This Cooking Class Round-Up Has You Covered

This Cooking Class Round-Up Has You Covered

By Katy Morris

Thanksgivukah is almost here!

In a once in a life-time gastronomical marriage, Chanukah and Thanksgiving, two of the most celebrated holiday feasts, happen to fall on the same exact day this year. And unless you’ve been hiding from all of the hype in your cave, you know it has been dubbed Thanksgivukkah.

To help you avoid the potential stress that this culinary crossover may cause for you in the kitchen and to also provide you with some great Chanukah gift ideas for your food-loving family, we have rounded up some local cooking classes which are sure to inspire this year’s menu or will simply help boost your cooking talents overall.

From kosher classes in NYC where you will learn to create hybridized holiday dishes like layered sweet potato casserole, orange olive oil cake, and root-vegetable latkes alongside well-known chefs, to 100% vegetarian classes on a farm in CT where you will learn scrumptious recipes for your Veg-only Thanksgiving…these classes will be sure to delight every palate.

 

Our collection below is organized first by location (NYC, CT), then by category (Kosher, Kosher-Friendly, Vegetarian, Vegan). They are in date order beginning with those scheduled next week. Links are provided, so click away and learn more about each class before enrolling.  

NYC

 

KOSHER

 

photo: www.fistfulloflentils.com
photo: www.fistfulloflentils.com

Join Chef Jennifer Abadi, author of A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma’s Fritzie’s Kitchenfor a palate pleasing veggie tutelage at the Jewish Community Center that will help to make your vegetarian Thanksgiving feast simply delectable. Read more about her classes here.

 

 

Citron and Rose, Michael Persico Photography
Citron and Rose, Michael Persico Photography

Take advantage of learning some of the most imaginative kosher dishes from Executive Chef Karen Nichols of Philadelphia’s premier kosher restaurant, Citron & Rose.

 

  • Date: Tuesday, November 19th
  • Time: 1pm – 3:30pm
  • Location: DeGustibus Cooking School (Note: Chef Nichols will be preparing all food to be sampled by the attendees under Kosher Orthodox supervision prior to the class. This class is demo-style, and the ingredients used and prepared during the class in the DeGustibus non-kosher kitchen will be used for demonstration purposes only.)  Don’t worry, though, there will be plenty to sample during this class!
  • Price: $95/person

 

image courtesy of CKCA
image courtesy of CKCA

 

 Join Lynn Kutner as she teaches you the secret to create the perfect kosher NY bagel and bialy in your own home. Prepare to learn tips by a kosher expert and create a delicious, classic breakfast for friends and family.

 

 

Grab your special someone for “Date Night, Fall Feast” at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts and learn to cook a delectable, upscale, 4-course dinner side by side with your bestie.

 

 

 Need some fresh ideas for some vegetarian Chanukah dinner dishes? Join well-known chef, culinary instructor, food writer, and author Jay Weinstein at the JCC as he teaches you how to create scrumptious lentil-scallion pancakes with cumin cream, root-vegetable latkes, wild mushroom risotto cakes, and spinach pancakes with cardamom.

 

 

Jennifer Abadi teaching at JCC
Jennifer Abadi teaching at JCC

Eight Treats for Eight Lights for 20’s & 30’s is a fantastic class to attend if you are interested in learning some more exotic Chanukah dishes this year. Chef and author Jennifer Abadi will send you home with recipes such as North African beignets with orange blossom water and lemon and sweet and savory Lebanese couscous salad with apricots, dates, and pine nuts.

 

 

 

With the weather getting colder and colder by the day, it’s the perfect time to warm up with some nourishing vegetarian dishes, like winter vegetable stew, butternut squash gratin, or black bean quesadillasChef Jackie Torren will teach you to make these as well as other recipes in her class, “Hearty Vegetarian Winter Dishes.”

 

 

 

Check out Chef Jay Weinstein’s class, “Contorni: Italian Vegetable Dishes”, to learn how to create delizioso Italian stuffed eggplants, rosemary roasted potatoes, grilled vegetable antipasto with basil pesto, and much more. Bring a little piece of Italy to your own kosher kitchen.

