With more eating in, cooking classes heat up

The movie Julie & Julia inspired Paulina Vink of Riverton to do more home cooking. And that urge brought the 18-year-old Burlington County Community College student to Elise Fellinger Henry's cooking class at Kitchen Kapers in Moorestown last week.

"I really need this," Vink said, "because I want to learn all I can about cooking."

And what about Constance Vink, her mother, sitting in the next chair? Did she interpret her daughter's desire for cooking classes as an insult to her own home cooking? Had she failed on the home front?

"No, not at all," Constance Vink said with a smile. "I know that taking classes like this boosts your creativity. Besides, we like to do things together."

Interest in cooking classes continues to spiral upward throughout the region, in part because the economy has driven families to eat dinner at home more often and to carry their lunches to school and work. As a result, people who are new to home cooking are eager to learn the basics, and experienced cooks want to stretch their repertoires.

Cooking need not be a lost art.

In addition to a full range of classes offered at Kitchen Kapers Culinary Academy, there are classes at area high schools; in shops such as Foster's and Fante's; at the Chinese Cultural and Community Center on North 10th Street; in restaurants such as Normandy Farm in Blue Bell and La Campagne in Cherry Hill; in supermarkets such as Giant and Whole Foods; and at long-established cooking schools such as Albertson's Wynnewood and the Viking school in Bryn Mawr.

There are classes for kids at the Newtown Township Parks and Recreation Department; and training for future chefs at the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in West Philadelphia and at the OIC's Hospitality Training Institute in North Philadelphia.

Kristy Kreizinger of Marlton said her busy travel schedule motivated her to take Henry's recent class titled "Cook Once, Eat All Week."

Kreizinger is a flight attendant who is traveling much of the time.

"So I want to have real meals ready for my fiance when I'm gone," she said.

Henry's students ate all night, tasting the dozen dishes she prepared in just two hours.

The chef/instructor, who also has a personal chef service called Spare Thyme, served up a rotisserie chicken; minestrone alla Milanese; chicken fajitas; a salad with chicken, spinach and bleu cheese; spice-rubbed flank steak with a spicy peach-bourbon sauce; Cuban-style beef and peppers; ginger beef stir-fry; garlic mashed potatoes; dilled potato vinaigrette; roasted tomato sauce; penne alla vodka; and a chocolate-chip coffeecake.

Henry had all four burners going at once, in addition to the oven, as she demonstrated techniques and gave shopping and cooking tips.

"This class will show you a way of thinking differently about cooking," Henry told the class of three women and two men, all from South Jersey.

She told them to make the most of their time by planning a week's worth of menus to make shopping more efficient. Use the oven wisely by, for example, roasting tomatoes in one pan, garlic in another, and a chicken in a third. And if you are taking the time to roast one chicken, you may as well roast two.

Shop smart by sticking to the perimeter of the store, where the fresh foods are displayed, and spending less time in the interior of the store where less healthy, processed foods are stocked.

"You'll save money that way and you'll feel better."

Henry does not rely on coupon-clipping.

"Most of the time coupons are usually for foods you don't need or shouldn't be eating in the first place," she says.

"Know thyself," Henry says, quoting Socrates.

You probably already know whether you are among the millions who end up tossing a third of the food they buy because it goes bad before they can use it. So, stop that rot, she says, by not saving what you will not use.

"You know if you are really likely to make your own stock," she says. "So don't save bones and peels and shells only to throw them out later. And you'll spend less time cleaning out the fridge."

And do not buy what you do not need. If you are making a recipe that calls for a small amount of shredded carrot, it may be smarter to buy just that quantity at the market's salad bar, instead of taking an entire bunch of carrots home, only to have them rot.

The salad bar is also a handy place to pick up a small quantity of celery in winter months when the vegetable is at its peak price.

Chop smart by chopping an entire onion, even if you need only a teaspoon or two right away, and storing the rest in the freezer in a sealed bag. Ditto for other vegetables.

Feel free to make things easier on yourself by taking shortcuts. It's OK to use prepared stock, but go for the stock in sturdy paper boxes because it generally has less salt than the canned variety.

If you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, be aware that they are brined before cooking, and so generally have a higher salt content. You can adjust for that by decreasing the salt your recipe calls for.

In her demonstration, Henry cut a store-bought rotisserie chicken into pieces on a cutting board with a well to catch the juices. Then she used those juices as the base for a quick and tasty gravy.

Good home cooking requires a balance between knowing your comfort zone and yet being willing to experiment with existing recipes by making your own substitutions.

The venerable Toll House cookie was created in the 1930s when busy innkeeper Ruth Wakefield tried to save time by dropping bits of chocolate into her butter cookie recipe whole instead of melting the chocolate first. The result was an obvious success.

"So try new things," Henry said, "and think of your mistakes as happy accidents."

Makes 4 servings

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1 1/2 pounds top sirloin beef

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

2 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons gingerroot, minced

6 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablepoons sugar

2 tablespoons sesame oil, dark

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablesoons peanut oil

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1. Slice the beef into thin strips.

2. Grind the toasted sesame seeds using a mortar and pestle, coffee grinder or small food processor.

3. Make a marinade by combining the sesame seeds, chopped green onions, gingerroot, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and black pepper. Add the beef strips and marinate in the refrigerator for 11/2 half hours. Bring beef and marinade back to room temperature before proceeding.

4. Heat a large saute pan or wok over medium heat. When pan is hot, add 1/3 of the peanut oil and 1/3 of the beef strips and saute briefly. Remove the beef and set aside. Drain the excess marinade and cook the remaining beef in the peanut oil in two more batches.

5. Serve the beef over rice.

Per serving: 439 calories, 38 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams sugar, 27 grams fat, 104 milligrams cholesterol, 686 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber

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makes 4 servings

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1 pound small potatoes, red or white

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons dry vermouth or white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup fresh dill, minced

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1. Scrub the potatoes clean but do not peel. Cut them lengthwise into fourths and boil (or steam, covered) until they are just tender.

2. Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together the vinegar, mustard, vermouth, and salt. Add the oil slowly in a stream, and whisk the dressing until it is emulsified.

3. Add the potatoes to the dressing while they are still warm and toss gently. Add dill and pepper to taste until the potatoes are coated well.

4. Let the potato mixture stand, tossing occasionally, for 30 minutes and then serve at room temperature. This dish may be made one day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Let it return to room temperature before serving.

Per serving: 150 calories, 3 grams protein, 18 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams sugar, 7 grams fat, no cholesterol, 12 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber EndText