A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a glimpse of our October 30 "cooking party," where guest chef Kayla Lammy  led a lively group of student cooks through a 2.5-hour, fully hands-on culinary adventure. We chopped, mixed, boiled, sautéed, kneaded, assembled, and baked our way to a feast that several students called the “best class they’ve ever attended.” Together, we made fresh mozzarella from scratch; fresh pasta with flour, eggs, and water; stuffed ravioli by hand; shaved Brussels sprouts into a roasted vegetable salad; and finished off the evening with a luscious "Dirty Chai Tiramisu" for dessert. It truly was a party to remember ( see even more pictures ).  Even if you missed the class, you can still cook along. All kitchen-tested recipes from every class—including all of Kayla’s dishes—are available on my website, organized by cuisine. There are now over 200 streamlined, easy-to-follow recipes ready for you to download anytime. Since la...

  Harkening back to ancient Roman times, olive oil, garlic, cheese, and herbs have been combined around the Mediterranean region to become the essence of classic Italian cuisine. The best Italian dishes are the simplest ones, using the freshest seasonal ingredients and focusing on enhancing natural flavors. Modern Italian cuisine is more focused on regional specialties and often shows influences from neighboring countries. But the core philosophy of simplicity and sourcing fresh, local, seasonal ingredients remains the same. Tonight's vegetarian recipes were developed to highlight the seasonal flavors of fall with an emphasis on nutrition and taste: Butternut Squash Ravioli with Ricotta Cheese Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dried Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds Dirty Chai Tiramisu Kayla Lammy will be our guest chef for this cooking class. Kayla is currently a second-year master’s student in the Food Science and Human Nutrition department at the Univer...

The fall edition of the Urbana Park District Program Guide is now out, and this means that fall registration will be open soon. Mark your calendar for August 6 if you want to be first to sign up for our fall cooking classes. If you already have the catalog, flip to page 28 to preview all the cooking classes coming this fall — and they're all new! Here's a summary of what's coming up in our long-running PRINCIPLES OF ETHNIC COOKING class series at Urbana Park District's Phillips Recreation Center. This is a series of "cooking parties" where all students will participate in the preparation of the dishes on the menu: On  September 11 , I will be sharing the results of my latest home kitchen experiments in a Taste of Georgia class. Georgia is a former Soviet state nestled between Europe and Asia with a unique and vibrant cuisine. Join us for this special Georgian feast, which will include the world-famous Georgian Kharcho (beef stew) and two other exot...

It's July, which means basil harvest season is already here. If we were in Genoa, Italy, it would be time to take our bountiful basil harvest and make a big batch of fresh pesto sauce right now. Genoa is a major trading port on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in northwestern Italy. Located next to Tuscany, Genoa is also where pesto was invented. Harkening back to ancient Roman times, garlic, cheese, and herbs have been pounded into a paste that eventually evolved into the modern version of pesto — a raw sauce that demands the freshest of ingredients. At tonight's Taste of Genoa  cooking class, we'll learn how to make fresh pesto using just-harvested local basil, fresh garlic, and Italian extra virgin olive oil. We'll use our raw pesto sauce in every dish on tonight's special Mediterranean menu which includes the world-famous Pizza Pesto Genovese. Register here: www.goharvestmarket.com/event/cooking-with-paul-young-taste-of-genoa . All my Harvest Market ...

It's going to be a busy fall season at both Common Ground Food Co-op and Urbana Park District's Phillips Recreation Center as we've scheduled a full season of six cooking classes starting in September.  The first class will be "A Taste of Palestine" on September 21 at the Phillips Recreation Center's James Room Kitchen . For the first time, I will step back and assist Fairouz AbuGhazaleh who be the chef du jour and cook up several of her family recipes. According to Fairouz, "Palestinian food begins at home with recipes that evoke feelings of homesickness, happiness and nostalgia that have been passed down by generations." This class is part of my continuing series called "Flavor Principles of Ethnic Cooking" where we travel around and sample the best tasting ethnic cuisines available ( see full menus and details ). If you want to attend this class or the other classes in this series, please register today . From past experience, we know...

Well, it depends on who is doing it. This is how we do it: We dream of international destinations where there are lots of good eats (the more exotic the better). We fantasize what the ultimate menu might be at this destination. We research what wines and beverages might pair well with these dishes. We set a table for 10 people and have one hell of a dinner a party!  This is what makes us different: All of our pop-up events are all-inclusive prix fixe dinners. This means you get a multi-course dinner complete with wine and other beverage pairings all evening long for one fixed price. Unlike at restaurants, all taxes and tip are included as well. Since we're only inviting 10 people, these are small intimate affairs where you can easily meet other like-minded foodies and make new friends. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun. We just pulled off a 10-course Japanese tasting menu around the theme BULLET TRAIN TO OSAKA. We're looking forward to exploring France...

A new pop-up dinner experience has been scheduled for Sunday, August 20, 2023. This time, we'll be going to Italy for a four-course Italian pesto feast with imported wine pairings all evening long. The Cinque Terre is in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy where pesto was invented.  Harkening back to ancient Roman times, garlic, cheese, and herbs have been pounded into a paste which eventually evolved into the modern version of pesto — a raw sauce that demands the freshest of ingredients. Tonight, we'll be making a large batch of pesto from scratch using fresh local basil from our farmer's market, fresh garlic, and Italian extra virgin olive oil. We'll use our raw pesto sauce in every dish on tonight's special Mediterranean feast which will include Minestrone Soup, Caprese Salad, Eggplant Parmigiana, and Frutti di Mare (seafood pasta), plus a shot of limoncello for dessert ( see the entire menu ). Seating is extremely limited. For more information about how ...