French Kitchen Adventures

Artisan Food School- Gascony

2008-03-30T16:39:00.004+02:00

OLD is NEW in 2008!!!

Discover the French secrets of chevre, charcuterie and eau-de-vie as Wil Edwards of the San Francisco Bay Area Artisan Food School join Kate Hill at Camont' French Kitchen, a creative culinary center in Southwest France. Edwards and Hill share the arts and science of cheese making, butchery and distilling in this unique one or two week hands-on program.

This is a unique opportunity to work alongside top artisan food producers in Gascony like Phillippe de Lamontjoie-- an award winning goat cheese maker, the Chapolard family of artisan charcutiers, and Patricia and Guillaume Lamarouche who raise and prepare perfect foie gras, duck rillettes and other conserves. WIne and aperitif makers, Isabelle and Catherine Orliac, open their chateau doors to discover their family secrets and Eric Kauffer of Domaine de Cazeaux unfolds the slowburning work behind armagnac's legends.

Sign up for the one week overview followed by an optional second week intensive qapprenticeship which is supported with a written curriculum of technique and recipes. English translation is available as needed. For more information contact: Kate(at)thefrenchkitchen(dot)com and click on Wil Edward's www.artisanfoodschool.com

AFS-Gascony 2008 Dates:

Week #1 September 28-Oct 5-

Introduction to French Food Artists- $3500

Week #2 October 5-12-

Intensive one-on-one training- $2500*

*special price for first week attendees only

Classes limited to 6 participants .

Taste Gascony! Cooking Weekends in the Country

2007-11-24T17:04:00.001+01:00

Taste Gascony!

3-Night Cooking Weekends in the French Countryside.

Discover the rural gastronomy of Southwest France from Foie Gras to Armagnac and all the delicious fresh produce in between on this exclusive ‘French Kitchen Adventure’! From the colorful Farmers Markets of Gascon villages to private tastings in cellars and kitchens, to the ample table of the Relais de Camont. this is a perfect 3-night weekend break or add-on to a visit to Paris or Provence (just 4 hours from Paris)

Friday: arrival afternoon in Agen by TGV from Paris or from near by Toulouse or Bordeaux. This adventure in good cooking begins at Kate Hill’s French Kitchen at the Relais de Camont. The 18^th century farmhouse fills with the fragrant perfume of good food cooking with a traditional Gascon dinner—a Poulet Henri IV or Poule-au-Pot. Discover the taste of Gascony from Aperitifs to Armagnac!

Saturday: Kate escorts you to the picturesque and bustling weekly farmers market at Nerac, the center of artisan food producers in Gascony. Artisan food producers sell their own wares and offer samples to their favorite visitors- like us! Lunch out in a charming café or a shady pique-nique by the river. Return to the French Kitchen for a fun and easy cooking class #1- Gascon Traditions—introducing you to foie gras, duck and other regional and seasonal specialties. Aperitifs to Digestives accompany our dinner and feature a wine tasting of local regional wines from Madiran, Cahors, Buzet, & Cote de Gascogne.

Sunday: After a relaxing morning, Cooking class #2—French Basix is influenced by the potager and herb gardens at Camont- what’s fresh, in season and out the kitchen door. How to make fresh herb sauces for braised poultry using parsley, lovage, rosemary and thyme, vinaigrettes for starling good salads and French soups, a primer creating simply elegant soups from fresh garden ingredients like shallots, watercress, and celery root. A leisurely long Sunday lunch and a free afternoon to relax in a garden hammock with a good book or along la voie verte— paved towpath on a bike follow class. Evening wine and cheese tasting on Kate’s Dutch Barge- the Julia Hoyt followed by dessert and armagnac tasting.

Monday: French Kitchen breakfast class #3- Kate’s Keeping Kitchen reveals the secrets of butter pastry and hot breads fresh from the oven to serve with homemade jams and confitures from Kate’s garden larder.

This all-inclusive gourmet package for the Weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun- available Sept- April ) includes:

3 nights accommodation at the Relais de Camont,
3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 3 dinners, including wine and beverages accompanying meals,
3 hands-on and demonstration cooking classes and
market and shopping tour in Nerac or Agen

Sample Weekend Program

Day 1: Dinner and accommodation
Day 2: accommodation, breakfast, market visit, cooking class #1, and lunch. Evening free and walk or taxi to dinner on own at nearby restaurant.
Day 3: accommodation, breakfast, cooking class #2, lunch, light supper of wine and armagnac tasting with cheese and dessert.
Day 4: breakfast cooking class before departure at noon.

Price: 1500€ per person based on double occupancy. Single supplement 250€

Note: Does not include air fare or transportation to and from Agen or other transportation exclusive of pick up from train station and local transport for market visit.

