Sometimes we make food just to turn the leftovers into something even better: leftover bread for bread pudding, leftover roast chicken for chicken salad, leftover beef stew for ravioli filling, and leftover shellfish for souffle. The way to make perfect fried rice is to use leftover cooked and cold rice. If the rice is freshly made and hot, the rice has too much water and steam and will not make a good fried rice.

The other secrets to fried rice are the same as the secrets to Chinese stir-fry:

Do not crowd the wok with too much food (Chinese recipes should not be doubled). Be sure to use a 14-inch wok as smaller woks do not provide enough room to stir.

Chop all the ingredients before heating the wok (prepping for a Chinese meal takes more time that cooking the dishes).

Cut the ingredients the same size and as thinly as possible so that the food will cook very fast.

Dry the ingredients before cooking. Adding wet ingredients to the wok will slow down the browning of the food and lower the heat.

Fried Rice

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 carrot, peeled and minced

1 cup thinly-sliced Vidalia onion

½ cup thinly-sliced red bell pepper

1 hot chile pepper, minced

1 cup chopped meat: pork, chicken, or shrimp (cooked or raw)

1/2 cup peas

½ cup raw rice, cooked and completely chilled (about 1 1/3  cups cooked rice)

2 eggs, whisked

2 tablespoons soy or fish sauce

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro and/or green onions

In a wok, heat the oil. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry. Add the carrot, onion, and pepper, and stir-fry. Push the vegetables up the side of the wok. Add the meat and stir-fry. Add the peas. Push the meat and vegetables up the side of the wok. Add the rice and let cook until slightly browned, stirring and flipping the rice over. Push the rice up the side of the wok. Pour in the egg on the bottom of the wok. Add the fish sauce. Let sit for 30 seconds, then flip the rice on top of the egg. Flip the fried rice over and serve immediately (the egg should be moist, not dry). Garnish with fresh herb.

To learn more about making fried rice, join us for a cooking class on June 18: The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen.

The back of a recently-purchased package of pine nuts has this warning: “In rare instances, people may experience a sensitivity reaction from pine nuts, termed “pine mouth,” which is characterized by a metallic taste that resolves without treatment.”

“Pine Mouth” can last for more than a week and can make all kinds of food taste terrible. Pine mouth does not happen to everyone, but only happens with pine nuts from China, which are a different species from the Italian pine nuts. The true Mediterranean pine nut (pinus pinea) does not cause pine mouth; only the variety of pine nuts pinus koraiensis, which are grown in China, are known to cause pine mouth. Of course, the pine nuts from China retail at $20 per pound, which is half the price of the Mediterranean pine nuts at nearly $40 per pound.

Although we always want the best price for ingredients, paying more for quality (and no unpleasant side effects) is more important. Finding the true Mediterranean pine nut is not easy as most retail outlets sell the least expensive nut.

Pine nuts, which I always lightly toast, are delicious on top of salads, ground in pesto, paired with goat or blue cheese, in eggplant caponata, and many Italian cookies are full of pine nuts. The French Laundry cookbook has a memorable lemon tart with a pine nut crust. Here is my favorite eggplant appetizer, which can also be used as a sauce for pasta or tuna fish.

Caponata

1/3 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 rib of celery, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and diced

1 eggplant, diced

2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced (or 1 cup canned tomatoes)

¼ cup white wine

2 tablespoons sugar

4 minced anchovy fillets

1 tablespoon capers

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

2 tablespoons raisins or currants

salt and pepper to taste

hot red pepper flakes to taste (about a teaspoon)

fresh minced Italian parsley for garnish

In a sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté the onion and celery. Add the garlic. In a separate, nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and cook the eggplant (in batches, adding more oil when necessary) until tender. Add the eggplant to the onions, with the bell pepper and tomatoes. Add the wine and sugar. Season to taste with the anchovies, capers, pine nuts, raisins, salt, pepper, red pepper, and parsley. Serve on croutons.

