Scheduled Cooking Classes
Internationally award-winning cuisine
Join Chef Michael in his Camden Maine kitchen for a cooking class weekend, covering a wide range of topics from regional and ethnic cuisines to seasonal and holiday offerings. Classes are informative, entertaining, and of course, filled with delicious food. Weekend packages are $305/$485 and include two nights lodging, breakfast each morning, afternoon cookies and tea, a gourmet candlelit dinner for two and enrollment for one in the cooking class. Additional enrollment into the cooking class is $45 per person. Classes are held on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-3 in the afternoon. See schedule of classes below for specific class dates and topics.
Planting a Spring Garden - combination garden and kitchen class - cost: $50/person
Gardening instructor Shelley Johnson will discuss how to ready your garden for spring planting and make the best use of whatever space you have available. Since it all starts with the soil you’ll learn how to create and keep soil fertile (hint: it doesn’t come from a bag) in the vegetable and herb garden and techniques for creating raised beds that are simple and low maintenance. We’ll discuss how to choose the proper plants, plan the garden layout, and get a jump on the season with row covers and mulches. We’ll harvest a variety of greens, lettuces, and herbs from the Hartstone Inn gardens before heading into the kitchen to cook and taste with Chef Michael for 30 minutes. Recipes will highlight the early Spring harvest and include Michael's fruit salad dressings and various tossed salads. Click here for more information.
Plantings in the Vegetable and Herb Garden - combo garden and kitchen class - cost: $50/person
The highly productive garden beds at the Hartstone Inn will serve as a hands-on classroom for tips and advice on how to intensively plant and maintain a vegetable and herb garden. Gardening instructor Shelley Johnson will discuss succession sowing, companion planting and choosing the right plants for a given site. Low maintenance raised beds are capable of producing copious amounts of vegetables and herbs if you know how to make the best use of your location and how to give your plants what they need for robust growth. We’ll be able to view the results of our spring sowings and the new growth on our early summer seedlings like tomato, basil, and pumpkin. We’ll harvest a variety of herbs, greens and young root vegetables and join Chef Michael in the kitchen for a 30 minute cooking class and tasting. Click here for more information.
The Late Summer Harvest - combination garden and kitchen class - cost: $50/person
After a full season of growing, the gardens at the Hartstone Inn will offer up a great variety of herbs and vegetables and lessons learned from another season of growing. This is the perfect time to review what went right and what went wrong and begin planning for the next year. Gardening instructor Shelley Johnson will discuss proper harvesting techniques to maximize the garden’s yield, look at the many heirloom vegetable varieties available for the best in taste and beauty, and explain how to extend the season through the first frosts of autumn. After harvesting and gleaning the garden’s bounty, we’ll head to the kitchen at the Hartstone Inn to spend 30 minutes with Chef Michael as he uses the summer harvest in some of his favorite recipes. Click here for more information.
Pasta, Pasta, Pasta
Learn how to make pasta in your own kitchen. Techniques include making the dough, coloring and flavoring different pastas, rolling out and cutting various shapes of pasta, filling pastas such as raviolis and tortellini and cooking pasta. Specific dishes include: Spaghetti with a Creamy Prosciutto and Roasted Pepper Sauce, Pappardelle with Grilled Tiger Shrimp, Pesto and Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Sweet Potato Ravioli with a Pine Nut and Sage Butter Sauce, and Three-Cheese Tortellini with Chicken and Pesto.
Holiday Hors d'Oeuvres
Having a holiday party? Re-create these hors d'Oeuvres that Michael has created for the holiday season. We will start with Key Lime Martinis and follow with: Funchi Rounds with Maine Lobster, Spicy Beef Toasts with a Smoked Tomato Confit, Black Pepper Almonds, and Onion-Sage and Olive Tartlets.
Dim Sum Cooking
We will prepare a variety of dim sum, starting with three fillings: Thai Pork, Turkey and Shiitake and Shrimp. Then we will make three varied dipping sauces: Thai-Lime, Garlic-Chili and finally a Ginger-Sesame Dipping Sauce. Then it's time to wrap the filling into various shapes for steamed dumplings and fried dumplings. Next we will make potsticker dough and form and cook potstickers. The final recipe will be crisp Shrimp Toast.
Romantic Dinner for Two
Just in time for Valentine's Day! Michael will walk you through a full gourmet meal that you can prepare at home for that special someone. These recipes are created especially for a special occasion celebrated by two. The menu starts with a special Valentine Red-Raspberry Mojito followed by a Stilton Cheese and Shrimp Tartlet with Toasted Pine Nuts and Bosc Pears and then a soup of Portabella Mushroom with a Sherry Cream. For the main course we will Grill-Smoked a Hanger Steak and serve it with a Chimi Churri Sauce and finish with Tangerine Crème Caramels with Plumped Apricots.
Spanish Tapas
Tapas are the traditional little dishes of Spain; full flavored Spanish
hors d’oeuvres that are easy to make and fun to eat. The menu includes: Spicy Olives, Beets in Romesco Sauce,
Fried-Spiced Almonds,
Manchego Cheese with Quince Paste (Membrillo),
Green Olive Paste Canapé,
Banderillas,
Spanish Meatballs in Almond Sauce, and
Tortilla Espanola (Traditional Spanish omelet with potato and onions).
Caribbean Cooking
Chef Michael was named Caribbean Chef of the year in 1996. Join in preparing some of his favorite dishes and creations using Tropical Fruits and local ingredients. We will start with a Caribbean Papaya-Kahlua Colada and follow with: Batakons and Plantain Chips, Caribbean Hot Sauces with Tropical Fruits, Scabechi (Aruban Pickled Fish), Keshi Yena with Roti Bread, and Jerk Seared Tuna with a Mango Salad.
Thai Cuisine
Mary Jo and I recently returned from a trip to Thailand and are anxious to share some of our culinary experiences. The menu will contain some of Michael's favorites including: Grilled Thai Beef Salad with Spicy Cucumbers, Coconut Shrimp Soup with Curry, Red Curry of Roasted Duck with Pineapple and Mushrooms and to finish things off Coconut-Fried Bananas with Lychees and Papaya.
From the Spring Garden
Spring in Maine is a pretty big deal. Hopefully the snow is gone and our gardens are beginning to produce some Spring bounty. I will take advantage of this local produce and have created a menu that reflects the season. Seared Sea Scallops with Spring Pea Cream and Smoked Salmon, Baby Spring Greens with a Strawberry-Chive Dressing and Radishes, Grilled Salmon Niçoise with Fiddlehead Ferns and Spring Asparagus, Spring Rhubarb Crème Brûlée with a Lemon Madeleine.
Meet the Chef Chef for a Day Recipes
