Dining In With Chef Phil Brennan

What a beautiful day for a cooking class!

Chef Phil started off the evening with a Warm Goat Cheese Salad with Mixed Greens and fresh Artisan bread.

This included a lemon vinaigrette dressing! Delicious.

This was thoroughly enjoyed by the crew.

Next it was time to start the Flourless Lemon Almond cake, as there would be a little bit of bake time while the rest of the food was prepared.

Chef Phil takes time to explain how the almonds run through a food processor will act as the flour.

Eleanor lends a hand on the cake pans.

Now it is time for the main event, Grilled Beef Teriyaki Flank Steaks, which has been marinating for 24 hours.

The crew looks on while Phil is slicing the zucchini with a mandolin.

And an early Mother's Day gift is being thoroughly enjoyed.

The Grilled Beef Teriyaki is thinly sliced before being served.

The accompaniments, Orzo Pilaf with Green Onions and Parmesan Cheese and Pan Sauteed Zucchini Noodles are plated for a beautiful presentation...

and enjoyed by all!

Chef Phil will have a Spanish Tapas class and a Salmon Three Way's class in the summer months. What a perfect evening for all!

Chef Don Brown and His Pasta Du Jour!

Here are a few shots from a private class that featured Chef Don Brown with some of his Italian and Mediterranean treats!

The company was wonderful....





the food plentiful and flavorful...





....and while Chef Don worked......


the group continued their merriment!



What a very special evening. Thanks to a wonderful crew and can't wait until we do it again!

Amanda Rocks!

There are some menus that you wait all winter for. Since this one was centered around fresh rockfish, we waited for the season to begin and Chef Amanda joined us the first available date.

The menu started with Beet Carpaccio with Prosciutto that was served with Goat Cheese and an Herb Salad.

This is built with the beets and goat cheese together, and the fresh herb salad served over the prosciutto.

These are not your canned beets that you have at Thanksgiving!

This was a nice combination of flavors, served with a lemon vinaigrette. Everyone seemed to enjoy these unique fresh flavors!

Now it is onto the main course. This begins with Concasse of Roast Fennel, Nicoise Olives, Caramelized Shallots, Capers and Almonds. Some of the main ingredients have been pre-roasted before our guests arrive.

This in itself is a meal, but there is more!

Chef Amanda prepares a Roasted Tomato Beurre Blanc, Artichoke Heart Mache. This will be served with the vegetables and rockfish and makes the entree heavenly.

It's time to pan crisp the rockfish which was fresh that day from Crabknockers in Leonardtown.


The plating takes place......

Rebecca, tonight's server unfortunately was moving too fast to take a good photograph, but didn't she do a great job of plating this course!!!!

The night could have ended there but dessert, Peach Tea Pot du Cremes, was to follow.

The hand-torch makes short work of the browning of the sugar. And yes, this is as good as it looks!

Chef Amanda will be joining us for one more class, the Farmer's Market Feast, before the baby comes. If you have out of town guests coming in, please keep the Blue Heron Inn in mind for a unique lodging and guest dining experience on Solomon's Island!

Cheese and Wine Pairing

Tonight's Class was on cheeses, and the wines from the vineyard that accentuate the cheese flavor. Here is the complete menu, and I will "pepper in" a few captions: Cheese: Humboldt Fog Cypress Grove Chevre Wine: Chardonnay; Cheese: Brillat Savarin Triple-creme Wine: Viognier; Cheese: Manchego Wine: Tempranillo; Cheese: Cabot Cheddar Wine: Pinot Noir

There were some additional accompaniments to go with the cheese.


Mike gave good information on both the cheeses selected and the wines that were used to compliment the taste.



Tonight the wine that was provided came from selections from It's All Good, which will be opening soon in Leonardtown. Thanks Sheila!

You can tell the crew is having trouble relaxing!





The company was great, the cheeses very flavorful especially as you mixed them with the different ingredients that were provided at the tasting.


This was very nice and we will assuredly do it again!

Michael Waymans will be conducting a class through the College of Southern MD in September. This will be about foods that are complimentary to the different regional Borodeaux wines. All recipes for the food will be provided as each item is demonstrated, and this will be conducted at Quality Street!