We are comin’ around the bend into our second birthday this April, and don’t expect us to act terrible at all. Spirits are high and we here at Ger-Nis believe that birthdays are always events that call for celebration. Spring is a time for rebirth and renewal, so in this sprit and our fine tradition of doing things a little differently, we are opening up our kitchen for a lunch time festivity and of course keeping it as herbal as possible. “Lunch at Ger-Nis” has been in the works for quite some time now and we are inviting you over to see what goes on behind the scenes. Come on over to our place for a fete featuring goods from our organic and fair trade foodie friends, herbalicious thirst quenching libations, and an exciting introduction to our new friends Kitchensurfing. If you haven’t noticed, herbs are sort of our thing over here, and we are excited to showcase some of the delectable herbal bites our culinary house artist has perfected over the past two years. Our very own Nissa Pierson, founder and managing director of Ger-Nis will be taking the reins behind the stove and making a very rare cooking appearance as she shows us how to cook some of the best seasonal recipes jam packed with herbs and flavor. So come on over and join us in our kitchen for an herbal celebration because, in the words of Kitchensurfing, food eaten alone is not delicious.

Recipes: Spring Sorrel & Lemon Soda Pop, Ginger Mint Iced Tea, Asparagus and Ramp Zeppole with Minted Honey, Spring Pea Soup with Chive Blossoms Croutons and Pea Flowers, Spring Radishes, Chervil Butter and Herbal Citrus Salts, Beet Raviolis with Ricotta and Mint and Orange Shallot Butter and Sautéed Beet Greens, Spring Herbal Pavlova Cups with Rhubarb Rosemary Granita and Orange Lavender Flower Syrup

Class Type: Special Event, Lunch at Ger-Nis

Class Notes: Part of our Month Long Spring Herbalicious Birthday

Co-Hosted By Kitchensurfing

Kitchensurfing is a global marketplace for people that love connecting over delicious food. Their goal is to unify the intimacy of a dinner party with the ease of walking into restaurants. Whether it’s a worry-free meal at home with a professional chef or an exotic dinner party in an extraordinary location—Kitchensurfing has you covered. They will help you book chefs for your events, invite them into your home to teach you, your friends and your family their tricks in the kitchen—even barter to create unique events of your own! Within Kitchensurfing, everyone is a chef. You’ll find chefs who have worked in high-end professional kitchens, chefs who have been to culinary school, and chefs who have mastered one amazing family recipe and want to share it with the world. Check Out The Website

Spring has come, and with spring comes a celebration of renewal and freshness direct from our local food artisans, farmers and chefs. Without these passionate people, we would not have this bounty of freshness that they provide. Ger-Nis’ mission to educate our community on food issues near and far, comes alive in this unique spring event, benefitting the Chefs of Marcellus and educating on the harmful issues of fracking. Chefs for the Marcellus is a group of chefs, restaurateurs, and other food professionals who have come together to protect our regional foodshed from the dangers of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas (fracking). This highly industrialized form of drilling is already in widespread use in 34 states, including Pennsylvania, where it is wreaking havoc with farms and the water supply. Unless we say no right now, Governor Cuomo is poised to allow fracking in vast areas of the Marcellus Shale, a geologic formation that covers a large area of the mid-Atlantic region, including much of New York’s southern tier — an area of pristine waters; produce, dairy and livestock farms; and breweries and wineries. Implementation may be approved as early as the end of 2011.

Join us for a unique spring educational celebration at Ger-Nis. In honor of spring’s greatest bounty, fresh herbs, we are having a pesto competition, featuring some of Brooklyn’s finest and most talented chefs and we are opening up the competition to our community as well, proving that we can all create magnificent dishes! So come gather up your friends on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy live jazz, compliments of The Evan Schwam Trio, our special herbal libations bar featuring fresh seasonal herbal drinks brought to you by Brooklyn’s Wolf & Deer & Ger-Nis. Herbal nibbles  for all will be prepared by Ger-Nis instructors and Chefs Carl Raymond and Melissa Rickets, they will also be showing us the best pesto and herb sauce recipes, tips and tricks.   Taste and judge unique and creative spring pestos from a few of Brooklyn’s amateur cooks as well as our best chefs , win fun local foodie prizes and mingle with some of the most intriguing people on the food scene today. Best of all learn about what you can do to stop hydraulic fracturing for natural gas (fracking)! 100% of all proceeds go to The Chefs for the Marcellus organization. Donations welcome for any amount  in addition to ticket price and are available at time of ticket purchase.

Please get involved by writing to Governor Cuomo and asking him to ban fracking in New York State.

