CKCA Fave Appetizer: Cold Sesame Noodles

On the heels of his big first place win at Kosherfest 2010's Cold Appetizer competition, Chef Avram Wiseman shares his favorite recipe for cold sesame noodles, sure to become a staple of your family's table for years to come. It is great appetizer or side dish, and it can easily be altered into a main dish when paired with grilled chicken, fish or tofu.

5 lb. soba, lo-mein, Or rice noodles
3 and 1/4 Cups strong hot tea
3 cups creamy peanut butter
3 cups soy sauce
1 cup sugar
2 medium cucumbers
1/2 cup toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup soybean oil
12 cloves peeled, chopped garlic
3 cups rice wine vinegar
12 scallions, washed, dried and minced
sesame seeds for garnish

Procedure:

Cook noodles as directed on package. Drain well. Rinse to remove extra gluten. Transfer to large stainless mixing bowl. Thin peanut butter with hot tea until smoothed. Add vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, oils and garlic. Pour mixture over noodles. Toss, cover and refrigerate.

Retoss noodles before serving. Peel, seed and jullienne cucumbers. Add minced scallions and cucumbers to noodles. Adjust seasonings, garnish with sesame seeds and serve.

Chef Avram Wiseman Takes First Place in Kosherfest's 3rd Annual Culinary Competition!

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is thrilled to extend congratulations to our own Dean of Students Chef Avram Wiseman on his first prize winning cold appetizer preparation in the Kosherfest 3rd Annual Culinary Competition, awarded on October 27th at Kosherfest 2010!

Chef Wiseman wowed the judges and the audience with a fresh fillet of wild caught Long Island Striped Bass rubbed with a tandoori spice mix, which was grilled and placed over a lentil salad. The fish was topped with a spicy pineapple salsa and was plated with a micro green salad with tarragon vinaigrette.

There were three other competitors in the event: Chef Pini Ben-Ari from U-Cafe, Chef Albert Bijou of Heaven's Kitchen Corporation and Chef Salim Fysal of Dashkin Glatt Kosher Indian Bistro.

Each chef had five minutes to assemble and plate four orders of their dish for presentation to the judges for tasting.

The event included judges Roberta Scher and Lois Held of Koshereye.com, writer/education Ted Merwin and cookbook author and James Beard Award Winner Gil Marks.

About Chef Wiseman

As any of his students will tell you, Chef Wiseman is an outstanding, caring chef instructor with many years of industry experience, though he has often said that his first love is teaching. Early in his career, Chef Wiseman held an astonishingly diverse number of positions in a wide array of settings — as banquet chef at the Tan a Tar Marriot, Missouri, Chef Garde Manger at the Garden City Hotel, Executive Sous Chef of the kitchen at the United Nations, and Executive Chef at the Riverhouse Restaurant.

Chef Wiseman is more than a little familiar with the demands of the kosher kitchen, having served as the executive chef for Lederman Caterers in Queens, Kay Caterers in NYC, President Caterers in Long Island, and is currently working as a consulting chef for Paradise Caterers at Marina Del Ray in The Bronx. He is also a Yeshiva graduate.

Chef Wiseman began teaching, his true passion, in 2000 at The Art Institute of New York. Over the six years he spent there, he earned a CHE certification in hospitality education and completed coursework in teaching methodology.

The next professional training class that Chef Wiseman will be teaching will be the Culinary Arts Certificate program in kosher culinary arts, beginning January 3, 2011 and ending March 15, 2011. The next recreational program taught by Chef Wiseman will be "Ask the Chef," a culinary demonstration and tasting, on November 27, 2010. Call 718-758-1339 for more information.

About the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts


Based in Flatbush, Brooklyn, above a cookware store owned by Lubavitcher Jews, CKCA initially offered only recreational cooking, cake decorating and garnishing classes. However, many people who attended the classes requested professional training, so they could learn classic techniques and apply them in professional kosher environments. Until CKCA was established, the only way a kosher-keeping student could study the culinary arts in the United States was to attend a non-kosher program and rely on classmates to taste the food. CKCA is also one of the only ways a non-Jewish student learns the art of kosher cooking, in order to compete for an increasing number of jobs in kosher restaurants and catering. Several experienced master chefs are on CKCA's permanent faculty as chef instructors, including Chef Avram Wiseman, formerly Executive Sous Chef at the United Nations and Chef Instructor at the Art Institute of New York.

