Today was Memorial Day and I had a BBQ. I figured it'd be a good reason to clean the backyard - and indeed, we did, which makes me very happy. We even put up the new hammock I bought last year.

Our friends Desiree and her kids were over, as well as Parker, Donovan and their kids. A good group.

Desiree brought a salad and brownies for dessert. I made a potato salad, which everyone liked. I also barbecued some chicken thighs using the method outlined here. I didn't make the BBQ sauce but used E&J barbecue sauce instead. I managed not to burn the chicken this time (OK, I only burnt it a little), and it tasted pretty good. I did have to adjust the time, as thighs cook quicker than a whole chicken.

The main dish, however, were blue cheese burgers. This time I used ground beef and also added bacon bits (fried bacon that had been crumbled) to the blue cheese and made the burgers with 1/2 lb of meat each. They were huge, but people did eat them. Mike thought they were "awesome".

I had some corn to grill, but I completely forgot about it. Oh well.

On Saturday May 3rd, my birthday, I took a Southeast Asian cooking class at the San Leandro Adult School, taught by the same instructor (Jenny Sin), that had taught the Malaysian cooking class I took last month. It was quite good, though I didn't enjoy it as much as the last class.

Part of it was that in the middle of the class we had the fire alarm go off. It was probably the strong smell of the frying sardines. We had to leave the building and wait in the parking lot for quite a bit until we were given the clear to return to class. We couldn't continue inside, however, so we moved the whole class outside. It was a nice day, so I think that turned out quite well.

Another part was that neither dish we made (and we only made two :-( ) was my cup of tea. One was a shrimp sambal - and I don't like shrimp. The sauce was very good, but it wouldn't be a dish I'd made by myself. The other dish was nasi lemak, or "rice in cream", a dish of rice cooked in coconut milk with other flavors, and served with a variety of "toppings". In the class, we made ikan bilis samble, dried anchovies cooked in a sauce. The result was pretty tasty, but they were anchovies all the same. The instructor also cooked water spinach - which I didn't sample -, fried some peanuts, and served it with other veggies that I can't remember, but I photographed the whole thing so it should be apparent when I upload the pictures :-)

I'd like to be able to take more classes like this - they are a lot of fun. Alas, the principal of the adult school is considering not holding any more due to poor attendance. If you like/want to take this type of *very affordable* classes, please e-mail her at swong@sanleandro.k12.ca.us (her name is Suzanne Wong).

If anyone wants the recipes we've cooked, let me know and I'll type them in. I'm feeling too lazy to do it otherwise :-)

Yesterday, I took my first cooking class. IT was given by the San Leandro Adult School on Malaysian and Thai cooking. The class was four hours and consisted in learning to cook 3 dishes - two Malaysian and one Thai. The instructor, Jenny Sim, is a Chinese Malaysian who lived in Thailand for 20 years. She knows a lot about the cooking of all Southeast Asia (and India), and was able to answer questions and give us an overview of the foods of the area.

The first dish we made was Chicken Rendang. I've had beef rendang a bunch of time at different Indonesian restaurants, so I was happy to learn how to make it. It was more complicated than I thought, it involves making a paste with shallots, ginger, chillies and garlic, which is then fried before other ingredients are added. It also requires you to have galangal and tamarind paste (to make tamarind juice). It's not a simple dish, but the results were amazing. The recipe works with meat as well, and I'm planning to make it soon. When I do, I'll post it here.

The second dish was Gulai Lemak Nenas, a Malaysian pineapple shrimp dish with a soupy curry. This one also required some exotic ingredients, including fresh turmeric and shrimp paste, but also was delicious. Of course, I didn't eat the shrimp, but the pineapple curry part was great with rice. I don't think I'll make it, as I'm not a shrimp eater, but was very happy to try it. If someone e-mails me asking for the recipe I'll post it.

Finally, we made Larb, Spicy Beef with Mint Leaves. This is a northern Thai dish, often found in Thai restaurants, and I was surprised at how simple it was to make. It didn't require any exotic ingredients, save for Thai chili powder, and it was very quick. Basically you fry the ground meat by itself and mix it with the other ingredients once cooked. You serve it with cabbage leaves and other raw or blanched veggies. I'm definitely planning to make this sometime.

All the dishes can be made at a variety of spiciness. A couple of us are not particularly fans of fiery foods, so Jenny reduced the amount of chili in her recipes - the results were perfect.

(Photos courtesy of Ken Paris, a proficient cook and classmate who also happens to be a reader of this blog :-) Thank you Ken!!!)

I also learned some general things about cooking:

-You can peel a shallot more easily by first banging it with the side of a knife.

-It's better to snap the end of green beans than cut them.

-You make tamarind juice by buying tamarind paste and mixing it with water

-You make ground rice by browning regular rice and then grounding it

And probably other things I can't recall now

Anyway, I'm taking the Southeast Asian cooking class next month (for my birthday) which will have an emphasis on noodles. The classes are only $30 (really) and include all the food - which you get to eat at the end of the class (there are vending machines for drinks just outside the classroom). The SEA class will take place on May 3rd from 9am - 1pm. You can register online but it's a pain.

The only negative thing about the class is that it doesn't take place in a kitchen. They just don't seem to have kitchens at the cooking school, so it takes place at a regular classroom and the teacher has to bring all the equipment (including gas burners, an electric wok and an electric rice maker).

Anyway, I'm hoping they'll have more of these classes during the summer and fall.

Saturday night, Mike and I went to Women of Taste, a benefit for Girls Inc. - a local charity that works to empower girls. The event features women chef presenting some of their food. There are a couple dozen (or more) tables, each one manned by a retaurant, cattering company or winery - and you go from table to table picking up small bites of what they have to offer. It's a great idea and we had a lot of fun doing it. Some of the food was really good (a goat cheese on endive bite from a catering company, a caviar appetizer from a restaurant I can't remember and a BBQ pork sandwich from T-Rex in Berkeley), but a lot of it was merely pedestrian. There were a lot of brochetta or brochetta like things - understandable, given that the restaurants must provide 1,200 pieces of food for free. Other than the BBQ sandwich, and a couple of tiny fish bites, there was no protein at all. The wines were much better. I liked the syrah from Concannon winery in Livermore and whatever red wine I had from Handley Cellars. The Barefoot Cab, however, was pretty much undrinkable. There were a lot of sweets - including a pretty good cheesecake from Trader Joe's, ice cream from Fenton's and an amazing chocolate Truffle from Boulevard.

There was also a silent auction (we didn't win anything), and live music.

As I said we had a great time, run into some political acquaintances, and we'll probably go back next year. Tickets are expensive, $125 each ($100 if you buy them well in advance, which we didn't), but they benefit a good cause. About 1,200 people attended, but in general the lines weren't too long.