At-home cooking made easy

Jenna Helwig instructs a client

Photographs: David Rosenzweig

When a friend invited me recently to an at-home cooking class on preparing family meals, I jumped at the chance. As a single mother of two girls under age five, I find that pulling dinner together can be as challenging as, well, getting out the door on time. And these days, the economy’s tight squeeze means that we’re eating at home more often than not.

Determined to break free from my short-order-cook routine (mac and cheese for one child, chicken fingers for the other and the path of least resistance for me), I joined a session with Institute of Culinary Education graduate and Brooklyn mom Jenna Helwig, who talked pureed soups, freezer-friendly foods and meal planning. Together, we whipped up turkey meatballs, carrot ginger soup, citrus-herb-roasted salmon, chickpea patties, braised kale, spinach pesto and roasted potatoes. The big surprise: My daughters loved the chickpea patties and the kale—a vegetable I’d avoided preparing since a previous disaster—and so did I.

It turns out that a number of local chefs make house calls aimed at helping NYC families put down the takeout menu and pick up the frying pan. Too busy for a lesson? No worries: Here’s a cheat sheet, courtesy of four kitchen veterans.

Stock your pantry. All of the chefs I spoke with stressed the importance of having staples on hand. Among their must-haves: rice (including Arborio for risotto), instant polenta (try de la Estancia Organic), beans (canned chickpeas and black beans, and dried lentils), a good olive oil, ready-made tomato sauce, canned San Marzano or other plum tomatoes, chicken broth, canned tuna, panko bread crumbs, coconut milk (to dress up oatmeal or chicken dishes) and, naturally, pasta. Keep a favorites list on Fresh Direct to make restocking easy; or do it the old-fashioned way—stick a dry-erase memo pad on the fridge.

Helwig’s citrus-herb-roasted salmon.

Plot it out. Before you head to Fairway, Key Food or the nearest Greenmarket, think about the upcoming week’s menu. Plan to incorporate as few ingredients as you can in several days’ meals. “Try herb sauce on turkey burgers one night, then add Parmesan and have pesto the next,” says Molly Rundberg, who has worked as a private chef for families in Manhattan and Brooklyn and has tested recipes for Gourmet. “Or do roasted veggies one night, then puree the leftovers for soup.”

This level of organization may seem daunting, but meal planning doesn’t have to be a time-suck. Helwig recommends setting aside 30 minutes to an hour once a week to decide what your family will eat each night, and buying all your groceries at once.

Freeze, please. It sounds like a no-brainer, but cooking more than your family will eat in one night may be your single biggest time saver. “Have one or two weeknight meals in the fridge or freezer ready to go,” Helwig says. “You can make a double portion of Sunday’s dinner and eat the second half on Tuesday.” A Food Network alum and cohost of Lifetime’s Cook Yourself Thin, Allison Fishman recommends stockpiling “braises, stews, soups and casseroles. Crab cakes freeze well; or, for an inexpensive twist, try your favorite recipe with canned salmon.” Some sauces and condiments can be frozen—tomato sauce and chutney, and pesto (before you add the cheese)—and called upon later to enhance a plain dish. Rundberg suggests freezing meals in two-cup containers (you should be able to find room for four of them). “It’s faster to defrost, and you only defrost what you’re going to eat. There’s less waste that way.”

Prepare for emergencies. Even the most careful planner will occasionally feel as though there’s nothing to cook for dinner. But if you’ve done your shopping prep, you can keep that menu drawer closed. To supplement what’s in the pantry, don’t get caught without eggs and cream cheese in the fridge, chicken breasts (buy in bulk and freeze), fresh spinach, frozen shrimp and frozen vegetables. Susie Cover, who spent four years as a private chef for a Manhattan family of five, falls back on chicken Milanese—breasts dipped in egg and bread crumbs, served with a salad or spaghetti. Rundberg stuffs the breasts with pesto and serves them with polenta, cream cheese and spinach. Eggs are Helwig’s standby. She favors a kitchen-sink approach to an omelette or a frittata: ham, herbs, canned tomatoes, whatever’s around. When Fishman needs an easy out, she reaches for pasta dressed with butter and frozen peas, tomato sauce, or frozen shrimp and olive oil.

Modify for tots. To succeed in making that elusive please-the-whole-family meal, Helwig says you need to think creatively—within reason. “My goal is for children to learn to enjoy the same foods their parents eat, not for them to be pandered to with cat whiskers made out of spaghetti,” she says. If you’re having cobb salad, and your kid doesn’t like her food all mixed together, serve her the chicken and avocado separated on a plate.

Giving your meal a makeover may prevent little ones from rejecting it. “My three-year-old daughter would eat pasta three times a day,” Helwig says, “so I’ve been experimenting with pestos—spinach, Tuscan kale. She’d never eat them on their own, but when I blend them up and put them on pasta, she thinks they’re fabulous.” When Cover cooks for kids, “I always make sure sauces are smooth, no big onions sticking out, and we try to avoid the ‘green stuff’—parsley, herbs. I also have a lot of sauces on the side; kids love to dip.” Rundberg encourages subtle tweaks to your repertoire. “If your child is fixated on pasta,” she says, “try whole wheat or a rice noodle.” Don’t give up: It can take many tries for a child to accept something new. After countless zucchini and squash battles with my own girls, I tried pureeing the vegetables and baking them with a butter-and-bread-crumb topping. They gobbled it up—while the steamed version on my plate elicited two loud “yucks.”

Need more help?
All of our experts offer classes.

Susie Cover Susie’s Supper Club (347-529-5259, susiessupperclub.com)
Cost: $80–$100 per person for up to six adults; four-hour class
Includes: Several weeknight menu ideas; four to six recipes; groceries.
Where: Manhattan and Brooklyn

Jenna Helwig, Rosaberry (718-219-4136, rosaberry.com)
Cost: $375 total for up to four adults; three-hour class
Includes: Customized instruction based on clients’ cooking background and preferences; menu ideas; five to six recipes. Groceries additional.
Where: All five boroughs

Allison Fishman The Wooden Spoon (347-463-9772, thewooden-spoon.com)
Cost: $350 total for up to four adults; three-hour class
Includes: Preparation of a three-course meal; five to six recipes. Groceries additional.
Where: All five boroughs

Molly Rundberg Co-op Chef
(646-361-3771, coopchef.com)
Cost: $75 per person for minimum of five adults; two-hour class
Includes: Preparation of two simple weeknight meals; menu planning for a week; recipes; groceries.
Where: All five boroughs

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