I love cooking classes. Having the opportunity to take one in a place I’m visiting is even better because I’m exposed to local purveyors and local ingredients. Plus, a cooking class adds a unique memory to ones’ travels. On a recent trip to Door County, Wisconsin, I took a cooking class and came away with these cooking tips I learned at Savory Spoon Cooking School.

Pin these tips to Pinterest so you don’t forget them.

While I was in Door County, Wisconsin, I was fortunate enough to take a class at the Savory Spoon Cooking School, housed in an actual, old school house (which was then the post office, and then someone’s home) that dates back to 1879. The owner, Chef Janice Thomas, along with her husband Michael, has owned and run the school in Ellison Bay in Door County, for more than 16 years. She has regular classes, but can also hold private classes. And, she takes students on fabulous-sounding international trips to become immersed in the cuisines of different countries.

Savory Spoon Cooking School is located in this charming old school house. What a lovely place to learn, and eat!

Janice’s format is very logical – she has a multi-course menu plan, including recipes for students to refer to and keep. The group is divided up by meal courses so that small teams are each making a different part. Each course’s ingredients are neatly set out, pre-measured, on a baking sheet. I love that idea – it’s kind of like a “kit.”

Janice goes over everything that’s going to be made before the teams set about their individual projects. During that time, and as she checks in on each team, she offers extremely helpful tips that students can use at the time, and at home. Here are some that stuck out to me and that have come in handy in my own kitchen.

Here’s Janice, owner of Savory Spoon Cooking School. Photo courtesy Savory Spoon Cooking School.

8 Cooking tips from Savory Spoon Cooking School in Door County, Wisconsin:

1. Salad dressings – Use a 3:1 ratio of oil to acids (vinegars or citrus juices) when making your own dressing. Add a spoonful of jam or a little mustard to make the flavor more interesting.
2. Shallots – Slice it lengthwise from the tip, almost to stem end, keeping it intact. Remove the peel. Then, slice as much as you need, horizontally, holding onto stem end to create a fine dice. Put the rest in a bag with the root intact.
3. Scrapers – They are a handy tool to have on hand to help gather small dices of things, scooping them into a pan, as well as scraping up dough when you’re mixing it.
4. Microplane – They have so many uses, like for zesting citrus fruit peels, grating chocolate, garlic, and ginger. Microplane (a brand) makes a mesh glove for using a mandolin to use prevent you from cutting yourself.
5. When chopping dried fruit, sprinkle a little flour, bread crumbs or sugar over them before cutting. It prevents the fruit from sticking to the knife.
6. Plating a Salad – Serve it family-style, on a platter, placing any add-ins, like nuts, or other items you think some people might not want, around the edge so people can add in what they want – or avoid it.
7. Salt alternative – If salt isn’t available when you are cooking, add a few drops of Tabasco instead because it provides that umami essence.
8. When making cookies, mix the butter and sugar combination (used in most recipes) for a full three minutes (no more, no less) to blend the two thoroughly so that cookies turn out better.

As you plan your trip to Door County, visit the Savory Spoon Cooking School’s website and sign up for a class. 

Here are a few pictures I took from the cooking class I attended:

An arugula salad topped with nasturtiums made during our class at Savory Spoon Cooking School. Janice gave us the tip to sprinkle the nuts around the outside of the plated salad, which I did right after this picture was taken.

Doing what we food and travel writers do, I’m taking a picture of other writers taking a picture of Janice showing us how to pour batter over cherries and plums for dessert.

Hungry for more? Find out what else you can do while you’re in Door County, Wisconsin. Make this traditional Swedish Cardamom Coffee Cake, a family recipe from a Door County local.

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