June 2006

The Kitchen has remained a very busy, vital place over the last month. We have hosted many events, from classes to team building sessions to parties, and now the summer catering season is taking off as well, with lots of birthdays and weddings coming up.

One of my personal favorite events has been wedding rehearsal dinners—as interactive cooking classes, they are a wonderful way to integrate two families who haven't met. I've never before published the wonderful note one couple sent me—figure it's about time, this being "wedding season" again:

"We hired Paulding & Company to do a cooking class/rehearsal dinner for our wedding and it was a roaring success. We had thirty people coming from all over and the class proved to be a wonderful way for everyone to get acquainted. Everyone had a wonderful time and we kept hearing 'what a great idea, this is so much fun.' At our wedding, if an out of town guest was seated at the table, all the guests heard about the class. It's a month later and we're hearing about people using the recipes and an Aunt and Uncle sent us personalized aprons. We highly recommend Paulding & Company's cooking class/rehearsal dinner as a speacial treat for your out of town guests and a way to bring together families and friends"

-- Joel & Linda

The favorite kitchen party these days involves tapas—the endless variety of small dishes that are universally easy to prepare, fresh, vibrant and colorful, and of course packed with the diverse but clean flavors of the ingredients used. With all the great vegetables in the market, and our favorite Spanish grocery (The Spanish Table, 1814 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley) for authentic ingredients and equipment, the list of tapas made at the kitchen, and for catered events, has continually grown. This month's recipe will be for one of them—although it's hard to pick among the many.

Along with the tapas classes, we have been offering an ever-expanding number of companies, from Leapfrog to Clorox to Consumer Financial to Pixar, a great set of team-building events in the kitchen. For the summer, I'm running a special—10% off on our summer picnic teambuilding menu, which includes the following great warm-weather dishes:

• Oven-fried chicken
• New York deli style coleslaw
• Herbed potato salad
• Green bean salad, with a riot of fresh herbs
• Homemade biscuits or cornbread
• Fruit tarts with the best of the season's organic stone fruit and berries, served with homemade ice cream

Classes

We welcome two more new teachers to Paulding & Company this summer—Charlene Reis, pastry chef, restaurant consultant and longtime participant in the Berkeley Schools' Edible Schoolyard program, pioneered by Alice Waters. Charlene is teaching a special series of action-packed classes geared towards the 10-13 year old student. Her subject matter is sophisticated, and the classes will be a wonderful activity for those often foot-loose Sunday late afternoons, when all the games and activities of the weekend are over. These classes are a great start to teaching our children to love the kitchen—and a wonderful pathway towards having the kids make dinner once in a while, too! Her classes begin on July 16th. Charlene is also available for kids parties and other age-group specific clases—her email address is in the class description for inquiries.

Our other “new” teacher is an old friend to many students, Cheryl Beere, who has taught for Piedmont Adult School in the past. Her International Vegetarian classes were always well-attended and great fun. She’s back from
touring as chef to the rock stars (see the long list of who in her Indian class listing). Cheryl will teach four classes in the next month or so—vegetarian Indian cuisine, Spanish tapas. Thai and French cuisine—all with her inimitable flair and all vegetarian.

Ayako Iino is also back with new classes, after the success of her first series. She will teach a monthly seasonal dinner class, and also has announced a sushi class which is coming up June 29th, so be sure to register soon. Her relaxed style and sumptuous, home-style Japanese food have brought rave reviews from her students—and some of her recipes will be featured in an up-coming article in the Chronicle food section, although we don't yet know when this will run.

Our popular knife skills series continues, with the next class scheduled for the evening of Monday, July 17th. In this class, master knife sharpener Eric Weiss will begin with a tutorial on sharpening—you can purchase a stone and oil from him, and bring your favorite chefs and paring knife, and then, our wonderful knife skills expert, Charlie Vollmar, will turn you and your newly sharpened knives into experts at slicing, dicing, and more. While Charlie is working with the student group, Eric will be on hand to professionally sharpen extra knives for the students ($5 each), and even restore old chipped blades if you have one.

The last time we ran this class, we had a sell-out and some of the student body included a group of food service professionals from UC Berkeley's catering department—all of whom went back to work with new skills that they report using every day. This class is wonderful for anyone who cooks at home, when the prep work becomes easy because you're using proper knife technique and a sharp tool, it will make your meals a pleasure to prepare.

Our always-sold-out Southern Italian and Sicilian classes are almost at an end until the end of July—Rosetta is going back to Calabria, to finish her upcoming cookbook, so stay tuned for a new schedule of classes, no doubt with lots of new recipes, resuming later in the summer

Finally, my own series of Basic Cooking classes resumes Wednesday June 21st, with registration starting today, June 5th. The series features an ever evolving and changing series of seasonal recipes from all different cultures, all with the dual aims of teaching technique you can take home and use on an every-day basis, and recipes that will help you gain confidence in your skills in the kitchen. Plus, of course, our relaxed "supper club" format—where we cook a full meal each week, and enjoy it together. This class, by the way, is sponsored by Piedmont Adult School, and is a real bargain as it is partially subsidized by it's state ADA status.

My Favorite Farmers Markets and Why

Saturday, I love the Grand Lake market (just off the 580 freeway between Grand and Lakeshore Avenues, 9 AM – 2 PM). It's close to home, so it's always my first market of choice—but also the variety of produce and the quality of it is excellent. And, there's a parking lot—which fills of course—but there is more parking on Lakeshore so it's an easy market to get near. Berries galore, (try Swanton's strawberries for a flavor you may remember from your youth). TipTop Farm, where Laura Trent grows and sells everything from cardoons to garlic scapes. A huge variety, plus Brazilian cheese bread puffs, made with tapioca flour—and pretty decent on-the-spot smoked barbecue. Also tons of fresh flowers, at amazing prices. And did I mention the kiddie activities and the music stage?

Also Saturday, when I'm feeling like going to more than one, there's the great Berkeley market (10 AM-2 PM, Center St. between MLK and Milvia). Here you'll need to park in a garage, but fatted calf sells at this market—and their sausages and pates are great. Not to mention, of course, all the great fruits and veggies.

Tuesday afternoon, the Berkeley market (2 PM to 7 PM or dusk, whichever comes first), Derby St. between MLK and Milvia) is my first stop when I'm shopping for my Wednesday night class, and being around the corner from my second stop at Berkeley Bowl makes it ultra convenient. This year it's been a bit low-key, but more vendors are arriving now that the weather's warm. The Little Gem lettuce from Blue Heron Farm is a favorite, and if you want to serve the same peaches etc. that they put on a plate at Chez Panisse (and charge, I think, around $8 for), you can purchase from Fog Hollow Farm.

Sunday morning, Montclair Village (La Salle Avenue at Mountain Blvd., 9AM -2 PM). This little market has one very big plus: the oyster guys, with pristine selections to eat right there, or take home and practice your shucking. Plus enough veggies & fruits to make it worthwhile (great baby squash still with the blossom on—try stuffing the blossom end with some goat cheese & herbs & a few bread crumbs, and grilling the whole squash for a treat).

I know there are a lot more markets—many in your neighborhood, rather than mine. These are just my favorites, not meant to discount any of the rest. I mention them in the hopes that you will support your local organic farmers—many of whom owe their very existence to the fact that they can come to these wonderful markets and sell directly to you. So that you can get freshly picked, marvelous food that makes you happy to eat.

Terry Paulding