Our daughter, Amanda, took us to the Date Night: International Grilling class at Well Done Cooking (a Mother’s Day Gift for me and early birthday present for John). What a fun experience!
Well Done (www.welldonecc.com) offers three types of cooking classes: Social/Date Night, Cooking Fundamentals and Techniques (a Culinary Certification program), and Private Cooking Experiences. See their website for details, schedule, cost, etc.
The classes are usually held in the evening (except for private cooking experiences) and last 3-4 hours. Not only do you learn how to cook a variety of dishes, but you prepare them and then get to eat them! Well Done also offers a wide selection of beer and wine options, and you can BYOB (which we did) during the classes. As you can imagine, the certification courses are of a more serious nature.
We arrived about 20 minutes early but most were not there until closer to class time (6:30 pm). Each cooking station has: cabinets (for pans/small appliances), drawers (for cooking utensils), an induction cooktop, and granite countertop. Glasses, ice, wine buckets, dishes, eating utensils, etc. are also available for use.
Seats for four students are provided at each cooking station. We enjoyed meeting our fellow classmates!
Our instructor was Chef Jamie, and she was awesome! Recipes are provided via email prior to the class (that you can print out), but the chef will verbally provide all of the information you need to prepare the dishes during class. We started with Blackened Steak prepared in a cast iron pan on the induction stovetop. A little spicy for me, but we know how to modify the recipe to prepare the steak to our preference.
The Asian Marinated Tuna was seared and basically raw inside (cooked on a grill). Wasabi was provided and it was perfect. Yum.
We prepared the sauce for the Tandoori chicken (legs and thighs) using the ingredients and food processor provided. After baking in an oven, we ate some and took the rest home. Honestly, the leftovers were better than the pieces straight out of the oven! We eat so much chicken it is great to have a new recipe with different flavors (although I think I liked it more than John did).
My personal favorite was the lamb kabobs. My mother used to prepare leg of lamb, but I have never cooked lamb. This recipe called for lamb stew meat with vegetables for kabobs. I learned that you should not place vegetables and meat too close together on your water-soaked skewer. Well Done has a Traeger Grill that was awesome for grilling all of the kabobs in the class. These were so good! We will definitely prepare them at home in the future.
The staff prepared the dessert: Grilled Fruit and Pound Cake with Honey Rum Glaze (and we have the recipe). Needless to say, it was divine and a great way to end the class.
This is a great experience for those who enjoy cooking or want to learn more about how to prepare various dishes. We loved it!
Amanda earned the Certificate of Completion of Culinary Arts at Well Done by completing the following classes at Well Done:
- Fundamentals - Knife Skills 1
- Fundamentals - Knife Skills 2
- Cooking Techniques - Mastering Eggs Omelettes, Quiches, etc.
- Cooking Techniques - Mastering Eggs Sweet & Savory Souffles and Crepes
- Fundamentals - Cooking Techniques Basics
- Fundamentals - Sauces, Dressings, & Equipment
- Fundamentals - Stocks & Soups
- Fundamentals - Wine Tasting Intro. OR Baking 101 with approval
- Fundamentals - Farmer's Market Tour (any one season)
- Fundamentals - Sausage Making
- Fundamentals - Bread, Pizzas, & Cinnamon Rolls
- Cooking Techniques - Fish
- Cooking Techniques - Shellfish
- Cooking Techniques - Beef
- Cooking Techniques - Lamb
- Cooking Techniques - Pork
- Cooking Techniques - Chicken & Duck
- Cooking Techniques - Veggies, Herbs, & Spices
- Cooking Techniques - Risottos, Potatoes, & Grains
- Cooking Techniques - Fresh Pasta & Gnocchi
Many seek the certification for employment opportunities as a chef. Cooking is an avocation for Amanda, as theatre will always remain her passion as a career. In addition to the Certificate, those who complete the program are presented with a chef jacket embroidered with name,
Kudos to Well Done for providing an educational and fun experience! We thoroughly enjoyed the class. And, of course, thanks to Amanda and Kaitlyn for an evening of good company, good food, and fun.
Kudos to Well Done for providing an educational and fun experience! We thoroughly enjoyed the class. And, of course, thanks to Amanda and Kaitlyn for an evening of good company, good food, and fun.
Cool post, Mom. Thanks!
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