It's healthy for the wallet and the waistline, and surveys show the bitter economy has more people eating dinner at home. Food and Wine Magazine even calls it the hottest food trend of 2009. The recession combined with the hit movie, "Julie and Julia," based on lovable culinary icon, Julia Child, appears to have inspired a serious comeback in the kitchen.
But not even Julia Child started out as Julia Child. In fact, she admits she didn't really start cooking until age 32, and up until then just ate. Julia turned to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but currently in the United States, enrollment is up at cooking schools, nationwide, this year. Here in the Coachella Valley, Local Chef Andie Hubka, who owns Cooking With Class in La Quinta, says she's noticed people are hungry to learn, even men.
"Especially men interested in baking. I don't know if they want to bake their way into a woman's heart.." Laughs Hubka. The 30-year-old went to culinary school after college, but says her love started early. "I was responsible for all the cooking in my house, when I was a kid. My mom was a single parent, so I cooked for myself."
Years later, with a Degree in Culinary Arts and formal culinary training under her belt, Hubka now enjoys sharing her knowledge. Cooking with Class offers classes, each week, from Italian to Mastering the Classics. "They give you really easy recipes, definitely something you're willing to step out of your comfort zone a little bit..try it..and it ends up working!" said Amber Samayoa who brought her husband to a Sunday cooking class.
If you're not quite ready to cook something from scratch, Lisa Bogue of Dream Dinners in Palm Desert wants to help. All you have to do is make an appointment, pick a cuisine and follow the instructions. The ingredients are organized in an assembly line; all you do is add them together and package. Your meals, ranging from shredded pork burritos to salmon dinner, are then ready to take home, cook or freeze.
You must make at least 36 servings of different meals at one time, and Bogue says the price comes out to under five dollars a plate, and you control what goes on it and portion size." Busy people are eating bad food," said Bogue. "We feed our kids fast food too many nights a week. This helps you get around the dinner table." A place that appears to be back in vogue. Coming up on KPSP Local 2 This Morning, we'll show you just how easy it can be to cook a basic meal. Chef to the stars, Vince Guccione, will teach us some tricks to save time and money!
If you're interested in learning more about Cooking with Class, call 760-777-1161, located at 47875 Caleo Bay Drive #A107 La Quinta, CA 92253, the corner of Avenue 48 & Washington St. More info: http://www.cookingwithclasslaquinta.com
Dream Dinners: Country Club Dr @ Washington (77-920 Country Club Dr., Suite 6-5 Palm Desert, CA 92211 Email countryclubdrCA@dreamdinners.com Phone (day) 760-345-3338 Phone (evening) 760-345-3338 Phone (fax) 760-345-3378 Owner Karen Sleeper , Lisa Bogue http://www.dreamdinners.com/main.php?static=index
Tasty Tricks to Save Time & Money From Chef Vince!
Inspired by Julia Child and local Chef Vince Guccione, I learned firsthand that cooking doesn’t have to be difficult or intimidating. Guccione, a former personal chef to the stars, including Frank Sinatra, shared a few of his tricks to save time and money in the kitchen, without sacrificing taste.
Our dish: A spin-off on chicken cacciatore.
First lesson: Be selective when shopping! Look for the best produce, so you get your money’s worth. Also, look for the sales, and create a meal out of the best deals available. One the day we cooked with Chef Vince, he found Chicken breasts on sale, five breasts for under five dollars. We also picked up canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, green beans for a side, and cucumbers for a quick and refreshing cucumber salad.
“It’s less expensive than if you went out to have some fast food!” said Chef Vince.
And a whole lot healthier; in fact the whole dish will come out to under 400 calories, and under three dollars! Cooking doesn’t have to be time consuming either. Vince recommends the very first thing you do when you get home is preheat the oven to 500 degrees, and take the chicken out of the fridge. Chef Vince advises using the skin on, bone in breasts for flavor, and to help keep the moisture in, while it cooks. Although, we take the skin off later, to cut calories.
Before putting in the oven, Vince sprinkled the skin with salt and granulated garlic and a little bit of olive oil. The chicken should take about 20-to-30 minutes to cook. While in the oven, we put tomatoes on the stove for about five minutes, on one burner. On the other burner, we put green beans into boiling, salted water, to blanch for about four minutes. Then, we chop the cucumber, sprinkle on salt, paper, and drizzling with red rice vinegar for a sweet, crunchy side salad.
Time to check on the chicken, which should be firm to the touch, or between 140 to 150 degrees. Once done, it’s time to remove the skin. The result: a perfectly moist and delicious chicken breast, ready for the tomatoes and cheese, to melt perfectly on top.
With a side of green beans coming in at 50 cents, a breast of chicken, at under a dollar, and a cucumber salad for about a quarter, the meal costs under $2.50, not including the sprinkle of tomato sauce and cheese.
And don’t forget, the chicken goes a long way. Within minutes, we slice another breast for chicken salad, or a juicy chicken breast sandwich. The best part, it only took about a half hour, and saved quite a bit of money, compared to going to a restaurant! Thanks Chef Vince!