Recipes: Herbal Appetizers & Nibbles, Herbal Sweet Treats, Herbal Sparkling Wine & Spring Herbalized Cocktails

Class Type: Special Event, Fundraiser

Class Notes: A special spring fundraiser benefitting the Chefs of Marcellus, with live jazz, herbal libations, a pesto competition, all to raise awareness to the anti-fracking mission. Take home a handful of fresh herbs!

A Gamut of professional chefs and amateurs compete for springs best pesto recipe!

Chefs Du Jour

Carl Raymond , Culinary Teacher, Personal Chef, Food Consultant
Melissa Rickets, Chef, Founder of Dynamic Cuisines, Ger-Nis Culinary, & Herb Center

Herbal Libations Bar

Nissa Pierson & Wolf & Deer

Pesto Competition Contestants

Maneet Chauhan, Chef, contestant on “The Next Iron Chef”
Nissa Pierson , Owner and Managing Director of Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center
Cathy Erway , Blogger “Not Eating Out in NY”, Author of “The Art Of Eating In”
Rafael Hasid Chef, Owner Miriam Resturant, Park Slope Brooklyn
Pierre Thiam Chef, Owner le Grand Dakar, Author “YOLELE”,  Bed Stuy Brooklyn
Louisa Shafia Chef, Author of Lucid Food
Elizabether Schula, Chef, Owner Saltie
Surbhi Sahni, Owner, Executive Chef, Bittersweet NYC
More Chefs being signed up daily!!

Any many more singing up as we speak!

The Judges Table

Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No. 43,  Mary Cleaver of The Cleaver Co. & The Greentable Restaurant Matt Timms Takedowns,  and Tamar Adler, An Everlasting Meal judging  three categories 1. Judges Favorite 2. Most Creative use of Fresh Herbs,  and then of course the people will vote on Peoples Choice!

The Jazz

Evan Schwam attended New York’s La Guardia High School of Music, Art and the Performing Arts. Here he was first introduced to jazz while playing the tenor saxophone in the jazz ensemble under the direction of tuba great Bob Stewart. In 1996, as part of the New York All-City High School Jazz Band, Evan was selected to perform for president Clinton’s 50th birthday party at Radio City Music Hall. With members of the saxophone section, he played “Happy Birthday” at a private closed-door reception for the president and first lady.  While attending the Manes College of Music’s New School Jazz Program, Evan studied with  Chico Hamilton, Makanda Ken McIntyre, Junior Mance, Arnie Lawrence, Chris Byars, Aaron Sachs and Cecil McBee. Upon graduation, Evan joined Chico Hamilton’s Euphoria band and has been playing with him ever since. In 2006 Evan got the opportunity to perform again for president Clinton. With pianist Junior Mance, he played a musical tribute to the former president as he was presented with a lifetime achievement award at New School University. In 2007 also Evan performed at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival with both Cassandra Wilson and Chico Hamilton. Evan was selected as a semi-finalist in the 2008 Thelonius Monk International Saxophone Competition. Evan regularly performs around the New York City area with his Quartet.

Recipes: Tastings of New York Distillery Gin & Rye, Brooklyn Hemispherical Bitters, Mini Pesto Elixirs, Herbal Cocktails and One Girl Herbal Cookies!

Class Type: Part of our month long Spring Herbalicious Birthday

Class Notes: Louis 649’s infamous Tuesday tastings are going “Herbal” in celebration of our second birthday and our untouchable love and devotion to fresh herbs and we are bringing all our best Brooklyn friends!

Jazz with the Dan Aran Trio

Aran’s music has made waves that bound from one coast to another, leaving reviews in his wake with winding phrases like, “the subtle textures and tone colors,” “lonely bassoon,” and “loping, unorthodox two-chord vamp” in reference to his music. He’s from Jerusalem and has been living in New York since 2001. You can call him a lifetime musician. Eat, drink, and converse with this unique jazz style.

The sponsors

Underground Eats
Louis 649
Brooklyn Hemispherical Bitters
One Girl Cookies
Jacobs Herbs

The cocktail contest contributors

Barbes, Justin Briggs
Wolf and Deer, Rafael Hasid
Blueprint, Regina Christiansen
Quarter Bar, Brendan Casey
The Shanty ,
Louis 649, Zachary Sharaga
Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center, Nissa Pierson

