As I’ve said in a previous post, I have been on a cooking class kick lately. The Chubby Cook has now gone the way of Viking Cooking. I’m on the search for good cooking classes, so please let me know if you here of any.
I recently attended a pie-making class at The Chubby Cook presented by the proprietor of Humble Pie Baking Company (and my friend) Diane. Her pies are simply amazing. I have been buying her pies at local farmer’s markets and craft fairs. I am not a fan of pie crust. I worked as a waitress at Baker’s Square for five years, a
nd I always threw out the crust after eating the pie innards. Not her pies! They are light, tender, flaky and crisp. I wanted to learn how to make her pie crust, so I jumped at the chance to sign up for the pie-making class.
The Chubby Cook started out as a local food blog, but Scott branched out and opened his own carry-out restaurant/catering venue, which has now morphed into a catering venue and cooking school. It is located in the shopping strip across from Moxie’s (just down from Hiroshi’s Pub). The facilities were nicely arranged and very clean. I joined my two friends there and met some of the other attendees. We all had a ball.
We were greeted by Diane and Scott and offered a glass of fresh cider from the orchard where Diane gets her apples. We put on our aprons and read through the recipe handout. Diane started out by showing us how she makes a pie: cutting the butter and lard into the flour mixture, letting the dough rest, rolling out the dough, placing it in the pie pan, making the filling (lots of apples with cinnamon and butter!) and crimping and fluting the edges. I could have been happy just eating the filling by itself.
While her pie was baking in the oven we were turned loose to make our own pie. We followed the same steps Diane used, but we had to peel the apples first (she was peeling apples when we walked in). I got fancy and added leaves made from the extra crust dough to mine to differentiate my pie from the other pies. While our pies were in the oven, we dug into her pie and she showed us how to make crust in a food processor. She was an excellent instructor. Everyone’s pies turned out beautifully.
Many attendees really appreciated all her tips like using half lard and half butter for 
the crust, where to purchase lard and all her tips on locally sourced produce. We all went home with our own steaming apple pie in a glass pie plate. Everyone who tried my pie that weekend absolutely raved about it. I went back a week or so later and picked up some pie crusts that she had dropped off for us. They are now in my freezer, and I can’t wait until the summer to bake and fill them! I walked out of The Chubby Cook covered in cinnamon and flour, but absolutely relaxed and ebullient. I can’t imagine a better way to spend a snowy morning than baking pies with friends.
If you haven’t attended a cooking class, The Chubby Cook is a great place to start! Check out his class calendar today!
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Contact info:
The Chubby Cook
3365 Richmond Road, #225
Beachwood, OH 44122
(216) 342-4840
I love Brazilian steakhouses. Brazilian steakhouses feature skewered cuts of meat grilled over a wood burning fire and sliced into thin, succulent pieces (churrasco) and served to you continuously at your table from skewers. They also feature an all-you-can-eat salad bar. When you want some meat, you flip the table-side card to green and when you need a break you flip the card to red. My first experience was in Cincinnati at Boi Nai Brasa. As a beginner I had no idea what to expect and filled up on its truly outstanding salad bar and barely had any room for the delicious grilled meats.
you can eat your fill of prime rib, filet, chicken and lamb? Dinner starts off with a selection of appetizers and a trip to the salad bar. The salad bar features 40 different salads, vegetables, seafood and pastas.
they are offering. When you would like a piece, they slice off a generous portion and you use your tongs to transfer it to your plate.
My friends were seated at the bar, enjoying a stemless glass of wine, when I arrived. Since the evening was so beautiful we chose to sit on the outside patio. The patio overlooks a body of water, and there were kayakers cruising back and forth on the water that night. It was very peaceful.
was delicious. I only wish there were several more pieces of it. The tempura was batter-dipped vegetable slices of eggplant, carrot, and zucchini and a shrimp, which we divided in two to try each one.
I had chosen Romanini’s for the spaghetti and meatballs, but once I saw trout on the menu I had to order it. This trout was rainbow trout stuffed with crab and wrapped with pancetta. It was served with sauteed yellow and green zucchini. It was delicious – and just as good the next day.
Gretchen wanted the halibut, but they were out. She ordered another fish (I think it was haddock?) with a sweet mushroom sauce. She was surprised by the sweetness of the sauce, but said it complemented the fish very nicely.
Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats 