Private Cooking Instruction Menus:
LEARN COOKING IN YOUR VERY OWN KITCHEN!

*ALL MENUS ARE IN KEEPING WITH KASHRUT

MEAT
Turkish Delight I (Meat)
Try something different on a Saturday night! Prepare a savory Turkish dinner, and then relax with a bottle of wine and some Turkish music while enjoying the fruits of your labor. Beef and Lamb Kabobs, Red Lentil Soup with Bulghur and Mint, Stuffed Grape Leaves with Currants and Pine Nuts, and authentic Turkish desserts are just a few of the dishes you’ll make.

The Syrian Barbeque, Middle Eastern Style (Meat)
Learn unique ways to spice up your summer meals. From Pickled Turnips, Potato Salad with Allspice, Bulghur Wheat Torpedoes with Tomatoes and Red Lentils and Spiced Baked Bean Salad with Cumin, to Syrian Lamb Burgers, Beet Salad and Pita Chips with Za’tar, you too can make your own Middle Eastern style barbeque. Wash it all down with Tart Tamarind “Iced Tea.”

Moroccan Feast (Meat)
Everyone loves Moroccan cuisine, with its exotic combination of North African ingredients and French influences. In this class students will prepare some of the most basic, yet delicious of Moroccan specialties: Sliced Orange Salad with Black Olives and Cumin, Couscous with Squash, Carrots, Raisins and Dates, and Filo Pie Stuffed with Chicken, Egg, Ground Almonds and Sugar. With a glass of wine, your delicious meal spread before you, and of course some Moroccan “mood” music in the background, you’ll be transported to Casablanca. And before you know it, each one of you will be crying out, “Play it again, Sam!”

The Gift of the Nile: Ancient & Modern Egyptian Delicacies (Meat)
Located in northeastern Africa, Egypt is home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Learn such national Egyptian dishes as Do’A: Toasted Spice Dip with Ground Cumin Seeds, Sesame Seeds,
Dried Chickpeas & Hazelnuts; Ful Medammes: Mashed Brown Fava Bean Salad with Cumin, Garlic, and Hardboiled Eggs; Melokheya: Egyptian Greens Soup with Beef, Cardamom, and Garlic;
Kush’ree: “Poor Man’s” Casserole with Lentils, Rice, and Macaroni; Sephardic Rice with Green Fava Beans & Dill; Beef Sofrito: Sephardic Beef Stew with Turmeric, Nutmeg, Ginger & Cloves;
Basboussa: Cream of Wheat Cake with Yogurt and Orange Blossom Syrup; Carob Fudge “Brownies”; and Karkaday: Sweet-and-Tart Hibiscus Flower Tea.

North African-Middle Eastern Dinner (Meat)
Yemenite "High Holiday" Soup with Cumin, Curry & Ginger; Tunisian Spaghetti with Harissa & Lamb; Moroccan Fish Balls with Coriander, Parsley & Turmeric; Yemenite Fennel Salad with Cucumbers & Mint; Egyptian "Poor Man's" Casserole with Lentils, Rice & Macaroni; Iraqi Tahini-Date Cake.

Spanish Tapas: The Sephardic Way! (Meat)
Do you love Spanish food, but find it difficult to eat because you keep kosher? Here's a menu that all guests, kosher and non alike will love! White Sangria Spritzer with Orange, Lemon & Green Apple, Andalusian Gazpacho Bread Salad, Flaming Eggs with Crushed Tomatoes & Chili Pepper, Paella with Peppers, White Beans & Smoked Chicken Sausages, Rice with Tomatoes, Ground Beef & Raisins, Creamy Orange Flan with Ground Almond Crust (non-dairy!)


VEGETARIAN
Turkish Delight II (Vegetarian/Dairy)
Cool things down on a steamy summer evening! Cook a delicious Turkish meal and then kick back with a glass of wine or chilled sour cherry drink, while music made for the Sultans hums in the background. Spicy Tomato Dip, Spinach Puree with Thick Yogurt, Chickpea Spread, Boreks with Feta Cheese, Swiss Chard with Walnuts and Yogurt Cake with Thick Cream are some of the unusual dishes on this menu. Beware: belly dancing is not only permitted, but encouraged!

The Syrian Hospitality Tray Desserts (Dairy)
Hospitality is an essential part of Middle Eastern/Syrian culture. Hosts and guests are expected to participate in ways that ensure a successful event. Even today in some traditional regions, if a stranger comes to one’s tent (or home) the host is expected to insist that the traveler stay for a hot meal and sometimes for the night. It isn’t good manners to ask the visitor what he wants or why he has come until three days have passed. The guest is expected to eat the host’s meals with appreciation and gusto, and not to overstay his welcome. Even today Syrians prepare their sweets and pastries in large quantities and store them in freezers in case of unexpected company. In this class students will prepare their own hospitality tray, creating such delicacies as Ba’lawa (Baklava) with Pistachios and Rose Water Syrup, Sesame Butter Candy with Bittersweet Chocolate, Buttery Shortbread Cookies with Pistachios, and Sweet Cookies with Orange-Lemon Essence. In the time remaining, the class will relax and enjoy a cup of Arabic coffee with the sweets. Leftovers will be available for your own take-home hospitality tray.

Mediterranean Mezze (Vegetarian/Dairy)
Now's your chance to make a meal out of all those delicious little appetizers! Melon-Mint Drink with Yogurt, Turkish Salad with Red Peppers &Tomatoes, Carrot Salad with Cumin, Raisins & Saffron, Eggplant dip with Lemon, Pureed chickpeas with sesame paste, Fried Squash & Zucchini, Chickpea Fritters with Cumin, Cracked Wheat with Red Lentils, Tomato Paste, Cumin & Parsley, Homemade Middle Eastern Pita Bread.

Fearless & Fabulous with Filo (Vegetarian/Dairy)
Do you freeze with fear when considering any dish requiring filo dough? Well, here's a crash course in learning how to tackle that temperamentally delicate dough. First, create a Layered Filo Pie (Baklava) filled with ground pistachios and drizzled with Rose Water Syrup. Next, advance to folding filo strips into triangles and filling them with an Orange Blossom Pudding. But that’s not all: to complete the course you still have to prepare a Shredded Filo Crust Stuffed with Sweet Ricotta Cheese. And finally, only after you learn to roll long thin Cigars Filled with Crushed Almonds and dipped in Honey Syrup, will you receive your filo graduation degree!

It's All Greek To You! (Vegetarian/Dairy)
Greek is great! And the best part is that these dishes are easy to make, yet impressive to your lucky guests. Stuffed Pastry Triangles with White Cheese, Layered Filo with Lemony Spinach, Peasant Salad with Feta, Black Olives, Tomatoes and Olive Oil, and an exotic dessert of Filo Pie with a Semolina-Egg Custard are among the Greek favorites you’ll prepare. (Breaking of plates is extra! :)

Central Asian/Eurasian Cooking (Vegetarian/Dairy)
Armenian Red Lentil Soup with Apricots, Lemon & Thyme; Georgian Stuffed Cheese Bread or Armenian Tahini-Egg Bread; Georgian Green Beans with Ground Walnuts, Fenugreek, Pomegranate & Coriander;
Bukharian Carrots with Cumin, Paprika & Tomato Paste; Georgian Layered Paklava Pastry Stuffed
with Walnuts or Azerbaijani Semolina Pudding with Saffron & Ground Almonds