July Cooking Classes

July is a time of farmers' market bounty, so you'll find many classes this month on using, grilling and preserving farm-to-table foods. And, for some reason, there are lots of dessert classes this month, too!

At Frasier's Gourmet Foods, you'll find two intriguing classes. On July 26, chef Justin Miller offers "Pies and Tarts." Recipes on the agenda include apple pie, chocolate cream pie, key lime tart, and fresh fruit tart. Miller will also share his secrets for vodka pie dough and sweet tart dough. Needless to say, I'm already signed up.

Next, on July 27, R Bistro sous chef Erin Kem will offer "Quebec Classics," such as meat pies and pudding chomeur. Kem often does classes inspired by her travels, and this is a type of ethnic food we don't usually consider.

Cooking Greek seems to have scaled back its schedule for the summer, but on most Sundays you'll still find classes on traditional Greek foods. (If you bought the Groupon a few weeks back, you must apply it to a special Groupon-only class on Wednesday or Thursday evenings.)

Chef JJ's in Broad Ripple, which has a well-designed new website, is offering two classes on backyard entertaining and one class on grilling "for ladies." (I bet $5 that the class focuses on chicken and low-calorie marinades.) This month's pizza class and a ribs class in August have already sold out, so make your reservations for other classes well in advance.

The class schedule is full at Kiss Z Cook, which continues its Friday date-night series and "girls' night out" classes and adds a "guys' night out" series. Some interesting one-shot classes on the schedule include "French Cuisine," "Grilling Ribs and Chops," "Breakfast for Dinner" and "Cooking with Chocolate."

You can also stop by Williams-Sonoma for free demonstration classes. Topics include "Farm to Table," about using fresh fruits, veggies and herbs (July 11); "Summer Sauces" (July 18); and "Saving Summer," about basic food preservation techniques (July 25). The classes are free, but reservations are required: (317) 816-4422.