 

 

 

 

KOSHER-FRIENDLY

 

 

Your amazing Chanukah dinners are finished and it’s prime time for some sweet treats…Check out this yummy dessert class lead by the renowned Paula Shoyer, author of The Holiday Kosher Baker, to learn how to make some tasty kosher post-meal indulgences for your guests, including apple latkes, chocolate ganache doughnuts, and almond olive oil cake. Read more about Paula’s classes here.

Note: Paula Shoyer is a strictly kosher baker. Her class is listed under Kosher-Friendly because the ICE kitchen is not a kosher kitchen.

 

 

 

VEGETARIAN

 

 

 

 

Chef and author Jennifer Abadi will be leading a class called “An Enlightened Hanukkah”. She’ll teach you how to make your festival of lights feast healthier and lighter while still preserving some of the most popular and traditional dishes; examples include a shredded baked potato latke pie and fruity olive-oil yogurt cake with pink grapefruit zest.

 

 

photo: Shell Hamilton
photo: Shell Hamilton

Using only the freshest seasonal vegetarian ingredients, you can learn how to create classic dishes for the Festival of Lights this year at Haven’s Kitchen’s Hanukkah Supper cooking class.  Be sure to sign up quickly as this class is limited to only twelve seats.

 

  • Date: Monday, November 25
  • Time: 7pm – 9pm
  • Location: Haven’s Kitchen
  • Price: $135/person

 

photo: Brent Herrig
photo: Brent Herrig

 

Meatless Mains and Veggie Sides is a great opportunity for you to learn some great new recipes to share with friends and family. Head on over to the charming carriage house of Haven’s Kitchen and create a great veggie-filled holiday feast using only the best sustainable and seasonal ingredients.

 

  • Date: Monday, December 2nd
  • Time: 7pm – 9pm
  • Location: Haven’s Kitchen
  • Price: $135/person

 

 

If you need to refresh your vegetarian menu at home, you should head on over to the Natural Gourmet Institute as Chef Marti Wolfson shows you some great and simple veggie recipes, like seared red lentil rice cakes with cilantro pesto, chickpea and roasted root vegetable stew, and a “Buddha bowl” with forbidden rice, braised ginger-tamari tempeh, caramelized onions and garlic broccoli. Yum.

 

 

 

Did our recent post on Northern Italian indulgences leave your mouthwatering? Daniel Rosati, the owner of La Villa Cucina cooking school and renowned restaurant consultant, invites you to join him for an Italian Vegetarian Feast, where you will learn how to incorporate seasonal vegetables in every dish, Italian-style. Enjoy Sicilian eggplant fritters, Umbrian lentil soup, porcini tarts, and much more. Buon appetito.

 

 

Chef and author Sarah Copeland will be leading a communal cooking class festivity to celebrate her brand new vegetarian book, “Feast” at Sunday Suppers in Williamsburg.  You will help her prepare and then feast on some of her new veg recipes, including barley risotto with radishes, swiss chard, and preserved lemon and a pine nut frangipane tarte.

 

  • Date: Sunday, December 8th
  • Time: 3pm (class starts at 3pm, dinner starts around 5pm)
  • Location: Sunday Suppers Studio
  • Cost: $125/person

 

This might be the perfect Chanukah gift for the chef or foodie in your family…especially if they have read our recent post on Indulging in Truffles, Creamy Pasta and Vino in Northern Italy! Instructor Katherine Randazzo of The Brooklyn Kitchen is leading a class on how to make luscious fresh pasta completely by hand (tortellini, tagliatelle, spinach-flavored linguini and more!) and afterwards, the attendees get to indulge themselves by eating the fruits of their labor (yes, all vegetarian!) accompanied by some fine wine.

 

  • Date: Thursday, December 12th
  • Time: 11:30am  – 12:30pm
  • Location: The Brooklyn Kitchen (this class is held in Manhattan’s West Side)
  • Price: $75/person

 

 

VEGAN

 

 

Vibrant Vegan Vegetable Dishes”, lead by Myra Kornfeld at the Natural Gourmet Institute, is a great opportunity to learn some new veggie recipes just in time for the upcoming Holidays. Dishes include a golden squash & chickpea soup with chickpea nuts, slow-cooked sunchokes with fennel, olives & thyme, and much more.

