Sunday June 30 Chinese Soul Food with Hsiao-Ching Chou

Hsiao-Ching Chou is a remarkable cook and an excellent writer. For years she was the food editor for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. And she was also my literary agent, assisting me in getting the contract for my first book. Since that time she has written two best-selling cookbooks: Chinese Soul Food and Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food and has a third book: Feasts of Good Fortune to be released at the end of this year.

I am thrilled that she is coming to the farm this summer to teach the most loved recipes from her first two books. Hsiao-Ching will be teaching us how to make her pork and Chinese cabbage pot stickers together with dumpling dipping sauce. Also on the menu will be scallion pancakes, beef with broccoli and dry-fried green beans.

You will also learn how to make Ma Po Tofu, the classic and much loved Sichuan dish of tofu with Sichuan peppercorns, chili oil and fermented black bean paste. Hsiao-Ching will finish the class with a sweet corn soup.

In addition to being a writer for many years, Hsiao-Ching has spent years cooking both with her mother and now with her children on a daily basis. She brings the perspective of a home cook to her books and to her class, a different one than that of a restaurant cook. It is a perspective that we can all learn from.