(ENDED) Cooking Class: Southern Supper + Stories w/ University School Evening Classes

Do you enjoy cooking classes? Do you like the one-on-one interaction with a culinary professional? Do you enjoy eating a meal you got to watch be prepared in front of you? Well, I’m offering you just that on February 9, 2018!

It’s going to be my third year teaching a cooking class with my friends at The University School of Nashville, and I’m truly excited for this year’s class. I’ve decided to share with you some stories from my life growing up in East Tennessee. And I hope that doesn’t feel as boring as I think it does, because you haven’t lived until you’ve gotten off the school bus and seen squirrels being skinned or a turtle boiling in an extra large stock pot. Also, spoiler alert, I don’t recommend this class for my vegetarian/vegan friends. Sorry.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to experience a class with The University School of Nashville, then you are missing out. There will be wine, delicious food to gather around, and hopefully you’ll leave with some ‘new’ friends who love a good meal just like yourself! Did I mention, there’s wine?

http://www.eesomeco.com

Once you register for the class by clicking this link, you will receive an email from USN about the location of the class. Its typically in the home of a parent of a child who attends USN, and the kitchen is always spacious and houses everyone comfortably for the evening. There’s no worrying about the tall guy standing in front of you like a concert at Exit/Inn (you Nashvillians understand where I’m coming from).

http://www.eesomeco.com

Feel free to bring an apron with you if you would like to assist me with any chopping, stirring or maybe just some taste-testing. I encourage all of those things whole-heartedly! I’ve always been a believer that food taste best when enjoyed with company, and I look forward to sharing that belief with you. And I’ll leave you to be the judge once the class is over!

Not too mention! Half the fee goes to fund a need-based scholarship endowment at USN. So you’re eating for a good cause! At least, that is how I see it! There’s more info below from the USN Evening Classes website below. See you there friends!

HOW TO REGISTER 

Online: Go to the Class Catalog to sign up for classes.  We accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Phone: Call 615-321-8019 between 9 am and 3 pm weekdays beginning Thursday, December 7th.  Have your class numbers and VISA/MasterCard/American Express credit card information ready.  Please do not leave registration information on the voice mail system: it will not be processed.
Mail:  Print out the registration form and mail it with a check (made out to USN Evening Classes) or your VISA, MasterCard, or American Express credit card information to:
USN Evening Classes, 2000 Edgehill Ave., Nashville, TN 37212. Registration forms will not be processed until December 7th, 2017.
Students are not considered registered until full payment is received. Students will receive a confirmation vie email or mail.  Please note: only registered students may attend class.  We do not allow students to bring guests. Students may enroll in most classes up to the date of the class, space permitting.  Instructors cannot accept fees.
These images were taken for a photoshoot for Trim Menswear by my talented friends at Eesome Co.  If you check the website, you might see a familiar face! And grab some incredibly comfortable t-shirts while your at it!

Herbed Roasted Chicken & Vegan Spiced Apples & Potatoes

IMG_2896.JPGYou know those dishes that you create without any plan and you find yourself surprised at how well they come out? Well, needless to say this is one of those dishes. And yes, despite being trained to know how to cook, chefs indeed have those moments of ah-hah, that’s delicious. It’s not like the roasting of chicken is a complicated process that requires the need of bells and whistles because it doesn’t. And that’s why we flock to it as our go-to meal when there is minimal time for fussy dinner preparation. Not that I make fussy meals or anything, cough.

Over the summer my wife and I visited Asheville, NC for the Food Blogger Forum. An event where food bloggers gather and discuss our passion for food, blogging, and the art of creating community. I received a little jar of what was labeled vegan spice. At first, I had no idea what the heck the stuff was or how I was going to properly utilize it to fit into our meals, but one night I saw the spice while in the midst of trying to decode what we were going to eat for dinner based upon the scant selection of ingredients in our fridge. If there’s anything I hate more than folding laundry, its trips to the grocery store once I’m already home for the evening.

I looked in the fridge and there it was staring at me, a whole bird, two sweet potatoes, three new red potatoes and some Mutsu apples from Chattanooga that I had just purchased at Whole Foods Market. Before I knew it, I had reached for the cast-iron skillet on the shelf and I set the chicken in the pan. After a brief moment of hesitation I placed the chicken back onto a cutting board and proceeded to cut it in half after realizing we probably won’t eat the whole thing. I turned the oven to 425 degrees. I seasoned both halves of the chicken with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, finely minced thyme, oregano and I tucked two pats of unsalted butter beneath the skin, set it aside. I rinsed the potatoes and apples, removed any eyes from the potatoes that didn’t look edible and cut them into chunks. Just in case you were wondering I cored the apples. I tossed the potatoes and apples in two teaspoons of the vegan spice, one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and a smidge of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste.

I put the chicken in the center of the cast-iron skillet and nestled the potatoes and apples around it but being careful not to completely cover the skin, because crispy skin is the key to the perfect roasted chicken. I walked away and began to write this post while I waited for it to cook and for my wife to come home. The cooking time is somewhere between 45 min to an hour, of course this is subjective based upon your oven, so properly temp your chicken for a internal temperature of 165º. There may have been some Parks & Recreation in the backdrop, laugh-out-loud, because that show slays me! I’m so grateful for Netflix…sigh. But any-who, I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as the wife and I did. I’m already in need of ordering more of that vegan spice because I’ve been using it so often. You can order it here. Enjoy and I’d love to hear about some of your ah-ha dishes that turned out un-expectedly well.