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Private class menus

After booking a private cooking class with Bowen Appétit, we start discussing menu options. We can accommodate nearly any dietary restrictions or special requests and have hundreds of recipes in our teaching collection. These menus are just a starting point – tell us what you like and we can go from there! Think about cuisines (e.g. Thai), techniques (e.g. cakes), or dishes (e.g. paella) that you’d like to learn. Think about how you’d like to change your cooking style (less meat? more seasonal vegetables?) and we can consider that in suggesting options.

(Note: not all menu items are available year-round and some combinations are unavailable due to time and/or equipment constraints.)

See the bottom of this page for more general ideas!

French

  • First course (choose one):
    Homemade herbed ricotta on toasts
    Buckwheat crêpes with ham and Gruyere
  • Salad: green salad with Dijon vinaigrette
  • Main course (choose one):
    French lentils with roasted vegetables, parsley pistou, and poached eggs
    Quick coq au vin (chicken braised in red wine with mushrooms and pearl onions)
    Quick cassoulet (chicken and sausage braised with white beans and bread crumbs)
  • Dessert (choose one):
    Apple galette with thyme and créme fraîche whipped cream
    Crêpes with lemon and sugar
    Lemon yogurt cake with berry coulis

Crêperie at Home

  • Buckwheat crêpes with ham, Gruyère, and sunny-side up eggs
  • Crêpes with greens, mushrooms, and creamy herbed béchamel
  • Crêpes with homemade salted caramel and ricotta cheese
  • Crêpes Suzette (flambéed!)

Italian

Choose two main course categories (e.g. one gnocchi dish from option 1 and one  seafood dish from option 3)

  • Appetizer (choose one):
    Fennel, orange, avocado salad with Kalamata olives
    Prosciutto-wrapped dates stuffed with chevre or homemade ricotta
    Rosemary and white bean crostini
    Herbed homemade ricotta and fig tapenade with crostini
  • Main course option 1: Homemade gnocchi
    Roasted beets and herbed chevre
    Lardons, white beans, and garlicky greens
    Pesto and roasted seasonal vegetables
  • Main course option 2: Risotto
    Mushrooms and chili breadcrumbs
    Spinach with lemon and nutmeg
    Lemon, peas, and fresh herbs
    Caramelized fennel, garlicky greens, chevre
  • Main course option 3: Seafood
    Linguinine with squid, lemon, and chilies
    Bacon-wrapped cod fillets with lemon aioli
    Cioppino – seafood stew with fish, squid, and mussels
    Mussels with creamy pancetta broth
  • Main course option 4: Meat
    Pork tenderloin with pesto
    Pan-roasted chicken thighs with shallots and white wine
  • Dessert (choose one):
    Lemon-rosemary tart
    Polenta olive oil cake with fruit and créme fraîche whipped cream
    Salted chocolate torte with créme fraîche whipped cream
    Butterscotch budino
    Vanilla-orange panna cotta

Fresh pasta workshop

  • Tortellini (choose one):
    Roasted squash and garlic tortellini with brown butter-sage sauce
    Wild mushroom tortellini with pancetta pink sauce and peas
    Garlic-herb ricotta tortellini with tomato sauce
  • Pappardelle (choose one):
    Pink sauce, pancetta, mushrooms, peas
    Italian sausage, garlicky greens, chili flakes
    Leeks, garlic, and lemon
  • Salad: Green salad with homemade vinaigrette

Lasagna from scratch

We’ll make a lasagna almost entirely from scratch, including fresh pasta, fresh homemade ricotta, and meat sauce. (The only thing we don’t have time for is homemade mozzarella!). We’ll also put together a green salad to enjoy on the side.

Mediterranean

  • First course (choose two):
    Butternut-tahini dip with pita chips
    Toasted sesame hummus and tzatiki with pita chips
    Dolma (filled grape leaves)
    Spanikopita (spinach and feta baked in phyllo)
  • Salad (choose one):
    Fattoush salad with toasted pita
    Greek salad with feta and oregano
  • Main (choose one):
    Citrus-oregano lamb and chicken kabobs with yogurt sauce
    Herbed red and white quinoa with roasted eggplant and tahini
    Seafood stew with saffron and peppers

Tapas

Choose four to six, depending on combination:

  • Toasts with homemade ricotta and fig tapenade
  • Warm marinated olives
  • Rosemary white bean spread on toasts with balsamic drizzle
  • Crispy baked chickpeas
  • Spanish cheeses and membrillo
  • Manchego crackers with cured meat and roasted peppers
  • Prosciutto-wrapped dates stuffed with chevre or homemade ricotta
  • Marinated goat cheese
  • Flaky mushroom-thyme spirals
  • Melon with chevre, prosicutto, smoked paprika, and mint
  • Paprika chicken skewers with yogurt sauce
  • Turkey meatballs with balsamic reduction
  • Tortilla Española (frittata with potatoes and browned onions)
  • Empanadas (choose one):
    Tuna, sweet peppers, and melting onions
    Beef and peppers
    Manchego and membrillo