Spring is here and it’s our birthday! We believe in having the most fun in spring and this month we are on fire with events. Even  happy hour has never been so fresh and fun as with our first open house of the season. We are taking time out to introduce you to some of our instructors as well as our new friends, Kitchensurfing who help our chefs and instructors find gigs and kitchens to work in! At this happy hour we are offering a unique opportunity to see who we are and what we are made of (herbs). The Ger-Nis Instructors Spring Happy Hour, gives you the opportunity to see our space, meet the instructors and swap sustainable philosophies with our founder, Nissa Pierson. Our friends and neighbors Kitchensurfing will be co-hosting with us, touting their work to make a global marketplace for people that love connecting over delicious food. We will have plenty of herbal organic spring snacks prepared by our instructors and Nissa has graciously decided to open up the herbal libation bar with her intoxicatingly fresh flavor elixirs and yes they will all freely flow. We will discuss all our upcoming events and classes and tell you about exciting new launches we are putting into play this summer! All participants will receive 50% off for any classes of events that they sign up for on this exciting night. This is a perfect night for us to thank all of our instructors and customers as well as collect important feedback from all so that we can improve. It’s a rare opportunity for those members of the press or bloggers, photographers or writers in general to come visit us in the midst of a prime event. It’s another big spring party and you’re all invited!

Recipes: Herbal Nibbles: Asparagus & Snap Pea Crudite Cups with Herbal Citrus Aioli, Spring Herb Curried Chicken Kabobs with Chili Sambal & Peanuts, Citrus Herbed Gourgeres, Chili Herb Pepper Baguette with Asparagus, Ramps, Basil and Caramelized Fennel, Shaved Radish Salad with Herbed Citrus Butter & Salt, Sweet Pea Fritters with Preserved Lemon-Mint Chimichurri, Open Faced Mini-Shotcakes iwth Citrus Parsley Strawberry Compote, Herbal Pavlovas, Rhubard Roseamry Brownie Bites Herbal Libations: Spring Dandelion & Mint Elixer, Rhubarb Rosemary Tequila Coolers, Strawberry Basil Juleps, Sweet Sorrel Prosecco and Sweet Pea Citrus Cava and Lemon Thyme Ginger Rhubarb Soda Pop

Class Type: Part of our month long Spring Herbalicious Birthday

Class Notes: Come meet and greet and eat with Ger-Nis Instructors and kitchensurfing! Nissa is opening up the herbal libations bar for this spring happy hour event as part of our month long birthday celebration!

Come meet Ashton Keefe, Melissa Rickets, Carl Raymond, Laura Merrick, & Kitchensurfing

Kitchensurfing is a global marketplace for people that love connecting over delicious food. Their goal is to unify the intimacy of a dinner party with the ease of walking into restaurants. Whether it’s a worry-free meal at home with a professional chef or an exotic dinner party in an extraordinary location—Kitchensurfing has you covered. They will help you book chefs for your events, invite them into your home to teach you, your friends and your family their tricks in the kitchen—even barter to create unique events of your own! Within Kitchensurfing, everyone is a chef. You’ll find chefs who have worked in high-end professional kitchens, chefs who have been to culinary school, and chefs who have mastered one amazing family recipe and want to share it with the world.

Ger-Nis gift certificates are a perfect gift for your foodie friends and family! More and more people understand that cooking your own food is healthier, greener and more fun, and what better way to embrace the shift than to become a better magician in the kitchen? A Cooking Class Gift Certificate can be redeemed for any future cooking class that still has space available. It’s the perfect gift for the food lovers in your life!

This January kicks off our first Sunday Supper Club event!

It’s the new way to spend Sunday night– adorn yourself in your most dashing attire and indulge in a sensuous evening of food, wine, music and art at the Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center Sunday Night Supper Club.

“Sundays just got a whole lot sexier!”

The supper club, happening once a season is by invitation only and available to a small gathering of 35 guests, featuring:
- A local chef, who will prepare a decadent, nonpareil multi-course menu with wine pairings
- Live jazz peppering the air
- Seasonal and worldly inspired libations produced in-house and, of course, beer and wine
- Art auction raffle
- Each event will highlight products from local, organic, sustainable, and fair-trade farmers, artisans, and purveyors to show support for the community

Meet this Winter’s Chef…Jacques Gautier of Palo Santo
The inaugural and sultry Latin themed Supper Club guarantees to set aglow the thick of winter with an intimate and warm evening of fierce, dynamic foods prepared by Local Chef Jacques Gautier of Palo Santo in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Our spacious kitchen forms an idyllic aperture for viewing Chef Gautier as he creates a disdainfully delicious, Latin-inspired 4-course meal- his specialty.

