ArtEpicure Cooking School - Somerville

For Christmas Tom booked us a couples cooking class at ArtEpicure and we decided to take the class focused around seafood earlier this month. I was super excited about this class for obvious reasons, and my excitement grew as I perused the website:

"Our philosophy is based on quality, history, science, tradition and sustainability. Classes are designed to take the techniques and tricks used in the professional restaurant kitchen and make them accessible to the home cook. In addition to learning the physical skills of cooking, each class will emphasize the history of the cuisine involved and the food science employed."

We arrived at what looked like an apartment building a few minutes before class started and were led into one of the coolest spaces I've ever seen. The cooking school was partial loft/partial museum of art and antiques. The walls and ceilings were completely covered with gorgeous paintings, photographs and random objects. It was pretty incredible! I wish I had taken more photos, but here are a few:

We took the class with 4 other couples, and I have to admit, it was a bit quiet and awkward at first. No one was really talking and I was worried the next few hours were going to be filled with everyone trying to whisper among themselves. Luckily, the classes are BYOB, so as soon as the wine started flowing everyone became more comfortable.

All of the classes at ArtEpicure are taught by Mark DesLauriers, who has over 30 years of cooking and restaurant experience in the US and across the world. To start, Mark talked us through the menu and explained why he chose certain items. For the seafood class, he decides the menu based on what is the most fresh at the fish market (he goes to New Deal Fish Market, where Tom and I bought our Valentine's Day lobster!).

To get us going, Mark designated tasks to prep for each course. Tom and I were assigned to separating the eggs and getting the dessert started. I've recently been working on my egg cracking skills (for a clean break, crack on counter or table top, not the side of a bowl) so I was excited to be assigned this task!

Some other prep involved chopping vegetables and herbs, creating the chocolate cake mix for dessert, cleaning mussels, cutting and searing hake, cooking rice and beans, and plating when everything was finished.

All of the prep took a couple of hours, so by the time the first course was ready I was starving! Our first course was supposed to be Mussels Normandy (mussels with a sweet apple sauce), but one of the girls in the class had a fruit allergy. At the last second Mark decided to use a pesto sauce he had made the day before instead, which was a little disappointing. Still, the dish was delicious and a great way to start.

While we ate Mark finished up the second course: pan roasted hake served with giant Greek beans, basmati rice, and roasted asparagus (recipes at the end of this post). I loved every component of this dish, especially the saffron flavor in the beans.

And finally, for our last course we had molten chocolate cake, something I've always wanted to make but have been too intimidated to try! It was amazing and was topped with homemade caramel sauce!

This was a wonderful date night and a fantastic Christmas gift. We spent some time talking after the class and decided while we both loved the food and the atmosphere, calling this a "class" is a little misleading. We actually didn't get to participate in the cooking or prep as much as I would have liked, and there were times when I felt like Mark was acting more like a server/head chef than a teacher. I did learn a couple of neat tips and tricks (the proper way to hold a chef's knife, for instance), but was expecting far more participation. There were a number of times when I felt like Mark should have assigned a task to someone instead of doing it himself, and he often only told us what he was doing when prompted with questions. This class had more people than he anticipated, so I'm not sure how much that contributed to the way the evening played out. Still, it was a great night and I would definitely give ArtEpicure another shot.

I'd also love to attend an actual instructional cooking class in Boston -- where you can take ownership over most of the dishes and know that the outcome is really your doing. I will be on the lookout!

ArtEpicure is located at:
1 Fitchburg St, Somerville, MA 02143
(617) 996-5334
Recipes from the evening:

Pan roasted hake

4 hake fillets

Salt and fresh ground pepper

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil

- Preheat the oven to 375°.

- Heat a large saute pan on a medium setting.

- While the pan is heating, season the fish with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the saute pan and allow to get smoking hot. Place the fish in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes on medium low until browned. Turn the fish carefully with a large spatula and place in the oven for 4 more minutes. Remove and serve.

Giant Greek beans with saffron and fennel

2 cups giant dried lima beans

8 cups, plus more as needed, water

¼ cup olive oil

8 garlic cloves, sliced

1 onion, chopped

1 fennel bulb, sliced thin

2 cups vegetable stock
1 fourteen ounce can plum tomatoes, broken up

1 good pinch saffron

3 tablespoons minced fresh marjoram

Salt and pepper to taste

- Rinse and drain your beans, then place in a large pot and cover with the water.

- Bring to a boil and turn down heat to a low simmer. Simmer until beans are soft and tender. How long this takes will depend on how old your beans are, and what type you are using, but it should generally take about 2 hours. When the beans are done, drain and set aside.

- In a thick bottomed pot, add the oil, garlic, onion and fennel. Cook on low until the vegetables are softened then add the stock, tomatoes, saffron and beans, then simmer 30 more minutes. Add the marjoram and simmer 5 more minutes, season with the salt and pepper.

Roast asparagus

2 pounds fresh asparagus

Good olive oil

Kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling

Freshly ground black pepper

- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

- Break off the tough ends of the asparagus and, if they're thick, peel them. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, then toss to coat the asparagus completely. Spread the asparagus in a single layer and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast the asparagus until tender but still crisp.

Basmati rice

3 cups basmati rice

4 ½ cups water

½ stick butter
Salt and pepper to taste

- Rinse the rice well and place in a pan with the water.

- Cover and bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Cook until the water is absorbed, about 20 minute. Remove from the heat and allow to sit covered for 10 minutes then stir in the butter, salt and pepper.

Molten chocolate cake

4 ounces unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons flour

- Preheat the oven to 450°. 

- Butter and lightly flour four 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out the excess flour. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet.

- In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the chocolate. 

- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale. Whisk the chocolate until smooth. Quickly fold it into the egg mixture along with the flour. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. 

- Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold. Serve immediately.

Caramel sauce

1½ cups sugar

¼ cup water

1 cup heavy cream
1 pinch of sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

- Combine sugar and water in heavy skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat until sugar melts. - Raise heat and cook until sugar caramelizes and turns a deep mahogany brown. Stand back (in case mixture splatters) and slowly pour in cream. 

- Stir over low heat until smooth, then mix in the salt and vanilla.