Edena
sheidon

CUISINE SCENE

‘COOKING CLASSES these
days sure aren’t what they
used to be.

Nowadays, one can sign up and
enjoy a full evening showcasing a
world class chef, dine on his
sumptuous fare, learn his tricks
first-hand, and meet a vintner up
close pouring wines matched to
the occasion.

A recent class at Maureen
Goulet’s Ambrosia Cooking Class
in West Vancouver was a cuse in
point. .

The celebrated guest chef was.
Pierte Delacote, of Seasons In the
Park (make a reservation now for
your next anniversary or birthday
dinner — it is spectacular!).

This utterly charming Fren-
chman, hailing from Alsace, left
some 20-plus ladies completely
wowed with nis recipes and stun-
ningly artistic plate presentations.

'. But first, a bit about this
super-star chef, -

_ When our historic Summit din-
ner was held in Vancouver on
Saturday evening, April 3, for

'-.” presidents Clinton and Yeltsin, it

“was Chef Delacote who prepared
the dinner. ° :

And what a dinner it was!

_ Dungeness crab and spinach ravi-
oli in a parmesan saffron sauce
for starters.

Grilled salmon with a rosemary
beurre blanc accompanied by
sugar snap peas, vermicelli
potatoes and baked squash
followed. - .

_ | The salad was baby Romain
hearts with a beetroot vinaigrette.

The dessert was platined to be a
blueberry tart with maple syrup
ice cream — a nod to our Pacific
Northwest abundance.

But this dinner was held in
April, and our blueberries appear

_in June ... so there were no

blueberries to be found anywhere!

Frantic calls were made to New
Zealand and Chile, known for
their opposing growing seasons.
Zilch!

Finally a phone call was made
to the White House, with regrets
for the menu change for dessert.

The trusted White House boys
assured the chef that he would in-
deed have his berries.

Air Force One flew them in,
with the President, under tight
security.

They were whisked by limo di-
rectly from the airport tarmac in
Vancouver to Seasons in time for
dessert prep. '

Now that’s attention to detail!

One could not ask to meet a
more charmante Frenchman than
Pierre. Dancing eyes, a wry sense
of humor, mustache, the works.

He is utterly beguiling in his
stories and artistry.

Here are two of Chef Delacote’s
recipes to get you started.

To see how he does those fab-
ulous plates, however, you'll have
to g0 to Seasons for dinner!

Or sign up for his next class.

SEARED PRAWNS AND
SCALLOPS WITH PERNOD,
TARRAGON AND GREEN
PEPPERCORNS

Chef Delacote prepares this
spectacular dish in mere minutes
— a great dish for quick no-fuss
entertaining.

Use your own herbed butter to
finish, or purchase it already
prepared (Lactantia brand) to
have on hand.

Serves 4.

Clarified butter or olive oil

16 large prawns, peeled

20 large scallops

2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced

20 chives, cut into 1%-inch (4 cm)
fengths

1-2 branches fresh tarragon

1 Thsp (15 m¥) green peppercorns
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Thsp (45 mL) Pernod (anise li-
gueur)

5 o2 (150 9) cold herb butter OR
unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

Heat clarified butter or oli
(-2 Tbsp/15 mL 15-30 mL) in a
large wok or saute pan very hot
(almost smoking).

Immediately throw in the
prawns, scallops, tomatoes,
chives, tarragon, peppercorns and
garlic ~- all at once.

Celebrate our
4ist Anniversary
with us

ene day on

Saturday, September 25
San-Spm

Furniture
& Bric a Brac

Appliances

Records
& Books

% ott

Househoid
items

Ladies

Men's

Kids'

The Salvation Army

241 Lonsdale Ave., North Van

980-4413

Wedne

Me EXTRAIT

fod

NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge

SEASONS IN The Park Executive Chef Pierre Delacote delighted Maureen Goulet’s cooking class in
West Vancouver recentiy with his spectacular food and plate presencations.

Stir fry quickly, tossing all in-
gredients, cooking very fast and
hot.

Cook until
minutes total.

Add the liqueur and flambe
quickly.

When flame dies out, finish the

just done, 2-3

tember 22,

1993

Per

orth Shore News

- 51

dish by quickly swirling in the
chilled herb butter.

Season to taste with salt and
freshly ground pepper. Serve at
once.

FROZEN ALMOND YOGURT
COUPE WITH AMARETTO
AND FRESH BERRIES

We watched in amazement while
Chef Delacote assembled these
siraple yet stunning desserts.

Oversized Margarita-style
goblets make perfect containers
for each serving.

Chef suggests adding a bit of
pure almond extract to softened.
vanilla frozen yogurt (re-freeze) to
create the unique almond flavor,

Recipe is for one individual ser-
ving. '

In large stemmed goblets, for
each serving, assemble in the fol-
lowing order:

i crisp amersatti cookie (italian
macaroon)

1 Tbsp (15 m1.) Amaretto liqueur

2 scoops frozen almond yogurt

Y. ¢ (125 mL) berry topping (in-
structions below)

1-2 Thsp (45-30 mL)
slivered almonds

Sprig fresh raint

For the berry topping: combine
fresh seasona! berries such as
sliced strawberries, raspberries,
blueberries, blackberries.

Mix with some Triple Sec
(orange liqueur), raspberry coulis
{pureed raspberries sweetened with
icing sugar}, and icing sugar to
sweeten. . :

Use within 20 minutes so that
berries retain their shape.

toasted

Edgemont Village, North Van i
983-9333 i
Ample
parking °
&

customer