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Day Courses

The programme for day courses at Swinton Park covers a wide range of techniques and styles of cooking. The recipes for each day have a theme, and a wide range of complementary dishes are prepared. The Bread and Sauce courses are Rosemary Shrager One Day Courses, the others are run by Cookery School Chef John Rogers (in some he is joined by experts in their field), apart from the Sushi for Beginners course (run by Simon Phillips) and the Preserving Masterclass (run by Clippy).

The Dinner Party courses are graded for different levels of competence, but all other day courses are designed to suit all interests and levels of experience and ability.

Guests of all ages are welcome, but please bear in mind that much of the day is spent standing and comfortable footwear and clothing are strongly recommended.

All of the day courses are available to both non-residents and hotel guests, and there are special accommodation packages available to guests attending a day course. The Course Programme sets out the dates of each course, and please also go to the Rates and Schedule page at www.swintonpark.com/cookery_school/rates.html for details of the course charges and the timings for the day.

All our Dinner Parties and most of our themed Day Courses follow the same format : you will spend the day cooking a four course lunch, including bread and biscuits (but please note that for the Sushi for Beginners course the lunch is a less structured meal). Lunch will be served in the Cookery School Dining Room, apart from the Kitchen Garden, Wild About Food and Sushi courses where lunch is served at the demonstration table. Please note that for the Game Masterclass course there is less hands-on cooking involved, as more time is spent with Richard understanding the different types of game bird and cuts of meat, with some demonstration only dishes.

The Wild About Food course starts with a three hour foraging session in the grounds before leading into a demonstration lunch in the school kitchen, and the Kitchen Garden course starts with a tour of the walled garden which then leads into a mixture of hands on and demonstration cooking at the demonstration table. Both of these courses will use the ingredients foraged from the grounds or harvested from the walled garden that morning.

We are also running a Preserving Workshop Course which is a three hour morning workshop session, run by Michelle McKenna of Clippy's Apples. Refreshments are served during the course, but not lunch.

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Workshop Courses

"Preserving the Nation" Course with Clippy - 14th October 2012
The three hour preserving session will include two "hands on" taught preserves using seasonal ingredients sourced from the hotels' walled garden, plus an additional demo. Guests will receive a recipe booklet with all the recipes and tips from workshop and they should expect to make at least 4-6 jars of preserves each to take heme. The workshop will incorporate ingredients such as chocolate, chilli, ginger, garlic, vanilla and alcohol in the preserves.

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Day Courses

Here at Swinton Park we work, as a group, round our very large granite worktop in the middle of the kitchen, each preparing the various elements of the day's menu. Your tutor will demonstrate key skills to the group and will assist you in mastering these skills. It is very much a hands on experience although please note time constraints allow only limited hands-on cooking in the Kitchen Garden course and the Game Masterclass, and the lunch for the Wild About Food day is a demonstration meal.

We break for coffee and home-made biscuits mid-morning and during most day courses lunch is served at approx 2.00pm, where we offer you the opportunity to assist Robert in plating-up the lunch - you will be able to observe a professional level of presentation!

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Rosemary Shrager One Day Masterclass Courses

Bread
If ever have ever wanted your house to smell of freshly baked bread, and then eat the most wonderful freshly baked bread, this is your opportunity. You will be beginning from the basic techniques and you will learn how to create a selection of breads, from classic British bread, French bread, Eastern bread, quick soda bread etc., using a variety of flours and flavours. Focassia, rye, pitta, naan, wholemeal, saffron, brioche; these are but just a few.

Sauce
You will learn how to turn the simplest of dishes into a real treat. A sauce can transform a meal into a sensation. You will be introduced to basic techniques and learn the reduction of sauces and the understanding of flavours of sauces. You will adapt this into sweet and savoury sauces and end up creating your own signature sauce.

