This is my favorite potato salad recipe. The best way to ensure a fully flavored salad is to toss the still-warm and drained potatoes in the dressing. You can even make this in advance and serve it at room temperature. This makes a perfect compliment to grilled chicken or meats. 

Last week culinary arts classes enjoyed deep dish pizza. This type of pizza required a more buttery-type crust. Surely more bready, this pizza is very filling. Less is more. One pie should be enough to feed four people with a side Italian chopped salad. You can put whatever toppings on this you'd like. We kept it simple with sausage, cheese and marinara sauce. These can even be assembled in the pan beforehand, wrapped well, and forzen until ready to bake and eat.

Last week two of my classes participated in a pasta contest. Kitchens were free to create any pasta dish they wanted. Below are the recipes they created/used. 

Potstickers are not complicated - except for the crimping part. I have a hard time making mine look as nice as professional potstickers. But I supposed the more I work with it the better I will get. The demo video features the talents of Evie - one of my catering students - who makes beautiful potstickers. Hooray for Evie!! The best thing about making these is they can be assembled ahead of time, placed on a sheet pan, frozen, popped off and kept in bags in the freezer until you are ready for them. If you don't want to pan-fry/steam them, they can be dropped in broth and eaten as soup dumplings. 

I    LOVE the idea of this bread!! It's so cool and different. This would be great for a dinner party as guests can "pull apart" their piece. Each piece is wonderfully flavorful with garlic and herbs so it's a perfect compliment to most Italian meals. 

This salad is always a bit hit at parties and is so easy to prep ahead of time. You can omit the shrimp and add white beans for a vegetarian option. It's super colorful and using orzo (a pasta that looks kinda like rice) makes it interesting. A strong lemony presence is necessary to give this salad the tang needed to accompany the tomatoes and spinach. 

I    remember when traveling in Spain being super disappointed in the churros. They were definitely not like the kind we get at Costco or Disneyland. They were crunchy, skinny and dense and not very sweet. But they were authentic to Spain. These are very "Americanized" churros and they are not hard to make. You can even make the dough a day ahead and store it in the piping bag in the fridge before using. Then you can fry up fresh churros for dessert. 

We eat black beans about once a week in my house. I make a large pot once every three weeks or so and freeze jars of black beans so they are always available for a no-prep, ridiculously inexpensive and super healthy meal. I make my beans with garlic, chile peppers and onions that are roasted in oil in a hot oven first and then blended into the beans as they cook. I add ancho chile powder, cumin, and kosher salt. I try to jazz up the way we eat the beans. Sometimes it's with brown rice, other times it may be with eggs and tortillas or even black bean soup (adding chicken stock and blending it all together). But I may have some beans left that aren't enough for another complete meal. These gorditas are a wonderful way to use those beans (or left-over shredded chicken or beef). Making the gordita dough is easy and can be made up to two days before using. Just be sure to keep a moistened towel on top of the dough and wrap it well with plastic wrap. Once you get the basics down of making the gorditas, you can change up the fillings - including things like seasoned cilantro, cabbage and pickled onions. Salty cheese is a must - like cotija or queso fresco.