Gourmet cooking should be a joy, not a headache is the message from one Somerset woman who is offering cooking classes from home.

"To me, gourmet cooking is comfort food," said Mrs. Joell. "It's that moment when you put it in your mouth and go 'ahhh... that was good'."

Mrs. Joell started cooking classes for four students earlier this year expecting to do one class a month.

"The popularity of it blew me away, so I kept on doing it," she said. "One a month was my initial goal, but the entire month of May was filled up by April 15." She now offers a class every Saturday.

The Royal Gazette reporter Jessie Moniz took the Autumn Harvest class on Saturday. Each month has a different theme such as Italian Madness or Mexican Cinco de Mayo.

This meal consisted of a special fun popcorn to start with, harvest punch, acorn squash with a nut stuffing, London broil, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin and mushroom soup and a pumpkin flan to end with.

Many of the dishes would make a perfect accompaniment to a Thanksgiving meal.

The classes were taught in Mrs. Joell's home. Jazz music played in the background. A pumpkin candle scented the air.

The class was more of a demonstration, as there was no actual cooking done on the part of the students. But the onlookers did get to eat what was cooked.

"The first class I ever offered was Mexican," said Mrs. Joell. "There is only one Mexican restaurant on the Island. There's nothing wrong with it. But now people can make their own Mexican food.

"The Mexican class was very popular, but labour intensive."

One of her first students, Lynelle Ponton, liked the Mexican class so much she came back for more and the Autumn Harvest menu was her fifth class.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to make these things at home," Miss Ponton said. "I keep telling myself I am going to make the time. But it has changed the way I look at cooking. For example, I utilise my spices more. I went out and bought my own spice rack. I am developing my own gourmet kitchen. I am becoming conscious of how I cook. I trying not to cook so heavy."

On this day, because of cancellations, she was the only other student.

Mrs. Joell is largely self-taught. "I am a gourmet cook, but I am not a chef," she said.

She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, in a house where her mother and grandmother ruled their respective kitchens.

"I collected recipes ready for the day when I would have my own kitchen to try them out," she said.

But when she married she found her first husband was strictly meat and potatoes.

"Luckily, that only lasted eight years," said Mrs. Joell. She is now married to Bermudian Voorhees Joell.

"I had three kids to support and 100 cookbooks, so I started my own catering company. I have always loved to cook. But catering in Bermuda is not efficient."

Mrs. Joell works in finance during the week. She said she has always found cooking to be a great stress reliever after a long day at work.

"I look forward to cooking when I come home," she said. "Chopping garlic, and mashing potatoes takes care of my aggression after a terrible day. And it makes my husband happy because he doesn't have to hear about my day. It is cook therapy."

Mrs. Joell's motto is gourmet cooking doesn't have to be hard.

"This is not Julia Child where it takes three days to make one dish," she said. "But these aren't 30 minute meals either."

As she spoke to us, she removed meat from a bag of rosemary and mustard marinade and placed it in the oven.

"Don't forget to turn it, otherwise, you have one-sided meat," she said.

Meanwhile she cut up some pear for the salad, then shaved some parmesan for it. Walnuts gave it a sweet side.

"Walnuts for the salad go into the oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit for five minutes to release the essential oils in the nuts," she said.

Next, the mushrooms were put on to simmer for the pumpkin and mushroom soup. This particular recipe included curry and honey which made it an excellent stomach warmer for a chilly winter night.

Mrs. Joell's cooking is already making a name for itself in Bermuda. She won second place in last year's Bermuda Fish Chowder Championships.

"I'd never made fish chowder before in my life," she laughed. "And I beat out the previous year's winner. There were six of us competing in the amateur category. It was a lot of fun."

Working on the pumpkin risotto, she added a Spanish wine to the rice.

"Never use wine in a dish that you wouldn't drink," she said.

Mrs. Joell said she tries to stay somewhat healthy, using brown rice or whole wheat pasta where she can.

"It is so that your heart says 'thank you' at the end of the day," she said.

Although the cooking classes are very successful, she wanted to branch out. She plans to have her own television show up and running on Onion Television by January.

"We did a pilot in July that went well," she said. "We want to go international with it. It will probably be called 'Gourmet Every Day With Deborah Joell'."

There might also be a cookbook in the works.

The broil came out of the oven with the marinade nice and browned on the top.

Before cutting the meat, she made a tinfoil tent over it. This was left on from five to 15 minutes to help the meat reabsorb the juices. Even though two people asked for their steaks medium to well done, the meat was still tender and juicy.

She said her favourite part of the meal was the risotto. "You can have all you want, but none goes home," she warned.

At the end of its cooking time the rice had grown thick and creamy. "This is not really a dish you want to rush," she said. "Take the time with it."

As her students began to savour the taste of the risotto and broil, the flan also came out of the oven with a cinnamony look on top.

Miss Ponton deliberately put aside some of her rice and meat, so that she would still have some room left for the flan.

"I like people to feel like they are at home and having a good time," said Mrs. Joell. "I want people to feel like they are eating at a friend's house."

Classes are $75 per person. Sundays can be booked if all four spaces can be guaranteed. Next year's themes will follow this year's but there will be different menus.

n For more information go to Mrs. Joell's website at http://www.deborahsgourmetkitchen.com/