Year of the Monkey Cooking Class

We enjoyed another wonderful cooking class with chef Robert Fong this evening, celebrating the Chinese New Year -- The Year of the Monkey in 2016. 

The menu included Lo Han Jai (Buddha's Delight), a complex vegetarian dish; Beijing duck with bean sprouts; chicken soup with goji berries, dragon eyes, ginger, napa cabbage, dried mushrooms and dried red dates; winter melon with chicken, leeks, shiitake mushrooms, dried scallops, and complex seasonings; and a simple chilled coconut pudding to finish the meal. 

These cooking classes are a collaboration between the Community Food Co-op, where we buy most of our food, and Whatcom Community College. Phil and I enjoy sitting in the front row of the co-op's custom-built classroom, where we're close to the action. As I'm the cook in our house, I relish seeing interesting recipes demonstrated, learning some new techniques, and having a night off from cooking!

Robert Fong keeps the pace lively, has a great sense of humor, and isn't a stickler about following recipes to the letter, all of which I appreciate. In today's blip, he's showing the tidbits of prosciutto that he's about to add to the winter melon dish -- not traditional, but a real flavor enhancer!

(Phil's blip for today looks back to a momentous event that look place 47 years ago -- take a look!)

Blip 1477