Chicken Class

I had my second class at Fiore Market Cafe and this time round, we learnt how to make chicken stock! Wait, scratch that, we were supposed to learn how to make chicken stock, but Bill, the chef and owner of the cafe, had kindly taught us how to roast a chicken, braise beef shanks, make chicken, beef and vegetable stock AND two types of soup! Man, it was such an enriching class and I learnt so much, my pen was up in the air scribbling most of the time.

For those who are not familiar with Fiore Market Cafe, you can read the first class I had with them here, where I learnt how to make a few types of bread, as well as a short review on my favorite cafe in the world! :)

So yes, back to the class. I had a great time meeting new people, fellow foodies like myself who are interested in making wholesome food! I love how we get to witness the whole process, which allowed me to pick up small tips here and there on how to make broth, braise meet, etc. This was also the first time I interacted with Bill's wife, Anne, and she is just so friendly and humorous.

Below are some of the pictures I took at the class. Cooking classes are so fun... I can't wait to sign up for more! :D

Taking the meat off the bones of the beef shank.

The chef at work!

We learnt, we cooked and we ate heartily. What more can we ask for? :) I LOVE their roast chicken sandwich with pesto and cheese on focaccia bread (left).

Carrot soup, one of the two soups we made that day.

On another note, I went to the cafe yesterday and tried their roast chicken salad for the first time. I have been thinking about it ever since! It was just such a delicious plate of greens, topped with juicy roast chicken, maple-glazed bacon, blue cheese and oil-cured olives. I am a little apprehensive with blue cheese, cos some can be overpowering to me, but I loved the ones served on my plate. In fact, I ate my plate so clean, when Bill collected it, he said he has never seen a cleaner plate in his life. Haha!

Fiore Market Cafe
1000 Fremont Avenue
South Pasadena 91030
626 441 2280
http://fioremarketcafe.com/

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Fiore Market Cafe

I have found my favorite cafe in South Pasadena.

Yes, I have.

I have visited it a number of times to confirm my decision, and yes, it is my favorite. Top of the list!

In fact, I love their food so much that I took one of their classes last Sunday and learnt how to make bread. Good old rustic loaf of bread. That's not all. I also got to learn how to make focaccia bread (loves!) and baguette!

Although I've baked bread (with reasonable success) before at home, I could never attain that kind of soft, fluffy, yet chewy texture Fiore Market offers in their sandwiches. I've tried three different recipes with varying success. So, when I saw that Fiore Market had bread making classes, I took a shot at it!

And boy was it fun! I got to meet some really great people at the class, ate some delicious granola, sandwiches, etc and brought home both the recipe (with notes and tips) plus a loaf of bread. The recipe is easy and Bill gives us really clear instructions on what to do, and answers all our questions patiently. Also, one of the things I really like about the class is that you just pay per lesson, so I can choose whichever lesson I want to take (bread, chicken, pizza and the like) without having to commit to a series, so it's really flexible! In fact, I just signed myself up for their lesson on cooking chicken and I can't wait! :D

So here are some snapshots of that day. Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos cos most of the time my hands were either making the dough or digging into the delicious refreshments but I managed to capture a few shots of Bill, the owner, teaching us the steps to attaining that yummy loaf.

Bill removing the foccacia bread from the pan.

The loaves of bread that we would bring home. What is missing is the focaccia, which we gobbled up with some grilled vegetables and cheese. Mmm...!

We were coming to the end of the class and were preparing to take our individual loaves of bread home.

There you have it! Sitting so pretty and nice in my kitchen. It even has a pretty card on it!

So yes, I love the cafe. There is just something really unpretentious and genuine about it. The owners, Bill and his wife Anna, are really friendly. Very often, Bill would step out of the kitchen to say hi to his customers. This gesture may seem small, but it goes a long way to make a customer feel welcomed! :) The cafe is tucked in a corner, with a very cosy interior and a refreshing alfresco dining area where most of the customers would be. The cafe is also surrounded with different types of vegetables in their garden, like arugula, cabbage, etc. Just another thing to amp up the cosy factor! ;)

One of my favorite items in their menu is the tempeh bacon sandwich (it's vegetarian and I never knew tempeh could taste this delicious!), and the other is their cream of chicken soup. They have the Soup of the Day, which changes regularly, so I've only managed to drink that once. But that one time was good enough for me to look forward to having it again each time I pop by. My friend who was with me when we had that said it was the best chicken soup he's ever tasted haha! Their vegetarian salad is also another winner - I love the dressing, and the sugared walnuts makes the salad really special.

Yup, so that ends my rather lengthy post. I do have more things I'd like to add, but I shall stop being so long-winded. Just go experience the delicious food for yourself! :)

Fiore Market Cafe
1000 Fremont Avenue
South Pasadena 91030
626 441 2280
http://fioremarketcafe.com/ Tweet