Beginner's Boot Camp: Learn to Cook in Three Days
A three-day series of hands-on in-person cooking classes, each night culminating in a dinner served with wine and beer. One ticket admits the same student to all three nights: January 9, 16, and 23, 2024. This class is limited to 12 students. Chef knives and aprons will be provided to students for in-class use. Review our registration and cancellation policies here.
It’s a new year and an ideal time to level up your kitchen skills! Join us for a three week series that will leave you with the foundational knowledge and skills to chop, saute, roast, braise, poach, blanch and bake your way into a delicious new year of home cooked meals! Beginners are more than welcome in this course! These three classes must be taken as a whole, it’s time to commit to that inner chef inside of you that’s been dying to come out!
Day one will focus primarily on utilizing the most important kitchen tool - the chef’s knife. Students will learn how to sharpen, care for and deftly use their knives. We will prepare a beautiful, colorful salad filled with freshly chopped vegetables, learn to roast and spatchcock a whole chicken, make chicken stock from our scraps and bones, make a delicious, well balanced vinaigrette and fry crispy shallots to perfection!
On day two, students will gain a deeper understanding of the art of planning and prepping. We’ll work together to write our preplist and prepare a timeline for cooking and serving a multi course meal. This meal will include fresh, handmade focaccia, a pureed soup that utilizes the chicken stock made on day one of class, and braised black cod with shallots, tomatoes, herbs and olives served over creamy polenta and simple seasonal fruit crisp with chantilly cream.
During day three, students will learn to perfectly season and cook a steak, make a delectable pan sauce, create an exciting fritto misto of battered and fried vegetables dipped in homemade aioli, blanch fresh greens to their ideal doneness, utilize and strengthen their knife skills to create a beautiful salad, and learn to make a decadent a chocolate mousse.
This three-day series is a special opportunity to grow as a home cook - both individually and as part of a team of people excited to explore the kitchen together. Beginners are encouraged! Together we will cook, we will grow, we will laugh, and we will feast!
MENUS:
Day 1 is Tuesday, January 9, 2024 from 6-9:45pm
Knife Skills: Beautifully Cut Cabbage Salad
Vinaigrettes: Lime and Shallot Oil
Frying: Shallot Rings
Roasting: Spatchcocked and Roasted Whole Chicken
Stock: Chicken Stock
Day 2 is Tuesday, January 16, 2024 from 6-9:45pm
Doughs: Fresh Rosemary Focaccia
Soup: Pureed Winter Squash and Brown Butter Soup with Crispy Pepitas and Fried Sage
Braising: Sea Bass with Wine, Olives, Tomatoes and Herbs served over Creamy Polenta
Baking: Apple Quince Crisp with Cardamom Chantilly Cream
Day 3 is Tuesday, January 23, 2024 from 6-9:45pm
Salad: Citrus, Fennel and Beet Salad with Chili Oil and Mint
Frying: Vegetable Fritto Misto with Garlic Aioli
Pan Searing: Dry Rubbed and Seared Ribeye with Red Wine Pan Sauce
Blanching: Greens with Garlic and Lemon
Dessert: Chocolate Mousse with Brown Butter Cookie Crumble and Fresh Berries
*dishes may change due to seasonal availability
This menu contains the following common allergens: Wheat, Dairy, Soy, Shellfish, and optional Tree Nuts. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions that concern your ability to cook along, please e-mail info@18reasons.org before purchasing a ticket.
Let’s Cook Together!
Gracie Schatz has been in the food industry for over fifteen years. In her career, Gracie has worked in a variety of places: as a baker and private chef in Eugene, OR, farming and cooking in Italy, raising pigs in the Sierra Foothills, butchering at the Fatted Calf in San Francisco, managing Avedano’s in Bernal Heights, cooking at Bay Area restaurants Molina and Cala and her own pop-up restaurant, Bread and Bones Supper. In Eugene, she started her own food justice nonprofit, Marigold Cooking Collective. After working with 18 Reasons as a guest instructor for the past 7 years, Gracie has decided to move from Eugene to San Francisco and join us as our head Chef. Her dream is to never stop learning about delicious food, to never stop exploring the many nuanced ways that food brings us joy, connection to culture, identity, seasons and community. 18 Reasons feels like the perfect place to explore this dream and she is so excited to be here!
