Grayson College offers cooking classes

Grayson College’s just-for-fun cooking classes are under way for the spring

Culinary Arts Class

semester. Desserts, hearty fare, healthy options, and regional favorites are menu themes as GC’s Hospitality Management & Culinary Arts Center partners with the Center for Workplace Learning to offer six recreational cooking classes and a three-day cooking boot camp this semester. Open to the public, classes take place at the Culinary Arts Center on GC’s Main Campus in Denison, east of the Viking Residence Hall. Participants must be at least 16 years old to enroll in the classes, except where noted.
         
Taught by GC’s chef instructors and guest chefs, courses provide hands-on training, demonstrations, and interactive learning in the college’s state-of-the-art facility. Participants experience cuisines, explore cooking methods, and learn disciplines and knife skills as they prepare and consume cuisine that ranges from the familiar to the unexpected. In some of the classes, participants prepare goodies to take home as well.
         
“Steakhouse Favorites” offers tricks of the trade to cook a sirloin steak to a perfect degree of doneness and to get a perfect crust.  Joanna Bryant, professor and executive chef instructor, also teaches how to make a compound butter, potatoes au gratin, grilled asparagus, and béarnaise sauce. Cost is $39 per person. Class meets Feb. 5 from 5 to 8 p.m.
         
 “Valentine’s Day Cuisine” is a class designed for those who want to put a little romance in their cooking. Bryant and Carrie Kelley, pastry chef instructor, help participants spark the romance with a menu of shrimp cocktail with spicy cocktail sauce, beef tenderloin with balsamic reduction, creamy cheese polenta, fried spinach, and chocolate lava cakes. Cost is $49 per person. Class meets Feb. 13 from 5 to 9 p.m.
         
 “Soup! Soup! Soup! Part 2” returns this spring as Bryant teaches students how to make a variety of great homemade soups that can be made in large batches to freeze and used throughout the year. Soups include New England clam chowder, sweet corn bisque with hushpuppy, and classic French onion soup. Class meets Feb. 20 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Cost is $29 per person.
         
 “Gluten- and Sugar Free Baking” meets from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on April 2. Taught by Cody Daniel, pastry cook and GC culinary arts student, this baking class presents tried and true recipes for specialty baking. Cost is $29 per person.
       
“BBQ Seminar” is a half-day class that explores the differences in certain regional favorites and teaches participants how to make delicious barbecue. Taught by Bryant and chef instructor Scott Murray, topics include brisket, pulled pork, sausage making, sauce making, rubs, and ribs. Cost is $69 per person. Class meets April 26 from 1 to 7 p.m.
         
“Healthy Cooking Techniques” meets May 7 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Bryant explains the different cooking techniques that are the healthiest ways to prepare proteins and vegetables, including proper grilling, poaching and baking. Cost is $29 per person.
         
“Culinary Boot Camp” is a three-day, intensive course designed for home cooks who want to learn professional skills. Bryant and Kelley teach students the basics in knife skills, meat and vegetable cookery, sauce making, and baking/pastries. Cost is $229 per person and each participant receives a chef coat, apron, and professional chef’s knife. Class meets June 4-6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In addition to the spring cooking classes, private cooking classes and children’s birthday cooking classes are available as well. For more information or to register for the spring recreational and private classes, visit the GC Center for Workplace Learning website at www.cwlgcc.org. Registration may be completed online at www.cwlgcc.org, in person weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the CWL on the college’s Main Campus in Denison, or by phone at 903-463-8765 if paying with MasterCard, Discover or Visa credit cards.