Cooking with Ladies- My Cooking Class Experience at The Petite Chef

Life is a kitchen. Put on an apron & whip up something incredible.

I’ve always dreamed of taking a cooking class but for the longest time, I could only find classes that were at least an hour drive away from me. Until I came across The Petite Chef, located right here in Lake Country.

A place to cook basically in my own backyard?! I’ve got to make this happen!

I contacted Nancy, the owner of The Petite Chef & set up a date to have our Chef Assisted Class. She was wonderful at helping me set this up. Now before I go on, I have to let you in on a little secret. I didn’t have 8 people for my class when I set this up, but I was determined to get some ladies together & make it happen.

I created a public event on Facebook & called it Ladies Cooking Class. My goal was to get at least 10 ladies to sign up. I figured after a brutal winter, there had to be some ladies wanting to get out of the house & do something fun. I know I was starting to get cabin fever from being indoors so much.

Back to planning. I got the menu options from Nancy & there were so many good ones to choose from. We decided that we would start with a Seared Ahi with Baby Spinach Salad. For our entrée, I choose a Seared Beef Tenderloin in Red Wine Reduction. And you have to top it off with a dessert, which Bananas Foster was picked.

And since this was a ladies get together, we had to have some drink options. The Delafield Brewhaus was generous & donated some champagne for mimosas, along with some of their Blueberry Ale. It pairs great with their brunch that they offer on Sundays!

I have never tried Seared Ahi myself, so I was excited as it looked delicious as we seared it. This salad was topped with strawberries & a sesame ginger dressing. It was out of this world. I know a lot of people may be cautious when it comes to putting fruit on a salad, but don’t knock it until you try it!

Chef Nancy & Chef Guy were wonderful at walking us through each step. They gave some great tips along the way as well. After we seared the tenderloin, we put it in the oven to continue cooking while we started the red wine reduction sauce. It sounds quite impressive, but it’s actually pretty easy to make.

Along with the beef tenderloin, we had mashed cauliflower. I was extremely impressed by how well these turned out.

One little tip to making them, is use a potato or two depending on size to help keep them from being so watery. The potato helps soak up some of that extra moisture & making them a little bit thicker. Also a hint of some freshly grated parmesan really adds a little kick.

Once everything was finished cooking, we plated our meals & sat down to eat. Everything was DELICIOUS!

Plating our meals. The meal was so delicious.

After we finished eating, it was time to make dessert. Bananas Foster. Not only is this a great dessert, but it is fun to make as well. I don’t know about you, but playing with a little fire in the kitchen really makes me feel like a professional chef.

Once we got our bananas peeled & chopped, we were ready to go. Side note, did you know that you are supposed to peel bananas upside down? Yeah neither did I until now.

The Bananas Foster was amazing! It was the perfect way to end our class.

Overall my cooking class experience was awesome! Nancy was wonderful to work with & Chef Guy was an amazing teacher as well. And all of the ladies that came to this event were great! It was so nice to see a group of ladies be able to get together & have a fun afternoon. I definitely can’t wait to do another class & try something new! If you are in the Lake Country area look into The Petite Chef and see what they have to offer!

Stay tuned for another event to come!

Jennifer Perschke

Hi! I’m Jennifer. I’m an espresso addicted, wine loving, sarcasm user who swears like a sailor, but I do love Jesus. I’m a boy mom of two, ages 5 & 15 that keep my hands full.When I have a little spare time, I enjoy crafting. (I may or may not be addicted to Pinterest!) I love reading & long walks, around Target. I may have an obsession with shoes but most days you will find me in a pair of Converse. I am excited to be a part of The Lake Country Mom & share my stories & experiences. You can follow me on instagram or on my blog.