Bistro cooking is currently the rage. In France, where bistro cuisine has its origins, bistros are the place to go for quick, casual meals. Turn your kitchen into a French bistro with simple, budget-friendly meals that don't require costly ingredients or lots of time, and eat well at the same time. We'll learn cooking techniques, and how to prepare a complete bistro meal including Blinis with Smoked Salmon, French Onion Soup, Warm Goat Cheese Salad, Croque Monsieur, Steak au Poivre, and Chocolate Marquise for dessert. [2-week class, continues on 2/14.]
Public classes
In addition to offering private lessons in your home, I teach public classes in three locations: at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, at Brookline Adult & Community Education, and now also at Dover Sherborn Community Education. Below is a listing of all my upcoming classes, ordered by date.
Croissants and Crepes
Croissants are one of the most popular breakfast pastries in the world. This flaky delicacy consists of layer upon layer of yeast-leavened bread and butter that is served either plain or filled. We will make both sweet and savory croissants, plain as well as filled (frangipane, chocolate, and ham and cheese). While our croissants are proofing, we'll sharpen our crepe-making skills, also with savory and dessert fillings.
Cambridge
Saturday, 2/11/12, 11:00am
Croissants and Crepes
The task of creating traditional French masterpieces needn't be daunting. Learn how to make an assortment of exquisite sweet and savory croissants and crepes that you'll be proud to say you made on your own. We'll learn tips and techniques as we have fun learning to prepare an assortment of delicacies, including Ham and Swiss Croissants, Spinach Beggars' Purses, Chocolate Croissants, Chicken and Asparagus Crepes and Chocolate-Banana Crepes.
Brookline
Saturday, 2/18/12, 10:00am
Irish Quick Breads
Get ready for your St. Patrick's Day celebration by learning to make some of Ireland's most traditional pastries. Our focus will be to make certain you know the basics of both homemade versions, as well as some tricks that elevate these breads and cakes to pastry shop quality. Recipes will include Irish Soda Bread and its dressed up cousin "Spotted Dog," Butter Tea Cake, Shortbread, Scones, and the mysterious and legend-laden Barmback.
Dover-Sherborn
Tuesday, 2/28/12, 6:00pm
The Art of the Tart
Very simply, a tart is a pastry crust with shallow sides, a filling, and no top crust. Gather up all of your favorite fruits like berries, kiwi, pineapple, melon, peaches, plums, nectarines, and mango and learn how easy it is to make classic fruit tarts. We will learn techniques for preparing pate sucre (sweet pastry crust) and creme patissiere (pastry cream), and we'll make and enjoy Tart aux Pommes, tangy Lemon Tarts, and Apricot Tarts. In our second session, we'll make a few savory tarts as well such as Alsatian Tarts and Ham and Cheese Tarts. Give your baking a new flair with the art of the tart. [2-week class, continues on 3/10.]
Brookline
Saturday, 3/3/12, 10:00am
Cooking without Recipes
Do you want to break away from your dependence on recipes, cut preparation time, and be a more adventurous and creative cook? Let a professional teach you the tricks of the trade and fundamentals of fine cooking. You'll learn which staples to keep in your cabinets, the best cookware and equipment to purchase, proper cutting and chopping techniques, and how to use master recipes to create a variety of dishes, desserts, sauces, and summer vinaigrettes. You'll prepare specialties such as Olive and Caramelized Onion Pizza, Cubano Sandwiches, Parmesan Chicken with Tomato-Basil Salad, and more. We'll enjoy desserts such as Pound Cake with fresh berries, and Chocolate Tartlets. This class is for students who have basic cooking skills. [3-week class, continues on 3/13 and 3/20.]
Brookline
Tuesday, 3/6/12, 6:00pm
Pizza around the World
While the term "pizza" is literally the Italian word for "pie," nearly all cultures have some dish consisting of a baked or grilled flatbread topped with or wrapped around an assortment of sauces, meat, vegetables, and spices. We'll make pizza Margherita and Italian-style pizzas, both vegetarian- and carnivore-pleasing pies, Alsatian tarts with puff pastry, the French flamiche, Oasis naan, Mexican quesadillas, and Asian scallion pancakes. We will cover how to make homemade dough and utilize commercially available ingredients, as well as examine how the different cultures have come to define their traditional toppings.
Cambridge
Saturday, 3/17/12, 11:00am
Croissants
Among many fond memories of living in Manhattan were my forays to the local French Patisserie for fresh Croissants. Croissants were available all year 'round, with the exception of 2 weeks in August, when the Croissant Chef was on vacation. The Bakery would rather do without, than allow a lesser talent handle these delicacies. While perfecting the process requires an internship, as opposed to a one-day lesson, we will cover the basics by making both savory as well as sweet homemade croissants. Included will be Plain, Ham and Cheese, and, of course, Chocolate Croissants. We will utilize their "proofing" time by brushing up on our crepe-making skills.
Dover-Sherborn
Tuesday, 3/27/12, 6:00pm
