cup of blessing

15 weeks, 2 hours per week.  That is how long it took for my client and dear friend to be savvy in the kitchen.  By my definition kitchen savvy is to know knife skills, stocks, sauces, soups, vinaigrette, combination cooking, grilling, braising, sauteing, blanching, egg cookery, basic baking skills, yeast breads, and beef, poultry and seafood procurement.  Our second to last class was one of my favorites.  We visited the meat department of a local grocery store per her request.  She always wants to know the why and the what not just the how to.  So we talked about the chicken industry and its misleading labeling.  How to choose the best cuts of beef, what dishes it would be for and how to prepare it.  We discussed what to look for when  you purchase seafood and regions you shouldn't purchase from.  Then we picked the freshest ingredients and headed back to her place for one of our epic cooking sessions.

We would often joke that we are on a cooking show.  She is a real life wife, professional, and mom of three.  She grew up without the basic cooking skills and desired to eat healthy homemade meals.  She went beyond buying fancy measuring spoons from Anthropologie, to buying an F.Dick Chef's Knife and hand held sharpener.  Her three sweet kids swirled the kitchen on many occasions asking for snacks, potty breaks, and you name it, as we made perfect risotto, steak au poivre, and grilled eggplant with Mediterranean cucumber salad.  They got to be a part of their mom's culinary transformation and they will get to benefit from her kitchen confidence, and fabulous meals for many years to come.  I love that, I love that they will gather over great food because she conquered her kitchen fears.  Her future of feeding her family and entertaining guests is now less stressful and more successful because she committed to change it.

On a personal note, cooking for her, a cup of blessing for me.  She has an eye for design and bought the mug pictured above was from an artist on the side of the road who was giving things away.  Yes,  he was giving it way and she still paid for it, then she gave it to me.  Generous, that is what cooking and entertaining really is, it's generous.  It is thinking about about a basic need and making it memorable.  I knew around week 12 my lovely client and friend knew just about all she needed.  The truth is I loved to teach her, be in her home, and be around her family.  Her thoughtfulness, humility, and smarts made the experience one I will never forget.  Their are many great chefs,  and amazing home cooks, the best ones I know go beyond the skill, beyond the food, and nourish the soul.

At our last session we braised ribs and made barbecue sauce.  I gave her a few recipes  One classic and technical from Ina Gartner.  One well rated from the Neally's.  Then I gave her a blank space on a piece of paper and I said Ina's recipe is time consuming, the Neally's recipe is loaded with sugar.  We are going to make Erin Wan barbecue sauce.  So we put some of our favorite, acidic, salty, smoky, and sweet flavors together and came up with her version.  Flawless, enjoy.  Make the BBQ rub, rub on whatever your making.   Combine all BBQ sauce ingredients in a medium sauce pot, simmer for one hour.

We served up our BBQ with a watermelon and cucumber salad that screams summer.

1/4 cup fresh lime juice, plus 1 teaspoon zest
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Kosher salt
1 cucumber seeds removed, diced
4 cups watermelon in 2-inch chunks
1/3 cup roughly torn fresh mint leaves