THE BRIEF

A new one-day residential course - this particular one focused on alternative ideas for Christmas - held in a private Georgian house not far from the North Yorkshire Moors. Teaching is done in a huge modern-style kitchen around an island big enough to play table tennis that seats ten students on stools. Cooking is done on hotplates at the island and there are two ovens.

Run by two Cordon Bleu chefs – Lady Georgina Anderson and Caroline Whalley - with combined experience in both the restaurant trade and private catering. The teaching is not at all stuffy and is aimed at beginners to improvers. The school’s motto, inscribed on the back of the two leaders’ whites, is “Cooking with Confidence”.

ON THE MENU

BACKGROUND

• Teen cooking classes in France

• Aga saga at Eckington Manor

• Can you learn to cook in one day?

• How to sharpen your act in the kitchen

• A masterchef course

Learn to cook

• 14 tasty cookery courses

• Knead to know

• Cookery courses around the world

• Tuscany's gourmet cookery school

The world's 11 best gastro breaks

Riding through vineyards, lobsters in Sweden and the spice trail in India are some of our top foodie adventures

• 10 things I love about Spanish food

• Rick Stein's foodie tour of Sicily

• The Maine place to hook lobster

A tasty cookery holiday in France

Rosie Millard brushes up on her French as she attempts a cookery course in another language

• Back to Cognac school in France

• Smelly Champagne sausages

BACKGROUND

• Britain’s best restaurants with rooms

• Become a wine expert - in Birmingham

• Where to eat in the Cotswolds

• The best pub in Britain (official)

Related Internet Links

• Read 280 articles in our Food and Travel section

Related Links

• Hunting mushrooms with Antonio Carluccio

• Four cookery schools run by Michelin starred chefs

Canapes included mini turkey burgers with crispy pancetta; blackened salmon skewers with lime, coriander and yoghurt dip; pea puree on crostini, and wild mushroom tartlet with Parmesan crisp.

A palate cleansing mulled wine granita with bitter orange syrup, followed by Yorkshire lamb Wellington with spinach, ricotta and mint stuffing and red wine jus, creamed Savoy cabbage and roasted new potatoes with rosemary.

Dessert: lavender pannacotta with blackberry compote.

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE

It can be hard to think outside of the traditional box where Christmas is concerned and I’m guilty of that but the course gave me some new ideas that I’d use again, especially the stuffing for the meat and the seasonal sorbet.

Seeing the lavender pannacotta deconstructed encouraged me to try that at home for the first time and to experiment with it as a great vehicle for flavour. It was good to learn that salmon cubes cooked for two minutes on each side, leaving a soft, jelly-orange centre were safe and good to eat.

There was an easy-going informality to the class with a good balance of hands-on prep and teaching, as well as the chance to taste bits of what we were making along the way. There is nowt worse than a mean spirited cookery school.

Home-made elderflower presse in jugs – which seems to be a cookery school staple – was available to drink and even the choice of a glass of wine come mid-afternoon. Step-by-step we produced unpretentious but stylish and tasty food. A few of the canapés were a bit on the heftily stacked side but ingredients were mostly seasonal and we used meat from local butchers.

After a full day in the kitchen it was a real treat to come down the mansion’s sweeping staircase to a crackling wood fire and a table of sparkling wine before dinner. Our canapés were circulated as we discussed the day’s highs and lows before sitting down to eat the fruits of the day’s labours.

Lady G’s is a welcome addition to the North’s culinary scene where choice of cookery courses seem to be dominated by Swinton Park at Masham and Bettys at Harrogate.

TOP TIPS

Parmesan crisps are a bit of a cookery course classic but they never fail to provide that magic spark. Put a teaspoon of grated Parmesan into a pastry cutter and push down with a teaspoon. Place on a baking tray and remove the cutter. Bake in a medium oven for 3-4 minutes; allow to cool and go crisp on a baking tray. Serve deftly wedged into canapés.

Bake a whole aubergine in an oven for an hour to get a really smoky pulp for use in canapés or dips such as babaganoush.

Use cheap Ikea picture frames and boxes to create original platforms on which to serve canapés decorated with fresh herbs and petals.

COURSE DETAILS

There are a range of cookery courses available at Middleton Lodge, usually tied to seasonal events such as Easter and summer parties. Courses for chalet girl/gap year students, include demonstrations by celebrity chef Tiffany Goodall.

The one-day residential cookery course costs £195 per person including one night’s accommodation, dinner and a country breakfast. Students have exclusive use of the lodge, with its spacious classical rooms and contemporary décor. There is a bar, snooker room and tennis court.

Lady G’s Cookery School, Middleton Lodge, North Yorkshire DL10 6NJ (01325 377977; www.ladygscookeryschool.com)

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Drinks

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• Top Ten most searched for recipes
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winning menus
• Gin and pomegranate jellies