Over the past two years, approximately 140 individuals from numerous states and abroad have completed CKCA professional courses. Those who have desired internships have been placed, and many have found work through CKCA as well. Several grads have opened their own food-related businesses, and many have found commercial success working as personal chefs and caterers. For more information, visit http://www.kosherculinaryarts.com.

Crunchy Chicken Salad

We're all looking for new, fun and interesting ways to present chicken to our families. In honor of our upcoming recreational Sunday class, "Chicken Six Ways," which promised to teach all of us a few new ways to cook our favorite bird, we invite you to try Chef Avram's favorite chicken salad recipe, which adds crunch and life to all of all that boiled soup chicken that we never know what to do with. Chef Avram reports that this sharp, simple and savory recipe is a big crowd pleaser. It's perfect for an Erev Shabbos dinner or lunch, served with challah, toast or matzah.

To sign up for Chicken Six Ways, a class which will be given by Chef Russell Moss, Executive Chef of the 92nd Street Y Tribeca Cafe, on Sunday, November 7th, call 718-758-1339.

Ingredients:

3 and 1/2 cups cooked chicken (24 ounces)
3/4 cup minced celery
1 small onion, minced
3/4 cup minced water chestnuts
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp minced fresh dill (or 1/2 tsp minced dried dill)
2 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp Canola oil
Salt and white pepper to taste

Procedure:

Remove all skin, bone and cartilage from the cooked chicken and dice the meat into 1/4 inch cubes. Place into a sanitized mixing bowl.

Finely mince the onion, water chestnuts, and celery. Squeeze all excess water from the minced vegetables (using a clean towel or cheesecloth) until they are quite dry. Add the vegetables and all other ingredients to the chicken.

Mix well to bind. Chill immediately. Garnish with additional minced fresh dill.

A CKCA Favorite: Mulligatawny Soup

Mulligatawny soup is a favorite at CKCA, made every semester in Chef Avram Wiseman's pro class, often in the first week of cooking. It's a great recipe for students to get comfortable in the kitchen, working as part of a brigade, because there's lots of mis en place (ingredients to be made ready for cooking) to prepare that can be shared among a group of people. It's also a great example of the use of delicious Indian spices that can be used in many recipes to add flavor and color to everyday recipes such as roasted vegetables or chicken.

There's no reason this recipe can't be made at home, and it's a thick, spicy, comforting soup that's just perfect for the fall. It can be either served as an appetizer or as a full meal in itself.


Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 cups chopped onions (about 1 pound)
5 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups eggplant, peeled,cut into small dice
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala (see a recipe for this spice blend in "comments")
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
2 cups dried red lentils
8 cups low-salt chicken broth
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups cooked basmati rice
Lemon wedges for garnish

Procedure

Heat vegetable oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until golden brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes. Add garam masala and next 4 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add eggplant and continue cooking. Add lentils; stir until coated. Add chicken broth. Bring the soup to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until lentils are very tender, about 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves.

Puree the soup using a hand wand or food processor until smooth. Stir in chicken, coconut milk, and lemon juice. Reheat and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide rice among bowls. Pour soup over. Garnish with lemon wedges; serve with cilantro sprigs, chives and a dash of coconut milk.

Artisanal Melon Carving & Fruit Platters with Food Network Star James Parker

Fruit & Vegetable Carving Ace James Parker, found of Veggyart.com, returns to CKCA for a one-day workshop on the art of melon carving and fruit platters. James travels worldwide teaching the art of carving and was the winner of the Food Network Fantasy Fruit Sculpture Challenge. Watch the full video here.

Sunday, October 24, 2010
9 am - 1 pm. $175,
10% off for CKCA Pro Program (Culinary, Baking) alumni!
Call to register, 718.758.1339
More here on Facebook.

Come See Us At Kosherfest!

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is thrilled to once again be attending and exhibiting at the world's largest kosher food tradeshow, Kosherfest! At the Meadowlands Convention Center (Seacaucus, NJ) on October 26th and 27th, CKCA will be exhibiting at booth 445, and we look forward to having you stop by to say hi to our chef, students, director and founders.

