Cooking classes are the heart of We're Cooking Now's approach to igniting relationships to personal and community development. Classes combine attention to detail and advanced cooking technique with the deep relationship building that comes from working together to accomplish a mutual goal. From improving culinary skill and home entertainment to enhancing group cohesiveness and building stronger families, our classes offer something for everyone.

Community classes are regularly offered in the greater Madison, Wisconsin area at Madison Area Technical College and Whole Foods Market and All Through the House in Stoughton. Classes are announced in each company’s promotions and through the We're Cooking Now email newsletter sent out periodically to subscribers. If you wish to be notified of upcoming classes, send us an email at rafe@werecookingnow.org requesting to be put on the list.

We're Cooking Now also offers a personal learning experience in your home or other location of your choice. Suitable for groups or one-on-one learning, private classes offer the benefits of a more intimate setting among family, friends, or co-workers and the potential:

• to select the menu you want to make when you want to make it,
• to celebrate holidays or other special events in a unique and memorable way,
• to address specific cooking topics in order to meet individual needs,
• to specify the quality of ingredients,
• to learn to cook a five-course menu or simply appetizers,
• to decorate the cooking and eating space in order to celebrate special occasions,
• to offer wine or other libations to your guests.

We're Cooking Now has over 60 classes to choose from with more being developed all the time. Many classes are offered in the community as part of multi-week courses. Any class is available individually, or we will be happy to combine recipes from different classes to create the menu of your dreams.

Our most popular classes include:

Introduction to Mexican: Week 1-Appetizers (pumpkin seed-tomato dip, peanuts with powdered chile, guacamole, shredded meat Yucatecan style); Week 2-Chicken-lime soup, green corn soup, arroz verde, and arroz blanco; Week 3-Handmade flour and corn tortillas and four salsas (Mexicana cruda, ranchera, x-ni-pek, de tomate verde); Week 4-Cheese enchiladas, pollo almendrado, and mushrooms in tomatillo sauce; Week 5-Chili rellenos stuffed with corn and baked in sour cream, Manchamantel (holiday pork and chicken stew), lentils with pineapples and plantains; Week 6-Traditional and low fat tamales, vanilla flan, and chocolate meringue cookies.

Introduction to Italian: Week 1-Minestrone, stracciatella with chicken meatballs, and garlic-cheese bread croutons; Week 2-Four salads (insalata di arancia, insalata di porri mimosa, asparagus with spicy tomato dressing, Italian dressing); Week 3-Tomato-Mushroom, pesto, and puttanesca sauces with three handmade pastas; Week 4-Pizza rustica, pizza Sardenaira, and pizza Margherita; Week 5-Traditional and low fat eggplant parmigiana and chicken Marsala; Week 6 Tiramisù, chocolate walnut torte, and crema fredda di uva nera.

    Intermediate Italian: Week 1-Assorted appetizers and fresh bread; Week 2-Scaloppini of chicken served either all’aceto balsamico or al limone, crimini risotto, pesto, and spinaci e fagioli al limone; Week 3-Lasagna alla Bolognese, pollo alla cacciatora, and bread salad; Week 4-Pasta primavera, stuffed polenta, and carote e cipolline al Marsala; Week 5-Marinara, gnocchi nudi, braised fennel, and meatballs; Week 6-Sicilian cassata, ravioli dolci, palacinche.

Hot and Spicy Cuisines of the World: Week 1-Caribbean (Jamaican pumpkin soup, Haitian hot pepper sauce, Trinidadian rice peelau, jerk chicken or pork, dry jerk rub, wet jerk paste); Week 2-African (jollof rice, akara balls, harissa sauce, salata mechouia, Bamia ladyfinger relish); Week 3-Indian (tandoori paste and curry spice powder, tandoori chicken, curried vegetables, mango-apple chutney, hot lemon cashew rice); Week 4-Mexican (pollo almendrado, empanadas, arroz verde, salsa de muchos chiles); Week 5-Southeast Asian (green Thai and Malay curry pastes, Thai chicken curry, Malay beef curry, saté, Indonesian sambal ulek, nonya relish); Week 6-American (jambalaya, chicken chili with black beans, nacho blue-corn bread, Tex-Mex and Southern style BBQ sauces).

