Berkshire Tidbits: Cooking Classes, Firefly SpecialsBy Judith Lerner, iBerkshires Columnist
09:45PM / Monday, November 09, 2015 | |
'Cooking at The Chef's Shop'
Baking Thanksgiving pies
Thursday, Nov. 12; 5 to 7 p.m.
The "Cooking at The Chef's Shop" series continues this Thursday as guest chef Elaine Khosrova, a Hudson Valley food writer and editor from Albany, demonstrates the art of baking Thanksgiving pies. She is a former pastry chef who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and at La Varenne in Paris.
On Nov. 22, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Gale will be back and her students definitely get their hands into the cooking. She'll be making four Thanksgiving side dishes: tarragon creamed pearl onions, rutabaga with caraway, jalapeno corn soufflé and cranberry-kumquat sauce.
The Chef's Shop offers class students a 10-percent discount on purchases made on a class day. Cost is $60 per person for a single class, $150 for a series of three. Payment is required in advance with a 48-hour cancellation policy. For more details or to reserve a place in any classes, call 1-800-237-5284 or 413-528-0135 or Email@TheChefsShop.com
Not-Your-Usual Church Dinner
At Pittsfield's Zion Lutheran
Friday, Nov.13; 5 to 7 p.m.
Here's a nice twist on New England church dinners. A menu of authentic German food. Of course, Martin Luther was German but, still, most churches stick to chicken or ham. Zion Lutheran has, however, been serving an annual German dinner for many years.
On Friday, the church at 74 First St. will host a dinner featuring beef rouladen, which is a pounded slice of beef wrapped around a pickle and slow-cooked. Zion Lutheran's recipe also has onion and bacon inside. What's not to like?
 Church Council President Alicia Aldam said the menu used to be sauerbraten but members felt like a change.
Egg noodles, red cabbage, green beans and baby carrots are the sides with bread and butter and beverages included in the dinner. Wine and beer will be for sale.
Dinner ends with a traditionally German sweet, Black Forest cake. Aldam said this is the signature cake of church member Sylvia Boulger, which she will make from scratch in the church's large and well-equipped kitchen with the help of Erika Wisenbaker and other church volunteers.
Dinners cost $12 for adults, $6 for children under 12. To-go orders are available. While reservations are not necessary, tickets may be bought at www.zionlutheranpittsfield.org. Otherwise, diners may pay at the door by cash, check or credit card. Call 413-442-3525 for more information.
December Wine Dinner at Alta
Second of the 2015/2016 Season
Wednesday, Dec. 2; Guests are expected to arrive by 6
Seats at Alta's wine dinner are always snapped up. If you would like to go to their second dinner of the season, probably the last of 2015, reserve now. Before it is sold out.
So far, only the date has been decided but that should not matter. Alta's wine dinners always satisfy and delight followers. The menu is always interesting and finely executed. The wines are also interesting and good quality.
Expect delicious preparations in chef Ben Daire's take on a Tuscan-inspired dinner.
Cost of the dinner is $55 per person as it has been since Alta wine dinners began in 2009. Call Alta Restaurant and Wine Bar at 413-637-0003, 34 Church St., Lenox, to make reservations or for more information.
Firefly Bistro Announces
Seasonal Specials
Firefly Restaurant and New American Bistro, an otherwise pretty pricey place, has just sent out information about its autumn meal deals: a 3-course meal for two with a bottle of wine Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for $63 and a list of the daily pubish comfort specials.
 Mondays there's meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy over potato bread for $6; Tuesdays it's grilled cheese and tomato soup for $7; Wednesdays are burgers at $5 for your choice of house-made veggie, chicken or beef; and on Thursdays flatbreads with "loads of tasty add-ons are $5.
Then, after you save on the specials, don't skip dessert.
Chef and owner Laura Shack is a super baker so you know dessert at Firefly is made there and not from packages. Whether it is Shack's take on the old New York City Ebinger's Bakery's deep chocolate cake she calls Brooklyn Blackout Cake or her Jumbleberry Pie with homemade crust, Firefly dessert is worth leaving room for. And they hand whip the cream for their hot fudge sundae.
Firefly is at 71 Church St. in Lenox, 413-637-2700, cheffirefly@gmail.com, fireflylenox.com.
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