We are excited to partner with Live Fire Cooking expert Chef David DeLeon to host our first Live Fire Cooking Class! Chef David has generously decided to donate ALL PROCEEDS TO THE FARM! If you have been to our last few Fundraising Dinners, then you have seen, smelled, and tasted the delicious and comforting process and product of Chef David’s cuisine. He will share his knowledge, skills, and experience with you so that you can take that knowledge home with you and cook your own live fire dinners at home! This class will focus on hands-on experience aka no standing around and watching someone else cook. All skills levels welcome and questions are encouraged. Part of the beauty of live fire cooking is plenty of time to hang out around the fire, talk, laugh, and taste. The class will follow the rhythm of cooking and instruction followed by sitting down around the table to eat each course together and reflect on taste, technique, and experience. We will have a professional photographer documenting everything, so no need for phone pictures, and we will have chef assistants to make the process smooth and relaxed. Join us around the Fire.
TIME, DATE, and LOCATION
12pm to 5pm, April 18
Elmwood Farm
1014 Nolte Dr.
Dallas, TX 75208
Price $350
(includes instruction and tasting through 10 dishes and sides)
From Chef David:
“This isn't a cooking class. It's a reset. We step away from screens and schedules and gather around the fire—where food slows us down and clarity shows up. You'll cook real food over live flame while learning how to fuel your body, steady your mind, and reconnect with intention. I coach you through healthy, fire-based cooking, mindful eating, so your meals work with your body, not against it. Every movement, every choice, every bite has purpose. I guide you through clear, practical steps so you leave confident-not overwhelmed. This is learning through doing, reflecting, and integrating in real time. You'll walk away nourished, present, and equipped with tools you'll actually use long after the fire cools.”
Learning objectives
Intention before ignition — why you're here.
The philosophy of slow food, valuing the satisfaction in simplicity of a whole food focus, and the beauty of creating memories over the embers
Fire safety + setup with confidence.
How to construct and maintain a cooking fire throughout the cooking process
Ingredient selection for steady energy
How to prepare meats and vegetables for cooking (brining, seasoning, basting, and tasting)
Live-fire techniques anyone can master
Types of wood, which wood for which recipe, and how to work with heat zones
How to monitor your food while it cooks and how to know when it’s done
Eating for focus, not fatigue
Glucose-friendly meal structure
Portioning without restriction
Mindful cooking rhythms
Reflection + embodiment
How to monitor your food while it cooks and how to know when it’s done
How to layer cooking times to have foods come out when you want them to (all at the same time vs. coursed dinner)
Integration into daily life
How to bring it all home: cooking over a live fire in your home/backyard context.
Types of cooking and when to use them (pan frying, grilling, roasting, braising)
Things you’ll walk away from the class with:
-Recipes for everything we cook during the class
-Custom apron
-Long handled tongs for your own fire setup
-Fire straw (for breathing life into your cooking fire)
-Cake testers (testing doneness without a thermometer)
-Photo album taken by professional photographer (digital downloads)
MENU
Strong Mind Salad
Greens • Fire • Balance
Greens for clarity.
Fire for balance.
Beet greens, arugula, watercress, goat cheese, fire-toasted walnuts, roasted beets, finished with charred orange vinaigrette
Farm-made Jambon de Bayonne
Seared avocado with quail egg
fire-roasted grape tomato, flaky sea salt, olive oil
Suckling Pig Porchetta
Suckling pig rolled with herbs cooked over live fire
finished slowly for crisp skin and rich, juicy meat.
A moment before the first cut. A memory after.
Bone Marrow Tostadas
Roasted over open flame until soft and spoonable
Served hot, meant to be shared, eaten slowly.
This is where flavor begins.
Chorizo-Stuffed Quail
Stuffed quail roasted over live fire
finished slowly for tender meat and bold flavor.
A refined dish with ancestral roots.
Fire-Roasted Vegetables
Crust comes from dry surfaces, patience, and real fire."
Soft interior + aggressive fire = contrast
Crisp shell, creamy center.
Mollejas
Beef sweetbreads prepared slowly, then finished hot over open flame.
Crisp outside. Creamy inside.
A forgotten cut cooked with respect.
Picanha
Cooked over live fire, finished slowly
sliced as guests gather around the grill.
Simple technique. Serious flavor.
Cabrito Paella
Young goat. Live fire. Saffron rice.
Slow, intentional, and finished with socarrat.
This isn’t fast food—this is fire food.
