Let Petits Chefs in the Asian kitchen with Chef Vanessa Yeung

Les Petits Chefs are lucky guys. First, that so many Toronto chefs and foodies are willing to donate their time (and often ingredients) to come and work with them in our science lab, but also that so many of them want to come back and work with them again and again. Case in point – Chef Vanessa Yeung (owner/ partner of Aphrodite Cooks) – she’s made dumplings, more dumplings, and yes, more dumplings with the guys on her previous visits – she’s the dumpling queen!  So this visit she wanted to try something different, something to rival the dumplings in terms of keeping little hands busy.  She chose cold rolls and BBQ pork and chicken crisps – ambitious, for sure with just an hour to work in!

The boys got to work right away, chopping the ingredients for the cold rolls. I’m always super impressed with their knife skills!

They worked with some hard-to-cut ingredients this week including mangoes and avocados. They did a great job.

And check out the even slivers of cucumber and peppers below… And the neat pile of well shredded lettuce and mint and coriander carefully separated from the stalks.

Now the fun part – filling the rice papers.  I was actually on the other side of the lab working with “Team BBQ Crisps” so by the time I ventured over to “Team Cold Rolls” it was a frenzy of activity. And, err, some “interesting” looking rolls.

(It’s not what they look like, it’s what they taste like, right? 😉 )

Over on Team BBQ Crisps, the boys got to work dicing the meat – BBQ pork and chicken from Fiesta Farms.

Then they got to work filling little squares of puff pastry, egg washing them and sprinkling with sesame seeds… Again – nice job guys!

I’ll definitely be making these again myself – so easy but so impressive – I mean can’t you see these at some fancy cocktail party?

Thanks again Chef Vanessa for taking the time to come and work with the boys – they love your classes (and so do their parents!).

If you live in Toronto, you should definitely check out Vanessa’s cooking class schedule at the studio. And hey, you might just recognise the instructor of the macaron class there … 😉

Other goodies on the go right now…

 

* Want to win a trip for two to Montreal to dine with ME during restaurant week in November? It’s easy – enter the Dine with a Blogger contest here! (US/Canadians only, sorry international friends!)

 

 

** Canadian residents: Did you enter my Optifog glasses giveaway – if you have problems with foggy glasses when you are cooking, this is the giveaway for you! Details here.

*** Check out my Sobeys’ Better Food Blog “brunch smackdown” entry. If you like my mini croissant bread puddings (sweet and savoury versions), and you’re in Canada, you have the chance to win gift cards from Sobeys AND help me donate gift cards to Out of the Cold this coming holiday season.