Back to Basics: Beginner Cooking Class with Chef Mary (Ages 13-18)

In this 4 week course, we meet once a week to work on beginner cooking skills, in the 4 weeks we will cover knife skills, how to cook eggs, how to season and cook meat and make pan sauces, make a proper roux, and make sauces. We will discuss many different cooking techniques such as sautéing, boiling, baking, blanching, and pan-frying. At the beginning of each class we will start with a short introduction of all learners, we will review ingredients and materials needed for the day, and will dive into the recipes. Each of the classes will be full of a lot of instructional teaching and demonstration by me, I will be actively showing and doing all steps so your learners get a good grasp on the techniques and methods. I fully expect to answer questions as we go through class. There may be time at the end of class to try our dishes and to give reactions and feedback to each other. This will be a beginner class so no previous experience is expected, a basic knowledge of kitchen utensils is helpful, but will be covered in class, as well. In this class we will be handling sharp knives, hot pans, using stove tops, microwaves, and ovens, and a few small appliances. 

Here's a sample of what you can expect in class:
Week 1--Knife skills, How to hold a knife correctly, parts of the knife, . Example Recipes, Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips, 
Week 2-- Egg Day: Example Recipes, Scrambled eggs with chives, over easy eggs, fancy avocado toast, hard boiled eggs, French cheese omelettes
Week 3--How to Sauté and make pan sauces, how to blanche: Example Recipes, Sautéed chicken with mushroom cream sauce, buttery red skinned mashed potatoes, and garlic green beans. 
Week 4--How to make a roux, how to make cheese sauce, boiling, 3 step breading process, pan frying: Example recipes, 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Materials and Ingredients needed will be posted in the classroom every Sunday before each meeting to give time to get needed ingredients and materials.