At least now I know what I want for V Day: bacon freakin’ chocolate candy. Whoever mails me a box, wins.

Jump for dates, times, and locations.

Katrina Markoff of Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Pre-Chocolate Festival Visit
Truffle Class on Saturday Morning, Feb 4 at 10 a.m. in the Dallas Central Market Cooking School
Truffle Class on Saturday Afternoon, Feb 4 at 4 p.m. in the Fort Worth Central Market Cooking School

Bertil Akesson of Akesson´s:
Meet the passionate cocoa planter who travels from Madagascar to Brazil to supply the world with the most authentic chocolate and exotic foods.
At Central Market Dallas on February 12 from 12pm-3pm
And Central Market Plano on February12 from 4pm-6pm

Dave Owens of Bissinger’s
Meet the former restaurant owner, long time vegetarian, 30-year culinary expert and mastermind behind Bissinger’s.
At Central Market Dallas on February 10 from 11am-2pm.
At Central Market Plano on February 11 from 12pm-3pm.
At Central Market Fort Worth on February 11 from 3pm-6pm.

Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate
Meet the head chocolate maker behind what Food & Wine Magazine awarded “Best New American Chocolate,” using only a handful of pure and natural ingredients.
At Central Market Dallas on February 10 from 3-6 p.m.

Fritz Knipschildt
Meet owner of Café Chocopoligie, Fritz Knipschildt as he shares his story and passes out samples of his one-of-a-kind artisan chocolates.
At Central Market Dallas on February 12 from 12-3 p.m.
At Central Market Plano on February 12 from 4-6 p.m.

Shawn Askinosie of Askinosie Chocolate
Meet the philanthropically-minded chocolate entrepreneur named “One of 14 Guys Who Are Saving the World” By O, The Oprah Magazine.
At Central Market Plano on February 13 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
At Central Market Fort Worth on February 13 from 3-6 p.m.

Lauren McCusker of Xan Confection
Meet the new hotshot on the chocolate scene and the creator of Xan Confection’s “Lifestyle Line,” featuring non-dairy and gluten-free chocolates that are vegan, low-glycemic and low-calorie.
At Central Market Fort Worth on February 13 from noon-2:30 p.m.
At Central Market Plano on February 13 from 4-6 p.m.

Oh yeah, it's for real.

We’re suckers for any press release that contains the following sentences:

• Yes, this is really real.
• Don’t you judge us; we all knew it would end up here someday.
• And yeah, your right we probably did go too far this time.
• Sorry, Mom.

It seems a couple well-intentioned entrepreneurs have teamed up with J&D’s Foods to create a little something they’re calling baconlube—the world’s first bacon-flavored, water-based, American-made, personal lubricant.

Billing itself as the “gold standard of meat-flavored massage oils” (natch) baconlube, they say, is like the McRib of sex: it’s delicious, makes men crazy, is here for a limited time, and is in short supply.

If you’re thinking “stocking stuffer!” (let’s stay on track here), we’re right behind you. But the boys only made 3,000 bottles of this pork-flavored nectar. It hit the interwebs yesterday at www.baconlube.com. How much, you ask, for a product that promises such a satisfying holiday season? Only $11.99.

you know you want more. jump for it…Still on the fence? Here’s a little rationalization.

FACT – People are passionate about bacon.  According to a recent survey of Canadians by Maple Leaf Foods, Canada’s market leader in the bacon category, when asked to choose between bacon and sex, more than four in 10 (43%) chose bacon.  Thanks to baconlube, Canadians will never have to choose between two of life’s greatest pleasures again.  So you’re welcome Canada, you’re welcome – we’ve got your back.

Need I mention, we’ve requested a sample?

But I bet you don’t know dookie about sake.

Well, friends here comes your chance to get a little buzz and impress your snooty foodie friends with a certificate that says you know sake. This news comes from our good friend at Tei-An, Yousuke Fukuda.

