Don’t just call him a chef, Curtis Aikens is an entertainer.  He discusses the Royal Wedding and the NFL draft on Charlotte Today while he whips up his champagne dijon pasta sauce, yum!  Click here to watch the video (look for the kiss at the end), and click here for the champagne dijon pasta sauce recipe.  Stop by the IKEA in Charlotte tomorrow from 2 – 4 p.m. to see Curtis Aikens give a cooking demonstration and learn culinary tips you can use in your kitchen.

An article in today’s Charlotte Observer reveals the topics Food University Star Instructor Curtis Aikens will cover when he hosts a free cooking demonstration at the IKEA in Charlotte on Saturday.  It’s the second to the last stop on the Food University cooking tour, presented by Family Circle, and you will not want to miss this rare opportunity!  Click here to read the Charlotte Observer article previewing this event.  We hope to see you at the IKEA on 8300 IKEA Boulevard, Charlotte, NC  from 2 – 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 30.

If you’re looking forward to the Royal wedding, then get ready because the King of Food University is coming to the Queen City! The enthusiastic, excitable and unmistakable Star Instructor Curtis Aikens will appear on WNCN’s Charlotte Today on Friday between 11 a.m. and noon to cook his famous champagne dijon pasta sauce. For a taste of his style, watch Marc Silverstein interview him about the first time he cooked for Julia Child. He walks you through the steps to creating fresh pickled melons. Be sure to listen for the witty wedding joke at the end of the clip! The recipe is posted below.

Fresh Pickled Melons

Ingredients:
2 Cups Melons cut into bite size piece (mixture of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew)
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon each fresh dill, tarragon, and mint finely chopped

Directions:
In a large bowl combine wine and vinegar. Add sugar and herbs mix until sugar dissolves. Add melons; turn to coat with herb and vinegar mixture. Chill and serve.

Curtis Aikens joined Mark Mathis for an exciting, live in-studio cooking demonstration.  Aikens cooked up fresh vegetables and offered excellent cooking tips, giving insight on the best way to prepare veggies.  “We’re going to break the mystery out of cooking, teaching people how to cook healthy and have fun in the kitchen,” Aikens said.  Between Aikens being very personable and Mathis being outspoken, the duo combined to produce plenty of laughs in this fast-paced segment.  To view the clip, click here.

Food U star instructor Curtis Aikens appeared on Good Day  Sacramento for a memorable cooking segment. Aikens showed us how to prepare a healthy, yet delicious tortellini pasta topped with a champagne dijon sauce, sauteed veggies and mixed nuts. To watch this hilarious video, click here. Stay tuned as we will be posting the complete  recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, sliced or diced
• 1 red, yellow and green pepper, all sliced
• 1 cup of champagne
• 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in large sauté pan
2. Add onion, sauté 3 to 5 minutes. a
3. Add peppers, cook for 2 to 4 minutes.
4. Add Champagne and Dijon, sauté until sauce began to thicken season and taste.
5. Serve over tortellini pasta, enjoy!

In case you missed it, Food University shot a live broadcast via Facebook and Livestream to announce the dates of our 2011 Spring appearances. To watch the full video, click here.

Star Instructor Marc Silverstein was on hand to share the exciting news along with the upcoming tour dates and featured celebrity chefs. Come join Food U at these select IKEA stores where you’ll enjoy FREE seminars and cooking demonstrations. You don’t want to miss it! Dates are as followed:

Star instructor Curtis Aikens is a hit at Food University events this past weekend in Detroit and Minneapolis. Lucky members of the audience got a close-up look at the quick, easy and healthy recipes Curtis prepared from the Food U menu. In Minneapolis, he presented an easy tomato sauce recipe that can be done in minutes. Curtis wowed the Detroit area crowds at the IKEA store on Saturday. Among the recipes he demonstrated, an easy yet tasty Green Onion Dressing:

INGREDIENTS

1 batch of scallions

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

4 teaspoons Champagne vinegar

1 small garlic clove

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Rinse the scallions, trim the root end, and then roughly chop them. Place all of the ingredients except the oil in a food processor and puree. Then add the Oil in a slow, thin stream with the processor on until it is incorporated. This dressing will go well with most salads but it will especially enliven blander greens like iceberg or Boston lettuce.