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Dinner Party Courses

These are graded for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels of experience and confidence. Each course will work on the essentials including knife skills and butchery, stocks and sauces and breadmaking. As a guideline :

Beginner : aimed at those who want to master the basics and will get you to the level where you can cook a three course meal using simple recipes with confidence. Course content changes throughout the year, but a typical lunch menu from a day would be :
French flavoured Bread, (Sage and onion, sun dried tomato)
Pea and mint veloute, Pancetta crisp
Red onion and goat's cheese Tart, chive dressing, Rocket and Parmesan salad Pan
Fried Sea bass with crushed new potatoes, sweet potato puree and basil pesto
Vanilla Panna cotta, Almond tuile, Raspberry coulis

and the skills covered would include : Basic bread making; the art of a good soup; a master class in a flat fish preparation; de-boning a fish or small bird; what to do with the bi product i.e. stocks for soups, saucers and risottos; how to create a stunning desert and general presentation skills

Intermediate : this is for those who have some experience of cooking but feel limited by their range of skills. The course will introduce more advanced skills and styles of food. Course content changes throughout the year, but a typical lunch menu from a day would be :
Flavoured Breads and shapes, (Poppy seed rolls, rosemary and rock salt baguettes)
Essence of tomato water, Goat cheese Tortellini
Fillet of red mullet, spiced cous cous, fine beans and olives, butternut puree.
Poached and pan fried Pheasant breast, Chive pomme puree, confit baby shallots, Parma ham crisp, Tarragon cream sauce.
Honey lavender and parsnip soufflé with lemon scented sauce You will need to feel confident in the kitchen be able to handle a knife and understand how to follow recipes.

and the skills covered would include : Flavoured and shaped breads; a master class in chocolate work; making fresh pasta; how to fillet a whole fish and de-bone a whole bird; what to do with the bi product i.e. stocks for soups, saucers and risotto; learn the art of silky smooth puree; produce a failsafe soufflé and general presentation skills

Advanced : aimed at those who are already confident in the kitchen with competent knife skills and want instruction at the highest level of cuisine covering advanced techniques. Course content changes throughout the year, but a typical lunch menu from a day would be :
Soda bread and brioche
Ballotine of confit duck
Smoked wood pigeon, celeriac puree, apple crisps, chocolate oil, and glazed baby beetroots.
Pan-fried ballontine of Salmon fillet, butternut squash gnocchi, Poached egg, hollandaise sauce.
Dark chocolate fondant with white chocolate ice cream and hot chocolate foam
Petit fours

and the skills covered would include : Advanced bread making; a master class in sugar workand in petit fours; fish preparation; butchery skills; what to do with the bi product i.e. stocks for soups, saucers and risotto; advanced cooking techniques and presentation skills; and the ability to work at a pace and under pressure.

 

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Italian

Master the simple and yet brilliant Italian basics such as pasta, but also explore some of the lesser known recipes and ingredients. Course content will change with every course, but a typical lunch menu from a day would be :

Focaccia, Polenta Bread
Broccoli soup with ricotta and Parmesan
Rabbit, Chestnut, Gorgonzola and wild Mushrooms Tagliatelle
Sea Bass with Basil Potato Puree, Pesto, slow roasted cherry tomatoes, braised baby gem.
Iced prosecco zabaglione, Pistachio Biscotti, Honey and vanilla ice cream.

and the skills covered would include : a master class in Butchery (whole bird); making fresh pasta, shapes and fillings; flavoured and shaped breads; classic Italian cooking techniques; fillet a whole fish; making ice cream and de- bone a whole rabbit

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Sushi for Beginners

This is a day designed at those who already appreciate sushi to a limited degree and want to learn more about sushi and its origins along with other typically Japanese dishes. SImon Phillips will teach guests how to master all the basic skills, including how to cook the perfect sushi rice, and what the essential ingredients need to be to be able to enjoy sushi at home. The style of sushi prepared allows for a Western influence, as Simon encourages guests to try their own hand at fusion food, blending Western and Asian ingredients together. At the end of the cooking session, guests will enjoy a sushi lunch served to them at the demonstration table in the demonstration kitchen.

