Have you ever wanted to learn to cook something outside of your normal rotation of meals? We’re not hating on meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs or tater tot hotdish but sometimes switching up what’s for dinner can make bringing everyone to the table for a meal a little more exciting — especially if you get everyone involved!
At Cooks of Crocus Hill, on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, you can take a cooking class to learn how to cook unique dishes that will most likely bring a new dish to your dinner rotation that will stick around for years. Cooking classes range from hands-on stuffed pasta to chocolate truffles to Winter in Paris… and a plenty of other classes in-between. The Grand Avenue location of Cooks of Crocus Hill is located about 6 miles south of Roseville and is a unique attraction for visitors and locals who are looking to try something a little outside of their norm.
As a staff, we chose the class, Beyond the Gyro, and learned how to cook (and then eat) Greek food! The menu consisted of hummus, marinated calamari salad, tzatziki, shrimp with feta cheese, pita bread, dolmades, tabbouleh, spanakopita, and baklava (pictured all below). We first grabbed a wine (free beverage came with the class) and enjoyed freshly made hummus and pita bread as we listened to instructions.
The menu for the night was large so we all split into groups depending on what we were interested in learning how to make. Half of us (we’re a staff of four) made the spanakopita and the other half learned how to make tabbouleh. It was fun to work and mingle with others outside of our group and to walk around the kitchen to see how other dishes were being made outside of what we were making.
When all of the dishes were complete we sat down for a buffet style meal to try ALL of the dishes.
Full spread of homemade dishes
Shrimp with Feta Cheese
Tabbouleh (left) and Tzatziki (right)
Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves)
Marinated Calamari Salad
Spanakopita (phyllo filled with feta cheese and spinach mixture… oh, and A LOT of butter)
Baklava (phyllo filled with nuts and spices mixture — dessert) and fresh brewed Coffee
We would highly recommend taking a class with a group or even on your own. They also offer their kitchen for private events such as team building, birthdays, bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners and more. You can choose from a list of classes at any Twin Cities metro Cooks of Crocus Hill location. We want to thank the Cooks of Crocus Hill on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul for hosting us for a fun night of cooking and memories. We will be perusing their class list for a class in the future!