If mankind had never learned to cultivate gardens, cabbage heads would sprout up willy-nilly from bike lanes, babies’ cribs, and the empty collars of headless horsemen. Learn to harness mischievous greens with today’s Groupon: for $59, you get a Culinary Basics class at Auberge Edge of Seattle Cooking School in Woodinville (a $120 value). Choose between the following options:
- Classes valid through May 7, 2012.
- Classes valid between May 8, 2012 and August 8, 2012.<p>
Classes are held on Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and include tasting of the food students prepare. Class topics include white and brown stocks, roux, braises and stews, emulsion sauces, omelets and egg cookery, working with pie and tart doughs, charcuterie and sausage making, and pates and terrines.
Nestled in the woods of Woodinville wine country, Auberge Edge of Seattle Cooking School employs an eclectic assemblage of cooks, each of whom brings a distinctive style to sauce-stirring sessions. Chef Paul Redman, a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, zeroes in on a specific style of French cooking each week, teaching hands-on preparation and hands-free saltshaker enchantments to build his students’ culinary repertoire. A session on charcuterie leads hands through the creation of traditional sausages from scratch, and a white and brown stock lesson bequeaths a solid foundation for complex soups and sauces. During the emulsion sauces class, pupils learn to craft mayonnaise, hollandaise, vinaigrettes, and beurre blanc with which to top poached salmon or tax forms.
Edge of Seattle Cooking
The staff at Edge of Seattle Cooking ushers guests onto its lush, 5 acres of wooded land for gustatory experiences ranging from simple, peaceful relaxation to a romantic and refined experience in this culinary destination. An extensive roster of chefs, including French natives and a culinary instructor from the Art Institute of Seattle, welcomes students to six-hour, hands-on cooking classes, ongoing class series, and Michelin-starred bake sales. Classes instruct students in a range of skills, from basic kitchen competency to how to whip up haute cuisine, and many courses focus on classic French cooking methods. Owner and Proprietor Nancy Gates-Douglas developed her love for food and wine growing up in Morocco and the Loire Valley of France, and these culinary roots spurred her to create the inn as a place for celebrating French regional cuisine and Washington-state wines. The inn itself combines the provincial with the modern by incorporating such contemporary touches as wireless Internet into its bedrooms and banquet areas, which brim with French antiques and fluffy, decorative lap dogs.