Calling all chefs! Redding Neighbors & Newcomers has a new interest group - The Cooking Club. Last fall the club was formed with people of all different skill levels that share a common interest - food. The Cooking Club has been going strong over the past few months! The club kicked off with a wine tasting event in October when a local wine shop owner informed us how to pair wine with food. He even shared his delicious recipes with us! November was Appetizer Night where all members prepared a dish ahead of time and the hostess demonstrated the techniques of making Bruschetta with Goat cheese. Just in time for the holidays, we had Dessert night where we sampled white chocolate ricotta cheesecake, flan, rum balls and boozy brownies to name a few. And that evening, our hostess made bananas flambé and we were all amazed at how easy this dessert is to prepare!
This month was Olive Oil and Cheese Tasting. The event was hosted by one of our members, Julie Conolly. Each member brought a cheese accompanied by a story about its origin and Julie gave a very informative presentation on how to conduct an olive oil tasting. The gorgeous table was set with cheese on one side and beautiful bottles of green and gold liquid on the other. Julie began telling us some history on oil and what to look for when choosing one. We were all pleased to hear that picking a good olive oil is simple - taste some and pick the one you like! But our cooks in this club, like to delve a little bit further to uncover the best! We learned that extra virgin olive oil has a delicate flavor due to the presence of a large number of chemical compounds. There are over 100 such compounds that make extra virgin oil so select. This type of oil is completely natural and nutritious and stands apart from the "industrial" oils that are obtained by refining or blending with refined oils.
In order to decide which oils were most pleasing to our palettes, Julie passed out a folder to all attendees which stated the precautions to take while sampling:
Limit the number of samples to a maximum of 3 or 4 per sitting. It is much more difficult to cleanse one's mouth completely between samples.
Screen oils by aroma and taste milder oils first and more intense last.
Avoid use of perfumes, deodorants, perfumed soaps and lipstick. Don't smoke, eat sweets or drink coffee within 30 minutes before or during the tasting.
The tasting can be done either with tasting glasses or with oil spread on unsalted white bread. We all chose the latter and began moving down the line tasting the oils with much pleasure! Julie also provided some fresh ground pepper and several spices to add to the oils while tasting. Some of the olive oils we enjoyed were:
Star Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) with garlic. Made in Borges 2 pints $8.99 at Costco
Arbequina Unfiltered EVOO 2004 Spain 16.9 oz. $17.00 at the Olive Market
Scafani Pure Olive Oil Made in Umbria Italy 8.5 oz. $2.99 at any grocery store
Unio EVOO Arbequina Portuguese variety 17 oz. $9.99 at the Olive Market
Fillippo Berio EVOO approximately $10 from Costco
The night was just beginning as we moved from the oils over to the cheeses. Each member spoke about their cheese and why they chose it. We were introduced to terrific combinations such as Cambanzola and Robiola with dates, Smoked Gouda with fig preserves, Grainy Mustard cheddar, Royal Blue Stilton with tawny port wine, and Havarti with Dill and spiced peppers. Our taste buds were just beginning to get excited as we moved on to French Brie baked in pastry, mozzarella rolled with proscuitto and the most beautiful looking green cheese called Sage Derby.
The cooks were happy that evening and we didn't even cook at all! We were just able to taste and eat and most of all enjoy the company of new friends we have made that all share this common interest in food!
Our next event is Pasta with Sauces at the home of Melissa Horicka. That event will be held on Wednesday, March 8th at 7:30 PM. If you are new to the area and would like to join Redding Neighbors & Newcomers and find out more about our Cooking Club, please visit our website at www.reddingneighborandnewcomers.org. Click on Adult Events and then Cooking Club to get more information on upcoming events and to get a few recipes!
