rustic italian class

it started out with one class.
then two.
and now three.

for the first time, we have sold three classes of the same.
that is a total of 48 people being intrigued by the menu, the subject, the techniques being thought.

last night was the first of the rustic italian classes.
i just had to be there and see for myself, well, smell... in less that 10 minutes of cooking it smelled so heavenly.

the group worked hard as there were about 12 stations. so much to do!!!
i really loved watching the people take turns at the pasta station



they were preparing butternut squash stuffed ravioli to be served with a brown butter and sage sauce. (i am very much hoping that there are leftovers waiting for me this morning...)



they started their meal with a fun trio of crostini, my favorite was the chunky tapenade:
cooked black and green olives, roasted pines nuts, garlic, rosemary...



the creamy tuscan white bean spread



bryson farms heirloom tomatoes went into the bruschetta, such color.



our worker bees then went on to have some minestrone soup, very rich and comforting... can you feel the love? the last minute addition of watercress was genius.



after the pasta, they enjoyed a venison stew. that. looked. incredible.



chef candice started a stew in the afternoon so that the group could see and taste the difference between melt-in-your-mouth-ready and a hurried stew... it needs time.

they got the most of all worlds, preparing the stew from scratch, and tasting the result of hours of slow cooking. We put in delicate mushrooms from Le Coprin, i forgot to picture them!!!

the evening ended on a sweet note with some chocolate almond cake, not to make you jealous, but that will most probably be my breakfast!

-marysol