As the late-January morning sun glinted off the frozen marina through the windows, eight amateur chefs stood in pressed whites, facing Saybrook Point Inn’s executive chef Leslie Tripp as he carefully seared short ribs in a pan atop an induction burner.
“Remember, no fat, no flavor; all fat, no flavor,” he says. “When you’re looking for [meat] like that, you want marble. Don’t get me going on filet mignon.”
The first in a series of three events, the Food Lovers’ weekend at the waterfront Old Saybrook destination welcomed a small group for a two-night getaway and a full day of culinary lectures, demonstrations and hands-on preparation.
After a Friday-night welcome reception with hors d’oeuvres, drinks and a few rounds of pool, the group returns to the inn’s Ballroom D early Saturday, ready to chop, dice, stir and saute their way through seven recipes and observe the construction of three desserts.
“So you’ll sear it and add your vegetables,” Tripp says, as he adds a bottle of Chianti to the pan containing the lightly floured meat and mirepoix of carrots, celery and onion he had asked the participants to chop for him at their own work stations. “And you can see in the bottom of the pan, these brown bits? We call it fond. You want that. That’s gold.That’s flavor.”
The short-rib entrée was the first recipe on the packed schedule, because it needed seven hours to braise. It would serve as the centerpiece for the feast the chefs would enjoy that night, along with the other Italian-inspired courses they’d crafted themselves throughout the day: a Tuscan ribollita (bread soup), spinach gnudi, risotto, and Panettone bread pudding souffle.
As soon as a staffer whisks away the pans of short rib, Tripp hands the reins to sous chef Gese Rodriguez, the kitchen’s pasta expert. Rodriguez deftly unfolds a long sheet of fresh pasta, cuts it into shorter pieces and uses a small ice cream scoop to form a petite ball of butternut squash filling. He uses a biscuit cutter to mark circles on the pasta sheet, then gently places each scoop of filling in the designated spots. After laying a second strip of pasta over these, he cuts out the ravioli and peels away the top layer, leaving the stuffed spheres behind.
Before the amateur chefs make a first attempt at their own ravioli construction, Tripp passes around the bowl of filling and urges them to try the mix of roasted squash, ricotta, mascarpone, Parmesan, nutmeg and a drop of honey. Rodriguez then sautes the finished pasta with a touch of cream, and serves pieces on individual plates. The chefs taste their creations enthusiastically.
“You sprinkled a little truffle oil on these?” a guest asks. “Yes, and a little bit of fresh sage,” Rodriguez replies.
With little to no down time between that morning’s courses, the busy chefs miss a planned coffee break, but it’s hardly noticed. And when Tripp notes that they have an allotted hour for lunch, the eager chefs ask to get back to the cooking early.
“This is something we hope that could be a permanent component to Saybrook Point Inn,” says the executive chef, who’s helmed the kitchen at Fresh Salt for four years and served as a consultant to its restaurant operation for more than 20 years before that. “Everything they made in class today, they’ll be eating this evening. We have [a dining] table set for them, a nice ocean view table. We selected some very nice wines to marry up with the courses.”
The guest chefs’ afternoon includes a special appearance by Saybrook Point Inn matriarch Mary Tagliatela, who, at 92, is still a constant presence around the property. She takes her place among chefs Tripp and Rodriguez to demonstrate her signature cod puttanesca recipe. As she surveys Rodriguez’s work, she adds her own suggestions.
“How about raisins?”
“No raisins,” Rodriguez responds.
“A few raisins,” she insists. Tripp immediately fetches raisins from the kitchen.
January’s Italian Winter Holiday-themed “gourmet-intensive weekend” will be followed by a “Taste of New England” event during the weekend of Feb. 20 to 22. Tripp and his staff will walk guests through recipes like short rib pot roast and traditional seafood dishes, along with tastings of native New England beers, wines, spirits and cheeses. This concept is a natural fit for Fresh Salt, where the menu features fresh-catch dayboat fish and shellfish from within 100 miles of Old Saybrook.
