Cooking Classes @ Fig & Olive
Talk about afternoon delight! For the first time, Fig & Olive Melrose Place is offering cooking classes, so naturally I had to be among the first to try. I joined a small group of culinarily inclined folks and Executive Chef Pascal Lorange to create some very simple yet sensational springtime dishes. OMG!! It was so fun, interactive, informative and totally stress-free.
Instead of having to prep everything ourselves, recipes were handed out and portioned-out ingredients were provided to each of us as we followed the chef’s demo and took notes. The end result was an absolutely delicious and healthy French Riviera-inspired four-course feast full of fresh, seasonal ingredients. Chef Pascal uses so many fabulous olive oils in place of butter and cream, so it’s very easy to veganize many of the dishes. I can’t wait for his next class this summer–maybe I’ll see YOU there?!!
To start: A little sparkling refreshment with strawberries. Absolute perfection.
A copy of the recipes, pen for taking notes and a few ingredients await at each student’s table.
Chef Pascal explaining what we can expect during the two-hour class.
No cooking, just slicing. The simple ingredients for Fig & Olive’s famous (and deliciously simple) zucchini carpaccio.
Chef Pascal uses a Japanese mandoline to slice the zucchini, but he says a knife works just as well.
The famed zucchini carpaccio: I learned the key to getting this dish right is to make the slices the width of a quarter.
Simply drizzle Fig & Olive olive oil over sliced zucchini, salt, pepper, pine nuts and Parmesan. That’s all there is to it!
Next up: The main ingredients for the chilled cucumber soup.
Making the chilled cucumber soup … they did all the work and then we ate it. That’s my kind of cooking class!
I could drink this every day: Chilled cucumber soup with mint, lemon, orange, and pink peppercorn. So clean, so beautifully textured, so spicy.
Thyme is on my side … getting a little more hands-on with the sea bass en papillote.
No, that’s not a calzone. It’s sea bass en papillote (“in parchment”). I wrapped it myself.
So fragrant, delicate and full of flavor. Sea bass en papillote marinated with lemon thyme, carrot, zucchini, heirloom tomato, fennel and eggplant. You can use other veggies based on what’s in season and forgo the fish if you want to keep it strictly veg.
Of course, no meal is complete without dessert. Each student was given pre-cut Granny Smith apples and a sheet of pastry dough.
My new favorite dessert: Apple tart with caramelized apples and apricot glaze. The apples could be substituted with any fruit that’s in season.
How sweet it is! Maybe next time I can take the whole tray with me. Think they’ll notice?
More info: www.figandolive.com
Lifestyle writer Mar Yvette is on a mission to bring you the best people, places, and products to make your life pop!