Great Cooks

Tuffy and I went to cooking class tonight. Some time ago, we purchased this in a silent auction to support an AIDS charity, and tonight we finally went to class. Great cooks is in the old Simpson's Tower at Yonge and Queen, on the 8th floor. Tonight, Martin Kouprie, the chef from Pangaea was demonstrating. On the menu:
Amuse - Triptic of summer vegetables (3 soups) with Sake
Lobster Risotto - Nova Scotia lobster with wild leeks
A Study of Canadian Game - seared caribou hind, Riesling braised cabbage with apple and speck, wild mushrooms, foie gras sauce
Dessert - Maple-pecan tart with buttermilk ice cream.

It was a lot of fun, and we got to eat this wonderful meal.

The lobster risotto was the best part of the menu. I make a pretty good risotto, but the subtlety and perfect texture of Martin's along with the generous portions of lobster really was a cut above. The caribou was great too. The cabbage was perhaps a little bit sweeter than we would have preferred, but still delicious. They prepared the recipes for us to take home as well - although some of these dishes are not too practicle for home preparation. For instance, to make the foie gras sauce, he uses foie gras butter, which he makes from the little ends of foie gras not served with that dish. Also, caribou is a little hard to come by at my local supermarket. None-the-less, I learned some things about cooking tonight, enjoyed a great meal, and had a fine time.