Chefs teaches cooking classes at home, Celina Record

Toasted Walnut chef hosts farm-to-table cooking classes at Celina home Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Jan 22, 2016 Joey Dawkins is a man with big plans. Walking through the turn-of-the-century, downtown Celina home that he and his wife purchased last year, he expounds his ideas for transforming the charming abode into a bed and breakfast called Toasted Walnut Farm. The cozy upstairs bedroom, with its sloped ceiling and shabby-chic décor, is about ready to welcome weary guests. A nearby bathroom boasts an old-fashioned clawfoot tub that can be filled for a relaxing soak. Dawkins, a former sales-and-marketing exec-turned-professional chef, dreams of cooking and serving delectable four-course meals to the patrons he’ll seat on the front porch each morning. But all of that will have to wait –for a few months, at least - while he works to perfect the property. Topping his to-do list, he said, is planting a sizeable garden in the back yard from which he’ll pluck fresh fruits and vegetables to use in the culinary creations that will be served at the “farm-to-table” B&B. He’ll also incorporate those foods into the dishes he prepares during the monthly cooking classes he’s been teaching since late last year to small audiences in the home’s living room. The classes, which cost $65 per person and can accommodate up to 10 “students” per session, have proven to be wildly popular. Most have sold out early, including the next class scheduled for Wednesday, which will be presented in the style of a murder-mystery dinner. Three classes, including a Valentine’s Day Dinner offering, are scheduled for February. “It seems like in Celina, people are hungry for something like this,” Dawkins said. The students don’t do any of the actual cooking; rather they watch as the chef creates a multi-course meal from start to finish, upon which they feast during class. (Water and tea are served, and participants are welcome to bring their own alcoholic beverages to enjoy with the meal.) “It’s kind of like a Food Network show,” Dawkins, a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Dallas, explained of the format. The recipes he makes are his own, which he also uses in his work as a personal chef and caterer. “I’m up here showing them the techniques that I use to make the meal that they’re actually about to eat,” he said, while being both entertaining and funny. (“Some jokes go over well, some don’t,” he said.) Dawkins emphasizes the importance of using locally sourced ingredients. He is passionate about creating what he calls “honest food.” Because he uses fruits and vegetables that are in season, he said he rarely knows what the menu will feature until a few days before each class. “It always depends on what we have available as to what we’re going to be able to cook.” For now, he works closely with local farmers (including Nelson Carter of Cartermere Farms in Celina) and other nearby purveyors to source his ingredients. Once his backyard garden is established, he plans to start each class by taking attendees through it so they can help harvest the produce he’ll cook for them. “There’s nothing like walking through a farm or a garden and enjoying the natural beauty of it, and understanding that something that comes from the earth … you use it to feed your family,” he said. During the holiday season, Dawkins taught students how to properly prepare a turkey and roast a sausage-stuff acorn squash. “I showed them how easy it is, and how all of these small ingredients can give you a totally different flavor and look” to the food, he explained. For example, “Most people don’t know how to make a ranch (dressing) at home,” he said, “and it can be 10 times better than what you get out of one of the bottles. Just showing them how to be able to do that – it takes five minutes.” Also, “People don’t think they have the time” to prepare healthy meals for themselves or their families. “They do have the time, they just don’t know how to do it, and that’s the thing I’m showing them here – the classic French techniques, and how to prepare the food and how to let the food cook itself instead of you having to be over it.” Dawkins said his cooking classes are all about “the experience. I think it’s people getting to know about food.” Find out about upcoming classes and sign up at toastedwalnutfarm.com