Cooking with Class

Learn the foundations of good baking techniques in a professional baking kitchen. Day one covers cookies and bars. Day two finds you baking sweet and savory breads. Day three covers pies. Pâte à choux, including éclairs and cream puffs, complete day four. 

In our professional kitchen, learn about knife skills, sanitation, mise en place, and the foundation of good cooking techniques: pan-frying and sautéing, roasting and baking, stewing and braising, and grilling.  Each day there is a complete menu, featuring a soup, protein, sauce, vegetable and starch.

We will wok up some great dishes from different areas of Asia as the frangrances of lemon grass, cilantro and ginger waft through the kitchen. Fire up the stove and learn how to make pot stickers, chicken and coconut soup, lemongrass fish, and pad Thai. 

As we travel to Paris, sit back and enjoy what the City of Light has to offer in the way of traditional bistro fare. Steak au poivre  with pomme frites, onion tart lyonnaise, salade verte with dijon vinaigrette, and a fresh fruit tart are on the menu.

As the leaves fall to the ground and the air turns crisp, fall fruits make great desserts. Come learn how to prepare apple and pear gratin with cognac and mascarpone, apple galette, pear and dried cherry crisp with coconut-almond topping, and roasted fall fruits with caramel sauce. The kitchen will smell divine!

Discover the world of flat breads with Artisan Master Baker Frank DiNardo by making lavash, Charleston flat bread, whole wheat pita, Sichuan pepper bread and Sardinian parchment bread. To accompany them, you’ll whip up an assortment of tasty spreads, including hummus and fresh mint, green pepper relish and hot peanut chutney.

Plan now to attend Pastry Chef Bernd Gronert’s gingerbread house courses – they always sell out. Bring an elementary-school-age child and create your own personal centerpiece from the walls up, decorate it and take it home for the holidays. Registration fee includes one adult and one child.

It’s true that nothing says lovin’ like something from the oven – but homemade says it best!  Frank DiNardo steps into our bakeshop to share some of his favorites: lavash, a soft bread that you may serve with dips or use for wraps; parmesan-rosemary crackers, excellent with wine and cheese or used for a spread; and mini panettone, the classic Italian sweet bread used for breakfast or dessert.

Simple peasant cuisine from the sunny countryside of Italy takes center stage as you learn to make gnocchi piedmontese, beef and chianti stew, creamy polenta with wild mushroom ragu, and seafood risotto.

Considered one of the healthiest cusines because of its use of vegetables, herbs and olive oils, Mediterranean food is flavorful and bold. Discover that it is also absolutely delicious with bruschetta, fennel and orange salad, bouillabaisse and panna cotta.

Through the magic of natural leaveners you learn how to work with puff pastry and choux paste (éclair-cream puff dough). In this class we make a cheese gougere,  appetizer bouchees  with different fillings, chocolate and whipped cream-filled éclairs, and napoleons. Learn how to master doughs that puff.

Tapas, those little dishes from Spain, have gone beyond being just a trend; they are here to stay. Learn about their history, and then enjoy both cold and hot dishes such as thyme-scented olives, shrimp in garlic sauce, marinated pork canapes, and patatas bravas. We also make the perfect accompaniment: homemade sangria. Bring your appetites.

Culinary Publications

You can make money by publishing a cookbook. Learn how to write a cookbook proposal, develop a recipe and write it for publication, and run a test kitchen. Look at publishing house and self-publishing options. With 20 years of experience in print journalism, instructor Marion Sullivan is the "Books for Cooks" columnist for The Post and Courier and food editor for Charleston Magazine and Charleston HOME. She is co-author of Nathalie Dupree’s Shrimp and Grits Cookbook, project consultant on Magnolia's Uptown/Down South Southern Cuisine, Entertaining at the College of Charleston and Louis Osteen’s Charleston Cuisine, and the source of recipe development for numerous Nathalie Dupree projects.