Our 1st Viking Cooking Class

 

Andy and I attended a cooking class last week at the Viking Cooking School. This was the first class for either of us and was quite an adventure. I have wanted to do this for several years but it is quite expensive at $100 a person per 3 hour class; so it is not something you can do often. In the summer months, we try to always commit to finding new and interesting things to do around town to keep us entertained. Memphis is very lucky to have one of only 15 of these cooking facilities in the U.S. It was a beautiful setting for our night out.

 Andy doesn't like fish but I love it and I wanted to find a class that Andy would find challenging as he is already a great cook; so this class seemed like a really good one as a starting point for both of us. 

We were put in a group with another couple. They were an older couple but were very friendly. It was challenging to divide up the work, and we wished that each of us had been able to make the full dishes on our own but the classes are set up where each group may make one portion/entree together. So each person is assigned one small task at a time such as chopping herbs, prepping the fish, skewering the fish, chopping onions, and so forth and the meal just comes together as a result of the group working together. I think I would have learned more had I been able to cook a whole meal on my own, but at least we were introduced to some new techniques overall. I guess you could try and practice a complete run through at home once you have the recipes. They let you take home a booklet of the recipes from the class plus a few bonus recipes for side dishes to complement the main entree.

Here is a photo of the potato and chive crusted halibut we made with a lemon beurre blanc sauce. It was delicious. 

We also made a prosciutto-wrapped striped bass stuffed with sundried tomatoes. It was sublime! This is one that I definitely want to try on my own. It was pretty easy to make but had many layers of complex flavors!

 

We learned how to grill Tuscan-Style Ahi Tuna on Rosemary Skewers. Andy got to grill these along with one of our partners. We were laughing at how all the guys were grilling while the girls were tasting the other samples provided in the class. Here is a picture before we hit the grill and the finished product. I'm not a fan of Tuna but this wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Good job Andy!

 

Our teacher demonstrated how to hot smoke Salmon with a Cucumber Creme Fraiche topping. This made me really want to go out and buy a hot smoker. Delish!

Our teacher, whose last name was Kitchens by the way, showed the class how to cook a whole fish in a mixture of salt and herbs. This was called Salt-Baked Whole Striped Bass with fresh herbs and olive oil. It was an interesting technique to watch. You crack open the hard salted shell once it is finished cooking and the steam rushes out making an impressive presentation for guests at a dinner party.

 

Everything we cooked and sampled was delicious and beautiful. We ended the class with a sit down dinner where we enjoyed all of the dishes we cooked together along with some wine. All in all it was an educational and enjoyable night out. We hope to take another class in the future. If the price wasn't as high it would be more feasible to take these classes more often. I think next time we will find a class where Andy can actually sample and enjoy the food we make. He tried a small bite of most of the dishes but he didn't get to feast like the rest of us. I ate quite a bit of fish that night!! Tip - don't eat before you come to class. You sample food and wine throughout. We had to eat beforehand because I didn't want Andy to starve since I knew he wasn't going to eat the fish, but if you can, fast throughout the day because you will eat everything you make and if the class can serve in place of a nice dinner out then that helps offset the cost of the course. So my advice is to make a whole night of it with a friend or your partner - plan to attend class together and dine at the end with your class as you sample all the fruits of your labor. It could make for a real enjoyable date night.

At the end of the class they asked for suggestions for new topics to cover in classes. Probably no surprise to anyone, we wrote down that they need to create a class on cooking with bourbon, wine and beer! That would be a really fun class. 

If you are interested in checking out the classes they have coming up go to vikingrange.com. They have a ton of classes to choose from each month. They have date nights, girls night out, classes geared towards specific regions like Italian or French cuisine, desserts, pasta from scratch, breads, etc. I can't wait for our next class. It is a very neat experience!