Cooking By Instinct:

1 Meal, 8 Techniques

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Learn 8 real techniques

This session: Burritos, by Component

to build your confidence and go beyond recipes

Most of us cook from a script.

  1. Find a recipe.

  2. Follow the steps.

  3. Hope it turns out.

This class is about learning to break away from recipes and trust yourself instead. Cooking based on what's actually in front of you: the ingredients you have on hand, what you're in the mood for, and who you're feeding.

We'll use one meal (burritos & radish-cucumber salad) as the means to learn 8 cooking techniques. You'll leave with fundamental skills you can rely on to cook something that fits your situation anytime.

Videography: Sophie Murray
Editing and voiceover: Chef Mark

What you'll learn to do

  • Cook starches with technique, not just water.

  • Balance flavor by taste, not by measurement.

  • Basic knife work with the final goal in mind.

  • Build a vinaigrette from ratio, not recipe.

  • Build texture into a dish on purpose.

  • Build components, not a single dish.

  • Grill protein with confidence.

  • Fold a wrap like a pro.

What we’ll make

Using the Instant Pot, you can have phenomenal beans from scratch in under an hour (compared to the 2.5-3 hours for stovetop method).

Pinto Beans from Scratch

I’ll share my well-tested method for deeply flavored rice with amazing texture, not just boiled and served plain.

Mexican Rice

Pico De Gallo

My favorite simple recipe based on a Marin restaurant. (Can you guess when you taste it?)

Pickled Onion & Radish

A quick pickle formula you can use to preserve expiring produce and bring acidic crunch.

Salsa Verde

Have you ever cooked with tomatillos? I’ll show you my recipe based on my favorite taqueria!

Toasted Tortilla Strips

This simple technique brings essential crunch to salads, bowls, soups, and beyond!

You’ll learn the formula for a balanced salad dressing that you can use to create your own dressings without a recipe.

Lime Vinaigrette

We’ll cover fundamental knife skills and how to choose cut shapes and sizes to suit the situation.

Cucumber Salad

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Schedule

  • Welcome with snacks

  • Class introduction

  • Demo by Chef Mark

  • Workstation setup

  • Group cooking

  • Dining together

  • Send-off

    3 hours total

  • All ingredients 

  • Access to professional cooking equipment 

  • Digital copies of guides 

  • Development of real kitchen skills: knife work, sauce-building, flavor and texture balancing, grilling

  • A finished meal you build yourself, plus the confidence to make it again at home

Registration Includes

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Location

140 Oak Shade Ln. Novato
(Google Maps Link)

This class will be held in the beautiful home kitchen of our host home in Novato.

 

Meet your instructor

~

Meet your instructor ~

CHEF MARK

I’m a music-teacher-turned-chef obsessed with teaching home cooks how to make healthy food that you actually crave. I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned with you.

Much love.