Enter Your Best Pesach Dessert in CKCA's New Recipe Contest!

CKCA is on the hunt for our community's greatest Pesach desserts recipes! From nutty to chocolately, from fruity to icy, we know there's a lot of delicious things in store for us this Pesach. If you make something delectable on Pesach, we want to know about it. Email your recipe to contest@kosherculinaryarts.com by March 14, and we will select 10 finalists, ask them to submit a picture of their completed dessert, and put it to our Facebook fans for a vote. There will be two winners: One non-Gebrochts dessert and one Gebrochts. Both winners will receive bragging rights, a $75 gift certificate toward classes at CKCA, and the recipes will be featured on our website and published in our Pesach recipe newsletter.

For continual updates on CKCA's Pesach Desserts Recipe contest, make sure to "like" us on Facebook, and sign up to receive our recipe newsletters by visiting http://www.kosherculinaryarts.com and enter your email address in the top right-hand corner. 

And if you want to learn to create amazing Pesach desserts this year, then sign up for CKCA's Pesach desserts class on March 10! Click here for more info! 

***CKCA reserves the right to edit recipes for spelling and grammar, and will do our best to ensure that all recipe ingredients adhere to strict kosher for Passover standards before publishing. One recipe may be submitted per person.***

Top Three Reasons To Take CKCA Pro Class in the Spring!

Our professional training program in culinary arts is 152 hours of hands-on training in professional level culinary skills & techniques. 

Our professional training program in baking & pastry arts is 152 hours of hands-on training in the fundamental skills & techniques of the bakeshop. 

Spring Semester Dates
April 8 to June 6th, 2013
Culinary Arts: Monday through Friday, 9am to 1pm
Baking & Pastry Arts: Monday through Thursday, 2pm to 6pm

We offer these courses four times a year, but the best time the take them is in the Spring. And here's why!

Smaller Class Size

3. Smaller class size = more personal attention. Summer and Fall our the most popular times of the year and therefore the busiest semesters. The spring is quieter and therefore class sizes are smaller. You get more personal attention from the same amazing chef instructors. 

Perfect Cooking Weather

2. The kitchen is a hot place, especially in the summer. Learning to cook during a temperate time of year is more comfortable! It's a great time to be in NYC as well; not too hot or humid. 



Spring Produce

1. The freshest vegetables and herbs come to market at this time of year. Only Spring semester students get the chance to work with such top-notch, local products. 


Follow this link for admissions information for the Spring Semester, which begins April 8th, and apply now! Don't miss this amazing opportunity! It only comes once a year!

Makin' Facon on Date Night

Facon; beauty shot courtesy of Jack's Gourmet.

Ahh, Bacon.... 

 Many a kosher foodie, ba'al Teshuvah, and the like have longed for its smokey, salty goodness and mourned its absence from the kosher table, sighing every time a recipe insisted on its inclusion. Pine no more friends, a worthy substitute has finally arrived. 

Please welcome FACON by Jack's Gourmet. Previous bacon wannabees have by all accounts fallen short in taste, texture, and appearance. Turkey bacon; too lean, no texture. Beef fry; nothing more than fatty corned beef or pastrami. Vegetarian bacon; give me a break. If all others have failed, why has Jack's succeeded? 

 Jack's Genius 

 First, there's the meat. Facon is beef. But not just any beef. This is beef cut from the part of the steer that is the anatomical equivalent of pork belly which is the part of the pig that bacon is made from. This beefy cut is streaked with fatty goodness, just like bacon, which renders when cooked allowing the meat to cook up nice and crisp. Second, Facon is prepared just like the real thing. It is dry cured with salt and sugar and flavored with smoke. Jack's blend has captured the salty, smoky balance that bacon is relished for. The bottom line is, Facon looks, tastes, and cooks like the real thing (or so we've been told by several reliable authorities). So much so that kosher restaurant chefs have been gobbling it up in wholesale, slab form for all types of inspired, chef worthy applications. (Jack's was completely sold out of the slab when we placed our order.) 

