Taking Cooking Class With My Bestfriend

On the way to my cooking class, I passed my best friend ( "W" ) parents' home and that gives me an idea, so I whipped out my cellphone and called her to see if maybe she will like to go to the cooking class with me. Surprise...surprise, she wasn't at home but she was in her parents' home and she has nothing to do on Saturday. So I made a U-turn and picked her up!

We were late, but not that much, so we can still understand what the teacher taught us but I couldn't get the front seat, so sorry guys....I don't have great shots of the teacher.

Today lessons are:

1. Opera Cake
2. Chocolate Mousse
3. Chocolate Ornaments

I chose this class because for me, Opera cake looks so complicated and time consuming to make. I was right about the second one but actually after I saw him made it, it was not as hard as I was afraid of. Yet.... I am too lazy to make it because it's just too hot! If my kitchen is air conditioned like his classroom then I will no doubt try to make it at home!

Not surprisingly, I met one of the 3 ladies that never stop talking in the classroom ( for this story, please read my story here ). She is still as talkative as ever with her new found friends at the front! But this time I couldn't complaint because I was talking to my best friend too a lot!

This is why ...

"W" doesn't know much about cooking and this class is just beyond her understanding, so I have to explain to her about everything!

When I saw her copied my notes to her recipe papers, I just laughed. I asked her if she feel any dejavu at all, she was confused. Then I reminded her of our childhood when we always went to the same tutors and she always copied my notes too, hahaha. Is just like the old days again.

At first "W" was skeptical that the cake will taste good but once she took a bite of the cake, she was very impressed by it.

The teacher is the pastry chefs at Shangri-La Hotel, Mr. M. Nur Kalim, and since I have bought that cake 1 month ago, I was very happy to know that now I know how to make it!

Pic: My piece of Opera cake and my best friend's

I am sorry to say that I don't think is right for me to write his recipe in this blog. I just found out that I should not do that. So sorry guys....

For the recipes that I wrote in my previous entry from my First Cooking Class, well... I still left them the way they are because I think it's too late anyway.



But don't worry, for the second recipe, the Chocolate Mousse, I will give you my own recipe.

Pic: This is the Chocolate Mousse that the teacher made.

The recipe below, I got it from Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

Serves 4; Prep time: 25 minutes; Total time: 3 hours

For a simple garnish, shave chocolate from the side of a chocolate bar with a vegetable peeler.

4		large egg yolks
1/4		cup sugar
		Pinch salt
3/4		cup heavy cream
2		tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2		ounces bittersweet chocolate 1. Finely chop chocolate; reserve. In a double boiler, whisk yolks, sugar, and salt until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Off heat, quickly whisk in chopped chocolate until melted and cocoa until smooth (mixture will be thick). Cool to room temperature. 2. In a medium bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Whisk half of whipped cream into room-temperature chocolate mixture. Gently fold in remaining whipped cream with a rubber spatula. Divide mousse among four serving dishes. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. 3. Remove mousse from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with shaved chocolate. Note: To store mousse, place a paper towel under the plastic wrap (without touching mousse) before sealing for refrigeration. The paper towel will absorb the drops of condensation that might otherwise drip onto the surface.

For the last lesson, I went forward to video taped the teacher when he made chocolate ornaments that we can use to decorate a cake. He taught us the easy ornaments only. Then he asked us if we would like to try, one girl took the chalange right away and she did pretty well.







Like the olden days again, "W" always push me to do something. She told me to try making the ornaments too while she took over video taping me doing it. Like usually too, I did what she asked me to do but because she made me nervous ( by keep telling me that I should do a better job that the first girl! ) I made the ornament slightly too big and when I said to the teacher ( with a soft voice ), "Oops, I think I made it too big...", one old cranky looking woman said ... " Yeah... it's as large as the maker! " Jeezzzz.....

I thought this would be a great blooper movie for my blog because "W" was standing and holding the digital camera right next to that old bird. So before I started saying things that I would regret later to that old woman, I just rush back to my chair . Then I grabbed the digital camera from W's hands and I found out that because she never use a digital camera before, she failed to recorded that !

Oh well .... welcome to Surabaya, a city that full with "polite" people ...

Anyway ....

Once the teacher finished, we went out and did grocery shop together in Ranch 99 Supermarket first before we went out to eat in this brand new restaurant, Sushi Tei at Galaxy Mall. "W" told me that this restaurant is a branch from her favorite sushi in Singapore. Her father loves it so much that when ever he went to Singapore, he has to eat in that restaurant every other day!

I was pleasantly surprise when I saw this place, no wonder "W" loves it, it looks very nice and after tasting their food, I have to agree with her that this restaurant is really good. Even their price I think is okay too.

Beside the 2 of us, "W" invited 3 of her sisters and her 2 daughters to join us for lunch.

Here are the pictures of the food that we ordered at Sushi Tei Restaurant.

Pic: My best friend's younger sister.

Pic: Sushi rice with raw salmon sliced on top then coated with mayonaise with seaweed sprinkled on it. Then they use broiler or maybe blowtorch to grill just the top only and leaving the salmon stay raw.

But since I have to rush home before 3 PM for a meeting with my father and husband, I have to say goodbye to them and went home.