Night out at The Kitchen

 Two weeks ago,  I enjoyed some quality time with my dear sister.  We took our first demonstration class "Cooking with Que" at The Kitchen in downtown Detroit.  For those that are not familiar with The Kitchen it is one of "Detroit's only demonstration kitchen and Culinary Shared Space."  The menu has some mouthwatering vegan and meat dishes. The atmosphere is bright, fun, and up front in the kitchen. 

The class was "Food Gifts" Unwrapped; A Culinary experience with Chef Elle Simone Scott & Cooking with Que.  We meet Quiana "Que" Rice, owner of Cooking with Que and Chef Elle Simone Scott of America's Test Kitchen and cookbook author, Food Stylist, Test Cook. There were about 14 of us this night, and it was just women, although men can and do attend these classes too.  

Que is full of energy, her and her staff was very friendly.  Her vegan Mac N Cheeze was wonderful, and you didn't know it was vegan!

    Chef Elle Simone Scott treated us to three demonstrations of her recipes out of her "Food Gifts" cookbook. Wow! First, she did her Bacon Jam, then her Fruits of the Forest Liqueur and Strawberry-black pepper rim sugar recipe.  The last recipe was her stuffed dates which were wonderful.  Yes, we sampled each dish. Let me tell you the aromas from that kitchen did not let you down.  

Both ladies were wonderful with all our questions about their back stories, food, and culinary career advice. They made you feel like we were all friends in their kitchen. The evening ended with Chef Elle signing her wonderful cookbook for each of us.  

What a great time and experience my sister and I had with these wonderful women. We both are looking forward to sharing another Cooking with Que class with my niece and our friends. We have plans to return.

Oh, we also made Que promise to keep us on an email list for when Chef Elle comes back!

If you get the chance to visit Detroit, you have to visit The Kitchen and Que. Don't pass up the chance to meet Chef Elle Simone Scott if you get the chance.  You won't be disappointed.  

Thank you, Que and Chef Elle, for a wonderful evening of learning, fun and food.  Looking forward to the next time we see you in The Kitchen.  

Have you visited The Kitchen yet? 

P.S. I plan to try some of the "Food Gifts" recipes this weekend.  

What's old is new again - Mother's Day treat

 While going through family boxes, I came across my grandmother's 1937 Royal Cookbook. Within these well-loved pages were notes from my grandmother. Reading them was like I was in her kitchen again. 

  

So, with Mothers Day around the corner, I thought I'd honor Mothers past and present and make one grandma had notes beside: an Orange Tea Donut.  Due to the copyright, I can't share the recipe, but if you're lucky to have a copy of the Royal Cook Book you can find it on page 15, minus grandma's notes. 

I followed the Orange Tea Donut recipe, grandma noted she changed the nutmeg spice to cinnamon.  It's an easy recipe to follow even to this day. 

 Once I had all the ingredients and the dough was formed, I floured my board and rolled out the dough.  I also prepared two cookie sheets with parchment paper to set off to the side.

I also came across grandma's biscuit/donut cutter, you can see in this photo how well used/loved it was. 

I kept the cutter in a cup of flour to keep the dough from sticking in between cutting out the donuts. 

I had no issues with sticking dough.  

The recipe stated it made 24 donuts, Grandma's notes said she made 5-6 dozen.  I think grandma didn't stick to the 1/4" thickness.  I rolled the dough out to a 1/4" thickness and came up to 24 donuts and, give or take, some scraps.

I separated the hole's from the rings and laid them on the parchment lined cookie sheets. 

 

Once I had all the dough rolled and cut out, I heated up my oil on the stove top.  As a safety precaution, I kept a lid nearby.  In the meantime, I took another cookie sheet and placed a cooling rack in it.  

Once my food thermometer read the required 400 degrees I began frying my dough. Using a mesh spoon, I lowered my holes and rings into the hot oil.  I started with the holes first to test the readiness of the oil. I didn't mind if I didn't get the hole right.  My family would tell you this is a good thing. 

As the color began to golden, I would flip them over. Once the other side was done, they were transferred to the cooling rack. As soon as they were all done frying, I turn off the heat and placing the lid over the hot pot of oil to cool.  

This recipe didn't say anything about glazes or icings, so following grandma's tradition I did my own thing. I made a vanilla bean glaze and since these were orange tea donuts I toped each glazed donut with light sprinkle of fresh orange zest.  

Check out those brown vanilla bean bits in the glaze!

The orange zest gave it some freshness you don't find in todays donut shops.

Don't over look those old treasured recipes, you could be missing out!

Happy Mother's day 

I would love to hear about your family recipes.

*No fire alarms went off during this recipe.