“INTENSIVE SAKE CLASS”

This Sake Adviser Course is an entry-level qualification in Sake offered by  SSI Certified Sake Instructors (Nihonshugaku-koshi) worldwide and certified by the SSI in Japan. It is aimed at people who are interested in Sake and want  to learn more about Sake. The Course gives a basic grounding in sake history, production, styles, regionality, understanding labels, serving, storing, and  sake culture. Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a SSI Sake Adviser Certificate. Instructor : Toshio Ueno (Certified Sake Instructor)

Jump for the chance.

RECOMMENDATION

The accelerated  edition of the sake class will have  a challenging test at the end.

Thus, it is highly recommended that you review the class textbook at least 6

Hours prior to the event.

Sake Adviser  Certificate Course

October  24, 2011  (Monday)

9:00  AM – 4:00 PM

PLACE:          KAZY’S GOURMENT SHOP

9256 MARKVILLE DRIVE

DALLAS, TX 75243

972-235-4831

CONTACT:

Yosuke  Fukuda

214-220-2828

TeiAn

D Magazine intern Jessica Melton attended a cooking class by Lou Lambert at Central Market last night. She files this report.

Down-home cooking with a twist is what led a full audience of weekday workers to attend Central Market’s cooking school session on Tuesday, featuring Lou Lambert, owner and chef of Lambert’s Downtown Barbecue, Jo’s, Lambert’s Steaks, Seafood, and Whiskey, and Dutch’s Burgers & Beer.

The experienced Fort Worth chef and author of the newly released Big Ranch, Big City cookbook is on a promotional tour of Central Markets in Texas. Not limited to recipes alone, Lambert’s book shares why he got into cooking on top of the stories behind the recipes.

“I never wanted to throw a bunch of recipes together to say I did a cookbook,” Lambert says. Even the photography in the book shows more than food alone—which let me say, is more than enough to hold the attention of most. It shows Lambert at home in classic, ranch-style Texas scenery where he found his love of cooking.

The end result is more than a compilation of ingredients and instructions, but an explanation of what food means to this local chef. Even the title tells readers where Lambert got his starts—“Big Ranch” from his childhood growing up in West Texas and “Big City” from his time at the Culinary Institute of America and other various cooking experiences including time working with Wolfgang Puck.

Jump for more.This seventh-generation Texan walked into the classroom like a true ranch chef dressed in scuffed work boots, jeans rolled up at the cuff, and an apron to a room full of adults torn between watching Lambert enter the room and flipping through their new copy of Big Ranch, Big City.

His class lasted two and a half hours, but it felt like no time at all as he guided the more than 40 audience members in how to make grilled chicken sausage with Parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes, seafood posole verde with gulf shrimp and crab, salt- and pepper-crusted prime rib of beef with roasted garlic horseradish cream with a wild mushroom ragout, ricotta spinach gratin, and finally griddled lemon pound cake with brandied peaches.

This was an instructional class only, which I was glad for when he started making sausage. He actually started with solid chunks of meat, ground them, then fed them through sausage casing. If you’ve never seen it done before, let me tell you, it isn’t for the faint of heart or easy of stomach.

Despite some scrunched faces through sausage making, the audience stayed attentive through the entire instruction with what I can only assume were involuntary “ooohhsss” and “aahhhhsss.” I can only imagine what despair people outside the classroom were going through smelling the food but not being able to eat it.

Hopefully they weren’t too distraught because the sights and smells of the class can be recreated. The intent of the book, like Lambert’s class, is not only about how to cook food, but where he learned the recipe and an explanation of why it works the way it does.

The pictures alone were more than enough to make my mouth water, but smelling the food was an unearthly experience. To top it all off, Lambert broke down recipes of things I never thought I’d be able to cook—see: anything more complex than toast—and gave me inspiration to try to make sausage from scratch and prime rib at home.

Lambert’s philosophy is simple. “If you can understand how it works then you don’t need a recipe, instead you can use it as more of a guideline.”

Big Ranch, Big City is the first book from Lambert, but this chef has so many dessert recipes that he says a second book—on desserts only—is already in the works.

Chef Nick Stellino (photo courtesy of Stellino)

Contributor Brooklynne Peters wrangled this intel on chef Nick Stellino’s upcoming Dallas visit :

Next weekend, chefs Nick Stellino (Nick Stellino Cooking with Friends) and Kent Rathbun (Abacus) are pairing up to present the Dallas community with a weekend of culinary exhibition and education.

