BY KAREN BOSSICK

Cynthia Nims, who has authored 12 cookbooks, will teach two classes at the Sun Valley Culinary Institute in Ketchum in late August.

Nims, who lives in Seattle, will teach “French Home Cooking”at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25. A graduate of the La Varenne Culinary School in France, she will prepare favorite at-home French recipes and demonstrate how to work with puff pastry and the French approach to endive and niçoise salads and vinaigrette dressing. She will also show how to prepare fruit clafoutis, a French dessert made with fruit that is covered with a custard-like batter.

“(French cooking) is the inspiration behind many of my recipes, and the best way to share my experiences is within a cooking class,” she said.

Nims will present “Shellfish 101” at 2 p.m. Saturday Aug. 27. She will divulge a few tips on choosing, handling and cooking shellfish, and she will demonstrate techniques for oysters, clams and shrimp, including how to choose and store shellfish, shuck oysters, steam clams and mussels, saute shrimp and cook shellfish.

She will teach how to make a smoked oyster dip, bake oysters with horseradish breadcrumbs, clam chowder with petit peas and sauteed shrimp with garlic and rosemary.

Nims has served as editor of “Simply Seafood” magazine and contributed to other magazines as a food writer. Her cookbooks include “Shellfish,” “Northwest Appetizers,” “Northwest Salmon,” “Northwest Main Courses” and “Crab” and “Oysters.”

“We’re very excited to have Cynthia teach at the Institute and share her passion and experiences with food,” said SVCI Executive Director Karl Uri. “She is an incredible chef and writer who is an expert on oysters and French cuisine.”

Classes are $135. To register for either or both classes. go to https://sunvalleyculinary.org and click on the Cynthia Nims class listings.