Mexican Cooking Class

It is hard to believe when Matt and I first started dating I barely could make a box of macaroni and cheese or jello. To my defense, I was a freshman in college so I really didn't have to know how to cook anything. Over the years, I have learned to cook pretty well, so I was excited to come to Japan and be able to take a bunch of the cooking classes that CHIC  offers. 

Last week I took another Mexican cooking class. Yes, I know how strange it sounds that I take Mexican cooking classes in Japan. The classes are taught by a man named Greg, who is great at cooking authentic Mexican dishes. This is my third cooking class with him and my mouth is already watering thinking about the class being offered this fall.

This class focused on fajitas. We made two different beef marinades and two different chicken marinades. All of them were yummy, but then again when can you go wrong with meat soaking in tequila or beer. We also made a variety of topping and dips, including regular salsa, pico de gallo, mango salsa and guacamole.  If this wasn't yummy enough, we finished off the meal with homemade tortilla chips, flour tortillas, refried beans, Mexican rice and nachos.

I meant to take pictures of the finished food on my plate, however I was so involved with eating that I forgot to get my camera back out. Guess it is a good excuse to have to take the next class!

Indian Cooking Class

Sticking with the "cooking theme" I seem to be doing lately on my blog, today I went to an Indian cooking class. I never had Indian food until I moved here. I have found that I really like it. We have been to an Indian restaurant several times with some of our friends from the UK (did you know that Indian curry to most Brits is like Americans ordering pizza?) and I have cooked it a few times at home. However, what I have cooked at home comes from a jar and isn't anything like the real-deal. Today's class was the real deal.

When I first started eating Indian food I thought it was all curries and samosas. However I was wrong. There is so much more. Today's class was a variety of recipes –– Butter Chicken served with Nan bread, Palak Panir (creamed spinach with cheese), Aloo Tikki (a lightly fried potato pancake with green chilies and peas), samosas and mint chutney.

Taking an Indian cooking class really makes me appreciate the food so much more. Cooking Indian food from scratch is very labor intensive as there are so many spices and steps to some of the recipes. For example, the butter chicken dish was fantastic, but is very time consuming.  However, all the hard work pays off when you taste the food. Yum-my!

The Palak Panir required us to make the panir cheese from scratch. I was surprised at how simple it was to make. Just boil high fat milk, add vinegar and then strain off the liquid and form the cheese.

This cheese is then added to the spinach portion (spinach, tomatoes and spices) of the recipe.

We learned how to make samosas from scratch (although we did take a shortcut for the covering and used spring roll paper).  Filling the samosas was quite a chore, and let's just say I won't quit my day job to be a samosa filler. Mine were not all that attractive.

Mint chutney tastes awesome on the samosas. It is a simple mixture of blended onions, fresh mint, lemon juice, chili powder and salt.

I didn't think I would like the Aloo Tikki very much, but I was surprised at how good it tasted. And considering I married a man who would eat a potato for every meal if he could, this will be a great addition to my recipes.

I would have to say it wasn't the prettiest food I have ever eaten, but it was definitely tasty. 

German Cooking Class

One of the great things about living here are all the cooking classes CHIC offers. Recently I took a German cooking class, featuring "winter menu" foods. The only thing that could have made this class any better would have been a nice tall German beer.

We started the class off making Schwarzwaelder Kirsch Becher (Black Forest Cherry Cups). The dessert tastes better if they set for at least an hour so it made sense to make them first.

Next, we made Mixed Salad with Bacon and Mushrooms. It was a delicious mixed green salad with a homemade mustard vinaigrette dressing and warm mushrooms and bacon.


A Kartoffelgratn it Saurer Sahne (Potato Gratin with Sour Cream) came next. It was very easy and to make it a bit fancier, each serving was made in an individual ramekin dish.


The menu consisted of two main dishes, although our teacher told us that normally you would only make one. However, she wanted to teach us both, and who was I to complain about two main dishes?

The first one was called Rinderrouladen, or in English, Beef Roulade. It is a piece of thinly sliced beef with onions, pickles, mustard and fresh thyme rolled inside, then sauteed in a vegetable cream mixture. In the end this mixture is turned into a vegetable cream sauce and served with the beef. I was a bit worried about what exactly this would taste like, but I really liked it. I think if I could make this without the kids watching me, they would really enjoy it too.

The second main dish was Schweinefilet im Speckmantel, or as we called it, Pork Fillet Wrapped in Bacon. This was my favorite of the day. We braised the meat on the stove and then made a garlic and walnut cream sauce to be served with the meat. It was like heaven in my mouth.


We steamed some fresh vegetables and our meal was complete!


If anyone wants one of these recipes, post here or email me. I would gladly send them to you. Not a menu for quick weight loss obviously. In a few weeks I am going to another German cooking class. This time it is a traditional Easter menu. I can't wait.