Kate Hill at French Kitchen Adventures –– www.katehill.blogspot.com

email: kate@thefrenchkitchen.com

Camp Cassoulet- weekend cooking classes

2007-11-10T15:45:00.002+01:00

photo by David Lebovitz

Camp Cassoulet- learning the ABC’s of a Recipe.

Come to the French countryside and learn to cook one of France’s favorite traditional recipes- cassoulet. Explore everything from haricots to charcuterie in Southwest France with Kate Hill in her French Kitchen Inn on a long weekend adventure in a magical canal-side setting. Steeped in the traditions of country cooking, Kate Hill’s French Kitchen Adventures open the doors to discover the delicious artisan abc’s of cassoulet- Armagnac, Beans & Charcuterie and the classic dishes that define the cooking of Southwest France.

Relax at Kate’s charming ‘Relais de Camont’ perched on the quiet banks of the Canal de Garonne while learning and enjoying the artisan foods of Gascony. Two charming guest rooms with private baths welcome you to the 18^th-century pigeonnier that is set in a two-acre park with organic potager, heritage fruit orchard and quiet wooded spring. Just 4-hours from Paris by TGV and 1-½ hours from Toulouse and Bordeaux.

This special introductory offer to Camp Cassoulet is offered weekends from November 1 to January 31 and is available for 2- 6 people. For Posts about the first ever Camp Cassoulet click on David Lebovitz's great post and Lucy Vanel's lovely toast post, Loulou's great photos and of course, my own take on what happened.

Weekend Camp Activities:

Arrive Friday evening for a welcome supper in front of the long cheminée in the French Kitchen at Camont. Aperitifs to Armagnac. The Label Rouge Tarbais beans begin an overnight soak.
Saturday’s village Farmer’s Market at Nerac supplies all the ingredients for the day-long class interrupted only by an impromptu pique-nique lunch of charcuterie and fresh goods from the marché.
Cassoulet Cooking Class begins on return to the Relais de Camont with pots simmering full of aromatic bouillon and beans, sausage grilling on the open fire, and confit crisping under the grill. After assembling the cassoulet in traditional terracotta pots for baking, the pots slip into the outdoor wood oven to bake into a golden-crusted traditional cold-weather supper. Organic greens for a salad and a simple homemade sorbet-cocktail and champagne for dessert completes the day cooking in the French Kitchen.
Sunday morning café-au-lait brunch featuring farm l’Oeufs Gascon and fresh baked pastries from a morning pastry class.
Departure late afternoon (TGV departs at 14:22 arriving Paris 18:40)
Or stay another night and depart Monday morning at your leisure and enjoy a country Sunday lunch in a local Café followed by a quiet afternoon to walk, read, relax or explore the bike towpath along the Canal de Garonne. (Third night available – additional 100€)

photo by Lucy Vanel

Camp Cassoulet 2008 rate is 695€ per person all inclusive (based on double occupancy; single supplement available) includes:

2 nights B&B accommodation a Relais de Camont in double room with private bath
2 dinners and 1 lunch with wine plus...
Sunday Morning Champagne Brunch
All day French Kitchen Adventure including morning market excursion and cassoulet cooking class-approx 5 hours.
Armagnac and wine tasting Saturday evening with dinner.
Local transportation includes: pickup and transfer to and from Agen train station; market excursion.

To book a weekend at Camp Cassoulet, email: Kate@thefrenchkitchen.com

all other photos by me... Kate Hill

#1- French Kitchen Adventures Six-Day Programs

2007-10-18T16:35:00.001+02:00

These Gascon days of cooking & eating begin on Saturday afternoon and depart on Thursday after lunch. From the minute you arrive in Agen (just 4 hours from Paris), Kate greets you with a warm Southwestern welcome- relaxed and friendly. Step into her 18th-Century French Kitchen and begin to inhale the perfume of Gascony!

Daily schedules are full but relaxed and begin over a French country breakfast of fresh pastries from the village baker (or from Kate's own oven) to eat with deep yellow creamerie butter, a variety of artisan honeys, homemade confitures and French yogurts.

Cooking classes (in English, of course!) begin with a single perfect focus- a fiercely ripe tomato, a succulent cut of meat, or a twist of fresh herbs from the kitchen terrace garden. Appetizers, soups, salads, main courses, vegetable sides and desserts (bien sur!) recipes are created as students learn about the special artisan products fresh from the farms and markets of Southwest France. Classic French Techniques like braising and sautéing are woven into lessons that adapt for all levels of experience and interests. Professional chefs as well as weekend warriors are welcome to work alongside French local chefs, butchers and bakers to learn the little tricks as Kate translates both culture and language as needed.

