Cooking Class: Yes We Can Can!

Last week I ran a canning workshop at the gorgeous Jewett Farms Studio in Newburyport, MA. We had a great group of students join us for this class. We made: Blueberry-Lemon Jam, Plum Chutney, Quick Pickles and Personalized Dills.

First off, everyone was put to work chopping up plums for the chutney. I demonstrated a basic technique for cutting up onions and a quick way to cut clingstone stone fruit from its pit. After the chutney simmered down to a thick consistency (about 90 minutes), it was ladled into pint jars and processed in a boiling water bath.

Next, we started the blueberry jam. This jam has whole lemon slices in it and they provide a nice bitter/sour note to the jam. I used my enormous skillet (18"!) and was able to fit four pounds of berries into its wide embrace. The berries and lemons bubbled away and when the hot mixture reached set (220 degrees Fahrenheit) we pulled the jam from the heat and ladled it into 4 oz. jars. Jams don't have to be hot water processed, but for safety's sake and to ensure a seal, we processed our jam for 10 minutes.

While everything simmered away, the class turned its attention to our last two pickles. I demonstrated a quick julienne technique (a way to cut thin strips of vegetables) and put everyone to work julienning a mountain of carrots and two ginormous daikon radishes. These vegetables were salted and left to sit to exude some liquid.

Finally everyone dressed their pickles to their taste (with Japanese chilies and Korean thin pepper strings) they were dressed with a rice wine vinegar/sugar brine and left to pickle at room temp. These pickles need to be eaten within a week or so.

Finally the dills: The class cut up enough cucumbers to fill their jars - some went for spears, others for chips. Everyone seasoned their pickle jar to taste with garlic, dill, mustard seed and chilies. After topping with brine, the cukes went in for processing.

At the end of the day, everyone went home with 2 4oz. containers of jam, a pint of chutney, a pint of dills and a pint of quick Asian-style pickles. I'd say that's a pretty good haul for three hours of class time!

I was honored to have two of my fellow Food52istas join me in class. Thanks Midge and Sagegreen for visiting!

See the full set of photos from class starting here.

Cooking Class: Indian Dishes at Home

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of leading a class in Indian Cooking at home. This is one of many classes I've been teaching at Jewett Farms Studio's gorgeous Newburyport location.

The class enjoyed some whole wheat samosas, stuffed with spiced potatoes, while I demonstrated the rest of the menu:

Whole-Wheat Samosas

Vegetables with Cilantro Chutney

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Chicken Tikka Masala

Shrimp with Whole Spices

Smoked Eggplant (Eggplant Bharta)

Spinach with Fresh Cheese (Sag Paneer)

Moong Dal

Basmati Rice

Chutneys & Relishes

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Fresh Fruit

Chicken tikka masala and Shrimp with spices: ready for dinner

Some of the spices we used at dinner (rear plate) and a selection of dals (lentils and beans)

We had a huge group of students (fifteen!) and everyone seemed to have a great time. Check my website for future classes: we have a canning workshop scheduled for the 7th and a Farmer's Market dinner for the 13th.

Pouring "tarka", hot spiced oil, over the dal

At the dinner table

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Class, November Edition

We held our second Cooking With Julia class at Jewett Farms Studio this past Friday. To see what happened at our first class, check this post here. The menu for Friday was centered around Carbonnades a la Flamande: a braise of beef and onions with beer. We started with mussels topped with an escargot-style butter, enjoyed super-creamy mashed potatoes with the stew and had a gorgeous salad alongside. Dessert was a light souffleed lemon tart.

The class had a few returning faces from the first class and a number of new folks joined us as well. It was a great night, made that much more delicious with local meat and produce from Tendercrop Farm (check out those gorgeous lettuces!) and wines selected by our friends at New England Wine and Spirits.

Elena, from Jewett Farms, and I were too busy this time to take many pictures so unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the finished mussel dish or the dessert, but they were delicious.

Here's a group of folks putting dollops of escargot butter on the mussels. The mussels were steamed first, then laid back into their shells before getting gratineed with the escargot butter. One nice feature of this dish is that it's composed of multiple make-ahead parts. You can make the butter days ahead (even weeks ahead if you freeze it!), steam the mussels the day of your party, top them with the butter and then keep them in the fridge until it's time to broil them. We made them in large communal dishes, but you could use small individual gratin dishes and they'd make a really nice presentation at a dinner party.

Greg and Christian both gave their all when it came to separating the eggs we needed for the tart. Michelle showed off her great folding technique on the tart base. The fun thing about this lemon tart is that the filling is actually a lemon souffle. You get a nice lemony hit but without all the richness of a traditional lemon curd-based tart. When the tart came out of the oven it had a perfect (alas, unphotographed) domed top. It sank a little while we ate our dinner, but was still wonderfully creamy and light when we finally got down to the business of eating it!

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Class

One of the things I've done a lot of this fall is teaching cooking classes. One series of classes is based on Julia Child's classic cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The classes are held in conjunction with the lovely folks at Jewett Farms Studio in downtown Newburyport, MA. Their cabinetry showroom has a gorgeous demonstration kitchen, complete with a massive Viking range. So on October 18, twelve of us gathered for the first class, titled "Family Dinner". The menu - with all recipes taken from the cookbook:

Potage Parmentier / Potato-Leek Soup

Poulet Roti / Roast Chicken

Gratin Savoyard / Potato Gratin

Asperges Hollandaise / Asparagus with Hollandaise

Gateau de Crepes a la Normande / Flambeed Crepe "Cake" with Apples

I had decided earlier that these classes would be "hands-on" optional. The idea is that we'd all gather to prepare the meal and eat together and people could help if they wished. This was a nice compromise: folks could sit and chat sip wine, ask about recipes, or dive in or get their hand a little dirty with prep work.

As a group, we trussed chickens (check out Christian showing off his mad trussing skills), flipped crepes (go Annjea!), and assembled the cake. Egged on by my enthusiastic cheering section, I demoed whisking up a batch of hollandaise and flambeed the gateau. A full photo set from the night is here. We dined as a group and everyone was sent home with recipes, wine notes and a full belly.

We had a great night and a great meal. I am really looking forward to our next class on November 20 (Carbonnade, an oniony beef stew, is on the menu). It's already sold out, but there are still spaces available for our

December class (Roast duck, pear tart, remoulade) on December 11. Click here for a PDF flyer with the full menu and registration details.

Bon appetit!

A Message from Your Sponsor

Well, from me actually. I am teaching several cooking classes over the next few months. There's a class for you if you are interested in picking up some new skills, learning a new recipe or two, or just want to get out of the house and have something delicious to eat!

The Newburyport classes are held at Newburyport High School. The Middlesex Community College courses are held at the Middlesex Meetinghouse in Billerica (not at Shawsheen Tech as the Middlesex web site says). For more information on the courses or to register, click through on these links:

February 24: Quick Cooking from the Pantry, Newburyport Adult Education

March 17: Pestos, Salsa and Other Sauces, Newburyport Adult Education

March 18: Quick Cooking from the Pantry, Middlesex Community College

April 8: Pestos, Salsa and Other Sauces, Middlesex Community College

May 13 and May 20 (two session class): Kitchen Survival Skills, Middlesex Community College