If you are looking for a fun and unique date night idea, a perfect girls night or you just want to sharpen your cooking skills, sign up for a cooking class at Uncorked Kitchen in Centennial.
I had the pleasure of attending my first cooking class with the Denver Bloggers Club and had a blast! I was impressed with the friendly staff, the patient and knowledgeable chef and beautiful views of the front range.
Their wine bar was notable, too, and the staff taking our wine orders at the beginning of the class was great at giving recommendations for pairing the wine with the food we were about to make.
On the menu was a Tempeh BLT Sandwich, a Quinoa Salad and a lime Mango Sorbet.
Photo credit: Jenny Levine Finke from https://www.goodforyouglutenfree.com
We split into two groups and after Chef Sarah showed us how to correctly and efficiently dice a butternut squash, slice an avocado, and chop cilantro, we go to work. These knives were so incredibly sharp, I have now added some knives to my wishlist ! Mothers Day is coming up … hint hint !
Confession: I had never cooked quinoa before. And apparently I was pronouncing it completely wrong. I bought a bag of quinoa over a year ago and it has been just sitting in my cupboard because I had no idea how to cook it. The bag came with easy enough directions, but for some reason I was intimidated by it. So now that I know how delicious and easy to make quinoa is… I will be making this ALL summer long!
This salad was SOOO good I had two helpings. And I just bought all the ingredintents to make it myself for dinner tonight.
Three Sisters Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 3 Tbs Olive oil, divided
- 3 C Peeled, diced butternut squash
- 1/2 C corn fresh or frozen & thawed
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp group black pepper
- 1 Tbs dried oregano
- 1 Tbs water
- 2 C cooked & cooled quinoa
- 2 Tbs chopped cilantro
- 1 C black beans rinsed and drain
- 1 Tbs lime juice
Instructions
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Preheat over to 400 degrees
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Toss the diced butternut squash with 2 Tbs of olive oil and some salt and pepper
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Spread out on a sheet pan and roast until the squash is soft and slightly golden brown. Stir halfway through cooking time.
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Allow 15 minutes to chill.
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Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and sauce corn until warm.
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Add chili powder, salt, pepper, and preen and sauce till fragrant, about one minute.
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Add a Tbs of water and stir to create a paste.
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Let the salad cool. In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients.
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Add the cooled spice mixture and adjust seasoning to taste. If the salad is too dry, add a little olive oil or lime juice.
You can serve this chilled as a side or warm for a meal!
Next came the “BLT”s. This class was for a non-meat approach to protein and I learned quite a bit. Not only is Sarah a chef but she is also a nutritionalist.
I had never heard of Tempeh before and was honestly a little skeptical when she was telling us exactly what it was. It is basically a block of soybeans that are moldy. I was… hesitant, to say the least.
We sliced the tempeh into strips and seared both sides in a thin layer of vegetable oil. We then added some liquid smoke and soy sauce and continued to cook until the tempeh absorbed the sauce. It started to smell SOOO good and I was more willing to give this stuff a try. This was going to be the “bacon” in our BLTs.
They toasted the bread in the oven and then we put together our sandwiches. I added mayo, lettuce, avocado and tomato to mine.
Besides the wine, I have to say the best part was DESSERT. Because I have an uncontrollable sweet tooth. This lime mango sorbet is incredibly easy to make and even easier to eat. I will definetly be making this one all summer long. Now I need to buy an ice cream maker STAT. It is refreshing and sweet and tastes so fresh. We didn’t have time to make these ourselves, so Uncorked Kitchen made them for us ahead of time!
Lime Mango Sorbet
Ingredients
- 3 large mangos or 5 cups frozen mango
- 1 C water
- 1 C sugar
- 1/4 C fresh lime juice
- zest of one lime
- pinch kosher sea salt
Instructions
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Puree mango in a food processor until smooth.
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Make your simple syrup: Combine water and sugar in a pot, bring to a boil and cook long enough to dissolve the sugar. Cool completely.
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Add pureed mango, simple syrup, lime juice, zest and salt to prepared bowl of am one cream maker and process until frozen.
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Transfer into a mother container and freeze until soaked, about three hours.
I really had such a great time and will be going back for their other classes very soon. I will make sure to grab my actual camera next time so I have some better photos for you all! These were just taken with my phone.
They have date night couples classes, wine tastings, events, and you can even have your kids birthday party here! The views from the building were just gorgeous and they also have an outdoor rooftop patio to enjoy your wine.
I am hoping to get in to one of their Tapas and Sangrias classes soon.
Thank you Uncorked Kitchen for having us and I look forward to coming back soon!
Disclosure: I received this cooking class free. All opinions are my own.
Have you ever tried a cooking class? How did you like it? Let me know down in the comments !
Have a beautiful day
This looks like such a great time. I love cooking and would love to take a cooking class one day, just to learn something new! Food looks amazing by the way!
Looks amazing! I really hope I can do this too!
Wow, looks like a great cooking class! The menu looks delish. I was in Denver back in February and loved it there. Thanks for sharing!
That’s awesome Brandi! The mango lime sorbet was my favorite!
It must have been a wonderful feeling to take part in such classes. I’m thinknig of joining something like that myself. I love these pics. 🙂
Thanks girl! Yea, it was really fun and now I’m wanting to join more cooking classes!
This looks like a wonderful experience for you! Never knew about Tempeh before either but glad to know it tasted good! Ahhh need to sign up to a local cooking class this summer.
How fun!! I also feel intimidated by cooking. I’m eternally afraid of burning something and setting fire to my house. I’ve wanted to take a cooking class for this exact reason! Once I actually start cooking I really enjoy it! It’s just getting over that hump of fear.
Oh, this looks like so much fun! I have always wanted to do a cooking class with my husband. Everything you made look delicious, too!
Me too! I am definitely going to be doing more of these types of classes. The food really was pretty amazing !
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I’ve always wanted to take a cooking class with my husband, I thought it would be a wonderful date night for us since we don’t get date night’s much anymore. This sounds like a lovely recipe too, I’m going to have to try it.
Yes it would be a perfect date night! My hubby could learn a thing or two about cooking haha
Oh how wonderful. I love cooking classes!
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