Cooks in the kitchen

By Meredith Hines-Dochterman/The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS - Maureen Lehman never considered herself a cook.

She loves baking, but cooking was not something she enjoyed.

“I hated it,” she says. “I was raised in Iowa - meat, potatoes and casseroles. I was your very basic eater who never wanted to try anything different.”

She'd see the different vegetables and spices at her grocery store, but never bought them.

“I didn't know what to do with them so I didn't get them,” Lehman says.

That changed when Lehman signed up for “The Culinary Experience: A Four Course Basic Series” through the continuing education division at Kirkwood Community College.

Prior to her first class in November, Lehman had never had parsnips. Now, she loves them.

“I told myself ‘I'm paying for this. I'm going to try everything,'” she says.

The class met once a week for four weeks, each night focusing on a specific course. At the end of the series, Lehman had the recipes, and the experience, to create a multicourse meal.

So she did.

“For my birthday this year, I made dinner for my friends,” she says. “I discovered I love this. I love doing this now.”

Lehman took Kirkwood's “Discovering Breads Series” next. She even talked her friend Lucy DeWitt into joining her.

“My boyfriend gave me the classes as a Christmas present because he heard Maureen talking about them,” DeWitt says.

The pair enjoyed themselves so much, they took Kirkwood's “Discovering International Foods Series,” learning how to make Italian, French, Mexican and Japanese dishes.

“We teach you the tricks so you can impress your family and friends,” says Chef Daniel Dennis, who teaches at Kirkwood. “Once you get past the fancy names and learn the basics, you can cook anything.”

In the era of celebrity chefs and non-stop cooking shows on cable, cooking classes are the answer to those eager to expand their culinary knowledge.

“It's a fun experience,” says Mary Pat Esch, club room manager at the Edgewood Road Hy-Vee. The store offers 10 to 12 classes each month.

“We make things and then we enjoy what we make,” Esch says.

Class offerings in Eastern Iowa are plenty. They vary in focus to instruction, but all emphasize giving students the knowledge to approach cooking in a new way.

“To empower people to cook is a great gift,” says Theresa Carbrey, education and member services coordinator for New Pioneer Food Co-op. “It's helping people think about how they are going to make healthy choices.”

Cooking at home, Carbrey says, is healthier than fast food - even when making dessert. And studies have shown that kids who have a hand in the food preparation process are more likely to try new foods, another plus.

For Lehman, cooking has become a way to tap into her creativity.

“It's a nice stress relief from work,” she says. “I have to make dinner anyway, so it's a way for me to be creative, but it isn't idle creativity.”

Comments: (319) 398-8434; meredith.hines-dochterman@sourcemedia.net

 

Vegetable Sushi Rolls

1/8 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups short-grained sushi rice

3/4 cups water

2 sheets toasted nori

Fillings (pick 3 to 4)

1/4 regular cucumber, seeded and cut into matchsticks

1/2 carrot, cut into matchsticks

1/2 small, yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into matchsticks

2 scallions, trimmed and cut into matchsticks

1/4 firm-ripe Hass avocado, peeled, thinly sliced lengthwise, sprinkled with lemon juice

Soy sauce

Mix together vinegar, sugar and salt.

Rinse the rice in colander and drain. Put the rice and water in medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to very low and simmer, tightly covered. Cook until all the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat (don't uncover) and set aside for 10 minutes.

Fluff the rice with a fork and transfer it to a large bowl. Add the vinegar mixture and toss with the rice, using a wooden spoon. Spread it out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Fan the rice continuously with a fan or magazine until cooled. Cover the rice with a damp towel.

To assemble rolls: Place a sushi mat with the slats running crosswise directly in front of you on a clean work space. Lay a sheet of nori shiny-side down and lined up with the closest edge of the mat. Lightly moisten fingers with water, and evenly press about 1/4 of the rice onto the nori, with 1 1/2-inches uncovered at the far edge. Line up the fillings about 1-inch from the closest near edge, evenly across the rice. Leave 1-inch of rice uncovered at the far edge.

Beginning with the near edge of the mat, tightly roll up the

nori, rice and fillings into a cylinder. Firmly tug on the rounded mat over the roll as you pull on the far edge of the mat to tighten the roll. Open the mat, dab unsealed edge of nori with a bit of water and roll the sushi forward to seal. Transfer the sushi to a plate and cover with damp paper towels. Repeat with remaining rice and fillings.

Cut each sushi roll, crosswise, into 6 to

8 pieces with a sharp wet knife. Wet the knife after each cut to keep the nori from tearing. Serve with bowl of soy sauce for dipping.

Recipe from Kirkwood's “Discovering International Foods Series.”