It is always delightful to spend the day with my friend Stephanie, but difficult to schedule. It took us months to line up our schedule and the available space at Ramekins cooking school in Sonoma, California. It almost did not matter what we were going to learn. As luck would have it, we learned to make the elements of the menu featured in the movie, Big Night. If you are not familiar with the movie–it translates as an Italian feast. This much food would work for a big family party or a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal.
We had a lovely drive over and a delicious lunch at The Girl and the Fig. We had just enough time to walk to the excellent independent bookstore just past the town square. Readers’ Books is a treat. It offers used and new books–all in good condition.
We arrived at Ramekins at the appointed time and signed in. The class was $95 per person for about 2 hours of cooking and then an hour of eating what we prepared paired with Sonoma wine. The classroom is set up for teams of 3 or 4 to work on various menu components.
Our Chef Lisa Lavagetto and her assistants had done most of the prep work to be able to make:
- Fried Calamari with Garlic Dipping Sauce
- Roasted Beet and Beet Greens Salad with Apples and Goat Cheese
- Timballo – Pasta Drum with Meatballs, Fresh Ricotta, Asparagus and Hard Boiled Egg
- Roasted Eggplant stuffed with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella
- Italian Apple Cake with Grappa.
Participants got to choose their stations but it was a bit of scramble like musical chairs. Stephanie prepped the roasted beet salad and I made the apple cake with grappa. I am not actively cooking in this season of my life. My skills are still sufficient to keep up. I enjoyed the buzz in the room as for many of the people cooking was a passion. We were all talking and tasting as a calamari appetizer was finished early or as the marinara sauce was ready. Chef Lisa based her recipes on those her Italian mother-in-law taught her. We were provided the recipes to take home and the appropriate specific recipe at our stations.
The assistants also did the hard clean up work. We got to retire to the dining room and enjoy our wine until Lisa and her staff brought in the salad, the eggplant, and then the dramatic Timballo. We finished with the Italian apple cake my team made topped with fresh whipped cream. Everything was molto delizioso.
We enjoyed the experience so much that we signed up for another class in December before the week was out.
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