 

  • Date: Tuesday, November 19th  (also Thursday, January 9th, 2014)
  • Time: 6:30pm – 10pm
  • Location: Natural Gourmet Institute
  • Price: $115/person

 

Peter Berley, author of The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, will be leading a fantastic class all about how to make savory vegan dishes this Thanksgiving. Enjoy scrumptious baked dumplings with squash and a kamut and chestnut stuffing, a roasted veggie pate with miso and ginger, celery and green apple salad with walnut vinaigrette, and much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONNECTICUT

 

KOSHER-FRIENDLY

 

One of our local raw and veg favorites, Catch A Health Habit Cafe, will be holding a Raw Winter Survival Prep Class for the first time ever. Although it’s not a hands-on cooking class like the rest of our list, this was just too good a resource to not include for our readers! Join staff chef Tynne Clifford as she teaches you how to keep your kitchen filled with only the best herb teas and raw food this winter. With demos, samples, handouts, and more, you are sure to have a rawkin’ blast.

 

 decorated for Chanukah

Trying to get your kids involved in creating at least some of this year’s Thanksgiving meal? Take them down to Cake Suite in Westport where they will bake and decorate their own yummy holiday cookies to bring home. Contact Michelle Klem at mk@cakesuite.com or call 203-557-0247 to sign up. Also, be sure to check out her private classes where kids and adults can learn a variety of baking techniques including cake filling & decorating, piping, and more.

 

  • Date: Wednesday, November 27      
  • Time: 5pm – 6pm
  • Location: Cake Suite
  • Price: $30/person

 

 

VEGETARIAN

 

 

Spend an evening whipping up some delicious vegetarian dishes, including acorn squash and goat cheese soufflé, faro, kale, and sweet potato salad with pomegranate seeds, and quinoa and leek cakes with tzatziki sauce.  Deborah Miller of Sur La Table will teach you these recipes as well as some great techniques at the Shoppes at Farmington Valley in Canton.

 

 

Heide Lang, The Road Home
Heide Lang, The Road Home

 

The menu for the Fig Cooking School’s, “Be Our Guest: Do Ahead Dishes for Thanksgiving”,  (Hamden) looks incredible: fig, goat cheese, and caramelized shallot squares, spiced sweet potato gratin, creamy pumpkin fondue with cheese and herbs, and dark chocolate and toasted walnut tarts. are on the menu. Yummers.

 

  • Date: Friday, November 15th     
  • Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
  • Location: The Fig Cooking School
  • Price: $85/person

 

Head on over to Sugar & Olives for an evening time vegetarian Scrumptious Brunch, where you will learn how to make (and then eat, of course!) oatmeal cookie granola, house cured gravlax, and eggs benedict on a johnny cake. Who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?

 

  • Date: Tuesday, November 19th       
  • Time: 7pm – 9pm
  • Location: Sugar & Olives
  • Price: $75/person

 

Chef Amanda Cushman, renowned culinary educator and author of Simple, Real Food will be leading a hands-on Vegetarian Thanksgiving cooking class at the White Gate Farm in East Lyme, CT where she will guide you in creating some veggie-filled holiday classics.

 

  • Date: Saturday, November 23rd   
  • Time: 3pm – 6pm
  • Location: White Gate Farm
  • Price: $85/person

 

 

Warm up with tasty hot soups that are perfect for the winter season. Tracy Holleran of Fairfield’s Secret Ingredient will be teaching you how to make delicious vegetarian soups, including curried lentil and a roasted mushroom & barley.

 

 

Have you run into info on other cooking classes that would appeal to our readers?

Click on Kosher Like Me’s facebook page and share your recommendations and experiences there. 

 

 

 

 

4 Comments

  1. WOW!!!!! How could anyone go wrong with all these dishes and classes? KLM – YOU ROCK! What a fantastic resource this post is for anyone who might be a little ‘deer in headlights’ over what to do! Happy Thanksgivukah!

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