Revived “Culinary Court” hosts classy and delicious dinner and cooking class

On Wednesday, Feb. 27, Tarleton State University Dining Services hosted their second “Culinary Court” event on the second level of the dining hall. This event featured exquisite, delicious southern cuisine for dinner, while students were being taught to prepare the selected dishes. 

Eric Hunter of the Fire Oak Grill in Weatherford, TX, who is a renowned chef and has been on the television series Iron Chef, was the guest instructor for the evening. Guests were served and taught to prepare his selected meal: Andouille with lentil stew for the main course and coconut and passion fruit panna cotta with candied ginger for desert.

Before the meal, hors d’oeuvres were served, featuring cranberry and dill Havarti cheese, crackers and more, accompanied by a small assortment of wines.  I had the pinot noir at first, which was a little flat, but the cabernet sauvignon that I stayed with afterward was bursting with flavor. The cranberry cheese was delicious and a favorite, with guests asking for more after it disappeared quickly.

The main dish, Andouille, is a spiced, heavily smoked pork sausage. The United States version of this dish hails from Louisiana and is generally associated with Cajun cooking. Hunter’s presentation included actually grinding pork to make the ground meat for the sausage and inserting it into the casing. It had a very pleasant, smoky flavor, with a well-balanced sweetness, and a mildly spicy Cajun kick.

The dessert, panna cotta, is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. While prepared differently, the batch Hunter prepared had a very similar taste, texture, and consistency to crème brûlée. The gelatin used to make it came in sheets, which were placed in water to make it “bloom.” I had never had panna cotta or seen gelatin sheets before, and found it interesting.  The fresh ginger was candied in simple syrup.

Chef Eric Hunter was very relaxed and personable, allowing plenty of guest questions and close examinations of the preparation. Not every seat was full, but the event looked to be well attended. It was an exceptionally good evening, filled with fantastic food and pleasant company.