A Sneak Peak At The Menu
Amuse-bouche:
Handmade Corn Tortillas/Avocado/Pickled Jalapeños
1st course:
Ceviche/Shellfish/Leche de Tigre/Seaweed/Fried Plantains
Wine: Valdivieso NV Brut, Chile
2nd course:
Seared Tuna/Peanut/Coconut Milk
Wine: Viñedo de los Vientos, Uruguay
3rd course:
Pork Belly/Chimichurri/Swiss Chard/Gigante Beans
Wine: Zuccardi Tempranillo, Argentina

Latin Inspired Jazz with Dan Aran Trio
Aran’s music has made waves that bound from one coast to another, leaving reviews in his wake with winding phrases like, “the subtle textures and tone colors,” “lonely bassoon,” and “loping, unorthodox two-chord vamp” in reference to his music. He’s from Jerusalem and has been living in New York since 2001. You can call him a lifetime musician. Eat, drink, and converse with this unique jazz style.

Latin Art Auction
Within the four walls of Ger-Nis we love supporting local artists and for this Latin themed art auction we will raffle off an exceptionally beautiful canvas (4’x4’) by Jennifer Pierson entitled “Day of the Dead.” Pierson, a noted painter for her use of organic shapes and rich, natural hues, proudly hangs on the walls of Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center and is our resident food artist.

We’ve Got the Goods and the Connections
Ingredients making possible tonight’s offerings are sourced from our Latin American growers and farmers including Fairtrasa; organic and fair-trade avocados from Uruapan, Mexico; organic ginger from the Peruvian Amazon rainforest in the Andes range; and organic and fair-trade mangos from Chiclayo to Piura, Peru. We will also feature local sustainable meats and seafood.

At the Bar…
We’re reinventing traditional Latin cocktails like the Puta de Mayo of Mexico using house-infused mezcals and mixing up drinks like the Pisco Sour of Peru and the Macuá of Nicaragua. We’ll also be offering biodynamic, sustainable wines and beers from the Latin American region.

Classes take place on February 1st & 15th and March 1st, 8th & 29th from 6-9pm

Once again, Ger-Nis is proud to offer a series of classes that delve into the culture and food of another land that excites foodies everywhere. As we leave the borough of Brooklyn (well, not really) we arrive in the exotic landscapes of India. There are so many remarkable qualities to discover in this country filled with unique characters and personas. From the religious values to the yogis, to the food vendors and children playing in the streets, there is so much of the culture to soak up we can’t begin to convey the immense pleasures India has to offer.

With the help of Suvir Saran, renowned cookbook author, culinary instructor, and working chef, our journey begins through Northern and Southern India, at the foundation of Indian cuisine, wonderful aromatics experienced in the herbs and spices, that which perfumes all Indian dishes, giving them their distinct nature.

As we move along our food-ridden trail, we progress to Indian bread, and, with so many varieties to choose from, it’s tough to have a clue which types you could make at home. That’s where Ger-Nis steps in by providing recipes that any home cook can build upon with absolute confidence.

Anyone who has ever walked the streets of Delhi or Mumbai knows that no stroll is complete without a stop at one of the many food vendors hawking tempting plates of savory, spicy snacks smothered in tangy chutneys and cooling yogurt. We will show you how to re-create these mouthwatering delicacies under your own roof.

It is almost impossible to cover everything that India has to offer, but we can cast a wide enough net for you to grasp a small portion of what makes India. Another night we’ll cover whole grains, be it lentils, rice or beans, essential components in Indian cuisine, delving into the simplicity that lies in these dishes and how they satisfy vegetarians and meat lovers alike.

Indian cuisine keeps a huge hand in the vegetable jar, and, of course, the series will include a class based specifically on this cuisine. We’ll explore the creative side of vegetarianism, crafting layers of flavor using fresh ingredients way beyond the limitations of imitation meat!

Let Ger-Nis and Suvir Saran guide you as we discover the vast culinary landscape of India together!

Suvir Saran

Cookbook author, culinary instructor and working chef, Suvir Saran is a respected food authority at age 35, making great contributions to furthering appreciation of Indian food in America. He has been featured in many publications such as Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Fine Cooking, and Travel & Leisure, and has many Television and radio appearances on The Food Network, “Next Iron Chef”, “The Martha Stewart Show,” and NBC “Today” show. He is the author of two cookbooks, Indian Home Cooking and American Masala and the owner of two restaurants in the Tri-state area, Devi in Manhattan and American Masala in Jersey City, NJ.

