I’m not much of a cook. (Nor, for that matter, am I very good at making and sticking to a shopping list or locating key kitchen materials in the house I’ve lived in for over a year.) So it was invaluable to have local cooking coach extraordinaire Erin Gepner help good pals and I cook up a feast last night. Butternut squash risotto, mashed potatoes, chard, and a warm spinach salad made for a meal that still has me satisfied 15 hours later.

Ms. Gepner, a California native who taught herself and learned at the California Culinary Academy in Pastry, came over stocked with knives, chocolate almonds, and fresh local vegetables (Berkeley Bowl is a favorite stocking stop). She taught five of us basics about cutting onions and braising, and I would definitely solicit her services again–it makes for an interactive night with good skills and a delicious payoff.

One of her menus well worth sharing is as follows:

Warm spinach salad with fried artichokes and Meyer lemons
-3 large artichokes
-2 Meyer lemons
-1/2 c buttermilk
-1 c fine cornmeal
-Vegetable oil
-Bowl of spinach
-Shallot – minced
-Sherry vinaigrette
-Salt and pepper
-Lemon juice
-Olive oil

Prep artichokes:
-All in acidated water
-Peel outside layer of leaves
-Cut off top and a bit of the bottom
-Cut in half, scoop out fibrous center
-Slice in strips from top to bottom

-Slice Meyer lemons thin
-Toss lemon slices and artichokes in buttermilk, let most liquid fall off
-Toss in a mixture of cornmeal and flour (or just corneal if that’s what you got)
-Place 2” of vegetable or canola oil in heavy wide pan
-Let come up to 350 degrees
-Fry lemons and artichokes until golden
-Remove from oil and sprinkle with salt

Dressing:
-Emilsify
-Warm in pan until just warm

Toss fried goodies with spinach and warm dressing. Eat quite soon.