A Truly Sinful Evening

Last night, I cheated on my husband.

Yes. I did.

I cheated by spending the evening with a very charismatic Italian man, named "Jasper"...

...who slaved over a hot stove, while cooking some of the most amazing food ever...

Of course, there were about 24 other people in the culinary kitchen classroom...

...which made it rather crowded...

...and Chef Jasper was teaching us students all about Venetian cooking...



...which made it rather delightful.


We learned to prepare Tofeja, a succulent Italian Carnevale soup that tasted a lot like minestrone....



We then went on to a fabulous risotto, Risi e Bisi (which means, "rice and peas")...with a dab of some heavy cream and bits of bacon, this dish was heavenly....



For the meat dish, we prepared a recipe from the famous chef, Artusi...Piemonte Fricandu. This was an Italian stew that is served during Carnevale - and with a dash of red wine vinegar and a bit of red wine - it had a little "zing".



For dessert, we prepared Bugie, which are Carnevale fried ribbons of dough. Think pie dough - with a bit of Grand Marnier thrown in (okay, more than a bit...) - and then deep fried with a bit of powdered sugar; serve with gelato and caramel sauce.



To. Die. For.


So - since this was part of culinary school, I guess I wasn't really cheating.


But it sure felt sinful.


Peace.