We always look forward to attending Kosherfest, because it is here where we often see very interesting trends and get to view a large array of new products that will be hitting the kosher marketplace in the coming year. We learn a lot about the availability of gourmet products and how even the oldest kosher food companies are constantly developing new products and innovating with flavors and packaging. It doesn't hurt that we also get to taste new and old kosher products too!

As an added incentive to attend Kosherfest this year, we're excited to announce that Chef Avram Wiseman, our new Dean of Student Affairs, will be participating in Kosherfest's third annual culinary competition on October 26th, so make sure you attend and cheer him on at 11am in Conference Room CD. A panel of industry professionals will judge and decide who takes the title for best kosher appetizer.

Master Class: The Cuisine of Italy

This January, Italy comes to CKCA! We are delighted to welcome Italian Cooking Instructors, Cristina Blasi and Gabriella Mari of Tuscany's "Scuola di Arte Culinaria Cordon Bleu Firenze" to CKCA for our very first week long, hands-on master class in Italian Cuisine. In this four day intensive course, Cristina and Gabriella will teach both classic and contemporary dishes from the Italian North, the Italian South, Tuscany, and the ...Mediterranean. A certificate of completion will be rewarded to all participants.

A reception is to be held on Sunday, January 23rd for students to meet and greet Cristina and Gabriella and each other.

ABOUT THE COOKING INSTRUCTORS:

Cristina Blasi and Gabriella Mari are the owners of the prestigious Scuola di Arte Culinaria Cordon Bleu in Florence, (http://www.cordonbleu-it.com/) where they have been teaching the art of Italian cuisine for over 25 years. They are fully qualified Cordon Bleu instructors and members of the "Commanderie des Cordons Bleus de France". Cristina and Gabriell also teach Cookeuro.com’s kosher program, La Cucina Kasher in Toscana, Florence, and have taught in the New York metropolitan area at The Institute of Culinary Education, King’s Cooking Studio, and the Sephardic Community Center.

$475 -- CALL TO REGISTER -- 718.758.1339

Mon - Thurs, Jan 24 - Jan 27 (YESHIVA BREAK), 10 am - 2 pm

Visit the facebook page but you MUST CALL and confirm your rsvp: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=158701220821401&ref=ts

CKCA Chef Instructor Avram Wiseman Named Dean of Student Affairs

Dean Avram Wiseman is second from left, pictured with several students.

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts (CKCA) is pleased to announce that Senior Chef Instructor Avram Wiseman has been appointed Dean of Student Affairs for CKCA. This newly created position requires a unique combination of teaching, curriculum development, student counseling, networking with industry professionals, and culinary performance. Dean Wiseman will also serve as an advisor to the CKCA director in several professional capacities, and represent CKCA at public events.

As a professional trade school, the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is committed to providing its students with meaningful on-the-job training opportunities, honest career counseling, and lifetime job placement assistance. Dean Wiseman, in his new capacity, will serve as the CKCA students' primary career counselor, by managing the student externship and job placement programs, which the school has committed to expanding in the near term.

In his capacity as CKCA's culinary ambassador, Dean Wiseman will work to raise awareness of CKCA in surrounding communities. He will travel throughout the NY/NJ area and promote the school via engaging, entertaining and memorable culinary demonstrations and performances.

As any of his previous students will tell you, Dean Wiseman is an outstanding, caring chef instructor with many years of industry experience, though he has often said that his first love is teaching. He has a dynamic, engaging personality and is a natural, motivating speaker and performer.

Early in his career, Dean Wiseman held an astonishingly diverse number of positions in a wide array of settings — as banquet chef at the Tan a Tar Marriot, Missouri, Chef Garde Manger at the Garden City Hotel, Executive Sous Chef of the kitchen at the United Nations, and Executive Chef at the Riverhouse Restaurant in New Jersey (where he earned 4 stars from the Asbury Park Press).

Dean Wiseman is more than a little familiar with the demands of the kosher kitchen, having served as the executive chef for Lederman Caterers in Queens, Kay Caterers in NYC, President Caterers in Long Island, and is currently working as a consulting chef for Paradise Caterers at Marina Del Ray in The Bronx. He is also a Yeshiva graduate.

Dean Wiseman began teaching, his true passion, in 2000 at The Art Institute of New York. Over the six years he spent there, he earned a CHE certification in hospitality education and completed coursework in teaching methodology.

The Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is delighted to have Dean Wiseman as part of our team, and we look forward to continuing our work with the benefit of his leadership and expertise.