 Facon Meets Date Night 

We decided to have fun with Facon in our own way; by experimenting on unsuspecting Date Night participants! For the uninitiated, Date Night Couples Competition is our Chopped style culinary competition class for couples. One of our most popular classes, Date Night challenges couples to create an inspired entree from a basket of secret ingredients. On this special night the basket included; chicken breast, green lentils, oranges, swiss chard, and of course, Facon. We were highly impressed with the creative applications the students came up for the Facon; cooked crisp and crumbled on top of a salad, braised with greens, incorporated into a stuffing for the chicken... Ironically, several of the couples present this evening happened to be non-kosher keeping. All of them said the same thing; Facon tastes likes the real thing!

Here's a few highlights:

Lentils braised with facon

 Squash & Swiss Chard salad with crumbled Facon

Chicken stuffed with mustard & Facon stuffing

Facon, by Jack's Gourmet is now available in kosher retail outlets across the country. For more information about Facon or any of Jack's Gourmet's other products, visit their website.

CKCA Debuts Cupcake Wars Competition at Stern College

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts this week was pleased to help Manhattan's Stern College for Women stage a Cupcake Wars competition as part of an orientation program for the incoming class of students. 

50 young women participated, competing in teams of four. Chef Avram Wiseman, CKCA's Dean of Students and Head Culinary Arts Instructor, acted as Master of Ceremonies, while Chef Philippe Kaemmerle, CKCA's lead Pastry Instructor, gave a brief demonstration on how to use a piping bag and provided a tutorial in basic cupcake decorating technique. (Chef Kaemmerle regularly gives classes on Sundays such as Sophisticated Cupcakes, Cake Pops, and Cake in a Jar, and information about those classes can be found by clicking on the links.)

The teams then had 30 minutes to decorate their own cupcakes as a team according to a theme. Our judges then scored them based on presentation and creativity. The winners (pictured above, with CKCA Chef Instructors) each received $25 off classes at CKCA. 

The event gained rave reviews from both students and organizers, and CKCA plans to repeat the Cupcake Wars Competition in other locations, for both schools and charity-event purposes. If you are interested in bringing Cupcake Wars to your campus or synagogue, contact CKCA at 718-758-1339. 

Below, enjoy some pictures of the winning cupcakes and the competition in action. 

CKCA Debuts First Ever Women-Only Professional Program

This winter, during a new semester of the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts professional program, a new all-womens evening section will be offered, in addition to an all-mens evening section, and a co-educational daytime program. These course offerings of non-mixed gender courses are offered in response to requests from students. 

The all-womens class will be offered on Sunday and Monday evenings, 6:30pm to 10:30pm, from January 13 to June 10, 2013. For the full schedule of professional courses, visit this link.

The women's Pro class will offer the same high-quality 152-hour professional program in culinary training in a Glatt-kosher environment that CKCA is famous for. The course offers hands-on training in professional culinary skills and techniques, as well as an optional 8-hour certificate course in food safety and sanitation, at no additional charge. Upon completion of the professional program, students have the option to continue their training with an internship in a professional food service environment, such as restaurants, catering companies, and other institutional food service locations like schools and homes for the aged or developmentally disabled. 

The goals of the program are to:

*Orient the student to the professional kosher culinary environment and teach the student to operate within that environment in a safe, efficient, and skillful manner

*Hone the student’s understanding and practice of fundamental culinary technique

*Develop in the student an understanding of flavor and taste and an appreciation for quality ingredients

*Facilitate the student’s transition in to the working world by providing both career counseling and an opportunity for networking.

For more information, call CKCA Director Jesse Blonder at 718-758-1339. For more information, visit here:  http://www.kosherculinaryarts.com/career-training/culinary-arts.

Date Night Couples Competition 12/01/12; Recap

Last night was the first Date Night Couples Competition of our Saturday night cooking class season and boy did it kick off with a bang! The class has consistently been our most popular and continues to be a very in demand option for private parties as well.

