Live online classes

One dish a month, cooked together, with a chef watching your pan.

Ninety minutes on a video call. A small group. You cook in your own kitchen while I cook in mine, and I stop whenever you need me to.

Seared chicken thigh with shallot and white wine pan sauce over smashed potatoes
Open for reservations

Restaurant-style chicken and pan sauce at home

Monday, January 4, 2027 · 6:30 to 8:00 PM Central ·

The dish I would teach anyone first, because it teaches everything: how to dry and season protein so it actually browns, how hot the pan needs to be and how to know, when to leave it alone, and how to turn the fond on the bottom of the pan into a sauce that tastes like it took an hour. Once you can do this, you can do it with pork chops, steak, scallops, or a piece of fish without a recipe.

What we'll cook

  • Pan-roasted chicken thighs with crisp skin
  • Shallot, thyme, and white wine pan sauce, mounted with butter
  • Smashed roasted potatoes, started before class so they finish with the chicken
  • A quick dressed green to cut through it

What you'll need

  • A 10- or 12-inch stainless steel or cast-iron skillet (not nonstick, it won't build fond)
  • Tongs, a wooden spoon, a sharp knife, a cutting board, a sheet pan
  • Four bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs; two shallots; a half cup of dry white wine; butter; thyme; a pound of small potatoes; a lemon; greens for a salad
  • A laptop or tablet in the kitchen with the camera facing your stove. A phone on a stand works fine.

A full shopping and prep list is emailed the Friday before class. Vegetarian households can cook the same technique with thick slabs of cauliflower or king oyster mushrooms; tell me when you reserve and I'll plan for it.

How a live class works

  1. Reserve a seat. One reservation covers your whole household, so cook with a partner or a kid.
  2. Get the prep email. Shopping list, what to do ahead (about fifteen minutes), and the video link.
  3. Cook along. I demonstrate each step, then you do it while I watch and answer questions. We eat at the end, together on camera if you like.
  4. Keep the notes. Every household gets the written recipe, my notes from the session, and a recording for two weeks.

Questions people ask

I'm a beginner. Is this for me?

Yes. If you can hold a knife and turn on a stove, you can cook this dish. The pace is set for home cooks, not line cooks, and the group is small enough that I'll see if you're falling behind.

I'm pretty experienced. Will I learn anything?

Probably. Most experienced home cooks who take this class are under-heating their pan, over-crowding it, or reducing their sauce too far. I'll tell you honestly which one you're doing.

What if something goes wrong on my end?

That's the point of a live class. A broken sauce, a pan that's smoking, skin that's sticking: those are the moments I'm most useful. Ask.

Do I need to be on camera?

No. Camera on is more fun and lets me help with your pan, but you can keep it off and ask questions by voice or chat.

What's the cancellation policy?

Full refund up to 72 hours before class. Inside 72 hours, your payment becomes credit for any future class. If I have to cancel, you get a full refund, no questions. Details are in the class policy.

What if not enough people sign up?

I'll run the class with as few as two households. I'd rather teach a small room than cancel on people who were looking forward to it. In the rare case it doesn't reach two, I'll email you two days before with the choice of a refund or a seat in the next class.

Upcoming

The next few months

Classes run the first Monday of each month, or shift a week to meet a holiday worth cooking for. Reservations open about five weeks ahead; join the email list and you'll hear first.

  • Jan 4Monday · 2027

    Restaurant-style chicken and pan sauce

    Searing, fond, and a four-minute sauce. The foundation for everything after it.

  • Feb 8Monday · Valentine's week

    A date-night dinner for two

    Seared steak with a red wine reduction, a proper potato purée, and a dessert you can finish while the pan rests. Moved a week to land before the 14th.

    Opens early January
  • Mar 1Monday · 2027

    Fresh pasta by hand

    An egg dough you can make without a machine, rolled, cut, and sauced two ways.

    Opens late January
  • Apr 5Monday · 2027

    The first green things

    Asparagus, peas, and brown butter: how to cook spring vegetables so they taste like themselves.

    Planned

Private sessions

Your kitchen, your menu, just us.

A private online session is ninety minutes with you (and whoever is in your kitchen), on any Monday evening, cooking whatever you want to get better at. A dinner party you're nervous about. The knife skills nobody taught you. The one dish your mother made that you can't get right.

We'll talk by email first so I can plan the menu around your equipment and your pantry, and you'll get a written plan afterward.

Length
90 min
When
Monday evenings
Price
$129

Ask about a private session