De Gustibus Cooking Class with Melissa Clark

Hello foodies! A few days ago I went to Melissa Clark's De Gustibus Class. (I also prepped for this class in the De Gustibus kitchen. To see the behind the scenes post of De Gustibus click here) Melissa was so sweet and interesting to listen to.

Melissa is a home-cook who wanted to create dishes that were fast and delicious meals for families. The first dish she made was the Crispy Brown Butter Mushroom Crostini. The brown butter on the mushrooms were so rich and nutty. For a mild, sweet garlic flavor, Melissa added a smashed garlic into the mushrooms rather than minced. If it was minced the garlic flavor would be more sharp. To make the brown butter all you need is to melt  butter. When it's ready it can be heard. At first the butter will be loud and sizzling and then when it gets quiet the brown butter is done. What is happening is the water cooks out of the butter and caramelizes. A great idea is to put brown butter on popcorn.

The next dish was the Raw Kale Salad with Anchovy-Date Dressing. The dressing was wonderful on the salad. It was sweet, salty, and had a little chewy bite with the dates. The dish was incredible.

The third dish was the Shrimp with Capers, Feta & Dill. Everything was sautéed so the cheese melted in beautifully. The dish was very good.

The next thing Melissa made was the Braised Pork Shoulder with Tomatoes, Cinnamon, and Olives over Polenta. The pork was so good and the olives added a great brine-like taste to the dish. The polenta was very smooth and delicious.

For dessert, Melissa made the Olive Oil-Almond Cake with Vanilla Mascarpone. The cake was very moist and the mascarpone was just enough to make the dish unbelievable. The olive oil-almond flavor was subtle and great. She shared with the class how easy it is to make vanilla extract. To do it you must half the vanilla beans, pour brandy on top, and let it sit. After two weeks squeeze them into the jar. You must have at least three beans but the more there are, the more flavor there will be.

Melissa Clark's class was a lot of fun, with a lot of great food. Check out our Facebook page for more pictures!

-Mike