2 Minutes to Dinner

Most of us cook in reverse. We start with a dish we want to make, a recipe we like, and take appropriate steps to get it to the table. This involves relying on skills we might have (or not) and on ingredients being available, affordable, and fresh at the moment we crave them. At Purple Kale Kitchenworks, we take the opposite approach. We begin with the best ingredients we can, and applying skills we know, see where they take us. It’s a perspective antithetical to way most cooking shows and schools work, and one that makes an afternoon in our Brooklyn studio well worth one’s time.

Thanks to the participants from this past round of workshops for bringing their enthusiasm and keen palates to the stove. Here’s a list of some of the dishes we together improvised, followed by some pictures from the classes, and our recipe for Fennel and Herb Soup:

Crostini of Trumpet Mushrooms with Garlic Butter
Delicata Squash and Pickled Apple Soup
Manny Rice with a Shallot-Pepper Relish
Tagliatelle with Poached Garlic, Herb Butter, and Breadcrumbs
Garlic Stock Soup with Kale, Trumpet Mushrooms, and Polenta
Crostini of Ricotta Custard and Braised Leeks
Tagliatelle with Cauliflower, Anchovy Butter, Onion Jam, and Hunza Raisins

Thanks to all participants for some fantastic cooking classes this weekend.

“The workshop was fun, and a total revelation.”

Below, a menu created “on the fly,” using a set of singularly-prepared, versatile ingredients, a result of each participant taking two minutes to create something entirely new. As promised, the “2 minutes” recipe for Parsnip Veloute follows.

Risotto with Coriander Braised Leeks
Seared Kale and Ricotta Pappardelle














Soft Herbed Polenta
Poached Halibut in an Oyster Mushroom Broth
Potato, Onion, Pepper Hash

Garlic and Kale Potage
Potato Aioli Salad
Autumn Soup of Chicken, Red Kuri Squash, Za’atar
Pulled Pork over Polenta, Cumin Vinaigrette





















Freekeh, onion jam
Arugula and Apples, with Cumin Vinaigrette
Ricotta Custard, Coriander Braised Leeks
Poached Garlic and Shallots over Pappardelle

and. . .
Parsnip Veloute (recipe, below)

Thanks to all for your patience while we check out location and schedule options for Purple Kale’s workshops. By request, here are class dates for the remainder of the year. And look! We’re coming to Manhattan! (Check out November’s Parents workshop, below.)

Registration is NOW OPEN for all classes.
To REGISTER

Mise en Place to Plate:
Cooking with Improvisation, Efficiency, Sustainability, and Good Taste

Calling All Cooks (open to all)
Saturday, November 5
Sunday, December 4

The Vegetarian Pantry
Saturday, October 15
Sunday, November 6
Saturday, December 3

Parents at the Stove
Sunday, October 16
Wednesday, November 9 (Upper West Side)
Tuesday, December 6

Note: All weekend classes run from 12 to 5. Weekday classes from 10 to 3. Unless otherwise noted, all classes are in Brooklyn.

$325 per person; $275 per person, if two or more people register together.

Workshops include a light brunch/lunch, great wine, a 60 page workbook, hands-on instruction, discount on a private consultation, and sample Purple Kale provisions to take home.

Not in New York?
We’ve been fielding requests to take the workshop on the road and are brainstorming options for doing so. Perhaps Baltimore and Philadelphia, to start? If you live in those areas and would like more information about possible workshop dates, please email us so we can put you on our waiting list.

Elsewhere? Would love to know where, so we can dream about a country-wide road show…

Thanks!

The Workshop at Purple Kale Kitchenworks adapts smart systems and techniques from the professional kitchen to the home. The very methods which allow a few cooks in a tight kitchen to feed a crowd of patrons beautiful meals all night scale down to a strategy enabling home cooks to make more healthful, varied, efficient, impromptu, and economical meals for themselves at home.

Participants in the “Calling All Cooks” class share a range of eating preferences, cook in kitchens both big and small, and have families to feed and/or friends to entertain. They want to put delicious, home cooked meals on the table even when they’re too hungry or exhausted to cook, when they tire of overplayed recipes, want for inspiration, or simply need to open up the refrigerator and whip up a meal. To the “Calling All Cooks” class, all are welcome.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Sunday, December 4
Saturday, January 14
Sunday, February 5


OTHER WORKSHOPS:
The Vegetarian Pantry
Parents at the Stove


More About the Workshop
Examples of Workshop Improvisations
What People Say

The Workshop at Purple Kale Kitchenworks adapts smart systems and techniques from the professional kitchen to the home, emphasizing spontaneous, efficient, healthful, delicious, and creative meals. In The Vegetarian Pantry, we work with all vegetarian ingredients, but the class is open to anyone.

Specifically, in the vegetarian class, we:

Review a broad range of options for preparing varied and often uncommon vegetables, grains, or beans;

Introduce ways to toss together meals, beyond salads or stir-fry;

Discuss how to break from the one-bowl form;

Learn how to make substantial meals without meat substitutes, satisfying even non-vegetarian guests;

Find creative ways to move beyond tofu, soy sauce and cheese.


CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Saturday, December 3
Sunday, January 15
Saturday, February 4


OTHER WORKSHOPS:
Parents at the Stove
Calling All Cooks (open to all)


More About the Workshop
Examples of Workshop Improvisations
What People Say

The Workshop at Purple Kale Kitchenworks adapts smart systems and techniques from the professional kitchen to the home, emphasizing spontaneous, efficient, healthful, delicious, and creative meals.

The Parents workshop, specifically, provides a forum for like-minded, multi-tasking, time-strapped parents to come together and share challenges particular to feeding ones families. In this class, we talk some about picky eaters, for certain, but devote more time to discussing time constraints and menu options for preparing a meal. This is a class not just about feeding kids, but about feeding the family as a whole. Our aim is to give you strategies for successful, creative, and improvisational meals, meals that are efficient, healthy, and cost-conscious, but that are first and foremost a pleasure to cook, and delicious for all to eat.

For parents who depend on freezer food and takeout, we provide strategies to ease into cooking at home. For parents who consider cooking an arduous chore, we make it a rewarding, creative enterprise. For master planner parents, who tire of rote, often compromised options, we expand your possibilities for meals, while saving you time and money. For parents who love to cook, but are buried under the day to day hustle of work and family life, we bring pleasure and high standards back to the stove.

At Purple Kale, we believe that parents deserve to cook and eat like maybe they did before having kids, without thought to pasta with butter, and crustless bread. We think this is how kids become great eaters, too.


TO REGISTER CLICK HERE
Tuesday, December 6
Tuesday, January 17
Tuesday, February 7


OTHER WORKSHOPS:
The Vegetarian Pantry
Calling All Cooks (open to all)


More About the Workshop
Examples of Workshop Improvisations
What People Say

Thanks to all for a fantastic set of September workshops. We played with figs and freekeh, couza squash and oyster mushrooms, late summer tomatoes, early fall apples, rich mushroom stock, cumin vinaigrette, and much more. On the menu, a Ricotta Souffle, Spicy Greens with Pancetta, Pickled Apples and Tomato Vinaigrette, and Poached Garlic Soup.

The Workshop is an improv class, a chance for folks, otherwise beholden to a recipe, menu plan, or lots of prep time, to play “2 minutes to dinner” at the stove. Here are some of the fantastic results:

Lentil and Confit Tomato salad
Pappardelle with Couza Squash, Oyster Mushrooms
Chickpea and Garlic Stew
3-crostini plate
Fennel Pork with Pickled Apples, Shallots
Freekeh with Almond Cream, Figs
Za’atar Chicken Soup with Kale

Poached Halibut, Freekeh, and Aioli

Crostini, Improvised

Fennel Pork, Roasted Shallots, and PIckled Apples

Roasted Carrots, Oyster Mushrooms, and Seared Kale

Freekeh, Almond Cream, and Figs

Come hungry.....

The Classroom

The Mise en Place

For other Workshop Improvisations, click here.

In New York? Registration for October workshops now open! Click here for more information and a link to register.

September offers the usual roundup of Purple Kale Kitchenworks(Mise en) Place to Plate workshops: one for Vegetarians, one for Parents, and an Open one that works for us all. (We’ll post the October schedule in a couple of weeks.)

Here’s a brief description of the workshop, followed by a link to posts about previous ones. Below, too, you’ll find a link to more information and a way to register. Space is limited.

The Workshop introduces students to:
the foundational concept of mise en place
the range of ingredient Holding Points
improvisation techniques, using Bridges and Blocks

In the Workshop, students learn to:
streamline production and organize physical space;
put an otherwise labor-intensive meal together in minutes;
cook with a focus on ingredients, instead of by menu or recipe;
accommodate various eating preferences;
customize and build a professional pantry;
create dishes by impulse and inspiration, rather than by rote;
employ efficient technique, rather than rely on “quick” cooking;
and save money by minimizing waste but maximizing flavor.

Notes from previous workshops.

More workshop information and to register.

See you at the stove,
Ronna

July workshops were a good excuse to play with some nice summer stocks (garlic, mud, stalk. . .), rinds and shoots (watermelon and garlic), early zucchini and tomatoes, and fruity summer drinks.

Some workshop improvisations included Yukon Gold Potato and Two Garlic Salad, Seared Polenta with Swiss Chard Stem Jam, Pappardelle with Za’atar Chicken Jus, Freekeh and Onion Jam, and the beautiful Fennel Pork Loin with Spicy Greens, below.

In the spirit of other “Otherwise, Trash” entries, the recipe for Watermelon Rind Soup soon to follow.

Thanks to all,
Ronna

We couldn’t accommodate everyone in June’s workshops; we decided to schedule a few for July.

Hitting summer in mid-stride, there will be many green vegetables and fruits to play with.

Come learn why Edible Manhattan Magazine and NY1 are “smitten” with the Purple Kale approach.

To learn more about the “(Mise en) Place to Plate” workshop, and for a link to register, click here.

The workshop schedule:

July 9, The Vegetarian Pantry
July 10, Open to All
July 13, Especially for Parents (note: the hours for the workshop are 10 to 3)

Except for the weekday class, workshops run from 12 to 5 pm, and include a light lunch, great wine, hands on cooking, a 60-page workbook, discount on private consultations, and sample provisions to take home.

Join us for a class that home cooks have called “revolutionary” and “a paradigmatic shift in the way to cook and eat.” Greenmarket shoppers say, “there is, finally, a class that puts ingredients, not recipes, first.”