Stellino, a well-known TV host and cookbook author who refers to himself as “the Woody Allen of cooking,” will join Rathbun at DUO on Friday at 11:30 a.m. for a lunch demonstration where he will flex his gastronomic muscles in his area of expertise—Italian food. A native Sicilian, Stellino will teach attendees how to make pasta with tomatoes, basil and shrimp, pasta with ham, mushrooms, asparagus and truffle oil and pasta with braised sausages and ricotta parmigiana.

jump for dates and times…

The purpose of this event, said Stellino, is to “live for the moment. To share with others how to make a perfect plate of pasta. [To provide] that emotional connection to recipes you can’t learn from a cookbook.

On Saturday at 11:30 a.m., the pair will continue their demonstrations at Abacus, with Stellino teaching more of his signature recipes, including a tomato and bread salad, veal Milanese with tomato pesto, salad, and shaved Parmesan and pears in red wine sauce.

“I’m excited to partner with Nick,” said Rathbun. “Nick’s enthusiasm for Italian cooking is infectious, and this is a great chance for Dallas’ dining public to learn from and be inspired by the man himself.”

To make your reservations for these events, see below.

DUO lunch event: $60 per person. For reservations, call 214-884-2979.
Abacus lunch event: $60 per person. For reservations, call 214-559-3111.

Central Market kicked off Pasaporte Espana with a food & wine class in the Cooking School (left) and a prepared-foods case stocked with national favorites. (Photos by Sarah Reiss)

Central Market’s Pasaporte España—a total store takeover with Spanish seafood, wine, pastries, oils, canned seafood (a Spanish specialty), and so much more—kicked off last night in the Greenville Ave. location. For the ribbon cutting (which was supposed to be held in the tent in the parking lot but was moved to the entry vestibule due to rain), top brass filled the store with costumed team members, flamenco guitarists, flamenco dancers from the 2011 Dallas Flamenco Festival, Spanish wine producers, cultural liaisons, and more. jump for the pictures and a video of saucy flamenco dancers …

Central Market team members costumed and at the ready.

The ribbon cutting with (from left) Chef Quim Marques, Chef Daniel Olivella, winemaker Miguel Torres, Sr. VP HEB/Central Market division Stephen Butt, honorary consul of Spain Janet Kafka, and president of the Royal Spanish Academy of Gastronomy Rafael Anson.

Chef Quim Marques, Chef Daniel Olivella, and winemaker Miguel Torres. Chef Olivella was one of the primary forces behing the event.

Spanish guitar and accordion in the cafe (left), ice sculpture, Ole! (right)

Just a few of the products of Spain, olives, tuna, and wine.

Dehesa de Llanos cheese and roasted meat sliced while you wait.

Oh, so many olive oils to choose from.

]]> http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/05/12/ole-pasaporte-espana-kicks-off-at-central-market-despite-torrents/feed/ 0 http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/05/09/bring-a-friend-for-free-to-may-classes-at-duo/ http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/05/09/bring-a-friend-for-free-to-may-classes-at-duo/#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 17:47:06 +0000 Sarah Reiss http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/?p=25222 At DUO, the kitchen concept store brought to you by Tracy Rathbun and Lynae Fearing, May is all about getting hands-on. This month’s class schedule covers topics from breakfast and brunch to regional Italian cuisine. And since last month’s bring-a-friend-for-free special was so popular, the DUO duo has decided to extend the promotion throughout May.

I call a girl’s night out!

jump for the class schedule…

Tuesday, May 10, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Piedmont
Consisting of three distinct areas and three different cuisines, Piedmont is a region that takes its food seriously. Home to some of the best wines and cheese in Italy, Piedmont meals consist of four courses, a tradition we’re happy to follow.

Wednesday, May 11 & 25, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Fresh is Fabulous
This class will teach and inspire home cooks to prepare simple, healthy meals using seasonal ingredients with global flavors.

