Ba-dee ya, dancin’ in September. Ba-dee ya, dancin’ for September tips and tricks. The month of September has come and gone, but these tips are here to stay! Read on to see what kitchen wisdom our visiting chefs had to offer.

Tip #1: No Soup (Mess) For You

With the impending cold weather, soup may be on your mind. When you’re warming up on those chilly autumn days with a bowl of soup, the last thing you want is to clean up a splattered mess from ladling into your bowl. Joncarl Lachman of Noord showed us a trick that will keep your counters spotless. Simply hold a plate under your ladle to catch the drips!

Tip #2: Consistently Chopped Lamb Chops

Rack of lamb is such a perfect main dish for special occasions in fall and winter. If you really want to impress your friends and family, serve them up perfectly portioned chops. Robert “Bobby” Surdam of Red Owl Tavern gave a hands-on tutorial to a few brave volunteers to show them how to cut the lamb chops evenly. Put your knife right against the bone, then slice downward. Perfect chops every time!

Tip #3: Hard Cider is Easy

Farm fresh apple cider is now appearing on market shelves. We are lucky to live in an area with an abundance of apples. So if you find yourself with more apples or apple cider than you know what to do with, try your hand at brewing your own cider at home. The tip here is that it’s easier than you think! Meredith Rebar of Home Brewed Events had a large pot of apple cider simmering on the stovetop all class. She added hops and some brewer’s yeast, and that’s it! After that it’s just a matter of letting it sit and ferment (safely sealed). She did note that the key is to use quality apple juice or cider – it can be from concentrate, but it cannot have preservatives added.

Tip #4: Skim The Scum

Keep up those healthy summer eating habits into the cooler months ahead.  Jonathan Adams aka “Johnny Mac” of Rival Bros. Coffee, with the help of Dr. William Duffy, Clinical Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, put on a “Food As Medicine” class. The class was all about treating your body right and eating a whole food, plant-based diet. Dr. Duffy stressed the importance of eating whole grains. That’s where Johnny Mac came in and gave guests a nutritious grain bowl filled with wheat berries, mushrooms, chickpeas, pickled corn and fennel. The trick to cooking chickpeas is when you are heating them in a pot over medium heat, stir them around and scum will rise to the top. Skim as much scum as possible, you don’t want to put that in your body!

Tip #5: Air-repas  

International Arepas Day was September 9th, so it was fitting that we had Manuela Villasmil, co-owner of Puyero, come in to COOK to teach people the art of arepas. If you’re not familiar with arepas, they are a ground maize patty that is split open and stuffed with all sorts of fillings. Since arepas are so versatile, they are perfect for this in-between season weather. Stuff them with avocados, and then fill them with squash and turkey for a autumn-style arepa! There is a trick to knowing when the arepas are ready to be split open. When cooking them in either the oven or in a pan, after about 5-10 minutes, the arepas will fill with air and inflate, that’s when they are ready!

Happy COOKing!