November 7th - Fall & Holiday Cooking Classes @ PCI November 7, 2009

Thanksgiving Made Easy with Chef Peter Maguire
10:00am-2:30pm - $150 per person
Hosting a big Thanksgiving fest at your house? Stressed out about cooking all that food? This class will help put you at ease and give you more time to enjoy a glass of wine with your loved ones at the dinner table. Create a butternut squash soup to die for, delicious bacon and green beans and a 2 hour turkey. Sweeten things up with maple glazed sweet potatoes and yams with kahlua and pumpkin cheese cake which will change Turkey day forever. Chef Peter, a full time instructor at PCI, has worked and taught in the culinary industry for over 25 years; he has won many awards and accolades in hot food competitions as well as ice carving.

Cooking For Wine – Fall Menu with Chef Charles Vollmar
10:00am-2:30pm - $150 per person
Food and wine are far too dynamic to be limited to the conventional ideas of “red with red and white with white”. Learn why classic pairings don’t always work and why new approaches rely more on the individual’s ability to create proper balance through exploration and experimentation with taste and flavor. In this interactive program, we begin with a variety of tasting experiments and exercises to better understand food and wine and process of bringing them together - successfully. Learn how to adjust any dish you are cooking or eating in a restaurant to best match the wine you drinking! Putting our new ideas into practice we will prepare a luscious 5-course tasting menu and highlight great California wines with each course and along the way, tasting, adjusting, tasting, adjusting and eating. This is a great exercise for both novices and experienced wine buffs. Chef Charlie emphasizes basic skill and technique work, along with wellness and lifestyle enrichment topics relating to cooking, nutrition, fitness and special needs. His days are spent teaching at top-notch culinary schools, designing custom wellness programs for corporate clients, health clubs and wellness clinics, facilitating interactive workshops, and is currently working on his first book.

Basic French Pastries - Pate a Choux with Chef Alex Trouan
10:00am-2:30pm - $125 per person
Great French pastries such as the cream puff are very easy to make after learning how to do it from one of the best. Chef Alex will demystify the process of making pate a choux in this hands-on course that features both sweet and savory delights! You will learn the secrets to making the classic Puff Pastry Dough, as well as the Pastry Cream to make your own Cream Puffs, Éclairs, & Profiteroles. You will make a bunch of goodies to take home and enjoy with your family and friends. Chef Alex is a full-time instructor at PCI. He was born and raised in France where he began his career in the Pastry Arts over 20 years ago. He has worked in top pastry shops both in France and in the USA where he has been living and teaching for more than 5 years. Bring a snack or bag lunch to balance out all of the good sweets you will be enjoying in class.

Pies, Tarts and Cobblers – FOR KIDS with Chef Michelle Encarnacion
10:00am-3:00pm - $100 per child
By using different dough’s and seasonal ingredients, your child will learn to create a variety of mouthwatering desserts such as velvety smooth pumpkin pies, scrumptious apple-crumb tarts, delicious banana bread puddings and flavorful cobblers. They will get to enjoy these creations that truly celebrate some of the season’s finest ingredients and leave feeling a huge sense of accomplishment and be comfortable in any kitchen, all with an emphasis on proper safety and sanitation. Chef Michelle Encarnacion is a professional teacher who also graduated from PCI’s professional Baking and Pastry Arts program. Bringing her two passions together makes her a great instructor for these and other types of classes. We will also provide a healthy lunch for the kids of fresh sandwiches, vegetables and fruit.

For class availability and to enroll call (408) 370-9190

Official Website: http://www.pcichef.com/hobbyschedule.html