Cooking Class for a Cause

Mid-summer revelers at a recent fundraising dinner in Point Dume were treated not only to a nice, warm evening out, but also delicious Euro-Asian fusion food prepared and narrated by local chef Christel Shaw.

Food … uh … narrated? Yes!

The dinner, the second in a series of five, was created as a cooking class fundraiser for Mending Kids International, which provides life-saving, corrective, transformational surgical care to children around the world. MKI has provided surgeries to hundreds of children from all over the globe—some 500 from 39 countries—in the last five years alone. MKI has a very active Malibu Guild, covering Calabasas, Agoura Hills, etc., and some 30 people came out to support the cause that night. Robyn Moore and Leslie Frost co-chair the Malibu Guild.

So Shaw, aided that evening by her sons Parker (also a chef) and Taylor (acting as Parker's assistant), prepared a feast, from dangerously delicious cocktails to decadent desserts.

Guests were greeted at the home of Paula Steiger and Steve Bunce, and offered a Cocotini Cocktail—a creamy, tangy coconut milk-lime-vodka concoction that set the mood for the balmy evening. A scallop amuse bouche followed, to whet the appetite for courses to come. Shaw served it in a tall champagne flute with chopsticks—an arresting presentation.

As guests found their way to dinner under strings of glittering lights, they were greeted at the tables with wonton chips and an absolutely delicious Asian "Everything" Sauce for dipping. Fragrant with cilantro, mint, peppers, ginger and garlic, this sauce could be used as a marinade, dressing, finishing sauce or dip by an imaginative home cook.

And since this was a class, a packet of recipes awaited each guest. Shaw punctuated the evening with comments about each course or dish, giving advice on how it might be served or used at home.

All of her recipes for the evening are easily do-able by home cooks, and are especially fitting for the Malibu outdoorsy lifestyle.

The next course was a lovely piece of grilled mahi mahi, topped with a fresh, summery Mango Salsa (recipe below), and a drizzle of tangy White Sauce (recipe below). As Parker and Taylor expertly plated the fish, spooned on the vibrant salsa and squirted each plate artfully with the white sauce, Shaw explained that this sauce is commonly used with fish tacos.    

Next came smoky, sweet baby back ribs glazed in a hoisin sauce, atop a bed of a crunchy Hawaiianesque slaw. Guests were licking their fingers over that one!

Dessert ended up being a flop, Shaw admitted with a laugh. As she explained, it was planned as Haupia, an intensely coconutty gel, but it refused to cooperate that day and remained soupy instead of setting up. Annoyed but unfazed, Shaw decided to vamp a re-imagined dessert as a shortbread cookie topped with coconut "sauce," adorned with impromptu grilled and skewered summer fruits. What was a failure to her was a wild success to the partygoers, who were practically lapping the dish clean.

Food for the fundraiser was donated by Southland Publishing (owned by Shaw's husband Michael Flannery), and several cases of wine were donated by Colcanyon Estate Wines (red) and Hoyt Family Vineyards (white). The wine was abundant enough that several bottles were auctioned after dessert, with the lively bidding driving the price up to several hundred dollars a bottle. Each class will showcase wines from a different Malibu winery to highlight the vibrant local wine scene.

The series of classes, called Tour des Cuisines et Tour des Maisons, was brainstormed by the MKI Malibu Guild, with leadership by Cyndi Katz, an event planner who partners with Pamela Spiegel at their company Malibu Event Planning and Design. Her team set about getting every single item donated, from the aprons and table linens at each venue, to the food, wine, serveware and other essentials. 

Their goal is for each class to fully fund at least one surgery. Most of the surgeries performed are for congenital heart defects, orthopedic abnormalities, severe scoliosis and significant cranial facial deformities. MKI funds and staffs surgical missions around the world, pays for some individual international surgeries, and on occasion brings children to the U.S. for surgical treatment here.

Do you want to eat well and do your part for the MKI cause? There are three more cooking classes coming up:

• Aug. 6 at Shaw's Encinal Bluffs house— a wood-fired oven cuisine class featuring wines from Montage Vineyards
• Sept. 10, featuring ranch-style country cooking
• Oct. 22, with a Rustic Tuscan theme

Tickets are $100-$150 per class, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to fund surgeries for MKI children. To reserve a ticket, call Dawn or Judy at MKI's Burbank office at 818-843-6363.

In the meantime, try your hand at grilling some mahi mahi. Here are chef Shaw’s recipes for mango salsa and white sauce, for atop your grilled fish.

MANGO SALSA

A fresh, summery salsa that goes well atop your favorite meat, grilled fish or chicken, or as a dip for chips and veggies. 

1 large ripe mango, peeled and cubed
1 large ripe tomato, cubed
1/2 large white onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Serrano pepper, seeded and minced
Juice of 1 large lemon or 2 large limes
1/4 cup pineapple juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients except salt and pepper into a bowl and mix well.

Allow flavors to marinate in the fridge for about 1-2 hours before serving.

Remove from fridge and add salt and pepper as needed.

Serves 4

WHITE SAUCE FOR SEAFOOD

A tangy white sauce that accents grilled fish or fish tacos, and is also delicious on cole slaw as a dressing.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a whisk.

Pour into a squeeze bottle and use to adorn fish or fish tacos.

Serves 8