Couple Cooking Class (CCC)

This north downtown neighborhood was completely desolated as we entered a Manhattan-styled loft for our first cooking class. A completely open space with the kitchen as its center piece, we spent the next 3 hours learning, cooking, and eating!

Kabocha Squash Soup with Crispy Prosciutto

Ingredients

Kabocha Squash
yellow onion, diced
garlic, crushed
olive oil
thin prosciutto, julienned
chicken or vegetable stock

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut Squash in half and remove seeds. Rub with olive
oil and salt and place flesh down on a roasting sheet. Roast until tender, about 30
minutes.

Heat a large stock pot on medium. Add olive oil and saute the onions and garlic, about
5 minutes until lightly browned. Add stock and continue to cook onions and garlic in
stock.

Heat a medium skillet, add olive oil and fry pancetta until crispy. Set aside.

When squash is cooked, cool slightly and scoop out flesh into the warm stock. Cook
another 10 minutes until well incorporated into the broth. Puree and season to taste
with salt and pepper.

Berry Good Smoothie

Now that I have Vitamix, I've gotten really into smoothies!

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 4 fresh/ frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 1 tbsp flaxseed oil
• tsp fresh lime juice
• handful of dried goji berries

Instructions

• Blend all ingredients!

Homemade Horchata

Homemade Horchata (vegan, gluten free, soy free)

Makes about 7 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews (or use raw or blanched almonds)

2/3 cup white rice (medium or long-grain preferred)

2 1/2 cups water + 3 cups water

one 3-inch cinnamon stick

2/3 cup sugar, or to taste*

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (increase to 1 teaspoon, or to taste, if you love vanilla)

Instructions:

In a large blender canister, Vita-Mix canister, or large bowl combine cashews, rice, 2 1/2 cups warm tap water, cinnamon stick, cover and place in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours. Remove canister from the refrigerator, remove the cinnamon stick, and blend the mixture for 2 to 3 minutes on high speed, or until blended as smoothly as possible. Then add sugar (to taste), vanilla extract, 3 cups more water and blend again for 2 more minutes, or until mixture is as smooth as possible. If desired, strain horchata through a sieve or cheesecloth (I did not find it necessary as the cashews blended incredibly smoothly in my Vita-Mix).

Serve immediately as is, over ice, or refrigerate and serve chilled, shaking before if mixture has separated. Horchata will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days; use common sense.

Special thanks to Dolores for sharing this with me!

Winter Melon Soup

Ingredients

• 2 lb winter melon (peeled and cube)
• 1 lb chicken or pork
• 4 quarts water
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 slices ginger

Instructions

• Bring water to a boil, place meat into pot, and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes.
• Place winter melon into pot and let it simmer until the melon becomes translucent.
• Then add ginger and salt to flavor.

Chou Chou Potstickers

Ingredients

• 1.5lb ground pork
• 6 peeled, chopped water chestnuts
• 2 cups of chopped long chives
• 6 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 packet of potsticker skin (50 count)

Instructions

• Blanch long chives to heighten flavor.
• Mix ground pork, water chestnut, chives, soy sauce, salt, and sugar.
• See video how to wrap a potsticker.

• Once dumplings are wrapped, you can either boil or pan-fry them. To boil, just add the potstickers into a pot until they float atop. To pan-fry, coat the pan with oil and flour, and let the bottom of the potstickers brown. Then, add a little bit of water, place a cover, and allow to them to steam until the skin becomes translucent. 
• TIP: cook one potsticker in advance to make sure the filling has enough flavor.

Lotus Root Soup

Yum, more wintry soup!

Ingredients

• 1- 1.5lb lotus root 
• 5-6 red dates
• 1 cup black-eyed peas
• 1 slice of ginger
• 3 quarts of chicken or pork broth

Instructions

• Peel and cube lotus root.
• Bring broth to a boil, then add lotus root. Adjust to medium heat and let it cook for 30 minutes or until lotus root is cooked.
• Add black-eyes peas, red dates, and ginger. 
• Let it cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the black-eyes peas are cooked.
• Add salt to flavor. 

Chinese Watercress Soup

A great wintery soup I learned from my Po Po's (grandmother's) kitchen! Light, warm, and good for your health. :o)


Ingredients

• 3 chicken drumsticks (leave skin on) or you can also use 1/3 lb of pork shoulder
• 2-3 bundles of watercress
• 8 cups of water
• 3-4 dried red dates
• 3 chopped medium-sized carrots
• 2 thin slices of ginger
• 6 peeled fresh water chestnuts (don't use the canned ones!)

Instructions

1. Wash watercress thoroughly.
2. Bring water to a boil, then place meat and boil at high/medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour.
3. Place carrots, red dates, and water chestnuts into pot. Bring heat to medium and let it cook for another 15-20 minutes.
4. Place watercress and ginger in pot for about 5 minutes.
5. Add salt for flavor.