HANDS-ON SALSA & FINISHING SAUCES
Chimichurri
parsley, garlic, red pepper, black pepper, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, oregano, salt
Salsa Tatemada
Fire-roasted tomato, charred onion, garlic,
charred jalapenos, cilantro
salt and pepper
Salsa Verde
fire roasted tomatillo, onion, garlic,
fire roasted jalapeno, serrano cilantro, salt
DESSERT
Fire Roasted Whole Pineapple
piloncillo, cinnamon, citrus syrup
finished with ginger creme
We are excited to partner with Live Fire Cooking expert Chef David DeLeon to host our first Live Fire Cooking Class! Chef David has generously decided to donate ALL PROCEEDS TO THE FARM! If you have been to our last few Fundraising Dinners, then you have seen, smelled, and tasted the delicious and comforting process and product of Chef David’s cuisine. He will share his knowledge, skills, and experience with you so that you can take that knowledge home with you and cook your own live fire dinners at home! This class will focus on hands-on experience aka no standing around and watching someone else cook. All skills levels welcome and questions are encouraged. Part of the beauty of live fire cooking is plenty of time to hang out around the fire, talk, laugh, and taste. The class will follow the rhythm of cooking and instruction followed by sitting down around the table to eat each course together and reflect on taste, technique, and experience. We will have a professional photographer documenting everything, so no need for phone pictures, and we will have chef assistants to make the process smooth and relaxed. Join us around the Fire.
TIME, DATE, and LOCATION
12pm to 5pm, April 18
Elmwood Farm
1014 Nolte Dr.
Dallas, TX 75208
Price $350
(includes instruction and tasting through 10 dishes and sides)
From Chef David:
“This isn't a cooking class. It's a reset. We step away from screens and schedules and gather around the fire—where food slows us down and clarity shows up. You'll cook real food over live flame while learning how to fuel your body, steady your mind, and reconnect with intention. I coach you through healthy, fire-based cooking, mindful eating, so your meals work with your body, not against it. Every movement, every choice, every bite has purpose. I guide you through clear, practical steps so you leave confident-not overwhelmed. This is learning through doing, reflecting, and integrating in real time. You'll walk away nourished, present, and equipped with tools you'll actually use long after the fire cools.”
Learning objectives
Intention before ignition — why you're here.
The philosophy of slow food, valuing the satisfaction in simplicity of a whole food focus, and the beauty of creating memories over the embers
Fire safety + setup with confidence.
How to construct and maintain a cooking fire throughout the cooking process
Ingredient selection for steady energy
How to prepare meats and vegetables for cooking (brining, seasoning, basting, and tasting)
Live-fire techniques anyone can master
Types of wood, which wood for which recipe, and how to work with heat zones
How to monitor your food while it cooks and how to know when it’s done
Eating for focus, not fatigue
Glucose-friendly meal structure
Portioning without restriction
Mindful cooking rhythms
Reflection + embodiment
How to monitor your food while it cooks and how to know when it’s done
How to layer cooking times to have foods come out when you want them to (all at the same time vs. coursed dinner)
Integration into daily life
How to bring it all home: cooking over a live fire in your home/backyard context.
Types of cooking and when to use them (pan frying, grilling, roasting, braising)
Things you’ll walk away from the class with:
-Recipes for everything we cook during the class
-Custom apron
-Long handled tongs for your own fire setup
-Fire straw (for breathing life into your cooking fire)
-Cake testers (testing doneness without a thermometer)
-Photo album taken by professional photographer (digital downloads)
MENU
Strong Mind Salad
Greens • Fire • Balance
Greens for clarity.
Fire for balance.
Beet greens, arugula, watercress, goat cheese, fire-toasted walnuts, roasted beets, finished with charred orange vinaigrette
Farm-made Jambon de Bayonne
Seared avocado with quail egg
fire-roasted grape tomato, flaky sea salt, olive oil
Suckling Pig Porchetta
Suckling pig rolled with herbs cooked over live fire
finished slowly for crisp skin and rich, juicy meat.
A moment before the first cut. A memory after.
Bone Marrow Tostadas
Roasted over open flame until soft and spoonable
Served hot, meant to be shared, eaten slowly.
This is where flavor begins.
Chorizo-Stuffed Quail
Stuffed quail roasted over live fire
finished slowly for tender meat and bold flavor.
A refined dish with ancestral roots.
Fire-Roasted Vegetables
Crust comes from dry surfaces, patience, and real fire."
Soft interior + aggressive fire = contrast
Crisp shell, creamy center.
Mollejas
Beef sweetbreads prepared slowly, then finished hot over open flame.
Crisp outside. Creamy inside.
A forgotten cut cooked with respect.
Picanha
Cooked over live fire, finished slowly
sliced as guests gather around the grill.
Simple technique. Serious flavor.
Cabrito Paella
Young goat. Live fire. Saffron rice.
Slow, intentional, and finished with socarrat.
This isn’t fast food—this is fire food.
HANDS-ON SALSA & FINISHING SAUCES
Chimichurri
parsley, garlic, red pepper, black pepper, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, oregano, salt
Salsa Tatemada
Fire-roasted tomato, charred onion, garlic,
charred jalapenos, cilantro
salt and pepper
Salsa Verde
fire roasted tomatillo, onion, garlic,
fire roasted jalapeno, serrano cilantro, salt
DESSERT
Fire Roasted Whole Pineapple
piloncillo, cinnamon, citrus syrup
finished with ginger creme
