Professor PJ has taught many classes at the Farm because of his unique perspective on cooking that pairs classical culinary training with deep scientific understanding. He is also an excellent teacher. Like many of his classes, this one will focus on Italian and French cuisines and will use ingredients at their peak of ripeness: late season tomatoes, apples, dates, cranberries and walnuts.
His informal cooking training from his family, and his formal cooking training in traditional Italian cuisine and classical French technique saw him climb quickly from the bottom of the professional kitchen to Sous Chef in only 6 years. All this preceded his Ph.D. in organic chemistry, which led him to his current position as Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department at Seattle University, where he teaches a popular class in the Science of Cooking.
For this fall class, PJ will teach us how to prepare hand-made cavatelli pasta with buttery tomato sauce and ricotta salata. Based on Marcella Hazan’s fabulous tomato sauce with butter and onion, PJ will teach you a science trick to make this velvety sauce irresistibly aromatic.
For the main part of this class we will prepare a fennel-crusted grilled pork roast with an apple gastrique and a beautiful pommes Anna. Both dishes are tricky French preparations and so represent great ways to expand your cooking skillset.
You will learn a technique to cook the pork without burning the crust, add a new and highly versatile sauce to your repertoire, and learn a stunning classic potato recipe.
For dessert we will enjoy a cranberry walnut clafoutis with bourbon sauce. PJ will teach us the technique for this French classic so you can adapt it to whatever fruit is in season.
Professor PJ has taught many classes at the Farm because of his unique perspective on cooking that pairs classical culinary training with deep scientific understanding. He is also an excellent teacher. Like many of his classes, this one will focus on Italian and French cuisines and will use ingredients at their peak of ripeness: late season tomatoes, apples, dates, cranberries and walnuts.
His informal cooking training from his family, and his formal cooking training in traditional Italian cuisine and classical French technique saw him climb quickly from the bottom of the professional kitchen to Sous Chef in only 6 years. All this preceded his Ph.D. in organic chemistry, which led him to his current position as Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department at Seattle University, where he teaches a popular class in the Science of Cooking.
For this fall class, PJ will teach us how to prepare hand-made cavatelli pasta with buttery tomato sauce and ricotta salata. Based on Marcella Hazan’s fabulous tomato sauce with butter and onion, PJ will teach you a science trick to make this velvety sauce irresistibly aromatic.
For the main part of this class we will prepare a fennel-crusted grilled pork roast with an apple gastrique and a beautiful pommes Anna. Both dishes are tricky French preparations and so represent great ways to expand your cooking skillset.
You will learn a technique to cook the pork without burning the crust, add a new and highly versatile sauce to your repertoire, and learn a stunning classic potato recipe.
For dessert we will enjoy a cranberry walnut clafoutis with bourbon sauce. PJ will teach us the technique for this French classic so you can adapt it to whatever fruit is in season.
