I like to consider myself a knowledgeable nosher, but I haven’t yet become a skillful chef. As I speed past the age of 25, my lack of formal kitchen skills has become embarrassing, which led me to the Brandywine Country Cooking School, offered by Hamananassett Bed & Breakfast & Carriage House in Chester Heights.
Under the tutelage of professional chef Ann-Michelle Albertson (of Wynnewood’s Albertson’s Cooking School), participants create multi-course meals that are ultimately enjoyed in the incredible setting of the polished and elegant estate, built in 1856.
Recently, Albertson and the B&B’s owner, Glenn Mon, hosted an eager-to-learn group, including myself, focused on cooking holiday fare. Wearing attractive aprons and carrying binders packed with recipes, we packed the inn’s kitchen, bright-eyed and hungry.
The first day of was spent allowing new classmates to socialize and gather for an evening reception. Most of the education is on day two, following an elaborate breakfast.
The most appealing component of Hamanassett’s course is that each piece of each meal is prepared by the participants, not just by the instructor. The program is all hands-on.
Slicing, dicing, baking, sautéing — you name it, we did it. The entire luscious luncheon menu (double mushroom timbales, roast goose, autumn root vegetable mash and caramelized pear tartin) was conquered in under two hours, as we all honed our skills along the way.
I signed on to assist my teammates with the dessert, seen here with a twist. The recipe, adapted from Gordon Ramsay, features Bartlett pears, carefully peeled, halved and cored. It was completed within the hour by our own eager hands. At last, we crowned the piping-hot tart with a dollop of our just-churned Gorgonzola ice cream.
Classmates Dave and Nancy Jeffrey, of Fairfax, Va., took the lead roasting the goose. Their final product gleamed perfectly on the table.
I realized that having kitchen anxiety is really not necessary. Participants were able to attack recipes that we would otherwise have passed over as being too complicated.
Our three-hour session with seven newbie chefs (plus two instructors) produced a traditional English holiday feast, including roasting chestnuts and incorporating them in soup, preparing a salmon souffle torte, sculpting twice-baked potatoes, cooking a standing rib roast, prepping dough for Yorkshire pudding, and swirling all the appropriate sauces and toppings.
After two days well-spent in the kitchen, we will no longer look like amateurs during dinner prep. Better yet, through Chef Ann-Michelle Albertson’s schooling, we not only understand how to conquer our own cooking spaces, but also how to use the most local and sustainable ingredients.
In April, the B&B hosts a “Last Dinner on the Titanic,” which creates Edwardian-era fare similar to that seen on the sunken ship. In June and August, the “Brandywine Bounty” class offers the ultimate farm-to-table experience, where you explore Brandywine Valley farms, get your food and cook with the local ingredients.
For more information, visit www.hamanassett.com or call 610-459-3000. To view slideshow of entire cooking course, click here.
