Sunday Glorious Sunday

This Sunday I was able to spend some quality time with my couple, Peter and Tara. We signed up for a Laguna Culinary Arts class months ago and today was the day. The class is called Sauces for Meats II. Naturally, we did not think about wasting our time with Sauces for Meats I, if such a class even exists, and went straight to the second level.

Our instructor chef was Octavio from Aliso Viejo. He was a relatively friendly chap with a great, big mole on his forehead. Naturally, because it was a cooking class, I wanted to say guacaMOLEy a lot-but I kept myself in check. Guacamoley! Holy Moley.

We began the session with class introductions. Most of the class was female, except for me and Peter, the entire class was female. Most of them looked like they were not only great cooks, but great eaters as well. Fun, large, excitable women... it made for a great class.

We got basic instruction on knife skills. At least enough instruction to avoid cutting off any digits. I learned some knew ways to cut shallots (onions), peel garlic and hold a knife. But, just the basics. Another class I had taken got more in depth with "knife skills" and I employed them with ferocious abandon.

The sauces we made consisted of reducing a concoction of sorts into a smaller, more viscous version of that concoction, seasoning to taste, straining and adding brown roux. Much of the stuff I won't have on hand in my kitchen like the brown roux (although it's easily made, apparently) and the demi glace, or what we call "gold" in the kitchen.

Oh, there was also a lot of Thyme in our sauces. And naturally, there were many Thyme puns going around the kitchen-"Do you have the thyme", "I don't have thyme", etc. It was funny in the atmosphere of Chef Octavio.

Here is the list of sauces we made:

• Lamb Thyme-Garlic Sauce
• Mustard "Robert" Sauce - our group called this Bob Sauce
• Marchand de Vin Sauce
• Orange Grand Marnier Sauce

My favorites were the Bob Sauce and OGM sauce. They're great for everything! Afterward, we fired up the grill and had our own throw down.

After the feast and a glass of wine, I was beat. I rested and relaxed, and let me friends Peter and Tara have some alone time. Next class: Sushi I