For those of you who have seen the show Chopped, the concept of Couples Competition is very similar. With 90 minutes on the clock, couples race to create one extraordinary entree using nothing but their cooking skills, culinary know-how, and a basket of secret ingredients. No recipes, no cookbooks, no kidding! And of course we always round out the night with drinks, snacks, and music!

Each plate is then judged by our chef on taste, presentation, and creativity. The winner receives a gift certificate towards classes for $75!

This week, the basket included:

Chicken breast
Basmati Rice
Shallots
Butternut squash
Star anise

Couple #1 by far had the most colorful plate. Their balsamic marinated and grilled chicken breast was very tasty as well.

Couple #2 made a very delicious chicken fajita inspired entree over a supremely flavorful basmati rice.

Couple #3 coated their chicken in a combination of crushed pistachios, sliced almonds, and Japanese bread crumbs for some seriously delicious crunch.

Couple #4 won the award for creativity with what they called a descontructed Bibimbap. Their plating was impressive too; rice served in the shape a heart and carrots carved in to the shape of mini sprockets. The fried egg on top certainly didn't illicit any complaints from the judges either!

Couple #5 grilled their chicken on skewers and garnished with a combination of black and white sesame seeds and flax seeds. They won the award for best use of the star anise with a truly tasty anise infused butternut squash puree.

Couple #6 had the highest score in the category of taste. Their rice pilaf was simple but right on the money. The grilled vegetables were at that perfect point of being crunchy but cooked through, impressive grill marks as well. The chicken, breaded, fried and served on a brush stroke of squash puree was lovely. Let it be known that they were also the best trash-talkers we've had to date! Nonetheless, their plate spoke for itself and THEY WERE PRONOUNCED THE WINNER!

Another great night cooking and competing!

The next Date Night Culinary Competition will be held on Saturday, December 29, 2012 from 8 - 10:30 pm. We hope to see you then!

CKCA Presents Kosherfest's Fifth Annual Culinary Competition!

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is excited to present the fifth annual Kosherfest Chef’s Competition, taking place at the Kosherfest Trade Show. Kosherfest will be hosted November 13th and 14th at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, in Secaucus, NJ. The event will take place on the second day of the show: Wednesday, November 14, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm.

Three professional chefs will compete live for a cash prize. Chefs will be presented with a basket of secret ingredients drawn from the Mediterranean palate and given 45 minutes to prepare three portions of one course featuring the secret ingredients. Judges from the culinary industry will grade each competitors dish based on taste, creativity, and presentation. The highest score will determine the winner. The first prize winner will receive $1,000.

Competitors:

Kobe Weiner, Executive Chef Kosher Foods Fairway Markets

Ari White, Executive Chef & Owner Gemstone Catering

Alexandre Petard, Executive Chef Ladino Restaurant


Judges:

Chef Philippe Kaemmerle, Pastry Chef, The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts

Jack Silberstein, Owner, Jack’s Gourmet Sausages

Chef Seth Warshaw, Executive Chef, ETC Steakhouse, Winner Kosherfest Culinary Competition 2011

Paula Shoyer, Author, The Kosher Baker

Fall's Culinary Date Nights Begin October 15th!

Work together with that special someone to create a delicious, four-course, upscale dinner. Date night themes will alternate between Fall Feast and Couples Competition, and both are equally delicious and a great evening out! (Pssssst! Culinary Date Nights also make a great gift!)

Date Night, Couples Competition

Tuesday, October 15th

Motzei Shabbos, November 10th

Motzei Shabbos, December 1st

Date Night, Fall Feast

Motzei Shabbos, November 17, 2012

Motzei Shabbos, November 24, 2012

All date night are scheduled for:

8:00pm - 10:30pm

$175 per couple

  To register,  call 718.758.1339!

Kosher Cooking Classes in Manhattan This Summer!

