BriarPatch Co-op’s January cooking classes: healthy, Asian, calzone, cheeses

Is one of your resolutions to eat healthier meals? BriarPatch Co-op is offering a range of classes this January to aid you on your journey toward healthy cooking.

Ring in the new year with “Quick and Easy Healthy Cooking” on Saturday, January 4 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Migiwa Kawasaki, a trained macrobiotic chef who cooks for BriarPatch, will explain how easy it is to make delicious and balanced meals that take only fifteen to twenty minutes. You will also learn menu planning and help to cook and eat nabe (a clay pot dish), a vegetable buckwheat pancake with sauce, ojiya (whole grain porridge), miso soup and stock, seasoned blanched greens, and poached fruit.


Bring “The Flavors of Southeast Asia” to your kitchen when you take Patti Bess’ class on Thursday, January 9 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Southeast Asian cuisine is as simple to prepare as it is healthful to eat, and it’s easy to convert recipes with meat into meatless versions. Various herbs and spices that are frequently used will be discussed, and the class will prepare and sample Pad Thai, Laotian Lemongrass Chicken Croquettes with Spicy Peanut Sauce, Prawn Coconut Soup or Ginger Pumpkin Soup, Stir-fried Chicken or Tofu with Thai Basil, and Green Papaya Salad.



What is a calzone? It’s basically a folded over pizza with the sauce served on the side. The class will be making the dough, tomato sauce, and Italian sausage, and there will be lots of fun ingredients with which to fill the calzones. Kim Jones will teach a baker’s secret for getting the dough to rise in a hurry on Thursday, January 16 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. You can make one large calzone to share for a cozy evening at home or individual calzones for an easy lunch on the ski slopes.


Have you wanted to learn more about the Paleo Diet? Pauli Halstead is offering a series of cooking classes about the primal diet by eliminating grains and focusing on protein from exclusively grass-fed meat, wild fish, healthy fats, non-starchy organic vegetables, nuts, seeds, and berries. On Saturday 18, the class will focus on “The Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life.”

Saturday, January 25 will focus on fats. Students will learn how to make ghee, homemade mayonnaise, a vegetable platter with French onion dip, and bacon from Llano Seco. The class on February 1 will look at “Weight Loss Myths” and will make Nora’s Coconut Bliss Truffles, Magical Muhamara, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Finally, on February 8, learn about “Nutrients for Mental Health.” All classes are held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.


Ever wondered how cheese is made? In “Fresh Cheeses,” Mielle Rose will show how to make cheeses from milk including paneer, queso fresco, ricotta, crème fraiche, and a rennet-less feta-style cheese. The class will also make a few things with the whey that’s left over — it’s great for soups, baking, beverages, and lacto-fermented foods such as sauerkraut, traditional pickles, and ginger ale. “Fresh Cheeses” will be held on Thursday, January 23 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

January ends on a delicious note with “Favorite Chinese Dishes for Vegetarians.”
Just in time for the Chinese New Year, Kim Jones will show how to make Egg Foo Yung, Tofu with Chinese Barbecue Sauce, and Broccoli and Red Pepper Stir Fry on Thursday, January 30 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

More classes and descriptions are listed at www.briarpatch.coop. Classes are held at the BriarPatch Co-op Community Cooking School, 648 Zion Street in Nevada City. The fee for most classes, which includes a share of what’s being cooked, is just $30 for BriarPatch owners and $35 for the general public. For more information or to pre-register, call BriarPatch at 272-5333×129, email MellisaH@briarpatch.coop, or sign-up and pay for the class online.

—By Mellisa Hannum, BriarPatch Co-op Community Market