Pepper vodka-cured grilled sea bass with cumin-lime-cilantro gremolata, which Brad Hartman is teaching on June 15.

Lobster-parmesan fondue nachos with jalapeno-spiked sour cream sauce, which chef Jon Lowe of Oceano is teaching on June 28.

Crispy Indian rice-lentil crepes with homemade chutney, which Aruna Menon is teaching on June 20.

Wild fresh chanterelle mushroom with crab-corn chowder, which chef Bob Colosimo of Eleven Eleven Mississippi is teaching on July 10.

Salmon-wrapped tea-smoked scallops with vermicelli noodle spring rolls on coconut red curry sauce, which chef Derek Craig of Jimmy’s on the Park is teaching on July 19.

Cold-smoked beef tenderloin with crispy capers on coffee-truffle vinaigrette and brioche, which chef Frank McGinty of Kaldi’s Coffee on August 2.

Fresh sweet corn ice cream with Michigan blueberries, which chef Kirk Warner is teaching on August 23.

Caramelized peach tarte Tatin with peach-champagne sorbet, which Christie Maggi is teaching on August 27.

Getting one great recipe is worth the price of a cooking class! Register now for these scrumptious cooking classes.

If you like to cook from scratch, eventually you stop buying packaged condiments. The homemade versions of ketchup, mayonnaise, yogurt, jelly, pickles, and caramel sauce taste so much better than anything you can buy. Still, there are some purchased bottles left in my cupboard. Then, my husband started making his own charcoal from cherry wood and I thought, how can I possibly use Lea & Perrins Worcestershire on a hamburger cooked on homemade charcoal?

After much experimenting, here are my latest homemade condiments: worcestershire sauce and fish sauce. These anchovy-based sauces are easy to make, easy to keep for a long time, and much more flavorful that anything in a commercial bottle.

Fish Sauce

• 2 stalks lemongrass, chopped
• 2-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and chopped
• 1 tin of anchovies
• 1 ½ cups water
• ½ cup brown or palm sugar
• 4 shallots, peeled and chopped
• Zest of 2 limes
• 5 Thai chile peppers, split

Bring the water to a boil and add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer until syrupy, about 20 minutes. Remove and strain and discard the solids.

I use fish sauce in Thai curries, Vietnamese dipping sauces, and instead of soy sauce in Chinese stir-fries.

Worcestershire Sauce

2 cups white wine vinegar
1⁄2 cup molasses
1⁄2 cup soy sauce
1⁄4 cup tamarind concentrate
3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
3 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1⁄2 teaspoon curry powder
5 cardamom pods, smashed
4 chiles de árbol, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1  one-inch stick of cinnamon
1 anchovy, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1  half-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and crushed
1⁄2 cup sugar
 

Combine all ingredients except the sugar in a 3-quart saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook sugar covered with water, in a skillet over medium-high heat until it becomes dark amber and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Add caramelized sugar to vinegar mixture and whisk to combine; cook sauce for 5 minutes. Strain.

Travel around the world this summer with our globe-trotting cooking classes! Fabulous cooks who are natives of many delicious countries will be teaching their culinary art at Kitchen Conservatory, including France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Quebec, Thailand, Turkey, and we even have transplants from exotic Portland, Oregon and New Orleans, Louisiana.

A sampling of the many different cuisines represented on this calendar include Basque, Cajun, Chinese, Cuban, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Latin, Lebanese, Mexican, Moroccan, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Of course, we have not omitted any of our favorite foods from the great culinary traditions of Italy and France.

Give a hearty welcome to these new and dynamic instructors: Todd Brutcher, Linda Coonrod, Brad Hartman, Carrie Houk, Sam Kogos, Nikol Kokaz, Maria Kveton, Aruna Menon, Nick Miller, John Nall, Brian Pelletier, Laura Russell, Fabrizio Schenardi, Sally Sciaroni, Karen Tedesco, Jason Tilford, and Peter Whitley. Don’t miss any of their classes; they have so many exciting, delectable, and tantalizing ideas in the kitchen.

