting on the pan as well.

The main dish were these thick cuts that were marinated and then quickly seared Bacon Cured Pork Chops with Honey Glaze. You can also use chicken instead of pork chops. I knew I was with fellow peers when the other guests at the cooking class at my end of the table all poured a little bit of juice from the family style platter after serving themselves a chop.

John and Caprial also talked a bit about the new micro restaurant Basa Basa they recently opened that specializes in Korean Fried Chicken and a few sides (rice, mac salad, ramen fries with Cappy’s special sauce) which seems remiscent of a Hawaiian plate lunch- carbs and chicken. The other neighboring micro restaurants in the same space specialize in meatballs, burgers, and tacos apparently- mega meats around the world! I haven’t thought about Korean Fried Chicken for a while and now I’m craving it, dammit. I might need to wait a bit to visit  though after the amount of butter and cream I saw going into the Sunday Dinner recipes. I know they were making enough for 2 dozen guests, but a few of us guiltily giggled how we’ve never seen cream in half gallon containers before… and they used multiple containers of them during our class. Same with bricks of butter as wide as the size of my hand. The roasted cauliflower is definitely the healthiest dish on the menu (and the only recipe without butter and cream- second place is the pork chop that doesn’t have cream or cheese at least).

While they are working through the new restaurant, John and Caprial are still going to be teaching classes once a week, and supper clubs once a month- check out their website for the menu details of each event they have scheduled.