When he is not on the road teaching and learning, Saran enjoys working on his 68-acre American Masala Farm in upstate New York. http://www.suvir.com/
Contact Suvir

Tina DeGraff

Six years ago, Suvir and Tina met. Suvir was about to publish his first cookbook, Indian Home Cooking and Tina DeGraff was assigned to be his book publicist and quickly learned of his overwhelming talent, perseverance and generous spirit. They immediately hit it off and now she joins him in teaching a class at Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb, where she is the manager. After leaving cookbook publishing for her own food dreams, she enrolled in the culinary program at the Institute of Culinary Education and began her career working at Michelin star restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles, along with notable restaurants in Washington DC. She has honed her skills working with highly acclaimed chefs in fine dining kitchens, both in savory and pastry. Deciding to step out of the fast paced kitchen culture, she now brings her talents to the classroom setting, teaching about healthy eating and mindful thinking when it comes to our diets. The kitchen is her favorite place to be besides lounging on the beach. When Tina isn’t cooking, she enjoys being in the outdoors, biking, running or hiking. Contact Tina

Do you ever want to sneak more greens into your diet? With this class, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to do! Dark winter greens sometimes get a bad reputation because of their bitter and pungent flavor—but with the right additional ingredients, like acid and sweet and salty components; you can achieve a nice balance of taste. From choosing greens for salads to sautéing, storing and cleaning these veggies, this class is meant to provide all the necessary tools, so afterwards, you can go to your grocer or famer’s market armed with confidence. You’ll discover that in the case of escarole, the dark leaves are bitter, but the pale heart is succulent and bittersweet. Alternately, in kale’s coldest months, it is most abundant and flavorful, learning to choose the deep-colored bunches with most, small to medium leaves. We’ll keep swiss chard’s secrets until you get here, and then we’ll spill the beans! Let’s celebrate the dark side this winter by introducing these beautiful greens into our everyday meals.

Recipes:Swiss Chard & Red Onion Quiche; Kale & White Bean Soup; Farroto with Sausage & Kale; Sautéed Escarole with Caramelized Onions Grilled Cheese; Escarole & Apple Salad with Candied Pecans and Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Class Type: Series, hands-on cooking class

Class Notes: Learn to incorporate more delicious seasonal greens in your dishes!

Orianne Cosentino

As a New York native, Orianne has always been surrounded by a city full of multi-cultural cuisine. Perhaps early exposure to exotic eating sparked the inspiration to travel and world travel, in turn, inspired the artist-turned-chef to bring home souvenirs of authentic recipes in place of snapshots. Working in kitchens of New York and California, assisting chefs in France, Mexico and Greece, (and being a ‘professional culinary tourist’ in countless places) Orianne has built up her resume and a store of international kitchen secrets. A graduate of Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health, she is a firm supporter of the philosophy that good quality food promotes a good quality life, and has found this to be prominent the world over.Contact Orianne

Our “What’s In Season” series is designed to familiarize you with what produce makes itself available throughout each season intimately embracing everything composing the cabbage from how to choose, store, different varieties, and, most obviously, how to cook the cabbage. This time around we’re diving into the flowering realm of cabbage. Quite frequently cabbage is overlooked in the grocer’s aisle due to its tough nature and pungent aroma, but, rather than get deterred by its distinctness, we believe in embracing its uniqueness and diversity. In this class you’ll discover why cabbage blooms in winter and varietals such as savoy, bok choy, and napa, how it’s harvested, stored, and used across the world, and some easy methods of incorporating it in your cooking. The possibilities of use are endless, with cabbage being consumed raw, cooked, and preserved worldwide in dishes beyond cole slaw. Cultures all over the world have a favored tradition for its use, and we’ll see and experience these differences. Tonight, let’s give cabbage the attention it deserves while we put some new cabbage tricks up our sleeves.

Recipes:Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls; Asian Braised Baby Bok Choy; Spicy Kimchi; Crunchy Napa Cabbage Salad with Horseradish Buttermilk Dressing; Boiled Sausage & Green Cabbage with Spicy Mustard & Pickled Onions; Braised Savoy & White Beans

Class Type: Series, hands-on cooking class

Class Notes: Learn what to do with cabbage beyond cole slaw!

Nissa Pierson

Managing Director of Ger-Nis International, Nissa Pierson, is the utmost of food enthusiast in the kitchen, and she loves a good cabbage dish using the fresh seasonal varieties winter has to offer. In addition to traveling the world seeking organic & fair-trade conversation for her business, she is a noted cooking instructor specializing in fresh herbs as well as an extremist in proving that the art of eating and cooking well is a relatively simple process, incorporating produce found anytime of the year. Besides being a passionate teacher of fresh herbs, organics and Fair-trade, she enjoys spice (in her food and in her life), good conversation and debates, kickboxing, the ocean and surfing, and submersing herself in the food and culture of the world. Contact Nissa