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is pleased to announce our summer class series' in Manhattan this summer! Join us for Culinary Boot Camp, Advanced Pastry Boot Camp, Teen Cooking Camp, and our ever popular Date Nights! All classes will conveniently take place at The Ramaz School on the Upper East Side. Ramaz is located at 114 E. 85th Street, between Lexington and Park Avenues. 


Selected Class Listings:


Baking Bootcamp Plus is a full two-week course covering classic French pastry, danish & croissant, cake, cookie, and cupcake decoration, french macarons, chocolate and more. The class will explore both dairy and pareve desserts. (Monday, July 16 - Thursday, July 26th, 10am to 2pm): Click here for the full description!


Culinary Bootcamp is five Tuesday nights beginning July 24th, and topics will include intense, valuable lessons on knife skills, principles and application of all the major cooking methods, how to cook poultry, meat & fish, plating & presentation, and more. Click here for the full description! 


Culinary Bootcamp Plus is a full two-week course covering knife skills, principles and application of all the major cooking methods, as well as how to cook poultry, meat and fish, plating and presentation, and more. (Monday, August 13 - Thursday, August 23, 10am to 2pm). Click here for the full description!


Teens Cooking Camp is a week-long course (August 6th - August 10th, 10am-1pm) in which teens take over the kitchen in this five-day hands-on, intensive series on cooking & baking. Taught by our professionally trained chefs in a fully commercial kitchen, each action packed day will be technique and skill driven and culminate in a delicious meal. Students will become adept in making Sunday brunch, pasta from scratch, a full meal to remember, an will take place in an "Iron Chef" style culinary competition. Click here for the full description!


Date Night cooking classes will also take place throughout the summer at this location as well as at our location in Brooklyn.


We encourage you to check back at our site, http://www.kosherculinaryarts.com, for all updated class information! For all additional details and questions, please call Jesse Blonder at 718-758-1339.

CKCA Grad Avi Roth to Open Gotham Burger Co. in Teaneck, NJ

A graduate of the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts' first professional culinary arts certificate program, Avi Roth (Summer '08) is hard at work prepping for the opening of his first restaurant. Gotham Burger Co., a "kosher version of Shake Shack," will be opening in Teaneck, NJ within the next month. The restaurant will open on Teaneck's growing "restaurant row", at the bustling corner of Queen Anne Road and West Englewood Avenue, in the space that formerly housed Burgers Bar.

In addition to traditional restaurant design updates, Avi will be bringing the 21st century into his table service, which will feature iPad ordering with interactive games for kids at every table.

Avi reports that his vision for Gotham Burger Co. includes a concentration on flavor profiles, a higher quality of meats, at an affordable price with good service. "I want people to have a fine dining experience at a reasonable price," he said. In addition, the roadside burger joint menu will have lots of kid-friendly fare.

Avi is working with one partner and several investors to open the restaurant and is currently overseeing renovations and solidifying his kitchen staff. In the photo above, he shows CKCA Director Jesse Blonder around the restaurant. As CKCA is a close partner with this venture, Avi will be offering a 10% discount to all CKCA grads who visit Gotham once it opens. He also will be providing word of the day specials once he gets up and running, and he looks forward to seeing lots of CKCA grads past and present become repeat customers.

Recipe: Pappa al Pomodoro

Here's a fantastic recipe for a hearty tomato soup that we cooked last year in the Master Class in Italian Cuisine. We'll be doing the class again this year with a whole new menu of outstanding, authentic Italian specialties.

Master Class in Italian Cuisine

January 23 - 26

10 am - 2 pm

$475 for the whole week / $150 per day

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS!