Upcoming Live Event Host: Claudine Pepin

Food U’s next stop is Austin, Texas November 6th. Watch the talented Claudine Pepin (shown here with her father and world-renowned chef Jacques Pepin), as she hosts a dazzling cooking showing dedicated to such topics as “Spice It Up with Flavor Enhancers” and “Memorable Entertainment.” For more information, visit our Upcoming Live Events page.

Here’s a question you may not hear often: What’s your favorite onion? Is is White? Sweet? Red?

So Good They Bring Tears to Your Eyes

While picking favorites may be difficult, we all occasionally ponder whether we’re using the right onions when we cook. At our Food University events, we talk a lot about onions–and how they can enhance your recipes. Plus we help you tell them apart!

Onions vary slightly in flavor and color, but (here’s the good news when you’re scratching your head in the produce aisle) they can usually be substituted for one another. When you’re shopping, select the onions that are firm and  heavy in your hand. Avoid soft onions or ones that have a sharp oniony odor. They’re probably old.  Except for sweet onions, all these onions can be stored for several weeks in a cool, dark pantry or cupboard.

Here’s a quick rundown on onions:

Yellow Onions are all-purpose. (Spanish onions are yellow onions, only slightly sweeter and more delicate.)

Sweet Onions : Walla Walla and Vidalia are the most common kinds of sweet onions.

Red Onions are mostly used in salads, salsas, and other raw preparations for their color and relatively mild flavor.

You can learn a lot more about onions by reading this terrific article here and by attending Food University events. To us, onions are a key ingredient, and we make them fun. (How many people can say that?!) Renowned chef and Food University star instructor Curtis Aikens will be talking onions, tomatoes, great recipes and a whole lot more when he hosts Food University events at the IKEA store in the Detroit area today (Saturday, October 23) and at IKEA in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area tomorrow (Sunday, October 24). See you there!

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In advance of this weekend’s Food U shows in the Detroit (Saturday) and Minneapolis (Sunday) areas, here’s a quick, easy and healthy pesto sauce recipe prepared by Food University star instructor Karl Benko.

PESTO SAUCE

INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups packed basil leaves, rinsed
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/2, cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
Process basil, garlic and pine nuts in a work bowl of a food processor until finely chopped.
With a processor running, slowly add oil through top of processor. Process for one
minute until smooth. Remove to non-reactive storage container and stir in Parmesan
cheese and salt. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

You can see this and many more recipes and cooking tips as celebrity chef Curtis Aikens hosts Food University events this weekend. On Saturday, join us from 2-4pm at the IKEA at 41640 Ford Rd in Canton, MI near Detroit. On Sunday from 2pm-4pm, we’re at the IKEA at 8000 IKEA Way, Bloomington, MN, near Minneapolis-St. Paul.

How nervous would you be if you were serving a brand new recipe to one of the world’s most famous chefs? Food University star instructor Curtis Aikens found out when he prepared pickled melons for Julia Child years ago. Pickled melons? As Curtis explains in the Skype interview (below), the dish turned into a big hit!

Curtis says it’s a great time of year to prepare pickled melons. We’ve posted the recipe below. Let us know how it turns out for you. If you’d like to witness Curtis’ cooking passion firsthand, he’s going to be at two big Food University events this weekend. You can catch him Saturday from 2-4pm at the IKEA at 41640 Ford Rd, in Canton, MI, near Detroit. On Sunday, Curtis will be at the IKEA at 8000 IKEA Way, in Bloomington, MN, in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. See you there!

Fresh Pickled Melons

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Melons cut into bite size piece (mixture of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew)
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 / 4 cup white wine
• 1 / 4 cup vinegar
• 1 teaspoon each fresh dill, tarragon, and mint finely chopped

Directions:

In a large bowl combine wine and vinegar. Add sugar and herbs mix until sugar dissolves. Add melons; turn to coat with herb and vinegar mixture. Chill and serve.