It's All About Me
Cooking with Micheleâ„¢ owner and chef Michele Morris has been cooking since the age of five when her early cooking forays included sugar and butter sandwiches and small undercooked cakes in an Easy Bake Ovenâ„¢. She quickly graduated to French toast, fried chicken, and salad preparation for her family, and at the age of fifteen surprised her mother with an elaborate Chinese dinner cooked entirely from scratch.
After putting her passion for cooking on the back burner for twenty years while working and raising a family, Michele began aggressively pursuing culinary education to supplement her years of learning by trial and error in her own kitchen. Her culinary and wine training includes:
Cook Street School of Fine Cooking - Denver, CO
Le Cordon Bleu - Paris, France
Cooking in an Undiscovered Hill Town - Casperia, Italy
Ecole Ritz Escoffier - Paris, France
The School of Gourmet Cooking and Catering - Atlanta, GA
Cookin' Cajun Cooking School - New Orleans, LA
Hofmann Escuale de Hosteleria - Barcelona, Spain
Oaxacan Cooking with Carmen - Playa del Carmen, Mexico
International Wine Guild - Certified Chef of Wine Arts, Executive Sommelier
The Awaiting Table Cookery School - Lecce, Italy
Michele launched Cooking with Micheleâ„¢ in 2006 and delights in sharing her passion for food, wine, and cooking with her students. She provides both private and group cooking classes for kids and adults and leads cooking dinner parties with wine pairings.
Me and My Love of Wine
I could never pick a single one! I love anything bubbly (Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, sparkling wines from CA) because they are festive and pair well with most foods. But I also love many different wines from around the world - Malbecs from Argentina, Tempranillos from Spain, Primitivos and Brunellos from Italy, Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand, both red and white Burgundy from France, etc. It all depends on my mood and what I'm eating!
Italy, I think because it's just in my blood - my distant relatives were from the Lake Como region.
Any time I was treated specially by the producer - a wine dinner in the cellars of Silver Oak, a private barrel tasting with a small producer in Argentina, learning about French wines from a passionate guru in France, a Champagne lunch with friends in Reims, sipping a family's Sangiovese wines in their home for a homecooked lunch in Tuscany.
Champagne - the very best I can find!
I am primarily a cooking instructor and food writer, but I do alot of wine pairings with my events.
Interested in Contacting Me?
Check out my website or my blog at cookingwithmichele.blogspot.com, or email me at michele@cookingwithmichele.com, or check out my profile on LinkedIn.
Michele's Latest Posts
For the past three years I’ve been talking about “my farm” in my blog posts, raving about the bounty from “my farm”, and giving you recipes that are based on the produce I receive from “my farm”. I think you know that I don’t actually own it, but I do own a share of it [...]
Pickled Pink Onions
Yields a little more than a pint, or about 6 servings
1 large red onion, sliced into thin half moons or rings
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 star anise
Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive stainless steel pot. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 [...]
Roll out puff pastry just ever so slightly, then spread with with basil pestoand sprinkle with some shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.Next sprinkle on some sun dried tomatoes. Make sure that tomatoes are very soft and pliable. If they are hard and dry like the ones I had left from drying out two summers ago, then soak [...]
Chicken Chili with White Beans
Serves 6
Adapted from Operation Frontline
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, diced
1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes (with juice)
2 15-1/2 ounce cans of Great Northern beans (or cannelini beans)
2 14 ounce cans of chicken stock
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground [...]
Easy White Bean Salad
Serves 2-4
1 can cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
1 small red pepper, diced small
2-3 green onions, sliced thinly
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients and let stand for a few minutes for flavors to develop before serving.
Stumble this Post |
Share on Facebook |
Add to [...]
Quick Fish Stew
Serves 4
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups diced tomatoes (1 small can)
1 bottle clam juice
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup Pernod (anise flavored liqueur)
1 pinch saffron threads, crushed
1 pound fish fillet, white and firm
salt and pepper
1 cup jasmine rice, cooked with a pinch of saffron
Heat oil [...]
Fesenjan (Chicken with Pomegranate-Walnut Sauce)
Serves 4-6
2 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup pomegranate syrup (or reduce 2 cups juice to achieve 1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cups chicken stock
1 whole chicken, cut into parts, bones in, skin removed
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
Place walnuts in food processor and process until very [...]
Beet Chips
Serves 8
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
8 medium beets, peeled, root intact
Heat sugar and water in a medium sauce pan over medium heat just until sugar melts, then turn off. While water is heating, slice beets very thin using a mandoline or v-slicer. Add beet slices to the simple syrup and let stand for 15 [...]
Zucchini Cookies
Makes about 2-3 dozen
1 cup Splenda
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light butter
2 large eggs
1-2 cups shredded zucchini*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup diced dried plums (prunes)
1/2 cup whole oats
Combine butter, Splenda and sugar just until smooth, beat in [...]
As I was reading some of my favorite food blogs this morning (I promise a Best of The Food Webroundup some time this week), I noticed several bloggers and their readers complaining about “the muffin top”, “love handles”, and other hazards or enjoying food too much. Sometimes I think it’s just a hazard of our [...]
Roasted Tenderloin of Beef
Serves 8
2 pounds tenderloin, beef, whole, trimmed and tied
4 cups red wine
1/2 cup cognac
1/2 cup soy sauce
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
salt and pepper or a dry rub, for seasoning roast
The day before, combine red wine, garlic, ginger and peppercorns in a large stockpot with a [...]
Chances are that you’re spending today wondering if you have everything figured out for your holiday meals. I know some go big on Christmas Eve, often doing something special like an Italian Feast of Seven Fishes. Others prefer to offer up a stunning brunch on Christmas morning. At our house we have a low key lasagna dinner [...]
Chocolate Biscotti
Yields about 24 cookies
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, extra dark
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Combine oil, sugar, vanilla and eggs with a mixer on low. Sift together flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder and add to [...]
Start by opening up the fish. A cleaned rainbow trout has no skeleton running down the center, so you really are just working with two lovely filets. Season it liberally with salt and pepper, then tuck in some parsley and a few lemon slices and fold it back over. Wrap the whole fish in foil [...]
Steakhouse-Style Garlic Croutons
Serves 16
1 loaf crusty Italian bread, cut into cubes
Extra virgin olive oil
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Spread the cubed bread out on a foil lined backing sheet. Very liberally drizzle oil over the bread and toss with your hands to make all bread is coated in oil, adding more if needed. Sprinkle with garlic powder, [...]
Toasted Rice with Onions and Cranberries
Serves 2
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced fine
1/2 cup long grain or jasmine
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper, to taste
Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium high heat and add onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, then add rice, stir [...]
Many of you know that I am very actively involved with Operation Frontline, the part of Share Our Strength that delivers nutrition and cooking instruction to families on limited budgets, helping them to eat healthy despite their financial challenges. We make recipes like these Vegetable Quesadillas, Barley Jambalaya, and a healthier version of a breakfast [...]
Smashed potatoes – that’s what I like to call potatoes you roughly mash up using a hand held potato masher, like the photos in this post. You are left with some lumps of pure potato mixed together with some creamier parts. You can leave the skin on or remove it as you prefer.
Mashed potatoes – [...]
Pork Meatloaf
Serves 8
2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
1/3 cup diced pancetta
1 large carrot, shredded
1 large leek, shredded (or onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds ground pork (or half pork and half beef or turkey)
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Rehydrate porcini mushrooms [...]
Last updated 12 months ago