Couples have a date night in the kitchen

Pork chops in mushroom gravy; strawberry and rhubarb chips; and pickled cole slaw.

You aren't reading a menu from a fine restaurant that could be located anywhere in the National Capital Region. That's what was on the menu April 29 as Army Community Service hosted Date Night in the Kitchen at Memorial Chapel on the Fort Myer portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.

Chef Matt Finarelli helped six couples prepare the meal while they reconnected in the kitchen after a busy week of work and taking care of the kids.

"We had more couples on the waiting list who were begging to come," said Suzanne McGlothin, community educator for ACS on the joint base.

Finarelli said he chose the recipes because they are relatively easy for couples to prepare while they spend time in the kitchen together.

"The vast majority of my classes are done for couples," he said. "Cooking should never been seen as a chore. It is meant to be enjoyable."

Finarelli added the number one thing couples can do to gain confidence in the kitchen is to hone their knife handling and vegetable and meat cutting skills.

"As you get those skills and the knife is doing what you want and you're getting the cuts you want, confidence seems to build and everything grows from there," he said.

Finarelli began the class by giving participants a cutting tutorial. Asking the participants to hold the knife as if they were shaking hands, Finarelli had them position their index fingers near the top and side of the knife. He then demonstrated a rolling cut by keeping the knife tip on a cutting board while he moved the knife forward and down at the same time.

"Once you get good with your knife, cutting goes faster and prep goes faster," he said. "Dominoes start falling, you go out of your comfort zone and try more difficult recipes."

Destanie and Army Spc. Samuel Ruiz were among the couples who took the class.

"I am queen of the kitchen," Destanie said with a laugh. "But, he does cook breakfast on the weekends."

Pentagram Staff Writer Julia LeDoux can be reached at jledoux@dcmilitary.com.