Regardless of your cooking level, use this as an opportunity to develop new skills. Cooking classes have seen a 50% increase in enrollment as people are going back to basics and starting from scratch. Besides the obvious cooking classes, there are many ways to improve your kitchen knowledge.

Cookbooks
Although books aren’t interactive, they’re a great and inexpensive way to learn. For easy recipes with simple ingredients, I recommend Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver. He has a straightforward approach to cooking with fresh ingredients that makes you feel comfortable about being in the kitchen. If the science of cooking fascinates you, try I’m Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown. This book explores how heat transforms food from braising to pan searing. Plus he has little tidbits of wisdom and some silly humor thrown in to keep the book entertaining.

If you don’t mind more complicated recipes, try my favorite cookbook: The New Best Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. They’ve taken classic recipes and tested them hundreds of ways to get the absolute best result. There’s also a version called The Best Light Recipes that has solutions for making your favorite recipes lighter.

Magazines
A food magazine subscription can be as little as $12 a year. Many magazines, such as Gourmet, are taking a teaching approach with more “how to” pictures and cooking school-style tips. Plus each month you’ll get new, inspiring recipes on which to practice your skills.

Cooking Shows
I actually learn a lot from the cooking shows I watch. Whether it’s Food Network, BBC, or PBS, I record several shows each week. I then play them back at my leisure and write the recipes down in a little notebook I keep next to the couch.

Cooking with Friends
Sometimes the best way to learn new techniques is to cook with friends and family. If you know someone who really enjoys cooking, get together and plan a menu. Then spend time together in the kitchen and ask him or her to give you some pointers. You’re also more likely to tackle complicated recipes or use unfamiliar ingredients if you have someone by your side.

Cooking Classes
There are many places to take culinary classes in the Portland area. However in most classes, you'll end up focusing on one recipe and not see how the others come together. Instead, how about having a chef (or two chefs for that matter) come to your house to give you personalized instruction? That's just what Geoffroy and I are planning. We're creating a culinary class catalog where you can take two types of classes. In Mastering the Basics, you and your guests will do a whole menu from beginning to end. At the end, you can invite your friends over and enjoy the fruits of your labor. In Mastering Techniques classes, you'll focus on a particular technique, say sauces, and really learn the secrets to making perfect sauce - from simple to complex.

So stay tuned. We'll be posting our catalog soon. But if you just can't wait, drop me an email and we'll set something up!

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