Jo Ellen Leifer is Ready to Teach You
Foodies, take note: A great cooking class is as close as your granite counter. Well, at least as close as Jo Ellen Leifer’s granite counter.
The Prairie Village cookbook author of Cooking Wwith Class offers cooking classes in her kitchen every Tuesday night. In-home cooking classes are a hot trend right now because of the comfort and camaraderie they offer.
“I’m really surprised at the popularity of my classes,” said Leifer, who books classes months in advance. “I love to show people easy ways to do things, and over the years I’ve made plenty of cooking mistakes that others can learn from.”
Leifer typically prepares five courses, from appetizers and salads to main dishes and always, always dessert.
“I am a sweet-lover, so dessert is a staple,” Leifer said.
A recent class menu included prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, appetizer ribs, moist turkey breast with cranberry mustard sauce, chicken satay with apricot ginger sauce, and macadamia nut white chocolate cookies with chocolate glaze. A typical class involves plenty of tasting and a lot of questions.
“I get all kinds of people at my classes,” Leifer said. “I have a group from the FBI, a priest, doctors, lawyers, stay-at-home moms and also dads, a regular group from Lee’s Summit. I think cooking presents a level playing field, and everyone always seems to have a good time and learn something new.”
Leifer offers wine to get the conversation flowing, an addition that evolved after she had been giving the classes several years. A former employee at the American Restaurant, Leifer catered for years before writing her own cookbook (available at Rainy Day Books) and then made the leap to teaching classes at her home.
“This is really a blast for me,” Leifer said. “I like to make food accessible to people and let them know where to look for good buys. And I always learn something at my classes, too. I like to have a give and take.”
Nine people fit comfortably around her counter every Tuesday night, swapping cooking tips, tasting new foods and sipping wine. She offers some theme nights (a class on a breakfast chock-full of carbs is always an immediate sellout), but she mostly keeps an eye on what her students seem to like and plans her menus from that.
“Cooking is something that unites people,” she said. “I’m lucky because I am pursuing my passion while teaching others some new techniques. It’s very satisfying.”
That sentiment could come from her students after tasting a warm cookie from Leifer’s oven.
Jo Ellen Leifer makes buttermilk corn cakes during a recent Tuesday night class in her home. The menu included a “cheater’s Caesar” salad, beef tenderloin, buttermilk corn cakes topped with crème fraiche and chocolate chip cookies.
Leifer’s “cheater Caesar” salad features a shortcut to the traditional method of creating a Caesar saladHOME COOKING CLASS
Jo Ellen Leifer holds a cooking class from 7 to 9 p.m. almost every Tuesday in her Prairie Village kitchen. The cost is $45.
For more information or to sign up, e-mail joellenleifer@hotmail.com or go to jozcookingclasses.com.