The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena offers cooking demonstrations open to the public Mondays through Fridays in the De Baun Theater. The class includes a tasting and recipe of a seasonal dish. The cost is $15 per person. Demonstrations are at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays, and 10:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The topic this week is Black Pepper Duck Ravioli with Truffle-Cream Sauce.

Reservations are recommended. For a schedule or to make a reservation, call 967-2320.

Also, the first Tuesday of each month the CIA offers a free open forum on different culinary topics. Today’s forum, held at 1:30 p.m. in the De Baun Theater is “Taming the Wild Mushroom.

More information about programs at the CIA Greystone is available online at www.ciachef.edu/california.

Here are two recipes from recent classes.

Maryland Crab Cakes

1 Tbsp. rice bran oil

1/2 cup red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced

1/2 cup red onion, finely diced

1 Tbsp. minced parsley

1 Tbsp. minced tarragon

2 eggs

16 ounces cooked crabmeat

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup shredded gruyère (or Fontina) cheese

1/2 cup saltine crackers, crushed fine

2 Tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs to coat

Rice bran oil as needed to sauté

2 heads frisée greens

In a large bowl combine the first 12 ingredients and mix gently making sure everything is well incorporated.

Form the crabmeat mixture into patties and lightly coat in the panko bread crumbs and refrigerate on a parchment-lined sheet pan until ready to cook (the patties can be made ahead up to 3 days in advance).

To finish the crab cakes, heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add enough rice bran oil to shallow fry in, the oil should come up the side of the patty by about 1/3. When oil is hot, place the crab cakes carefully in the pan and cook to golden brown on both sides. Remove them to wire rack or towel-lined plate and season with salt and pepper and serve on top of frisée greens.Yield: 16 cakes

Ruby Port Roasted Pork Loin

with Winter Chutney

3-4 pound pork loin, trimmed

3 Tbsp. olive oil

4 cups Ruby Port wine

1 cup prune juice

6 cardamom pods, ground

4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 cup dried apricots, quartered

1 cut dried prunes, cut in half

2 oranges, cut in quarters

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and sear pork loin to brown on all sides. Place pork loin in roasting pan and add ruby port and prune juice. In a large bowl, mix together cardamom, garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add in all fruit and toss together to coat fruit with spices. Pack fruit/spice mixture around pork loin in roasting pan.

Cook pork in oven until meat thermometer reads 155 degrees. Remove and cover with foil, letting rest for 15 minutes. Serve with spiced fruit chutney in pan.