"lessons" news and stories

Do you love to cook and want to learn more about it, but don't really have the time or inclination to go to culinary school? Maybe you just need to fill in some of the gaps in your self-taught education. There's a new online resource that could really be for you.

Called Rouxbe (pronounced roo be), this wesite offers cooking lessons, short video tips, and step by step video recipes. One aspect I really like about Rouxbe is that it focuses on technique but then supplies a recipe to go along with that technique. That is exactly like culinary school. There, you learn a technique and are then expected to be able to apply that to any recipe that you come accross. There's also a store and a community/forum section.

You have two basic membership options: free or premium, which is $99 for one year or $199 for a lifetime membership. The free membership level will get you access to text recipes and the drill-downs (videos featuring techniques and tips), and you get recipe previews and one free cooking lesson. To get full recipes and access to all cooking lessons you have to get the premium membership. Sure, it's no substitute for culinary school if you have career ambitions, but $99 is quite reasonable for an online culinary school if you really want to get cooking.

[Via Accidental Hedonist]

Erielle, who blogs at Fancy Toast, wanted to know if there was a mandoline support group somewhere that she could join because she just couldn't get the hang of using hers. A mandoline is a kitchen tool designed to make slicing up vegetables into thin, even strips, almost effortless. Potatoes, apples, cabbage and other firm fruits and vegetables can be placed into a (usually) metal holder and are quickly run across a very sharp blade that neatly cuts them into pieces. It is more precise than a grater, but the concept is similar.

Most find the process of using a mandoline to be very clear cut, but judging from the comments on the post, there are many people who have experienced the same type of frustration as Erielle in attempting to use their mandolines. Coming to the rescue, in the comments section of the original post, was none other than OXO - the maker of the mandoline in question! They are offering mandoline lessons to anyone who needs a little assistance in New York City at OXO in the Chelsea Market and at the upcoming housewares show in Chicago in mid-March. Even if you're already experienced with your mandoline, it might be worth taking up their offer to pick up some extra tips. Check Erielle's comments for the contact info if you have any other OXO tech questions.

[thanks alanna]

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