Welcome to the Chefworks Chef Marco has been a chef for over 30 years and for some time has been doing art, holding dinner parties, baking for friends and giving pastry demos and instruction in his studio. Our supper club can accommodate gatherings of up to eight people. The space also functions as a studio where Marco makes and displays his art. It is an intimate and informal alternative to going out to a nice restaurant.
"Spending the day baking and preparing great food is one of the things I enjoy best, and my sculpture and library inspire great conversation." (Click on the Menu and Kitchen Scenes tab to get an idea of what a dining experience would be like )
The Chefworks makes and sells sweet and savory pastries (Click on the Pastry Pricing tab )
The Chefworks can arrange private cooking lessons to sharpen your skills. Tell me what you are interested in learning and we can set up an appointment to enhance your cooking skills. It's informal, it's great fun, it's only $50 plus the cost of the ingredients.
Private Dinner Party | Supper Club Below are some of the dishes we've created for our special chefworks supper club guests.
Roasted Capon stuffed with Leeks, Herbed Goat Cheese and Spinach, Potato Galette and Brussles Sprouts.
"Squid" made from a selection of homemade pickles from my garden: Italian banana pepper, Green tomato, Carrot, Red Onion, Jersey Tomato - Pear vinaigrette
Vegetable Tarts with Herbed Cottage Cheese Cream garnished with Flowers from the garden: Roses, Nasturtiums, African Basil and Pineapple Sage Flowers, Italian Basil.
Chef Marco's Cooking Tips
The Perfect Boiled Egg
Ingredients
12 large eggs, room temperature | Or just one egg
Directions
Place eggs in a large saucepan. Cover them with cool water by 1 inch. Slowly bring water to a boil over medium heat; when the water has reached a boil, cover and remove from heat. Let sit 10-12 minutes.
Transfer eggs to a colander; place under cool running water to stop the cooking. Eggs can be peeled and served immediately.
NOTE: The green ring that you see around egg yolk is from cooking the egg too long. Try the method above to cook the perfect egg every time.
The Chefworks News Corner
My nine-year-old daughter and I had one baking class with Marco, and a week later we both took home ribbons at the Jersey City PIE day competition! My apple pie won first place -- and I owe it all to Marco's wonderful baking tips. His class was both fun and informative. He has a real gift for making a complex process both simple and easy to replicate.
Chef Marco's Recipes
Lemon Chiffon Dessert: First make a lemon curd using the juice, and rind of 3 big lemons ( I added a little extra juice, ) 8 egg yolks and a cup of sugar. I cooked this over a double boiler for about half an hour. When cool I whipped a pint of heavy cream mixed with a 1/2 cup of 10x sugar and folded it into the curd. I made lady fingers and lined the molds I was using with them. I soaked the ladyfingers with lemon syrup and piped the cream into the molds. I put them in the freezer as this is a 'semi-fredo,' or partly frozen dessert.
Now for the garnishes: I combined sugar and corn syrup and made a caramel which then was spun into art deco type garnishes. I scraped lemon peel and added granulated sugar to it. I call this fairy dust in my kitchen. I made candied lemon peel and stored it in lemon syrup. I did the same with oranges sent to me from White Flower Farms. I made a syrup from pomegranate juice. I had on hand, in my freezer what I call paint. There was reduced passion fruit puree, and also some fresh plum puree that I had left from making plum tort for someone.
The Lemon Chiffon's were removed from the the freezer and freed them from their molds using a knife blade dipped in water. Wait a few minutes to allow the lemon chiffon's,to thaw to their semi-frozen state which is the perfect temperature for enjoying them.
Cheese Cake
This plate accompanied the cheese course. Clockwise from the top there is a crispy ginger cracker with a bit of the herbed goat cheese with which we stuffed the capon, fig confit from my neighbors tree, puree of pears made from my friend Evette's pear tree, yellow and red pepper coulis in between stripes of mascarpone.
Parker House Rolls Baked in a Loaf Pan
This "palette" of edible flowers from my garden is used for decorating plates: White and coral toned roses, Nasturtium, Pineapple Sage flowers, African Basil flowers and dill (which is an herb of course, but the flowers are too small to be seen on the plate)