In addition to trying new restaurants and visiting the latest brunch spot, I also enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. I get excited about trying a new dish and get the utmost satisfaction from creating something and seeing the glee on my family’s faces when they see it’s not meatloaf again for dinner on Wednesday. If I get a seal of approval (which usually consist of finishing his meals, and the Gold is if he asks for seconds) from my 4 year old, then I know I’ve done something right. When one of my brunch club member suggested that we take a cooking class in lieu of doing our traditional Sunday brunch, I was down for the cause.
We decided to do a class at Central Market,. If you don’t have a Central Market in your area, my condolences, because it is one of the most amazing grocery stores. I can do a whole post on the fabulousness that is Central Market, but that’s not what we’re here for today. The menu was titled Bourbon Street Cooking and consisted of a three course meal and included 2 glasses of wine (red or white, your choice). We would be preparing: Bourbon shrimp over white cheddar grits with corn and Tabasco, buttermilk hush puppies, creole dirty rice blackened tilapia with spicy remoulade, and pecan praline bread pudding with Bourbon Caramel Sauce. They had me at pecan praline bread pudding!
When we arrived at the class our group was assigned to a table.The ingredients for each dish was already measured out in little containers. Our Instructor Ms. Jackson was witty and sweet. She stood at the head of the class and helped us prepare each course.She made sure we kept stirring and didn’t burn the grits.
The food was delicious. The spice and acidity of the shrimp balanced the rich creaminess of the grits. The hush puppies were crisp and light. The dirty rice and the tilapia were spicy but not overpowering, both were full of flavors that had me doing the zydeco shuffle (I’m not even sure that’s a real thing but just roll with it) with each bite. Sweetness is my weakness so the bread pudding was my favorite part. I kept sneaking pieces of praline when we were cooking. The bread pudding was made with challah bread and homemade pralines. Yasss!
We ate and still had leftovers to box up and take home. We also left with a booklet with all of the recipes.
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