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15-Minute Meals

Cooking classes: dinner on the double

Who wouldn't like to whip up dinner in 15 minutes? Nicole Straight's Time to Eat cooking classes, held at the Christopher Peacock showroom in Greenwich, prove that it's not only doable but even easy. I attended a recent midday class that attracted a group of moms from Westport plus a nanny and a mom-to-be from around Fairfield County. While the class concept is geared to parents and family meals, I think most everyone would like to have a few quick, satisfying recipes up their sleeves.

The setting for the classes is luxurious—you get to cook in one of Christopher Peacock's gorgeous kitchens using all state-of-the-art equipment. As you are admiring the sleek stainless ranges and beautiful tile work, Nicole shows you, in a lively and down-to-earth fashion, how to turn out supper in record time.

As a chef and mom of two young girls, Nicole wanted convenient but healthy meals to feed her own family. Her friends liked her 15-minute meals so much that she turned the concept into a business. While Nicole is cooking, none of her ingredients are pre-measured, so she follows all of the steps for each recipe right in front of the class as she explains the different techniques. Along the way, she gives lots of shortcuts and helpful hints. The tip I plan to use immediately is to buy frozen cubes of cilantro, garlic and other herbs at Stew Leonards—definitely a time-saver and I couldn't taste any difference from fresh chopped. 

First we savored some yummy Skirt Steak Fajitas—the steak is cooked in the broiler—followed by an Udon noodle soup with chicken and mushrooms. Next Nicole prepared Egg Noodles with Chicken Sausage and Parmesan, which also contains peas and sundried tomatoes. I've already made this dish for my family at home and it was a hit with both my husband (who's a semi-picky eater) and my 3-year-old daughter (who is often just too distracted to eat). I especially liked the last dish Nicole made for us, Greek shrimp with couscous and tzatziki. She uses frozen shrimp and pre-made tzatziki, which is available at Trader Joe's, for faster preparation. Only an hour had passed by the time Nicole had cooked all four of these dishes and given us a chance to taste them.

If you're interested in taking a class, check out the schedule information on Nicole's site, timetoeat.info. She also offers private cooking classes and parties.

So here's the recipe I'm making for dinner tonight, courtesy of Nicole:

Skirt Steak Fajitas

• 1 skirt steak
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• juice from one lime
• 2 cubes frozen garlic
• 2 cubes frozen cilantro
• pinch of kosher salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 onion
• 1 red pepper
• 1 package flour tortillas

Preheat oven to broil. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Combine olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper. Add half of the mixture to the steak and broil for 5-6 minutes.

While the steak cooks, add butter to a large nonstick pan. Slice onion and pepper into thin strips and add the other half of seasoning. Cook for 3-4 minutes on medium high heat. Remove pan from heat.

Remove skirt steak and slice into thin strips; add to onions and peppers. Warm tortillas in the microwave for 45 seconds and serve.

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