If I were living in New York, I would be ALL OVER this new course being offered by the French Culinary Institute in conjunction with Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Limited to thirty students, the curriculum is rooted in how to create sustainable kitchens. You learn alongside some of the sustainable movement's most accomplished practitioners. It is nothing short of a dream faculty: Dan Barber, Bill Niman, David Mas Masumoto, David Arnold, Fergus Henderson, Harold McGee, and others.

Four seasons, eight sessions total. The only catch? It costs $6k. Starting this June.
More info here: Four Season Chef Program

Comments (4) | April 17 - 10:55 PM

category: Classes

For the many people who are fans of Michel Nischan's naturally-inclined cookbooks (Homegrown Pure and Simple, and Taste Pure and Simple), you can now see him regularly on the LIME network. LIME content seems to be available in a variety of formats including a cable channel (not available in my area), daily podcasts, radio, and mobile. There are already about a dozen shows there to download and I suspect more will be posted. He is a great source for delicious tasting, inspired, healthy recipes.

Here's a link to all the Pure & Simple episodes with Michel Nischan. Be sure to check out the buckwheat crepes made from spelt flour with dandelions. You can find his podcast throught iTunes (click on podcast, then search for LIME)

Comments (1) | September 18 - 4:38 PM

category: Classes

Looking for a food-centric reason to hop a plane to Australia later this month? A Taste of Slow will be held in Victoria from August 28 - September 10, 2006. Lots of cooking demonstrations, wine panels, and even a camp oven cook-off - a followup up to a successful 2005 event. (More details)

Building on the success of its first year in 2005, A Taste of Slow 2006 will encompass a two-week program of classes, dinners, discussions and tasting opportunities, culminating in the Slow Food Weekend at the Abbotsford Convent on 9 & 10 September...a two week program of eclectic and intimate food, wine and produce experiences with an emphasis on taste, discussion and debate.

Comments (0) | August 2 - 3:54 PM

category: Classes, Events

There are some great cooking classes on the not-so-distant horizon. Here are a few of our picks:

New York City
Natural Gourmet School
Sea Vegetables: A Deep Sea Adventure

Jill Gusman, author of Vegetables from the Sea, shares with you the mystical allure and culinary diversity of sea vegetables. Recipes include:
- Chilled Arame and Soba Salad
- Asparagus with Wakame
- Seared Shitakes with Swiss Chard and Nori
- Pumpkin Seed-Seaweed Sprinkles over Quinoa and Black Beans
- Mixed-Berry Kanten.

Monday, July 10, 2006 6:30 AM - 10:00 PM
Cost: $80 demonstration format

New York City
Natural Gourmet School
Fizzy Fun: Make Your Own Herbal Ales and Sodas

Create fizzy fun with instructor Jessica Prentice. Making refreshing, effervescent beverages from medicinal and culinary herbs, natural sweeteners, and active cultures is fun and fascinating! Many people have discovered the health-supportive properties of these drinks, filled as they are with beneficial bacteria and the nutritive properties of the herbs themselves. Learning to make these old-fashioned ales revives an art that was well developed among Europeans and American colonists before the advent of commercial soft drinks...Recipes include:
- Bubbly Ginger Ale
- Root Beer
- Nettle Beer
- Hibiscus and Rose Hip Soda
- Lemon Verbena Soda
- Yarrow Ale
- Birch Beer.

Thursday, August 17, 2006 6:30 AM - 10:00 PM
Cost: $80 demonstration format

San Francisco
Tante Marie
Spice of Life

Many cultures believe in the preventative and healing characteristics of food. In this weekend workshop, you wil llearn recipes that are good for the body as well as the soul. With Jenn, you will explore a wide variety of foods, herbs, and spices that are both healthful and great-tasting. You will also learn how the beautiful summer fruits and vegetables can be beneficial to your health. You will prepare mouthwatering recipes such as:
- Grilled Salmon with Teriyaki Shitake
- Fragrant Cinnamon Pork with Sweet Potatores
- Sweet Pepper and Fig Pepporanata
- Herbal Pestos on Grilled Flatbread
- Sesame-Crusted Tofu with Citrus Vinaigrette
- Garlic Chicken with Fennel over Lemon Couscous
- Gingery Peach-Blackberry Cobbler

Weekend Workshop,July 29 and 30 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Cost: $375

Seattle
Culinary Communion
Culinary Herbs & Container Gardening

Growing and cooking with fresh herbs is a delight. The pleasure of growing your own food is unsurpassable, and the freshness and flavor that culinary herbs add to food is amazing. This class will cover a variety of great culinary herbs for growing indoors or out. We will learn how to start a container garden, whether it's in a small flower pot in the windowsill or a big barrel on your porch. We'll pot our own herbs outdoors and then move into the kitchen to cook a delightful meal with the fresh herbs. You'll take home a pot to begin your own culinary herb garden and the knowledge you'll need to maintain and care for the herbs.

Instructor: Chef Katie Coleman
Saturday, July 22, 10am-2pm
Cost: $85

Healdsburg, California
Relish Culinary School
Healdsburg Artisan Food Tour

Sonoma County is a wonderful culinary destination—a convergence of hand-hewn culinary products, sustainable farming, creative cooking, and progressive winemaking. This half-day tour takes full advantage of the variety of Sonoma County artisan producers and world-class restaurants located on the downtown plaza in Healdsburg. We’ll walk from place to place for intimate, behind-the-scenes visits (and tastes!) with the culinary players. You will have time to browse and, if desired, make purchases at each location.

