Plugrá® European-Style Butter hosted Della Gossett, chef instructor at The French Pastry School at City Colleges of Chicago and former executive pastry chef of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, for a culinary demonstration at the American Culinary Federation (ACF) National Convention, Aug. 2-5 in Anaheim, Calif. During “Trade Secrets for Exquisite Plated Desserts,” the renowned pastry chef explored how to create innovative menu-enhancing desserts, drawing inspiration from fresh seasonal ingredients, classic recipes, and contemporary influences.

With a standing-room-only audience of chefs, educators and students, Gossett shared how a simple, traditional peach tart with brown butter and pecans can be transformed into a sophisticated plated dessert of seasonal peaches with brown butter ice cream and thyme. “The secret is in the basic elements of the tart—the peaches and the brown butter and pâte à foncer, or pie dough, made with Plugrá European-Style Butter,” she says. “Using those same elements, but with an inspired twist, the result is an inventive new dessert that is impactful both on the plate and on the tongue.”

By Faith Jennetta, CEPC

Don’t forget the most important part of the training process—helping students develop their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.

Does your school have a culinary football team? At the Technology Center of DuPage (TCD), a high-school career and technical center in Addison, Ill., the answer is certainly yes. TCD participates in various approved culinary competitions through ProStart, Skills USA, local ACF chapters and even in-school scholarship-program competitions.

Principal Edward A. Susmilch likens the TCD culinary-competition teams to high-school football teams. Both help participants enhance their talents, professional behavior, team and leadership skills and scholarship opportunities. How can your school build a winning team?

By Lisa M. Ramsey, CEC

Educator winners of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board’s 2010 healthy-cooking recipe contest through CAFÉ enjoyed a thorough and flavorful immersion in Wisconsin cheeses on tour.

The subject line of the email read “You’re All Winners!”, and of course that sparked my curiosity. A few weeks earlier I entered a contest for culinary educators asking us to create a healthy recipe using any type of Wisconsin cheese. Could it be? YES! I won along with 19 other educators from across the country and Canada. Within a few weeks we were whisked away to Madison, Wis. I found myself at Sardines standing in front of a table full of cheese and wine discussing recipes with several other educators. Our gracious hosts were Sara Hill from Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and Mary Petersen from CAFÉ. They brought us together to celebrate and meet several cheesemakers and farmers. After a wonderful dinner and conversation, it was off to the hotel to rest up for three days’ full of tasting and touring.

Courtesy of the National Turkey Federation

Online resources from the turkey industry will help students better understand how to deliver customer satisfaction while contributing to a healthy bottom line amid a “perfect storm” of challenges for operators.

The lean economic times the foodservice industry is currently facing requires a careful evaluation of daily operational practices. Restaurateurs need to look for ways to trim costs, reduce waste and maintain a steady customer base in this environment of sharply higher commodity costs, soaring fuel prices and continued food price inflation. Meanwhile, restaurant guests are squeezing their own food budgets, and when they do dine out, they look for value on menus.

By Birch DeVault

More easily applied in the culinary lab than the classroom, keep the learning active, engaging and authentic.

In my culinary classes, I attempt to direct my students’ learning activities from the basic to the complex. I’ve had success with this kind of cognitive scaffolding when it comes to the food itself, the method of preparation, the care in the process of cooking, and in the construction of the final plate presentation. Many of my students consider themselves artists in the making or formative craftsmen, so the idea of building them as business people is a little difficult for some to approach. I find that containing the idea of cost within the pursuit of art or craft is not only challenging, but adds authenticity to tasks committed within an applied learning environment.

By Lynn Schwartz

Part of Berkeley’s now-famous “gourmet ghetto,” TV cooking personality, author, restaurateur and chef John Fields says he’s done with pretentious food.

Like many chefs, John Shields first learned a love and respect for food from a family member. In Shield’s case, it was his grandmother, Gertie Cleary. Shields has had an accomplished career, which includes two acclaimed restaurants, four cookbooks and two television series: “Chesapeake Bay Cooking” and PBS’ “Coastal Cooking with John Shields.” What now captures his interest is the kind of cooking that his grandmother originally taught him—simple, healthy and local food.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Students give high marks to reporting on current events—even though it requires more work from them—and indicate they learn more as a result.

Making your subject relevant and helping students see what is happening in our industry are only two of the many reasons to use current events in your teaching. Making it a regular part of your classroom activities also keeps students reading newspapers, Web sites and industry publications and encourages them to use search engines on a regular basis.

Since I have been using current events in several of my classes, I have found that students eagerly bring current events to classes and even send me current events by e-mail if they must miss class. It has really expanded the range of activities I use in class, and I encourage you to try it if you are not already.

By Adam Weiner

Part 1 of a two-part series from Chef Weiner on advising your students on selecting and maintaining knives.

All culinary students will ask you, at one time or another, about buying knives. Since we are all busy, I thought I would make your life a bit simpler. Just print out the below and give it to your students.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE

Interactive activities for communicating foodservice principles of “green.”

Sustainability education is rapidly becoming a part of culinary and hospitality curricula cross the country, and there are few teaching tools that front-line educators can easily access and use in their classrooms. Attendees at the last CAFÉ Leadership Conference were given one such tool that we created at Kendall. For those who couldn’t attend, we’re sharing it today, along with another one, which will be posted permanently on the CAFÉ Web site in the Resource Center under Lesson Plans.

By Ronald S. Wolf, B.S., M.A.

Florida—not California—is the nation’s largest producer of fresh tomatoes. This lesson plan will assist in demonstrating how increased menu usage of Florida tomatoes can increase profitability.

Like the sunny Mediterranean region, Florida has the warm temperatures necessary for cultivating tomatoes for much of the year. The state’s tomato industry is believed to have started in the 1870s. Florida ships more than 1.3 billion pounds of fresh tomatoes to the United States, Canada and abroad. Almost every county in the state grows tomatoes, and Florida produces virtually all the fresh-market, field-grown tomatoes in the United States from October through June.