If you've been dying to try your hand at making your own pasta, but don't have the time or equipment necessary to pull of the task, gnocchi and spaetzle are perfect dishes to add to your repertoire. Not only are they absolutely delicious when done right, they require minimal time investment and no expensive equipment. How do you choose the right type of potato and ricotta? How do you keep gnocchi pillowy soft but prevent them from falling apart during cooking? How do you add more character to your spaetzle with buckwheat or whole wheat flour? What can you do with leftovers? This class will answer all these questions and will give you hands-on practice making dough and shaping. Dishes might include potato gnocchi with mushrooms and sage butter, ricotta gnocchi with leeks and chive cream, and spaetzle with spiced apples. This class is vegetarian. Note: the dishes vary based on the season and availability of ingredients. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $80 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Sat, Feb 18, 2012 10am-1pm Register

Sauce making is one of the most enjoyable kitchen tasks. It unleashes your creativity and gives you room for infinite variations. Once you understand the basic principles of contemporary sauces, you'll be a slave to recipes no more! We realize that you don't have homemade veal stock on hand, and don't find dousing your asparagus in artery clogging Hollandaise that appealing. But that doesn't mean that you can't dress up your dishes with vibrant sauces in less than 15 minutes. In this class, you'll learn how to choose the right ingredients and equipment, how to make pan sauces with the techniques of deglazing and reduction, how to thicken sauces without making them lumpy, and how to make various cold sauces and toppings. Dishes might include fennel grapefruit salad with shallot vinaigrette, scallops with asparagus sauce, roast chicken with porcini cream sauce, and steak with red wine reduction. Dishes vary based on the season and availability of ingredients. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $90 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Thu, Mar 8, 2012 6pm-9pm Register

This class is Cooking 101 and Baking 101 rolled into one most delicious dish — pizza. It's one of the simplest dishes to make, and one of the simplest to mess up. Does your dough refuse to stretch into a thin circle? Does it get soggy under the sauce and toppings? Are you at a loss as to how to produce a perfectly crisp thin crust? In this class you'll make a 5 minute home-made crust that will teach you many baking fundamentals. You'll also make 4 versatile sauces while learning to use heat and seasoning to your advantage. We'll make pizza Margherita (tomato, mozzarella, and basil); pizza with caramelized onions, pears, walnuts, and blue cheese; pizza with mushroom, arugula and truffle vinaigrette; and Middle Eastern flat bread with cucumber yogurt dip. Note: dishes may vary based on the season and availability of ingredients. This class is vegetarian. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $80 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Thu, Mar 1, 2012 6pm-9pm Waiting List
Thu, Mar 22, 2012 6pm-9pm Register

Do you want to add more beans and whole grains to your diet but find that your repertoire starts and ends with a Kashi box? Come to this class and learn to cook lentils, beans, chick peas, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, and quinoa from scratch. How do you avoid making your grains taste like "healthy cardboard"? How do you cook beans that are tender but keep their shape? Which lentil types work best for which applications? This class will answers all these questions and give you plenty of hands-on practice. Dishes will vary with the season and availability of ingredients, but are likely to include lentils braised in red wine, cannellini bean and rosemary soup, chickpea and tomato stew, barley salad, buckwheat with mushrooms and caramelized onions, tabouleh (bulgur salad), and quinoa pilaf. This class is vegetarian. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $80 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Sat, Feb 25, 2012 10am-1pm Waiting List
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 10am-1pm Register

Do you like to eat fish in restaurants, but are scared to cook it at home? Or, are you bored of baking salmon with a squirt of lemon, but not sure how to expand your repertoire? Come to this class and explore the bounty of the sea available to us in New England. You'll learn to find a good fish market in your area, buy the freshest fish, learn all about fish personalities and substitutions, and test fish for doneness. We'll make salmon teriyaki, trout in almonds, halibut in sorrel sauce, broiled bluefish, and swordfish Provençal. Note: the dishes vary based on the season and availability of ingredients. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $90 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 6pm-9pm Waiting List
Wed, Apr 4, 2012 6pm-9pm Register

