January is a great month to start something new. At the beginning of the month, I received a gigantic catalog in the mail. THE GREAT COURSES! The World’s Greatest Professors at Your Fingertips! Not being able to resist the title, I looked further into their fantastic sale for first time buyers. Well, they were practically giving away the first five courses at $30 each, so I ordered.
A small box arrived on Monday. Four courses were nestled inside with the DVD’s and manuals neatly packaged. I’d found four subjects that interested me. Writing. Drawing. The History and Archaeology of the Bible. And, (this will be a surprise to anyone that really knows me)……..The Everyday Gourmet.
Each course is divided into 24 lessons each 30 minutes long. You can order the courses on DVD’s or stream them. I chose the antiquated form of DVD’s.
With my gutters now exploding with big drippy icicles while hanging over a vast skating rink that used to be my patio, it seems the great outdoors will need to wait a bit. Yesterday, My Mysterious Marine came to the rescue with ice melt and plenty of sympathy. Being smart about everything handy-man-ish, I’m sure he saw more than he’s saying about the gutter situation. Icicles hanging from a gutter that is to take water away from your home is never a good sign. Even I know that.
It’s time for spring to arrive. Sadly, for us people living in snow country, that’s 56 days, 6 hours, and 49 minutes from this writing. For the Goddess of the Central Coast of California, my sweet Godmother, TJ, or Miss Firecracker, Spring is any time you look out the window. Most of California is like that.
I started watching the cooking lessons yesterday, while still recovering from my Battle on Ice. Chef Bill Briwa, C.E.C, C.H.E., had me at lesson one. Flavors, aroma, and taste. Maybe this is where I’ve gone wrong all along. I wanted to find out more from this Master Chef.
In his Chef like voice, he gave me my first assignment.
“For this exercise, you need will need melon, radicchio, lime, sugar, and salt for your mise en place. “ It was if this guy could look through the television and see. My cooking always involves a “mess in place”.
Well. After searching a bit, I did find the sugar and salt. I need to run to the store to get the lime and melon. Radicchio.? Hmm. Something that will certainly go bad after one bite. I wonder if the produce associate at the grocery store will just give me a leaf? Come to think of it, I don’t think they even sell this in Nevada. Probably outlawed. I’ll just get some iceberg lettuce and call it good.
Hence, this is where my cooking adventures always go sideways. Pretty sure you need to follow recipes. I’m not so good at that.
According to the chef, just add a little salt here, or a little squeeze of lime there, and the flavors will explode in wonderful deliciousness. Feeling really crazy? Add some Cayenne Pepper.
But.
What if you are allergic to lime. My taste buds are, unless we’re talking about margaritas. And Cayenne Pepper??????? Fergettabout that one.
Learning new things can be hard. Determined to try something new, my mind needed to stay receptive and open to new experiences. So, I was ready to learn about the five tastes he covered.
- Sweetness. I can skip the sweetness challenge. My expanding waistline tells me I’m good on that one. Definitely not allergic to sweets.
- Saltiness. I try to avoid adding extra salt to anything.
- Sourness. According to the chef’s own words, this is a sign of under-ripeness or souring. It’s a warning to stop eating certain foods. I had trouble following his point on this.
- Bitterness. Also confusing, as this is a sign the food might be poisonous. Yes. I will just scratch that radicchio off my grocery list. Poison is never good. Kale goes here.
- Savory. “The flavor of protein that has begun to break down a little bit through enyme activity or through long cooking.” Hmmm. I need to think on that one. I think I have some very savory hamburger in my meat drawer that needs discarding, if this is the definition to follow.
Well, there you have it. It seems plain as the nose on my face. Sweetness wins. Fresh fruit, or perhaps homemade ice cream. Both winners.
I plan to try this entire tasting experiment just because the Chef was so nice to prepare a great lesson. Perhaps I will find that bitter radicchio is my favorite new food. Or that combining melon, radicchio, salt, and lime make a pleasant new flavor all together. At the very least, just saying the word Radicchio makes me feel like putting on a chef’s hat and cook something.
I can hardly wait to begin the other courses. Bible study is always interesting, but to add a visual to the places we’re studying will give the stories a vivid mental backdrop. I can always use hints to improve my writing. Drawing is something I’ve been wanting to learn. Now, there’s no excuse. Practice and techniques will make the pages come alive.
Whatever you do today, consider learning something new. There are so many ways to expand our brains in these dreary winter months. Lifelong learning. It just doesn’t get better than that.
More tomorrow.