Appetizers: Week 1-Spanish tortilla (the classic frittata), pico de gallo, stuffed mushroom caps, guacamole, humus, Chinese chicken wings, and roasted garlic chèvre; Week 2-Asparagus and shitaki mushroom croustades, salmon tartare, pizza Margherita, traditional pesto, cocktail meatballs, and Indonesian beef saté; Week 3-Squid in Spanish sauce, skordalia (Greek dipping sauce), chicken and spinach quenelles, caponata, and queso with tortillas; Week 4-Sar Moo Sars (Burmese curry turnovers), vegetarian egg rolls with duk sauce, vegetarian “liver” paté, chicken terryaki, and gougères.

Introduction to the Caribbean: Week 1-Jamaican (curried goat, rice and peas, beef patties, catch-a-fire table condiment, gingerbread with lemon glaze); Week 2-Cuban (chicken mojo, tostones, Moros y Cristianos, frijoles del Cordon, picadillo, barritas de mango); Week 3-Puerto Rican (adobo paste, chicken adobo, sofrito, stewed okra, arroz con gandules, flan de coco); Week 4-Blending the Sea (Puerto Rican arroz con pollo, Salsa Cubano, Dominican gandules con coco, Dominican molondrones a la vinagreta).

Introduction to Thai: Week 1-Thai I (coconut-squash soup, red curry, egg-rolls with nu’ó’c châ’m, jasmine rice); Week 2-Thai II (fresh spring rolls [cha giò], pad Thai, Massaman curry, jasmine rice); Week 3-Thai III (yum yai [mixed salad], neua panaeng [panaeng curry with beef], gai thod khao phod [fried chicken and corn patties], jasmine rice).

Healthy Eating: Week 1-Superfoods (breakfast porridge, vegetable and whole grain celebration with low fat white wine sauce, veggie shake, hearty miso soup); Week 2-Where’s the beef? (low fat/high flavor chicken curry, salmon salad in lettuce leaf wrap, textured soy protein BBQ, crunchy baked chicken); Week 3-Sweetening the pot (bountiful benefits cake, low fat sweet potato/pumpkin custard, low fat/high fiber chocolate doughnuts, carrot cake).

Soups and Salads: Week 1-Cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli, bacon lettuce and tomato cheese soup, roux, roasted red pepper potato salad, and Mandarin sweet potato salad; Week 2-Jamaican pumpkin soup, stracciatella with chicken dumplings, New England style clam chowder, steak au poivre salad, and curried chicken salad; Week 3-Split pea soup, peanut butter soup, chili con carne y frijoles, fresh fruit salad with cranberry dressing, and Mad City Waldorf salad; Week 4-Creole jambalaya, chilled Norwegian apple soup, French scallion soup with walnut toasts, Roman pasta salad, and fish-less Caesar salad.

Secrets of Seafood: Week 1-Freshwater Fish (breaded fish, broiled fish, American style potato salad, trout à la meunière, creamy coleslaw, tartar sauce, clarified butter); Week 2-Saltwater Fish (beer batter, baked stuff fish, poached fish, fish fumet, hollandaise sauce, compound butters: maître d'hôtel butter, chips [French fries]); Week 3-Shellfish (tempura, coquilles St. Jacques, Southern Indian Shrimp Curry, rice pilaf).

Brunch: Week 1-Eggs Benedict, apricot-cream cheese stuffed French toast, raspberry jam-filled cranberry scones; Week 2-Huevos rancheros, German apple pancake, cinnamon-pecan sweet rolls; Week 3-Garden vegetable and Gruyère cheese frittata, breakfast crêpes with lemon or jam, double cherry coffeecake.

Desserts: Week 1-Homemade ice cream and four toppings (caramel, hot fudge, butterscotch, marshmallow cream); Week 2-Pies (apple, cream, pecan, meat); Week 3-Cakes (flourless chocolate cake, lemon pound cake, Roman apple cake, fudgy brownies); Week 4-Dessert crêpes (crêpes from scratch with fresh fruit, apple Normandy filling, bananas Caribbean, and Suzette toppings); Week 5-Dessert sauces and custards (sabayon, crème Anglaise, pastry cream, crème brûlée); Week 6-Cookies (the best chocolate chip, shortbread, Jamaican ginger snaps, fruit bars).