If you can’t stand the heat, come into our kitchens and give your tastebuds a thrill!

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Let’s Eat profiles Cindy Higgerson, a Kitchen Conservatory class taker, who said, “I’m not a baker, and up until about six years ago, I couldn’t make pie crusts to save my life. It wasn’t until I took one of Anne Cori’s classes at Kitchen Conservatory (that) I found out that I was always overworking the dough.”

To learn all the tricks of baking a perfect pie, join us for one of these pie classes this summer:

• “Icebox Pies” on May 23
• “Pies: Fruit of the Bloom” on June 25
• “Making Piece” on July 15
• “Pio-neer Woman” on July 23
• “Short Stories: Summer Pastries” on August 13
• “Pie It Forward” on August 30

Register Now.

We had so much fun talking about how to cook Chinese food yesterday at the Missouri Botanical Garden for their herb festival. Thank you to all who attended and asked so many interesting questions. Due to popular requests, we have added a Chinese dumpling class on Sunday, May 6 at 12:30 pm. This hands-on cooking class will go nuts for dumplings!

Master the art of filling and forming and cooking delicious Chinese dumplings, plus how to make a homemade dumpling dough, as this class enjoys steamed shrimp shu mai, lobster pot stickers, pork-filled won tons for soup, vegetarian spring rolls, and crab rangoon made with real crabmeat. The dumplings will be served with a variety of dipping sauces, such as sweet chile sauce, lime-soy, black vinegar-scallion, plum wine, and cilantro-mustard.

Register Now.

Chinese dumplings are delicious when deep-fried, steamed, or poached, but the tastiest dumplings are a combination of fried and poached: pot stickers. There are several secrets to pot stickers: the filling must be made out of raw protein, a nonstick pan is crucial to keeping the dumpling from actually sticking to the pan, and poaching in chicken stock is much more flavorful than poaching in water.

Pot stickers are usually filled with ground pork. A more sophisticated and elegant filling is lobster. And the secret to lobster pot stickers is to use ground raw shrimp as the binder to hold the filling together. When pot stickers cook, the dough wrapper shrinks around the filling and then holds together in a tight bundle. And even though these dumplings are called “stickers,” we don’t really want them to stick to the pot.

Want to try your hand at lobster pot stickers? Join us on Sunday, May 13 at 5 pm for “Attention to De-Tail” for an all-lobster cooking class.

Lobster Pot Stickers

For the filling:

1 large lobster (about 1 1/2 pounds)

4 ounces raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 egg white

2 tablespoons finely diced carrot

2 tablespoons finely diced celery

2 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons minced chives

3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

round wonton or dumpling wrappers

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 cup chicken stock

Blanch the lobster in boiling water for 3 minutes, then chill in an ice water bath. Remove all the meat and chop. Save the tomalley and any coral and add back to the meat. In a food processor, puree the shrimp and egg white. Fold into the lobster meat. Melt the butter and sauté the carrot, celery, and pepper until softened. Remove from heat and add the chives and breadcrumbs. Add to the lobster. Season well. Put a spoonful of the filling (use a #100 size disher) into the wrappers. Brush one edge of the wrapper with water. Fold in half and pinch together to seal.

In a nonstick skillet (9-10 inches), heat some sesame oil. Add the pot stickers and cook until they sizzle. Add some stock, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, let the liquid boil away, then flip the pan over on a serving platter to serve with the browned-side up.

For the dipping sauce:

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup fish sauce or soy sauce

1 jalapeno, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

½ cup water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Whisk together all of the ingredients.

Equipment Needed: nonstick fry pan, tongs, food processor, vegetable peeler, #100 disher, garlic press, citrus press

Margi Kahn, who teaches cooking classes at Kitchen Conservatory, taught me the secret to her fabulous focaccia: potato. Peel a potato, cover with water, and boil until tender. Use the potato water as the liquid in the bread and mash the potato (a potato ricer works best) and fold the mashed potato into the dough. The potato starch adds both deep flavor and a light texture to the bread.