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Butchery

The course will be spent working on knife skills, boning and filleting, and understanding the different butcher’s cuts and joints. Different seasonal meats will be used, the majority of which will be locally sourced. An ideal gift for Father’s Day. Course content changes throughout the year, but a typical lunch menu from the day would be :

Onion and Bacon baguettes, Black Pudding Rolls.
Spiced Butternut and Coconut Veloute.
Ham Hock Pressing, Homemade piccalilli, Toasted Fruit and Nut Bread.
Pan Roasted Yorkshire Beef Rump, Buttered Spinach, Wild Mushrooms, Confit Cherry Tomatoes, Rosti Potato, Hollandaise Sauce
Sharp Lemon Tart, Raspberry Sorbet

and the skills covered would include : Flavoured and shaped breads; master class in Butchery; what to do with the bi- product i.e. stocks for soups, sauces and risotto; make sweet pastry; the art of a good soup; marinades and barbecue techniques; boning and filleting

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Wild About Food

Your instructor, Chris Bax, will take you on a three hour foraging walk in the grounds (either in the parkland or slightly further afield on the Estate), where you can learn about wild edible food and what to avoid. Depending on the time of year Chris will be looking at greens, salads, mushrooms, nuts, berries plus other uses for woodland, meadow and hedgerow plants, with a particular focus on mushrooms and funghi in the autumn months.
Ingredients are then brought back to the cookery school where a demonstration meal is cooked for you by our Cookery School Chef, Robert Taylor, and eaten at the demonstration table.

For those interested in countryside skills and foraging, you might also be interested in our Hunter Gatherer days, which are held in the parkland during the summer months. The day is hosted by Chris, who takes the group foraging, and our falconer Sophie Abbott who hunts with her Birds of Prey and ferrets. Lunch is served at the Deerhouse, using ingredients sourced from the grounds.

 

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Fish and Shellfish

Learn about the varieties of un-endangered fish and shellfish that can be readily sourced from our local waters, and enjoy some mouth watering recipes. Course content changes throughout the year, but a typical lunch menu from the day would be :
Focaccia, olive oil baguettes
Lobster Bisque
Smoked Whitby Haddock and Leek Risotto, Free Range Poached Egg, Parma Ham Crisp.
Pan Roasted Crispy Pollock with chorizo, butterbeans, fine beans and goats' cheese
Plum and almond tart with plum ripple ice cream

and the skills covered would include : flavoured and shaped breads; boning and filleting fish; making sweet pastry; what to do with the bi product i.e. stocks for soups, sauces and risotto; master class in filleting a flat fish; making ice cream; cooking the perfect risotto

 

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Indian Masterclass Day Course

Prett Tejura from Curry Cuisine is the tutor for this day course, with lunch served at the demonstration table. It is designed to teach the basics, from understanding the essential spices, Indian herbs and other ingredients that will give you the confidence when creating your mouthwatering Indian food.

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The Kitchen Garden : Grow and Eat Your Own

Susan Cunliffe-Lister, the acclaimed garden designer, starts the Kitchen Garden masterclass course with a tour of the four acre walled garden at the hotel, explaining her principles of design and her recommended planting programme for a fruit and vegetable garden. Guests will enjoy the hands on experience of collecting the fruit, herbs and vegetables for the day's course, learning some skills in the garden and then joining Robert in the cookery school kitchen where he will combine demonstration and hands on cooking for a fresh and innovative introduction to cooking in harmony with the seasons. Susan will also attend the lunch for a very relaxed question and answer session, and guests will finish the day with a cutting or seedling to take home with them.

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Game

The Game masterclass courses offer an insight from Richard Townsend from Yorkshire Game into game, countryside practices and the different breeds of bird, followed by an introduction to the seasonality of meat, and the different cuts and various ways in which each cut needs to be hung, prepared and cooked. This is interspersed by Robert with masterclasses on sauces and vegetables to accompany a dish, hands on boning and preparation of a dish along with a pate or terrine, along with a tasting of complementary wines.

 

Swinton Park Ltd., Swinton Park, Masham, Ripon, North Yorks HG4 4JH | Registered in England No.: 3696380
Email: enquiries@swintonpark.com | Tel: 01765 680900 | Toll Free from the USA: 1866 8103039

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