Cooking Class

Your spices this evening will be…

Kickin' up her heels; Valerie breezes thru prep 
and then takes on the dishes

Simmered beans with kale and swiss chard topped with shaved parmigiano

My friend Valerie was here for a visit and we attended a Mediterranean vegetarian cooking class with Chef Heidi Fink. On the menu: bruschetta, beans and greens, chickpea stew with couscous, romesco dip with crudités and anise biscotti.

We were assigned the making of the romesco, and, apart from not having a clue as to how to run the food processor; we did good. Everything was delicious; so back at the ranch I decided to have a go at beans and greens again. It took forever and a day (or two) of subsequent simmerings to get the beans to the tender stage. It was tasty but not as good as the batch served up by Heidi. 

And, note to self: this brand of greek olive oil—avoid those bargain oils because there is a high chance of them being blended/adulterated oils, not pure olive.