Classes that will get you cooking
The official arrival of spring this week means it's time to tuck away recipes for hearty roasts and comforting stews and reinvigorate the kitchen and palette with scents and tastes more fitting for the brighter ahead. Kick up your skill set and find a measure of inspiration at local cooking classes scheduled through May.
Cavallo Point Cooking
School in Sausalito has a wide assortment of culinary options, all of which incorporate chef demonstrations and hands-on participation.
March sessions wrap up on Friday with instruction on using ever-versatile cast iron pans to make lemon dill artichoke dip; wild mushroom and Gruyere Dutch baby pancakes; chicken and chorizo paella; buttery shrimp with veggies and for dessert, cornmeal cake with caramelized apples and rosemary cream. And on March 30, get a handle on Julia Child classics such as cauliflower gratin, haricots verts a la maître d'hôtel, moules marinières, Toulouse-style cassoulet, roast duck breast a la orange and chocolate mousse.
Spring into cooking on
April 2 when the season's local bounty is featured in herb salad with eggs and walnuts; braised carrots with leeks and tarragon; gnocchi with spring veggies and basil; herb-roasted chicken with cannellini beans, fennel and spring onion; lamb ragout, and blood orangeMeyer lemon parfait.
Venture to Japan on April 6 for a visually pleasing spread including yakitori (skewered chicken), Oishii prawns, hijiki seaweed salad, sushi rolls with crab and spicy tuna, kampachi crudo, and green tea ice cream with mangos and coconut.
Explore favorites from the South, such as shrimp jambalaya, chicken gumbo, Cajunstyle salmon and sweet potato cornbread pudding, on April 14, and try your hand at globally inspired samosa, empanada, pierogi, momo and gyoza dumplings on April 20.
Prepare a family-friendly brunch with the kids on April 8 and start the day with berry and yogurt parfaits topped with house-made granola; pancakes with chocolate chips, blueberries and bananas; avocado toast with scrambled eggs; and easy-bake biscuits with jam and honey. A more adult brunch can be found at the April 30 session, or come with a date on April 22 and settle in for oysters, lobster salad, beef Wellington and chocolate lava cake.
All classes take place in the demonstration kitchen above Farley restaurant at Cavallo Point at 601 Murray Circle in Sausalito. Beer and wine are available for purchase. For a full list or to reserve a spot ($125, plus tax and gratuity, $75 for children accompanied by an adult), go to cavallopoint.com/dine/cooking-school or call 855-730-6984.
Edible garden
Fairfax Backyard
Farmer, a downtown Fairfax shop founded by Fairfax resident Jim Normandi in 2016, offers supplies, resources and workshops for experienced and wannabe home growers and apiarists.
During the Spring Edible Garden Series, two consecutive courses on April 8 and May 6, learn best practices and techniques for growing your own food in a backyard or other smallscale setting.
Local expert Avis Licht shares decades of experience in site selection, seasonal growing, sowing seeds and planting seedlings through lectures, discussions and a field visit to her home garden in Woodacre. The price of the series is $149.95.
Beekeeping workshops for beginners that cover placement, equipment, sources, tips and techniques, and for intermediates on managing established hives, are held throughout the spring ($75 to $96).
Register at fairfaxbackyardfarmer.com, where you can also sign up for mini workshop tutorials on making sourdough bread and cheese, or for growing sprouts.
Visit the shop at 135 Bolinas Road in Fairfax for gardening tools, supplies, kits, culinary provisions, books, gifts, planters, chicken coops, bird baths (and feeders and houses) and much more from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays thought Fridays, noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Chocolate bag
Gourmet chocolate creator Pooneh Yamini, owner of Mon Rêve Chocolate Art Studio in the Mill Valley Lumber Yard, felt inspired by a recent designer bag collaboration between fashion house Louis Vuitton
and Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, so she decided to make one of her own — out of chocolate, of course. Learn how at classes on May 6, 7 and 13 that will appear on her workshop schedule soon.
Classes and private parties are at the Mon Rêve studio at 129 Miller Ave. on the second floor. Register at monrevechoc.com or call 415-569-0057.
Fresh Starts
Chef Roberth Sundell, of contemporary Swedish/ Middle Eastern restaurant Stockhome in Petaluma, is at Homeward Bound of Marin's Fresh Starts Chef Events from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
May 23 in Novato. (The April event with chef Heidi Krahling, of Insalata's and Marinitas in San Anselmo, is already full.)
The date is not yet set for an upcoming event with Shelley Lindgren, co-owner and award-winning wine director of A16 and SPQR in San Francisco who, with co-author Kate Leahy, is celebrating the release of their upcoming book, “Italian Wine,” that's available for pre-order now.
Dinners are held at the Key Room at 1385 North Hamilton Parkway in Novato. Purchase individual or table tickets ($100 for one up to $800 for table of eight) at thekeyroom.com/
chef-events or call 415-3823363, extension 243. Proceeds support shelter, housing and job-training programs at Homeward Bound of Marin.
Stay apprised of upcoming events at updates at thekeyroom.com/chefevents.