Pop-Up Cooking School in San Diego

Zhee Zhee’s Pop-Up Cooking School is a new addition to my offerings.

(Next Pop-Up Cooking School is March 29th at Liberty Station.)

I love this gorgeous city of ours and really love spending time in many of our outdoor parks.  Cooking outside and feeding people are two of my favorite things ever!  So I had the idea of packing up my camp stove and holding demonstration style cooking classes out in the open. Each time holding these classes in a park or beach (or hey someone’s awesome back yard??).  It gets local food enthusiasts learning, exploring and sharing…while they dine on a freshly made four- course meal. 

My way of summing it up is: “You bring an empty stomach, a chair, picnic blanket and a willingness to learn in an unconventional classroom. And I bring the food prepared with laughter and love!”

The first session, in January, was fun…but uh, a little interesting. 

Set in the picturesque Arbor area of Presidio Park, birds singing, weather is perfect, and I have all sorts of beautiful organic produce from Napoli Farms. As a traveling chef I have to be open to crazy last minute changes to the original plan. Some of the laughter and love, must be applied to situation when things don’t quite work out as planned.  That time it was having my camp stove die right in the middle of cooking the very first dish.  Yep, we had plenty of fuel, but the stove decided it was done and retiring; even though it was fully functioning the night before.

How was I supposed to do a cooking demonstration with no stove to cook on??  Lucky thing was some friends of mine were class participants, and they only lived a few minutes away in Mission Hills. They offered up their kitchen and dining room for us to hold the class. Talk about a literal, “pop-up” cooking school.

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So we all packed and gathered the food and pots and pans, etc…caravaned over to their place. Someone stopped to pick up a couple bottles of wine and sparkling water. And so flexibility and open mindedness ensured we had a great class, with plenty of tasting and learning; oh and yes lots of laughter and love!

Ah…  The second session, in February was fantastic.  I held it in the same original location of Presidio Park, but this time had two working camp stoves, thank you very much!! We were once again, blessed with perfect weather. There was a great group of enthusiastic and fun food lovers that chowed down on a menu of healthy, fresh dishes of my own creation.

Including: Spicy Shrimp with Roasted Pepper Kalamata Relish and Feta Sauce, Asparagus and Arugula Salad with Parmesan Citrus Dressing, Smoky Tomato and Fennel Soup with Crispy Garlic and Thai Basil, Seared Local Halibut with Super Greens White Bean Ragout and Walnut Gremolata.

This month’s recipe I am sharing with you is for that oh so delicious Spicy Shrimp with Roasted Pepper Kalamata Relish and Feta Sauce.  It is served on pieces of red cabbage in the picture.  However, you can serve it on a fried plantain, a tortilla chip, a grilled piece of bread or on top of a bed of greens as a composed salad. I was thinking these would make a kick ass shrimp taco, too.  I purchased some huge baja white shrimp from Catalina Offshore, and they were just gorgeous and juicy and tender.

So that is the tale of the two sessions of Pop Up Cooking School so far, and I’m planning on having one every month! You can sign up by going to my “events” page on the website, and clicking on the link to purchase tickets.

Spicy Shrimp with Roasted Pepper Kalamata Olive Relish and Feta Sauce
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Ingredients
  1. 1 head of red cabbage
  2. 1 pound 21/25 shrimp, peeled and deveined
  3. 4 cloves garlic, minced to a paste
  4. 1 tsp. kosher salt
  5. ½ tsp. each cayenne pepper, pasilla chili powder and crushed red pepper flakes
  6. Drizzle of olive oil
  7. 1 TB coconut oil
  8. ½ c. minced onion
  9. 2 TB minced fresh oregano
Ingredients for Relish
  1. 1 roma tomato, brunoised
  2. ½ c. pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
  3. 1 red bell pepper
  4. Juice from ½ a lemon
  5. 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
  6. ½ c. brunoised celery
  7. 1 scallion, thinly sliced
Ingredients for Feta Sauce
  1. 1 clove garlic, minced to a paste
  2. 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
  3. ½ crumbled feta
  4. 2 TB lemon juice
  5. 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
  6. Pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Remove the tales from the shrimp. Using a pairing knife, cut a slit up the back the almost goes all the way through. This gives the shrimp and extreme butterfly cut, which makes it absorb more of any flavor we are trying to impart. Toss the shrimp with the olive oil, garlic, onion, oregano and dry spices.
  2. Heat a very large skillet with coconut oil. Using tongs or a gloved hand, place the shrimp cut side down and sprinkle with salt. Allow it to cook for a minute, before flipping the shrimp to its sides to cook just until it is opaque.
  3. For sauce: Mash the feta with the garlic and olive oil until it is quite smooth. Then stir in lemon and yogurt, and a pinch of salt and pepper. For relish: Either on a grill or over an open flame on your stove top, fire roast the bell pepper until the skin is mostly black. Place it in a bag or a closeable container and let it sweat for at least five minutes. Using a spoon and a pile of paper towels, scrape the skin off. Discard the blackened bits and paper towels. Julienne and then finely dice. Toss with remaining ingredients.
  4. To serve: Cut cabbage in half, then cut each half in fourths, creating wedges. Peel layers of cabbage wedges, which will now make a little “cabbage chip”. Start with a dollop of sauce, a shrimp then a sprinkle of relish.
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