Spanish

  • Tapas: pick two from above list
  • Salad: green salad with smoky paprika vinaigrette
  • Main course option 1: Spanish seafood stew with saffron and peppers plus an extra choice from the tapas list
  • Main course option 2: Paella (choose one – parties of 10+ can choose two)
    Chicken and chorizo with chickpeas and red peppers
    Seafood with fish, squid, and mussels
    Roasted vegetable and white beans
  • Sangria (host provides wine):
    Conventional sangria
    White sangria
    Harvest sangria with apple cider
    Spiced winter sangria
    Rosewater-mint sangria with rosé
  • Dessert options available in place of a tapas choice!

Mexican

  • Appetizer: Best-ever guacamole
  • First course (choose one):
    Black bean soup with chipotle crema
    Tortilla soup with avocado
    Corn and black bean salad with pepper confetti
    Roasted beet and carrot salad with avocado and toasted pepitas
    Arroz verde and ranchero beans
    Chipotle chilaquiles with black beans
  • Main course option 1: Chile relleno stuffed with roasted mushrooms, onions, and chorizo
  • Main course option 2: Tacos with roasted tomatillo salsa (choose two fillings)
    Chile-roasted squash and peppers
    Yucatecan marinated chicken with garlic and herbs
    Roasted mushrooms, chorizo, and onions
    Old-school ground beef with homemade seasoning mix
  • Beverage (choose one):
    Homemade horchata
    Watermelon-mint agua fresca
    Mexican white sangria (wine provided by host)

Thai

Note: nearly all items include fish sauce and cannot be adapted to vegetarian diets

  • First course (choose one):
    Sesame tofu spring rolls with spicy peanut or lemon-coconut sauce
    Green papaya salad
    Crunchy peanut-cilantro slaw
    Chicken or sesame tofu satay with peanut sauce
  • Main course (choose two):
    Pad Thai with chicken or tofu
    Pad kee mao (“drunken noodles”)
    Laab lettuce rolls with ground chicken or pork
    Tom kha gai chicken lemongrass soup
    Red curry with tofu or chicken
  • Dessert (choose one, or choose an additional first course):
    Coconut sticky rice with mango
    Forbidden rice pudding

Vietnamese

Note: nearly all items include fish sauce and cannot be adapted to vegetarian diets

  • First course (choose one):
    Spring rolls with spicy peanut or lemon-coconut sauce
    Green papaya salad
  • Main course (choose two):
    Banh mi with pâté, carrot and daikon pickles, and sriracha mayo*
    Bun noodle bowl with nuoc cham and fresh herbs*
    Chicken pho
    Clay pot braised fish with Vietnamese caramel
    Banh cuon – fresh rice crepes with pork and mushrooms
    Braised Vietnamese eggplant
    Vietnamese lamb and green bean stir-fry
  • Beverage: Iced Vietnamese coffees (decaf or caffeinated)

* choose one of the following proteins: black pepper chicken, sesame tofu, lemongrass meatballs, caramelized pork, Vietnamese omelet

Brunch

  • Eggs (choose one):
    Eggs Benedict (canadian bacon) or Florentine (spinach)
    Quiche with roasted butternut squash, greens, and Gruyere
    Frittata with smoked fish, leeks, and herbed chevre
  • Potatoes (choose one):
    Crispy breakfast potatoes with peppers
    Sweet potato and apple hash with sage
  • Sweet (choose one):
    Caramelized apple Dutch baby
    Cinnamon sugar donut muffins
  • Salad (choose one):
    Green salad with homemade vinaigrette
    Fruit salad with poppyseed dressing

A few other favorites:

  • First course:
    Tofu “pâté” (a Bowen Appétit favorite!)
    Mini mushroom quiches
    Turkey zucchini meatballs with yogurt sauce
  • Sides:
    Wild mushroom bread pudding
    Creamy polenta with garlicky greens and caramelized onions
    Massaged kale salad with white beans, creamy garlic dressing, and bread crumbs
    Fresh mozzarella salad with radish, snap pea, and black sesame
    Roasted cauliflower with salsa verde (the Italian variety – not the Mexican variety!)
    Blended gazpacho with chevre croutons
  • Main:
    Vegetable and ricotta tart with whole wheat olive oil crust
    Chicken and bread salad with arugula and currants
    Sausages braised in lentils
  • Dessert:
    Beet cake with orange cream cheese frosting
    Vanilla-maple baked pears with whipped cream
    Bowen’s famous chocolate chip cookies
    Apple rum cake