Today we had our third improv class, and I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. Up until recently, most of my cooking has been done by following or slightly modifying a tried-and-true recipe, and these days challenge our creativity and skills. It’s a lot of fun, too!

For this morning’s class, we had a pretty good selection of ingredients to work with: lentils and lima beans, quinoa and black rice, oranges, grapefruits and pears, and plenty of veggies. Our little group of three brainstormed for awhile, and eventually came up with the following three-course menu:

  • Endive & watercress salad with supremed grapefruit, candied pecans and citrus-dijon vinaigrette
  • Baked lentil-quinoa patty, served with roasted brussels sprouts, sweet potato and parsnip fries and sundried tomato ketchup
  • Coconut-pomegranate ice cream with dehydrated pear crisps
As usual, I manned the dessert. Our ice cream contained a can of coconut milk, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 2 tablespoons rice syrup, 1/4 cup pomegranate juice and a tablespoon of rum. I used the ice cream machine to freeze it all, then finished it off with a pomegranate juice reduction sauce, some pom arils and the pear crisp that my groupmate had just sliced and baked in a very low oven.

Since the ice cream was pretty simple, I also helped with doing some mise-en-place for the other recipes, and finished off the sundried tomato ketchup. To make it, my groumate simply sauteed some onions and sundried tomatoes in olive oil, then added a little veg stock, salt and paprika to finish it off before I gave it a whirl in the blender. It was like a gourmet version of the childhood favorite- totally delicious, especially when paired with the rest of the plate.

Our presentation was definitely the most “comfort food” of the class, and I think the fries won everyone over. They were deep-fried in canola oil, and the perfect complement for the slightly sweet, crispy brussels and the chewy, hearty burger.

Of the three dishes, the salad was my least favorite, but hey- since when can an appetizer salad compete with fries and ice cream? I loved the dressing though, and I thought the presentation was quite pretty.

What I love most about these improv days is realizing how far my class has come as a group in the last four months. There were some absolutely gorgeous, delicious plates, all of which materialized in just two hours.

Vegetable napoleon with pomegranate sauce:

Segmented citrus fruits with maple-pomegranate glaze and candied pecans:

An incredible hazelnut tuile basket, filled with silky sweet potato puree and finished with candied hazelnuts.

Pear-parsnip soup:

Pear and endive salad with toasted hazelnuts and caramelized onions:

Forbidden rice-lima bean cake with cauliflower puree and sauteed collards:

Grapefruit sorbet with pomegranate sauce, candied pecans and pomegranates:

Curry cakes with mashed sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts:

I know we’re all excited to graduate and be done with the program in two weeks. It’s been amazing, but non-stop…and I’m kind of ready to enjoy cooking on my own again, instead of being too burnt out to prepare my own meals when I get home at night. Judging by this post, I say we’re ready to be let out into the real world, right? ;)