Participants in a recent kids’ cooking class at the Cookery culinary school in Morton pose with a breakfast feast they made, including s’mores pancakes, stuffed French toast, candied bacon and chicken and waffles with peach compote. (Photo courtesy of The Cookery)

TV food shows help fuel rise of popularity of culinary classes

With the increased popularity of food shows on television, a local cooking school is having no trouble filling classes for students of all ages.

“I think the Food Network plays a great deal into our popularity. Food TV has become huge in the past five years or maybe even 10 years, and we happen to be the people in the area that are exploring it and offering it with hands-on classes,” said chef Amanda Pyle, owner of The Cookery in Morton.

The Cookery has expanded greatly in the past year since the Bartonville native bought the business, formerly called From the Field, from her friend Bill Turney, who had owned and operated it for 10 years.

“We were graduates together (in 2006) from the ICC culinary arts program, where I’m also an instructor and where I taught community workshops to the public very similar to what we do at the Cookery,” Pyle said.

Since buying the business, Pyle has increased the number of classes, expanded catering options, added a gourmet-to-go line and is even offering to-go Thanksgiving meals.

Pyle also continues to teach two classes in the culinary arts program each semester at ICC.

“It’s a little hard to juggle it all, but it’s a good marriage because I pull all of my employees directly from the (ICC) program,” she said. “They do internships with me, and the last two interns have stayed on.”

Pyle currently has four employees but expects to add more as the business grows.

Chef Amanda Pyle demonstrates a cooking technique for a young student at her culinary school in Morton. Pyle has expanded the business greatly since purchasing it last year, offering classes, catering, gourmet-to-go meals and even a full Thanksgiving meal to go. (Photo courtesy of The Cookery)

Cooking lessons for both kids and adults are hands-on at The Cookery culinary school in Morton. Owner Amanda Pyle said she’s been surprised by how many children want to learn how to cook, adding that the kids’ classes always sell out. (Photo courtesy of The Cookery)

“We’re all skilled in different ways. I can bake, but I don’t love to and that kind of shows, I think,” Pyle said. “I definitely love teaching cooking the most. It’s instant gratification seeing what people learn by the end of the class.”

Pyle was certain she could attract adults to classes such as French cooking, holiday breads and basic knife skills, but she was surprised at how many children also want culinary lessons.

“I had no clue because my daughter is only 3, but even she loves to cook. She makes her own eggs most days,” she said. “The kids’ classes sell out every time no matter what the topic is. I believe we are the only culinary arts school anywhere in this area that does hands-on cooking classes ages 5 and up.”

The Cookery also offers birthday party packages for both kids and adults with a variety of theme options.

“We do a homemade pasta-making class that’s great for ages 9 and up. It’s really hands-on. They knead their own dough, use the pasta rollers and the whole works. For younger kids we do easier things, like breakfast or dessert,” Pyle said.

Lori and Dan Mueller of Morton took a Mediterranean cooking class at the Cookery last spring as an anniversary gift from their kids.

“The class was very fun and allowed us to spend time together doing something unique,” Lori Mueller said. “We met lots of new people, and the food was delicious. We made grilled pork kabobs, grilled pineapple and homemade pitas and hummus.”

Mueller said she and her husband have since cooked some of the recipes they learned in the class, and her husband has utilized the grilling techniques.

Upcoming classes include homestyle favorites on Nov. 7, the perfect holiday gift basket on Dec. 6 and a ladies’ night cookies and cocktails on Dec. 8. Several other upcoming classes are already sold out, including an adult/child class based on the Food Network’s “Chopped” show.

Participants in a recent cooking class work on their dishes in the kitchen at The Cookery in Morton. Owned by chef Amanda Pyle, the cooking school offers classes, catering and gourmet-to-to meals. (Photo courtesy of The Cookery)

Classes generally range from $50 to $65 per person, with most featuring hands-on learning, a full meal at the end of class and a stack of recipes to take home.

“You know, it costs a lot of money to do anything around here, no matter what you go and do,” Pyle said. “But here they take away cooking skills that they can use the rest of their lives. I think people are amazed by what they can learn in our classes.”

One of the Cookery’s most popular classes is knife skills, which Pyle teaches every two months for both adults and children. “We’ve found a greater success putting them in the same class because most adults come with bad habits that need to be broken, and most children have no habits at all,” she said.

In addition to the classes, which are offered about four nights a week, the Cookery also does catering for weddings, lunches, business meetings and other events, and sells gourmet-to-go meals whenever they’re open, with hours posted daily on Facebook. The to-go items include appetizers, soups and entreés

“I think most people wonder why we don’t have set hours (for the gourmet-to-go), but they don’t understand that our classes are taught in the evening so we can’t be there all day and all night. But we’re usually there two days a week and usually four nights,” Pyle said.

The Cookery is also taking Thanksgiving orders through Nov. 21.

“The Thanksgiving meals were huge last year, and it came out of the blue,” Pyle said. “People just started calling and asking if we were offering it, so I started saying yes. By the time that week rolled around, I had 200 orders. I did all my training at the Peré Marquette, luckily, so I was pretty good at large-scale production and had no problem putting it out.”

After cooking so many turkeys and the trimmings, Pyle was grateful to only have to bring a side dish to her extended family’s Thanksgiving gathering last year. She said she cooks at home  if she has time but often will plan their meals from leftovers at the Cookery.

“We also eat pizza out just like everybody else,” she admitted with a laugh.

For more information, visit The Cookery’s website at www.thecookeryinc.com or call (309) 263-6020.

–Students savor The Cookery–