Surfas Test Kitchen – Spring 2012


 

FALL 2012  class announcement coming soon!

CLASSES AT SURFAS    

Join me in the Surfas professional Test Kitchen in Spring 2012. These hands-on classes are two hours long with a sit down lunch provided following class. They are the perfect length of time so you can learn something, yet not involve an entire day or night commitment. Class size is limited to allow me to give you the personal attention you deserve. While the meat and baking menu selections will not change, I reserve the right to change the seasonal ingredients if I see things in the market that look better and will be more relevant to our class.

Classes may be purchased individually or by a series. Classes are $100* each or $475 for the kitchen basic series and $400 for the French focus series. If you need to cancel your reservation,  you may switch it for another class if there is room available. However, due to the preparation and purchase of perishable ingredients, reservations cancelled 48 hours or less prior to class are not refundable.

Lastly, because j’ai le coeur d’artichaut (I am sentimental) and Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday, we are having a special Valentine’s Day class with nothing but chocolate and wine ! See the details below. 

The Surfas Test Kitchen is located at 8777 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232, on the corner of Washington and National. Students receive a discount on supplies and products purchased after class.

 

The Spring series included these classes below.

KITCHEN BASICS SERIES 

In this series of five classes you will learn a range of basic techniques from soups and sauces to using both dry and moist cooking techniques. You will practice these techniques with meats and produce as well as sweet and savory dishes. This survey series will enable you to effortlessly put together a meal with seasonal, market-fresh ingredients. Sign up for the series by clicking on the reserve button below.  Alternatively, you can sign up for individual classes by clicking on the “reserve” button below the class description.

Two of the individual classes are  full for this series. Please feel free to sign up for classes individually. 
Tuesday January 10, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm 
class one: KNIFE SKILLS, SAUTÉING, BLANCHING, ROASTING 
Bring your knives from home and learn how to use them (if you do not have knives that you want to master, knives can be provided). After you learn basic knife skills you will put them to work by learning the techniques of sautéing, roasting and blanching. Items we will prepare include: sautéed scallops meunière with roasted cherry tomatoes on a bed of sautéed winter greens as well as  honey and herb crusted roasted tenderloin with melange of winter white vegetables.

The first class in the series is full.

Be sure to sign up for your reservation in other classes quickly.

 Tuesday January 17, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm
class two: SAUCES, ROUX AND REDUCTIONS

Mother sauces, daughter sauces, and reductions. After learning how to make sauce you will never say again “I hate food with all that sauce on it.” You just had a bad one. Done correctly, sauces provide moisture and enhance the flavor of meats, sandwiches, and pastas and are far more versatile than people think. Learn the art of sauce-making from classic béchamel to lighter reduction-type sauces and how to incorporate these sauces in your cooking. In this class we will make béchamel and its derivates (mornay and soubise) as well as a demi-glace, bordelaise and sauce Robert. Lunch includes pan-seared steaks with selection of sauces (soubise, bordelaise, robert, and pouvre vert), truffled macaroni and cheese and of course, a little green something too. 

Tuesday January 24, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm
class three:
SOUPS  (potage, purée, and velouté)
Learn to make a variety of soups from classic vichyssoise to lighter, cream-less soups and a elegant potage using seasonal produce. Class agenda includes: vichyssoise, velouté de chou-fleur avec beurre noisette et raisins rôti (cauliflower soup with browned butter and roasted raisins); velouté de fenouil et pommes (fennel and apple soup); and potage printanier au pistou (spring vegetable soup with carrots, turnips, green beans, peas, sorrel, and fresh pesto).
 Class three SOUPS is full! To sign up for a wait list please click here. 
Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm
class four: 
BRAISING
Coq au vin, Boeuf à la Mode, and Oso Buco are just a few of the dishes that are created with the technique of braising. Braising is perfect for the winter months and one of my favorite techniques (a prior student told me that he would always think of my braising class fondly with an acronym of my first name: “Let It Simmer Awhile.”). However, the fun does not stop there. John LeMay of Your Personal Farmer will join us and bring in some goodies from his organic gardens (it is a surprise). Learn step by step how to braise meats as well as vegetables and make the most of the season’s best. Menu includes Boeuf à la Bourguignonne and braised seasonal winter vegetable packets.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm
class five: POACHING AND STEAMING La vapeur, en papillote, submersion poaching in court bouillon, and partial poaching… There is more to poaching and steaming than you think. Learn how to use these techniques with a variety of ingredients including, frisée aux lardons, butter-poached lobster with a beef reduction and parmesan puff on a bed of shredded and steamed vegetables. Seasonal fruits en papillote for dessert.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm
Valentine’s Day Special class: CHOCOLATE AND WINE*
Honestly, who cares if you receive roses if you have Valrhona chocolate and  red wine go with it!  This Valentine’s Day we are making truffles and pairing them wine. You will learn to make a variety of truffles and combine flavors and textures including: classic champagne truffles, truffles with piment d’espelette, milk and dark chocolate truffles, chocolate praline, violet and cassis truffles, raspberry truffles, and salted caramel truffles.  Tout va ! (everything goes).Everyone will take home a beautiful box of homemade chocolate truffles and a bottle of wine. Due to the expense of the products this experience is $150 per person. Lunch will involve something green (so no one feels guilty). 

 

 

FRENCH FOCUS SERIES 
ahhh…c’est bien la vie ! la belle vie  dans la cuisine ! 

This survey series of four classes is just plain fun (and a little indulgent). Learn to make things that remind you of the city of lights while we focus on select items, the quality ingredients used to make them, and the techniques that will allow you to duplicate the results at home.  Sign up for the series by clicking the reserve button here. Alternatively, you may sign up for an individual class by clicking on the reserve button below the class description.

 Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm
class one:  TARTS. Tart can begin a meal or finish one. This class will teach you how to make sweet as well as savory tarts. You will learn how to make the basic tart doughs and the various ways in which to fill tarts, including with fruit, vegetables, cheese, nuts and even chocolate.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm
class two:  CROISSANTS & PAIN AU CHOCOLAT 

This is always a fun and popular class. Learn to make buttery, flaky, and airy croissants from start to finish and how to make variations on the classic theme. Croissants are no longer limited to petit-déjeuner !

Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 10 am. to 12 pm
class three:
FRENCH MACARONS

French macarons should be slightly crisp on the outside, yet chewy and light when you bite into them with a lush filling. Learn how to make these French delicacies with traditional and non-traditional varieties, including some of my favorites: red velvet, matcha et yuzu (mancha and yuku), caramel au beurre salé  (salted butter and caramel), rose et pistache (rose and pistachio), frais et cassis (strawberry and cassis), chocolat et vanille Tahiti (chocolate and Tahitian vanilla).  

Tuesday March 13, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm
class four: TERRINE DE FOIE GRAS*

Learn to make foie gras de canard pâté from start to finish and how to serve it and with what. Lunch service is traditional French with a seasonal salad, foie gras de canard pâté and all of the accompaniments. Due to
the expense of the product, this experience is $125 per person.

Class Full.

      

If you have a code for classes please click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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