Excursions into the fertile countryside are both an exercise in beauty as well as education. Farms, rural museums, and other food producers open their doors to Kate's students as the slow life of Southwest France unfolds meal by meal. There is plenty of time for shopping, wine and armagnac tasting, antique hunting.

Lunches out at sweet cafes, picturesque picnic spots and evening meals on the candlelit terrace at Camont are the highlights of gastronomic adventure. An evening out in nearby Agen is a highlight as young chefs taking advantage of the area's produce vie with one another to produce memorable meals in cozy bistros.

A competent driver escorts the group in a private mini-van allowing for eating, drinking & making merry. No need to rent a car while at the Relais de Camont.

Accommodation for small groups are at the Relais de Camont- Kate's towpath inn that houses her French Kitchen. Two lovely guest rooms with queen size beds and private bath or shower plus toilet and sink reflect the spirit of this charming farmhouse pigeonnier.

Help with travel arrangements is available and ticketing on the TGV or car rental for after or before the week through our own arrangements with AutoEurope. Need ideas on where to stay in Paris or for further Adventures? Kate's contacts will help create a memorable European Culinary Adventure for you.

The Six-day French Kitchen Adventures reflects the season's and include:

Daily Cooking Classes,
All meals and wine with lunch and dinners including some meals out.
Chauffeur-driven local transportation for market & tasting excursions
Six nights comfortable accommodation based on double occupancy with private bath at the Relais de Camont.
Market and other countryside Excursions.
Wine and armagnac tasting

2008 rates for A French Kitchen Adventure (based on double occupancy)
is 2950 Euros per person payable by Paypal.
(Or by check in dollars at the current exchange rate.)

A non-refundable deposit of 50% at time of booking is required to secure a reservation. Groups are limited to 4 (larger groups available on request) and booked on a first come first served basis. For reservations and availability contact: kate@thefrenchkitchen.com

A Year of French Kitchen Adventures in Southwest France

2007-10-10T22:07:00.000+02:00

Discover the Four Delicious Seasons of Gascony!

Winter Truffles, Spring Greens, Summer Fruit & Fall Wild Foods beckon you into my French Kitchen all year long in Southwest France. Join me here as I travel over the poetic and lush Gascon countryside searching out the best artisan food producers, the most colorful farmer’s markets, special gastronomic museums and delicious off-the-beaten paths to a hidden winery that only an insider would know where to find!

I invite you to indulge in the tranquil setting of my 18th-century guesthouse- Relais de Camont along the quiet canal towpath, explore the walking and bike trails at hand or help the 'master digger' tend Camont’s fertile organic potager and heritage fruit orchard. Friends join me to help teach you the basics of good simple French cuisine-- local cooks, talented French housewives and professional chefs. Our cooking classes are fun and informal yet feature the best artisan food produced locally by passionate friends and neighbors.

The Butcher, Baker & Armagnac-Maker open their farms and own kitchen doors for you to discover the secrets of good cooking as practiced for centuries in these country kitchens of Gascony. We cook and eat locally-- very locally! A day's outing to an armagnac cellar yields the golden brandy we use to prepare a guinea fowl roasting in it's own juices. A visit to a goat's farm supplies the chevre which we'll bake into little savory 'cheesecakes' served with an onion confiture. This fertile countryside is a four-season Super Market where you meet "the people who turn dirt into food".

Winter: January and February offers special Truffle weekends devoted to discovery the art and soul of truffle hunting in Southwest France including the world famous truffle market at Lalbenque.
Spring: March-May are busy cooking weeks (6-day programs featuring workshops with artisan food producers, colorful markets and cooking classes.)
Summer: June- mid September French Canal Cruises on the Julia Hoyt (Kate's flaoting home!) with gourmet cruising afloat as well as other European Culinary Adventures with Kate- Italy, Spain and Beyond.
Fall: Sept- end of Nov. the French Kitchen warms up Taste Gascony! Weekends with autumn fires, armagnac distillation and cooking weeks devoted to game, mushrooms and other wild things!

#1- French Kitchen Adventures Six-Day Programs begin on Saturday afternoon and depart on Thursday after lunch. They include: daily cooking classes, all meals and local transportation for market & tasting excursions, as well as five nights accommodation at the Relais de Camont. For More information on dates & rates click here- Six Days French Kitchen Adventures.

#2- Taste Gascony! Weekend Cooking Breaks run from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon and includes two cooking classes, one market excursion, two dinners and one lunch and three nights’ accommodation at the Relais de Camont. Local transportation not included. For more information on dates & rates click here- Taste Gascony! Weekend Breaks in Southwest France.

Come Join me for a French Kitchen Adventure in Gascony,

Kate Hill