Friday, August 11, 10am-3pm
Cost: $85

Comments (1) | June 22 - 9:32 PM

category: Classes, Vegan / Veg

Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl fame shares this inspiring PDF about growing herbs and edibles in strawberry pots.

Make use of vertical space to grow herbs, edible flowers, greens, and more in a strawberry pot. Includes herbs for partial shade, drought tolerant plants, and theme containers.

Comments (0) | March 11 - 11:11 AM

category: Classes

There are some great cooking classes on the not-so-distant horizon. Here are a few of our picks:

San Francisco
June Taylor Hands-on Marmalade Class
Two rare dates - one in March, one in April. This class taught by June Taylor will concentrate on the principles of marmalade preserving and the experiential nature of preserve making. The class will include a tasting and evaluation of a variety of winter citrus for marmalade making, as well as a comparative tasting of a variety of commercially made marmalades. Class is limited to 12 students.
Saturday, March 25, 2006 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM or
Saturday, April, 22, 2006 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Cost: $95

New York City
The Institute of Culinary Education
Stylin' Vegetarian Food and Wine Soiree
A new class taught by Peter Berley, author of The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. Taste world-class biodynamic and organic wines and cook cosmopolitan vegetarian fare. Your parties will never again be the same, as you add to your recipe collection the following dishes: Vegetable Pakoras with Yogurt Dip; Gruyère and Spinach Frittata; Winter Crudités with Tapenade and Lemon Aïoli; Cauliflower Leek Potage with Nut Brown Butter; Shaved Winter Vegetable Salad with Apple and Raisins; Spicy Lentils with Pumpkin and Greens with Three-Grain Pilaf; and Dried Figs in Spiced Red Wine Syrup and Whipped Crème Fraîche.

50 West 23rd Street, NYC
Saturday, March 25 6:00 PM-10:00 PM
Cost: $95
To register call: 212-847-0770

San Francisco Bay Area - San Mateo
Compassionate Cooks Class: Beautiful Beans & Gorgeous Grains
Thursday, March16, 7-9 p.m.
Cost: $50, reservation required
Do you know that white rice is white because it's been stripped of its fiber? Have you ever cooked with millet, amaranth, quinoa, kasha, barley, bulghur, teff? How about brown rice? What about beans and lentils? They're brimming with fiber, protein, and antioxidants, and yet most people don't know the difference between a garbanzo and a fava. If you would like to explore the vast world of the cannellini, great northern, navy, pinto, french lentil, green lentil, and red lentil, this class is for you.

- Quinoa Tabouli
- Chana Masala (Curried Chickpeas)
- Bulgur with Potatoes, Asparagus and Pumpkin Seeds
- Split Pea Soup

Comments (0) | February 24 - 1:35 PM

category: Classes

Start planning now. The Food of the Gods Festival, a week-long celebration in Oaxaca, Mexico is on the not-so-distant horizon, from October 7 -14, 2006. Cooking classes, cultural tours, chocolate making demonstrations, and mezcal tastings pepper the week-long lineup. Another highlight looks like the exotic fruit tasting featuring guanabana, chirimoya, anona, nanche, chicozapote, mandarina, nispero, maracuya, jiotilla, tejocote, membrillo, and pitajaya. Different itineraries are available depending on your areas of interest.

Comments (0) | February 7 - 4:59 PM

category: Classes, Events

There are some great cooking classes on the no-so-distant horizon. Here are a few of our picks:

New York City
Slow Food the Fast Way with Myra Kornfeld
Natural Gourmet School, NYC
Wednesday, January 11, 6:30 - 10:00 p.m.
Instructor: Myra Kornfeld
Cost: $85; Two People: $160

San Francisco
Living Winter Comfort Foods
Alive! Restaurant
Monday 12/19/05, 7p.m.-9p.m
Cost: $50, reservation required (call: 415.923.1052)
A hands-on, 4 course, living foods menu including; Creamy Butternut Squash Soup, Cleansing Beet and Fennel Salad, New "Mac and Cheese", and Pumpkin Cheesecake. If you are curious about raw cuisine, this is an opportunity to learn from the best. Sign up at the Alive! website to be notified of future class offerings.

Los Angeles
Gourmet Organic Cuisine with Real Food Daily, Instructor: Ann Gentry
Sur la Table, Los Angeles
Monday 01/16/06, 6:30
Cost: $65
Ann Gentry is the owner of LA's premiere organic, vegan restuarant - Real Food Daily. She also has a brand new cookbook out. If you're interested in learning a handful of new recipes that use lots of delicious whole grains and vegetables, this class is for you.

Comments (0) | December 13 - 10:45 PM

category: Classes

In one of the best interviews we've seen relating to raw cuisine, Culiblog's Debra asks the burning questions about this cool approach to the kitchen.

Debra: "Poor people, and more importantly, the traditional kitchens of cultures that have known hunger, (that is to say, most comfort foods from any culture) are typically high starch, high glycaemic foods. How would you respond to the statement that a raw food diet is exclusively for the rich? I am referring to the high-protein, low glycaemic and fresh food rich content of the diet, plus the relatively (compared to picking up FastFood) labour intensive preparation. Can you imagine making a recommendation for a healthy diet for the less privileged?.." ( Read more... )

Comments (0) | December 7 - 12:35 PM

category: Classes, Interviews/Profiles, Vegan / Veg