Thai Cooking Class

Thursday, heading north up Route 29 to attend a class at the Charlottesville Cooking School; Flavors of Thailand with Chef Ashley Clarke Brooks. The class is a Christmas present from my sister. Seven students arrive at 5:30 p.m. and Ashley begins by going over the menus showing us each ingredient and explaining its role in Thai cooking. Then she divides us into two groups based on how hot we like our food, shows us where the utensils are in the kitchen and turns us loose to cook.

Sarah and Wei

My group, Dan and his daughter Sarah and Wei, begin chopping, measuring, and pounding with a mortar and pestle to make red curry paste from scratch for the main dish, Chiang Mai Noodle Curry with Chicken Khao Soi Gai. We smell the fish and oyster sauce, the shrimp paste, and wonder how it is possible to blend these ingredients into a delicious dish? We are amazed how sweet palm sugar is, and how thick the coconut milk is. The curry is in the pot simmering and we are on to the spring rolls and salad. Dan is grilling the beef, Sarah and Wei are making the filling and I am preparing the dipping sauce. Time is passing...7:30 p.m. and we are getting hungry but we still need to make the coconut fried bananas for dessert!

Dan samples the curry.

Eight fifteen and the wait was worth it! The ingredients blended superbly and the red curry is wonderful! The dipping sauce for the spring rolls is unique and a group favorite. The spicy beef salad is a hit, a recipe everyone vows to make at home. A bite of dessert and it is nine o'clock and time to head back down the road to Lynchburg. What a fun night this has been. I learned a lot and look forward to making a red curry and the beef salad at home. Great gift Sally, thank you so much!

The way home is imprinted in me like a duckling to its mother from my years commuting to the University. But approaching Lovingston, I begin to smile remembering the many times my dad and I traveled this route on our way home from football games. I recall one night in particular when we realized in Madison Heights that we had not stopped at a red light since leaving the stadium. Could we make it home without stopping? Downtown Lynchburg is a go, Randolph College and all is green, Link Road and the tension is mounting with just one light to go. As we pass Krogers, the last light is green, will it stay that way? Yes, a cheer is yelled, we came all the way home without stopping at a light! It's a small victory but a fitting one on this night, the first time ever that UVA beat Florida State in a football game!

P.S. I really would like a gas cooking stove! Maybe we could put a second propane tank by the cellar door?

 

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