The Dish on Camp Culinary

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Camp Culinary

Top Ten Reasons to have

Camp Culinary in your life.

10. You will no longer use the smoke alarm as a timer.

9. The pizza delivery guy will stop trying to friend you on Facebook.

8. There’s no recipe on the back of a bunch of locally grown organic spinach.

7. You are what you eat; don’t grow up to be a box of mac and cheese.

6. You’ll learn to play with knives and fire without having to actually juggle them.

5. Three out of four people prefer to eat food that tastes good.

4. You always get to lick the spoon.

3. You’ll actually be tempted to sit in the dining room to eat.

2. Learn fancy French names for everyday food to impress the neighbors.

1. You get to eat your homework.

We started Camp Culinary with the mission of helping parents teach their children and teens how to cook, to remove the mystery of what happens in the kitchen, and build confidence in their abilities to prepare food for themselves and others. In today’s world, there are so many things that require time and energy that often the basics of life, such as teaching little Sally or Jimmy how to cook, gets put aside. It is our strongly held belief that teaching our youth how to prepare food should not be one of the things moved to the back burners.

Camp Culinary is a unique Boulder-based business that offers in-home cooking classes and instructional cooking parties for kids, teens and adults. We also offer culinary team-building events at a beautiful, organic farm for groups, organizations and businesses. In our classes, students learn fundamental cooking techniques and methodologies in a fun and creative atmosphere. The classes are all hands-on and—best of all—you get to eat your homework.

What's Fresh

"The coolest thing about cooking is that no matter what you know there is always so much more to learn. You think you're pretty good with French food and then along comes Indian, Mexican and Thai."

Michael DeBoer, Owner

Testimonials

"I attended a knife skills class with Camp Culinary and it was fun and efficient. Chef Michael shared his knowledge and skills and is an amazing instructor. From technique classes to hands on cooking classes, Camp Culinary is just thing I was looking for. He pays a lot of attention to the right technique and really made me focus on doing that."

-Renu D.

"Learn the professional stuff in a fun and friendly environment."

-Anshi

"Camp Culinary is great! Michael spent some time with me after his Boulder Farmers' Market cooking demo to explain to me how to cook some of the new fresh vegetables that I bought. He was incredibly patient, even with the basics of showing me how to hold a knife correctly, etc. I sat and talked with his wife Lori and their son for awhile after the demo and absolutely had a blast!"

-Maranda Robison

"Terrific! Can't wait to take our next class!"

-Jamie

"Very fun and educational!"

-Orly Z.

The Dish on Camp Culinary

Boulder Farmers' Market: Ratatouille Demo

by Michael DeBoer on 08/11/11

By Chef Michael DeBoer

Ratatouille is one of my favorite vegetable side dishes to prepare because of all the different flavors that go into making it. August is the best time of year to make this dish, because almost all of the produce used to make it is at the peak of its seasonality. Summer squash and garlic is readily available, eggplant, sweet bell peppers and onions are starting to make their presence known, and tomatoes are not far away. So we have everything to cook up a classical dish from the Provencal region of France; add to that a bit of herbs and some olive oil, and we are off and running.

One of the most frequently asked questions at our market cooking demos is: “What type of oil are you using?” People are a bit stunned when I tell then canola or safflower. “Why not olive oil?” is normally their next question. Olive oil is lovely--its flavor is second to none--but that doesn’t mean that olive oil is the be-all, end-all as far as oil goes. Its main drawback is the fact that it has a low smoking point compared to other oils and, when sautéing or stir frying, two high heat techniques, olive oil is not your best choice. In our Ratatouille demo, outside of teaching how to make a world-class vegetable side dish, we work through how to best to maintain proper heat when cooking with olive oil so you don’t undercook your dish on one end or create carcinogens on the other.

With that said, there are some things you just can’t make without olive oil and Ratatouille—this upcoming weekend’s Camp Culinary cooking demo—is one of them.

Demo Schedule:

Saturday, August 13, 2011- 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - 5 and 6:30 p.m.

Each demo is a free mini cooking class, taught by a professional chef, using fresh Boulder Farmers’ Market produce, and when the lesson is over, the eating begins.

I believe in supporting our local farmers, so I visit the Boulder Farmer's Market four times a month to give free cooking demos. We are a locally-grown business that offers in-home cooking classes to kids and adults, instructional cooking parties and team-building events. To book with Camp Culinary, please e-mail us at campculinary@gmail.com.

Keep on cooking!