No more cucumber rolls! If you love raw fish, but are not sure how to approach it at home, this class is for you. We'll discuss how to find a good fish market, buy the freshest fish, and handle it safely at home. We'll go over which species of fish are safe to eat raw and the best ways to prepare them. You'll learn how to skin a fillet, slice for sashimi, mince for tartar, make sushi rice, and shape maki rolls. Dishes will include spicy tuna maki, assorted sashimi, scallops ceviche with mango, and salmon tartar with apples and ginger. Note: the dishes vary based on the season and availability of ingredients. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $100 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 10am-1pm Waiting List

Vegetables are a culinary wonder with their variety of textures and flavors, and a gift to us cooks. If they occupy the lowly place of repentance food on your table, it's time to rethink your cooking techniques. In this class, you'll get hands-on practice with blanching, roasting, pan searing, braising, and sauteing vegetables, as well as serving them raw. You'll learn to buy, wash, store, and cook everything from roots to leafy greens. How do you prevent asparagus from turning mushy and stringy? What do you do with Swiss chard, beets, fennel, celery root, and rutabaga? How do you make a good salad? Bring your vegetable questions and come ready to cook and eat. Dishes will vary with the season and availability of ingredients, but are likely to include fennel radish green bean salad, seared asparagus, roasted beets with farro, and Swiss chard bruschetta. This class is vegetarian. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $80 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Thu, Feb 16, 2012 6pm-9pm Waiting List
Thu, Mar 15, 2012 6pm-9pm Waiting List

Do you get excited about a trip to the farmer's market, but dread chopping all those veggies and herbs? If the onions make you break into tears and you can't remember the last time you sharpened your knife, come to this hands-on class and learn to slice, dice, and mince in a casual and supportive environment. We'll go over which knives are used for which cuts, how to buy a good knife in any price range, as well as sharpening and caring for your knives. And what cooking class is complete without a sumptuous dinner? The meal we'll prepare out of all those veggies might include fennel orange salad, potato leek soup, tomato onion tart, and ratatouille. This class is vegetarian. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $80 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Thu, Feb 23, 2012 6pm-9pm Waiting List
Thu, Mar 29, 2012 6pm-9pm Waiting List

How confident are you when you step up to the butcher counter? Do you know what cuts to get for braising vs. roasting vs. grilling vs. pan searing? While everyone can throw a piece of meat on the grill, taking it off can be a little tricky. How do you know when it's cooked to your liking? Do you season before or after cooking? Should you crank the heat up or turn it down? This class will answer all your meat buying and cooking questions. We'll discuss the cuts of beef, lamb, and pork; learn appropriate cooking methods for each cut; practice trimming and trussing steaks and roasts; and eliminate guesswork out of testing meat for doneness. Dishes will vary with the season and availability of ingredients, but are likely to include a beef steak with herb butter, a lamb top roast with garlic cream, beef stew with apricots, and baby-back pork ribs. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $90 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Sat, Mar 3, 2012 10am-1pm Waiting List
Sat, Mar 24, 2012 10am-1pm Waiting List

Few kitchen tasks are more satisfying than making your own pasta - the joy of kneading the dough, the art of shaping it to your liking, and the pleasure of that perfect bite. Home-made pasta does not require expensive equipment, hard to find ingredients, or years of practice. After this class you'll be a pro at making the dough, rolling it out, shaping it, and cooking it perfectly al dente. You'll learn how to prepare several sauces and how to match them to your pasta. Dishes might include pici (thick hand-shaped spaghetti) with wild mushrooms, leek ravioli with sage butter, and orecchiette (hand-shaped round pasta) with cauliflower and broccoli. Note: the dishes vary based on the season and availability of ingredients. This class is vegetarian. Limited to 8 people.

One 3h session / $80 per person
Instructor: Helen Rennie
Location: 3 Ingleside Rd, Natick, MA
Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10am-1pm Waiting List