“I’m very proud of our geographics and where we are,” he says. “We’ll be doing a cookoff, with Connecticut [hot with butter] and Maine [cold with mayonnaise] lobster roll and I’ll get a debate going to see which is better. We’ll be doing chowder. New England and Rhode Island [styles,] that’ll be another debate.”
The final event in the series, “Tour de France” during the weekend of March 6 to 8, will reflect Tripp’s French culinary education and background, with regional dishes paired with accompanying wines. Recipes will include roasted pork tenderloin with spicy honey, truffle chestnut soup and poached pears in a spiced mulled wine. At the close of each weekend, guests are also treated to Sunday brunch at the restaurant – after first assisting the kitchen staff with the setup of the elaborate buffet.
Guests Alex and Terrence Irving of Newington came to the inn to celebrate their second wedding anniversary.
“We were here for a spa day and heard about this,” Alex Irving says. “We wanted to do something special.”
The couple often cooks at home, using a meat grinder to make sausage, meatballs and burgers and a pasta maker attachment for their KitchenAid mixer.
“Alex does most of the cooking,” Terrence says. “I used to cook before we got married, but because she’s better, I stay out of her way.”
“But [today] his risotto tasted just like the chef’s,” Alex says proudly.
For Glenn and Marianne Santoro of Farmington, also avid home cooks, the getaway was their first visit to Saybrook Point Inn. They’ve participated in cooking classes during travel to France and Spain — “you meet some very interesting people,” jokes Glenn — but the overnight event was also a first for them.
“It’s perfect because it’s a weekend away, plus it’s something you love to do – cooking,” says Marianne. “Our 22-year-old son loves to cook. He said, ‘Oh, I’m so jealous. I’d love to do that.’ Maybe next time we’ll bring him.”
They may return just to unlock Tripp’s secrets. As he demonstrated the layering of a lasagne di carcofi (artichoke lasagna) he slowly ladles tomato sauce across the top layer of pasta before adding mozzarella. Marianne asks the chef how he made his marinara.
Tripp pauses. “Next class,” he teases.
Baked CodWith Fresh Tomato Sauce Over Capellini
>>4 fresh cod filets, thick cut (6 ounces each)
>>1 cup finely chopped fresh tomato
>>4 tablespoons olive oil
>>1/2 cup of Kalamata olives, slivered
>>2 tablespoons of fine chopped capers
>>1/2 tablespoon parsley, chopped
>>1/2 tablespoon basil, chopped
>>Zest from 2 lemons
>>1 cup clam juice
>>4 cups of white wine
>>1 teaspoon of garlic, minced
>>1 teaspoon of shallots, minced
>>Salt to taste
>>1/2 pound capellini pasta
Preheat oven to 350.
To make the fresh tomato sauce: Combine chopped tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, slivered Kalamata olives, capers, basil, parsley, and lemon zest/lemon juice. Reserve.
In a small baking dish, arrange the cod portions and top with clam juice and white wine. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes.
Put a sauce pan with water and tablespoon of salt to a boil. Cook pasta al dente.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in small sauce pot and sauté garlic and shallots until transparent. Add half of the tomato mixture. Remove the baked cod from the oven. Add the baking liquid to the sauce pot with tomatoes. Simmer and spoon the remaining tomato mixture on top of each portion of cod.
Warm in oven 2 minutes, drain pasta and toss with tomato sauce. Garnish with parsley and basil. Remove cod from oven.
Arrange the pasta and fresh tomato sauce in a serving bowl. Place baked cod on a platter. Spoon any additional tomato sauce over fish and pasta and serve.
>>Saybrook Point Inn’s Food Lovers weekend packages include a two-night stay, starting at $698 per couple. Day passes for Saturday instruction are available for $179.95 a person. Information: 800-243-0212, saybrook.com.