Thursday, May 12, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Kent Rathbun: Elements
Want your food to taste chef-made, but don’t have the time to spend hours in the kitchen? Kent Rathbun will show you how to use his line of products to make you seem like you’ve done just that!

Saturday, May 14, 12 pm to 1:30 pm: Breakfast & Brunch
Learn the necessary skills to throw a brunch party for you and your friends. All you need is a unique twist on the usual favorites, and your brunch will surely be a huge hit!

Monday, May 16, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Chefs Night Out
This monthly class spotlights talented local chefs while giving you a chance to cook some of the most craved dishes in Dallas. Join us as Abacus Chef Omar Flores teaches you a signature dish and offers some tips of the trade.

Wednesday, May 18, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm: Wine & Apps
Wine lover? This is the class for you! Participants will learn about wines from specific regions around the world and enjoy accompanying appetizers.

Monday, May 23, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm: Just Desserts
If you have a sweet tooth, this class is for you! Learn pastry skills and delicious recipes sure to impress your friends from Abbey Renegar of Abacus.

Cooking classes range from $35 to $75. To sign up for cooking classes, please call DUO at 214-884-2979. DUO is located at 7721 Inwood Road in Dallas. For questions or to book an event at DUO, call 214-884-2979, and for more information, please visit www.duoallthingsculinary.com.

Upcoming cooking classes include:

jump to see the line-up…

• Friday, April 8, 11 am – 1 pm—Food For: Drink to Your Health—Dr. Theresa Oswald and Abacus’ Lorin Grant will teach attendees the art of concocting energy packed smoothies and rejuvenating teas.
• Tuesday, April 12, noon – 1:30 pm—Spanish Tapas—Chef Omar Flores, Executive Sous Chef at Abacus, will teach the art of Spanish Tapas, and he’ll prepare some of his favorite dishes like gampas al ajlio and potato croquettes.
• Tuesday, April 12, 6:30 – 8:30 pm—Flavor: Bitter—Carol Lander teaches students about this necessary component of our diet and how bitter may be the new “flavor of the month.”
• Wednesday, April 13, 11 am – 1 pm—Fresh is Fabulous—Yolanda Banks will teach and inspire people to cook simple, healthy meals using seasonal ingredients with global flavors.
• Thursday, April 14, 1 – 2 pm – Stems of Dallas Design Class—Kate Hooper and Katy Utley, owners of Stems of Dallas, will share flower arranging tips. Learn the art of modern centerpieces and tabletop décor, and gain practical floral design knowledge to bring a splash of spring into your home.
• Friday, April 15, noon – 1:30 pm – Breakfast & Brunch—Join Chef Omar, Executive Sous Chef at Abacus, for cocktails and delicious breakfast and brunch treats as you learn how to pull off the perfect brunch for you and your friends.
• Tuesday, April 19, noon – 1 pm – Easter—Chef Omar will show twists on traditional favorites, like roasted leg of lamb with smoked fingerling potatoes that will keep your family coming back for seconds.
• Thursday, April 21, 11 am – 1 pm – Food For: You at Your Best—Dr. Theresa Oswald and Abacus’ Lorin Grant will teach you how to fill up on whole foods rich in phytonutrients that are known for their ability to fight inflammation and foster repair.
• Tuesday, April 26, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Regional Italy: Liguria—Carol Lander will start the culinary tour of Italy in the birthplace of pesto, Liguria, where guests will focus on classic recipes from the region, including Torta di Zucchine and Focaccia di Recco.
• Wednesday, April 27, 11 am -1 pm – Fresh is Fabulous—Yolanda Banks will teach and inspire guests to cook simple, healthy meals such as Prosciutto Wrapped Halibut and Italian Wedding Soup with Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Pilaf.
• Friday, April 28, noon – 1:30 pm – Cajun—Chef Omar will focus on Cajun cuisine with its pungent flavors of seafood and game to showcase recipe including Gumbo Smoked Chicken and Andouille Sausage and Creole Shrimp with Grilled Scallion Yellow Corn Grits and Tabasco Butter.

Cooking classes range from $45 to $65. To sign up, call Lorin Grant at 214 884-2979.