Vegan and Vegetarian: Week 1-Side Dishes (spicy chickpea snack, Turkish walnut pâté, chipotle sandwich spread, Wisconsin sweet potato casserole, Thai vegetable salad, low fat potato chips); Week 2-Italian and Mediterranean Entrees (marinara with not meatballs, vegetable terrine, winter vegetable gratin, Mediterranean stuffed squash); Week 3-Desserts (baklava, sweet potato flan, cherry-apple crisp, chocolate mousse); Week 4-American Comfort Foods (chili con frijoles, mushroom rice pilaf, potato chowder, vegan BBQ); Week 5-Classics of the Caribbean (curried mixed fruits, arroz con coco, jerked tofu stir fry, dulce de maduros [sweet plantains]); Week 6-The Art of the Grill (pizza, tomatoes, potatoes with pesto, carrots escoveitch, pineapple upside down cake).

Miscellaneous Classes:

• Grilled international pizzas (German/Wisconsin, Mexican, traditional Italian)
• The art of the Q (marinades, sauces, and rubs)*Cajun (vegan gumbo, crawfish etouffée, red beans and rice, lemon chess pie)
• Friday night fish fry (beer-battered, breaded, and baked stuffed fish, American-style potato salad, creamy coleslaw, Chinese-style slaw, Creole tartar sauce, apple bars)
• Holiday Favorites with a twist (roast chicken with real gravy, roasted garlic and Boursin mashed potatoes, fresh cranberry relish, Hawaiian sweet potatoes, pie crust, pumpkin-pecan pie)
• Outdoor grilling (includes grilling “fact sheet” with baba ganooj, fruit stuffed sausage, grilled bread, grilled garlic and vegetable salad, grilled vegetable sandwich, grilled apple decadence)
• Phyllo appetizer turnovers (chicken stroganoff, pizza, vegan samosa, three cheeses)
• Cuisine of Central and South-Central Mexico (meatballs [albóndigas con salsa chipotle], sautéed cactus paddles [nopales al vapor], maguey pouch stuffed with chicken and vegetables [mixiote de pollo], corn truffle sautéed with baby summer squash [cuitlacoche con calabacitas], white rice [arroz blanco])
• Four uncommon salsas (de chile arbol, sweet potato, fresh pineapple, arriera [mule drivers’ sauce])
• Vegetable celebration (Swiss chard Italian style, orange caramelized beets, braised fennel, Italian tomato and pepper salad, Cajun coleslaw, baba ganooj)
• Zambian (mbuzi, sautéed greens, kapenta, nshima, mutoba mutwe)
• French country dinner (lemon-rosemary chicken with white wine, mushroom rice pilaf, steamed vegetable medley)
• English (London broil, oven roasted potatoes, broccoli hollandaise)
• International soups (Calabrian chicken meatball soup, mulligatawny, Ann’s Door County cherry soup)
• Five classic sauces plus one with derivatives (espagnole, hollandaise, velouté, béchamel, tomato, reduction)
• International salads (Caesar, Santa Barbara tri tip, Tuscan white bean, Sichuan peanut noodle, Caribbean fruit slaw)
• German I (sauerbraten, braised red cabbage, spaetzle)
• German II (pork and chicken schnitzel (prepared two ways) with Black Forest sauce, brown sugar roasted and puréed acorn squash with cream, spaetzle)
• Chinese I (sweet and sour chicken or pork, vegan egg rolls, duk sauce)
• Chinese II (shredded beef with walnuts, chao tse or pot stickers, dipping sauce, ham fried rice)
• Italian Grilling (Tuscan grilled chicken, roasted new potatoes on mixed greens accented with roasted red pepper dressing, fresh green beans and baby carrot salad, grilled pineapple with Sicilian spicy lemon rub).
• The Taste of Chocolate (history, cultivation, chemistry, and processing of chocolate; comparative chocolate tasting and self-rating; recipes: amaretto truffles and gourmet hot chocolate.
• Candies I (butter pecan caramels, strawberry fruit jelly candy, chocolate honey-cashew brittle, chocolate marshmallows)
• Candies II (chocolate-almond toffee, apricot-cherry-peach fruit/nut roll up, gianduia truffles)

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