Margi Kahn is teaching some irresistible bread-baking classes; learn all of her other secrets to mouth-watering breads:

• Donuts on April 18 at 6 pm
• Homemade buns on May 9 at 6 pm
• Basics of bread on June 13 at 6 pm

Chef-owner Josh Allen of Companion Baking is leading an artisan Crusty Bread class on Monday, May 21 at 6 pm. Everyone raves about his exceptional pizza dough.

For a more in-depth day of bread, join us for A Day in the Kitchen: Bread-baking on Saturday, September 29 from 11 am to 4 pm.

Focaccia

• 1 1/4 cups water from boiling potatoes
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (plus more)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium potato, peeled, boiled, and mashed with a potato ricer
• approximately 3 cups of all-purpose flour

Combine the water and honey in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let the mixture foam. Add the oil, salt, potato, and 1 cup of flour. Stir with a Danish dough whisk until smooth. Continue adding flour until the dough is stiff, then turn out onto a dough mat and knead until smooth.

Oil the mixing bowl and place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat all the sides. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour. (Or, place the dough in an oiled plastic bag and let rise overnight in the refrigerator.)

Deflate the dough and press into an oiled 9×13″ baking pan. Cover and let rise for about 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the plastic. Use your fingers to dimple the dough. Sprinkle generously with olive oil. If desired, sprinkle the top with coarse salt, chopped rosemary, roasted garlic, or caramelized onions. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until browned.

Congratulations to Julie Malloy, who teaches our cake pop classes, for winning the Ladue News Cake Pop contest!

Julie’s cake pops are made with homemade cake and icing and decorated for the seasons, including baby faces, butterflies, ice cream cones, and beach pops. Everyone who takes her classes learns the secrets of making fun and cute cake pops, plus has the opportunity to create and decorate these darling desserts.

Julie’s next cake pop classes are on Sunday, May 6 and Saturday, June 23. Register now.

The combination of cake and custard has many names: tiramisu, charlotte, trifle, zuppa inglese, bavarian, or summer pudding. The addition of the custard keeps the cake moist and lengthens the shelf-life. Cake tastes best the day it is made; tiramisu (which uses mascarpone cheese instead of custard) is delicious for days. Traditionally, tiramisu is flavored with coffee and chocolate, but other flavors can be substituted. To make a trifle, layer the sponge cake with fruit jam, vanilla custard, and fresh fruits. These desserts are usually seasoned with flavored liqueurs, which keep the cake moist. Tiramisu can be made with ladyfingers or sponge cake or the very crisp Italian ladyfinger cookies, known as savoyard biscuits.

Karen asked for our best tiramisu recipe; here it is:

Tiramisu
for the Sponge Cake:
6 eggs, separated
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup cake flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Whip the egg whites until stiff and add ¼ cup sugar and continue whipping for another minute until glossy. Whip the egg yolks with ½ cup sugar, salt, and vanilla until very thick and pale. Sift the flour on top of the whipped whites, pour in the yolk mixture, and – using a whisk – gently fold together all three mixtures. Spread onto two nine-inch lined cake pans. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool.

for the Espresso Syrup:
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup strong brewed espresso coffee
1/4 cup Kahlua

For the syrup, combine water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat, cool and add coffee and Kahlua.

for the Mascarpone Filling:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pound mascarpone cheese, softened to room temperature

For the filling, whip cream with sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold cream into softened mascarpone.

Finishing
Grated chocolate

To assemble, place a layer of the sponge cake in the bottom of a trifle bowl. Sprinkle with half the syrup. Spread with half the filling. Repeat with remaining cake, syrup and filling, spreading the top smooth, using a metal spatula. When ready to serve, sprinkle with grated chocolate.