PAPPA AL POMODORO (Tomato bread soup)

- 2 lb tomato puree, canned

- 1 lb stale crusty bread

- 1 sliced red onion

- 1 t crushed red chili pepper flakes

- 4 crushed cloves of garlic

- Fresh basil

- 4 T extra virgin olive oil

- 4 fresh tomatoes, diced

- Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a sauce pan, add the onion and cook gently for 10 minutes. Add the chili pepper and the garlic. Add the tomato puree and bring to a boil. Add the bread in small pieces, the fresh tomatoes, and some water or stock if it is too dry. Let cook till the bread is completely soft, about 20 minutes. Puree briefly with an immersion or regular blender. Tear the basil and add sprinkle on top. Remove from the heat and serve hot or warm with some basil oil (recipe below) on top

OLIO AL BASILICO (Basil flavored extra virgin olive oil)

- 16 fl oz. extra virgin olive oil - 50 leaves fresh basil, cleaned - 1 tsp course sea salt

In a blender, process the oil with the basil and the salt. Add more oil if necessary. Put through a sieve. Pour in a glas bottle or jar and preserve in the refrigerator.

Center for Kosher Culinary Arts Launches New and Improved Website!

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is proud to unveil the newest version of its website, visible at http://www.kosherculinaryarts.com. The new, fully-searchable site includes all of CKCA's classic recipes, as well as updated class schedules, announcements, chef instructor bios and special descriptions of our most exciting master classes. Updates to our popular date nights and other recreational classes can be found there as well.

Check out the new site today!

CKCA to Offer All-Men's Evening Professional Program in Culinary Arts

Professional Training Program in Culinary Arts
Men's Class
Jan 29 - June 18
Sun, Mon: 6:30 - 10:30 pm

For the first time ever, the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is offering a non-mixed gender class in professional culinary arts. The first session will be for men only. It will take place Sunday and Monday evenings, starting January 29th through June 18th, 2012.

Our professional training program in culinary arts is 152 hours of hands-on training in professional level culinary skills & techniques. We also offer the students the opportunity to take an additional 8-hour prep course in food safety & sanitation, free of additional charge.

The goals of the program are to:

*Orient the student to the professional kosher culinary environment and teach the student to operate within that environment in a safe, efficient, & skillful manner

*Hone the student’s understanding and practice of fundamental culinary technique

*Develop in the student an understanding of flavor and taste and an appreciation for quality ingredients

*Facilitate the student’s transition in to the working world by providing both career counseling and an opportunity for networking.

For more information, call CKCA Director Jesse Blonder at 718-758-1339.

Congrats to CKCA Grad Dalia Avezbadalov!

CKCA graduate Dalia Avezbadalov and her mom, Elana Mammon, were featured in a wonderful article in Tablet Magazine about Bukharian food and the large population of Central Asian Jews who live in Queens. Read the full article here.

Enjoy the wonderful recipe they contributed for Perashki Kartoshkagiy, meat and potato turnovers here. The dough recipe can be turned into sufganiyot if you replace the potato mixture with jam before frying.

Join Students from All Over the World: Pro Culinary and Pastry Programs Begin January 2nd!

This winter CKCA has scheduled our most flexible dates yet for Day and Evening Programs in both Professional Culinary Arts and Professional Baking & Pastry Arts, so that working professionals and students can have the flexibility to study here full time, or spend just two evenings a week learning strategies to succeed as a classical professional chef.

Join students from all over the world who come to study classic culinary techniques in a Glatt Kosher environment.



This is an amazing opportunity for people who are already working to get the kind of training that will secure better job opportunities and a world of new experiences.

The Pro Program in Culinary Arts dates are as follows:

WINTER 2012
FULL TIME, DAY
Jan 2 - March 15, 2012
Monday - Thursday
9 am - 1 pm
NO CLASS Jan 23 – 26 (Yeshiva Week), March 7,8 (Purim)

WINTER/SPRING 2012
PART TIME, EVENING
Jan 8 - May 21, 2012
Sun, Mon
6:30 - 10:30 pm
NO CLASS April 8, 9 (Pesach)

The Pro Program in Baking & Pastry Arts dates are as follows:
WINTER 2012
FULL TIME, DAY
Jan 2 - March 15, 2012
Monday - Thursday
2 pm - 6 pm
NO CLASS Jan 23 – 26 (Yeshiva Week), March 7, 8 (Purim)

WINTER/SPRING 2012
PART TIME, EVENING
Jan 4 - May 24, 2012
Wed, Thurs
6:30 - 10:30 pm
NO CLASS March 7, 8 (Purim), April 11, 12 (Pesach)

Chef Avram Answers Your Thanksgiving Queries on Koshereye's Kosher Turkey Talk!

