I had so much fun at my last cooking class, I decided to sign up for another one.  This time I joined a group of  about 14 at Kitchen Conservatory for a class on Israeli cooking.  It was taught by Mickey Kitterman of Gallagher’s Restaurant, Waterloo, IL.

The instructor used recipes of Chef Yotam Ottolenghi, the owner of several highly successful London restaurants.  Ottolenghi has co-authored a number of cookbooks, including Jerusalem: a Cookbook and also writes on his favorite topic, New Vegetarianism.

We cooked an array of dishes, some with names I couldn’t pronounce: Za’atar-spiced beetroot with goat cheese and hazelnuts; na’ama’s fattoush; majadra (rice and lentil dish); turkey and zucchini burgers with sumac sauce; and chicken with caramelized onions and cardamom rice’plus clementine cake with almond syrup.

I was excited by the prospect of cooking with a number of spices I had never used before.  We divided into teams of three and my team, inadvertently, picked the most difficult recipe, requiring the butchering of three chickens.  I usually buy chicken parts, which would have made the dish far less troublesome.

Would I do it again.  You betcha!  And with the same instructor and classmates.  They were a fun crew.  I documented our 2-1/2-hour session below.