Food Service Training

Informative  ~  Instructional  ~  Interactive  ~  Entertaining  ~  Delicious

“Not enough time. Not enough people.
Not enough training.”

Chef/Instructor Liz Barbour hears your concerns and is ready to help you and your staff address them with fun, interactive cooking demonstrations. 

Liz’s food service training programs introduce time saving cooking techniques and flavor enhancing tips that will have students asking for more. 

Cooking Demonstration and Instruction for Food Service
$300 per program plus .50 per mile travel
1-35 participants

Each 2 hour program will begin with Chef/Instructor Liz Barbour offering an exchange of ideas kitchen staff may have regarding the program’s topic.  This will be followed by a variety of interactive cooking demonstrations and food handling information. Samples of the prepared recipes will be supplied so each member of your staff can experience the results.  The group will have the opportunity to share cooking and recipe ideas and will be encouraged to begin experimenting with small batch cooking for student tastings. 

 Programs Include:

• All ingredients
• Tasting samples
• Recipe packets

Set-up:

• Your chef will bring all cooking equipment but will need the use of stoves, ovens, and steamers when appropriate. 

• Your chef will arrive 30 minutes before the start of your program to set up work space.

• Your chef will clean-up following the demonstration.

Download a PDF flyer

Programs

Knife Skills…Hands-on knife techniques

Good knife skills are perhaps one of the most important skills in the kitchen and certainly the only common thread in every dish we prepare.  Good knife skills, sharpening techniques, and practicing knife safety will save time and money in your kitchen while at the same time adding sales to your bottom line. 

 • Demonstrating proper knife techniques used with different types of fruits, and vegetables

• Demonstrate proper knife handling, sharpening, and safety

• Execute knife cuts, such as slicing, dicing, and cubing.

Improving Flavor

The single most important goal when preparing food is to make it taste good. Never underestimate the broad tastes of children and teenagers.   The understanding of the importance of a variety of ingredient combinations and proper seasoning using herbs, spices, and healthy oils is key to preparing consistently good tasting menu items and introducing new, healthy ingredients.

 • Proper seasoning using spices, fresh and dried herbs, and healthy oils

• Flavor and recipe consistency

• Improving flavor and texture of fresh, frozen, and canned foods using heating and cooling methods

Improving Commodity Foods

Commodity food items are a necessity to keeping your food costs low but they often offer preparation challenges.  Learn new ways to prepare and combine a variety of fresh, frozen, canned and packaged commodity foods to create delicious and healthy recipes students will love. 

·         Enhancing commodity meat items

·         Using frozen fruits and vegetables in exciting new ways

·         Spicing up commodity vegetables and whole grains

 

Cooking with “SuperFoods”

“SuperFoods” are highly nutritious whole food ingredients that can be combined to increase the nutrient content of every dish we serve at school.  Your staff will learn how to identify these powerhouse foods and how to incorporate them into every recipe.  Beans, whole grains, colorful vegetables, lean meats, and bright colored fruits are exciting to work with and readily available through your commodity food programs.    Add in Liz's easy cooking technique tips and your staff is well on its way to creating delicious recipes the students will love.

• Identifying SuperFoods
• Using SuperFoods in recipes
• Using commodity SuperFoods
  
  

Sauces, dressings, rubs, and marinades save preparation time and add flavor

Preparing sauces, dressings, rubs, and marinades from scratch save time, money, and adds healthy low-fat flavor to menu items.  Preparing large batch, storage stable recipes that can refrigerate or freeze well helps to increase the variety of offerings while saving critical preparation time.

·         Sauces for pasta, meat, poultry, and vegetables

·         Marinades and rubs for meats and poultry

·         Healthy dressings  and dips for fruits, vegetables, and salads

Rethinking vegetables…packing recipes with highly nutritious vegetables that kids will love

 Getting kids to eat more vegetables is one of our greatest food challenges in the kitchen.  Discover new ways to prepare, add, combine, and enhance vegetable to pump up the flavor and nutrient impact of your menus.  Learn how to select and combine these nutrient packed ingredients as a great way to add excitement to the cafeteria food line. 

• Vegetable side dish combinations kids will love
• Enhancing vegetable recipes with herbs and spices
• Preparation and presentation of raw vegetables to appeal to students