We here at CKCA are big fans of our friends at Koshereye.com, and now Chef Avram Wiseman, our very own dean of student affairs, is answering questions about that big kosher turkey that we all love.

Make sure to visit Koshereye.com to get Chef Avram's roast turkey tips and tricks and don't forget to grab CKCA's awesome kosher T-day Recipes, which are linked for your convenience below:

Chef Avram's Roast Turkey
Cabbage and Apple Soup
Sweet Potato Gratin
Wheatberry Salad with Butternut Squash and Dried Cranberries
Thanksgiving Maple Pecan Pie
Leftover Turkey Gumbo!

Winter Professional Programs Begin January 2nd!

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is once again proud to offer both full time and part time program in Culinary Arts and Baking and Pastry Arts. Schedules for the programs beginning in the first week of January are below. For additional information and to download an application, please visit http://www.kosherculinaryarts.com.


PROFESSIONAL TRAINING Program in Culinary Arts

WINTER 2012
FULL TIME, DAY
Jan 2 - March 15, 2012
Monday - Thursday
9 am - 1 pm
NO CLASS Jan 23 – 26 (Yeshiva Week), March 7,8 (Purim)

WINTER/SPRING 2012
PART TIME, EVENING
Jan 8 - May 21, 2012
Sun, Mon
6:30 - 10:30 pm
NO CLASS April 8, 9 (Pesach)


PROFESSIONAL TRAINING Program in Baking and Pastry Arts

WINTER 2012
FULL TIME, DAY
Jan 2 - March 15, 2012
Monday - Thursdayhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
2 pm - 6 pm
NO CLASS Jan 23 – 26 (Yeshiva Week), March 7, 8 (Purim)

WINTER/SPRING 2012
PART TIME, EVENING
Jan 4 - May 24, 2012
Wed, Thurs
6:30 - 10:30 pm
NO CLASS March 7, 8 (Purim), April 11, 12 (Pesach)


For more information, contact CKCA at 718-758-1339. You can also download an application at http://www.kosherculinaryarts.com.

CKCA's Kosherfest Culinary Competition

The lightbulbs flashed as boneless duck breasts sizzled in the pan, while three kosher chef owners competed in Kosherfest's CKCA Culinary Competition, which was sponsored by Jack's Gourmet.

Craig Solomon of Ariel's of Englewood, Moshe Wendel of Pardes in Brooklyn, and Seth Warshaw of etc Steakhouse squared off in this secret ingredient challenge, with only forty-five minutes to stake their claim to the $1,000 cash prize.

The crowd squeezed into a room too small for 300 people, and craned their necks as they tried to get glimpses of the three chefs scurrying back and forth from their prep stations to their cooktops.

Moderated by CKCA Dean of Student Affairs Chef Avram Wiseman, the spectators were treated to a running commmentary of the ingredients being used and their uses. Chef Avram also reported on the cooking styles and tools being used as well as any particular techniques that were particularly interesting.

When time was called after forty-five minutes, three plates with a main course of duck breast were served to the three judges, who were CKCA Head Pastry Chef Instructor Philippe Kaemmerle, Jack's Gourmet's Jack Silberstein, and Kosher Scene blogger Chaim Szmidt.





As the judges tabulated the score, the audience held its collective breath. While all three chefs had very high scores and the numbers were very close, the winner was announced as Chef Seth Warshaw of Etc Steakhouse of Teaneck, New Jersey.





CKCA would like to thank Kosherfest and Jack's Gourmet for their help in making this event a reality. And once again, a hearty congratulations to our competitors, whose restaurants are all real winners: Chef Moshe Wendel of Pardes in Brooklyn, Chef Craig Solomon of Ariel's of Englewood, and of course to Chef Seth Warshaw, of Etc Steakhouse in Teaneck, NJ.