Spanish Cooking Class at Cafe Med

It's no secret that my family LOVES to cook and loves to eat even more. A local restaurant called Cafe Med offers cooking classes the second Wednesday of every month and I've always wanted to go. Well, yesterday was the day. I went with my Mom, Aunt Sandra, Mimi, and my cousin Taylor works at Cafe Med and assisted the chef, Meir Brown, in the cooking class...so she was there too!

The main dish we learned to cook was Paella.

Now here's the thing...my mom dad and I spent a week and Spain and my grandma lived there for 3 months. I'm more than familiar with Paella. While Meir didn't prepare the Paella anywhere close to the traditional way we saw it prepared in Spain, but it was still really darn good! My grandma shipped home all the traditional pans and burners and had families that had been making Paella for generations teach her detail by detail the "proper" way to make a Paella. Meir used ingredients and and kitchen wear he already had, which is great! I've just been spoiled by fancy imported paella rice and seasonings. Don't get me wrong, Meir's Paella was great. There is just something nostalgic to me about the real deal!

Anywho....we started out the class with Tapas. Tapas is the Spanish equivalent of appetizer.

First we made Spanish Meatball and Manchego Empanadas, Tuna Stuffed Sweet Piquillo Peppers,

and Serrano and Fontina Wrapped Asparagus. (Asparagus was my favorite dish of the night!)

Next were Goat Cheese Stuffed Piquillo Peppers--there were gooey and so delicious!

Above is an inside view of the stuffed piquillo peppers.  Yummm!

For our main dinner course we had a hot/cold Mushroom, Asparagus, Shrimp Salad with a Lemon Vinaigrette, Spanish Meatballs in Saffron Sauce, and Paella with scallops, shrimp, chicken, pork, and mussels!

Bellow is my cousin, Taylor, at her normal day's work.  Helping in the kitchen at Cafe Med.  What a life!

For dessert we had a vanilla bean flan topped with raspberry and mint.