By Mark M. DeNittis

Students will learn how value lamb cuts can increase menu interest and brand image while contributing to an operation’s bottom line.

This downloadable education guide in MS Word provides an insightful look at the basic skills and methods of braising and stewing American lamb. Focuses of study include an overview of product acquisition, cuts, safe handling, applied cooking techniques, flavor profiles and nutrition. Classroom activities, discussion questions and research resources are designed to assist instruction.

Upon completion of this presentation, the student will be able to better understand American lamb, as well as the essentials of braising and stewing for common “value cuts” that contribute to the versatility and profitability of American lamb.

Mark M. DeNittis is a chef-instructor at Johnson & Wales University, Denver, and president, chef and salumerie of DeNCo Enterprise, LLC.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Even good students need to review to ace tests. Here’s how to help them.

During the middle of a semester and, more typically, at the end of a term, students often are overwhelmed with preparing for and taking tests. In some schools and colleges, tests come in clumps at mid-term and finals or in thirds throughout the semester. In the best of all possible worlds, students would be studying and reviewing material as the semester progresses, but they often have to learn a lot of new material and do not take the time to review. Therefore, even good students need to review in order to do well in tests.

By Lynn Schwartz

Veteran chef to two administrations, Scheib believes Americans’ biggest culinary challenge is to figure out how to meet increasing demand for fresh, local and artisanal food products.

Walter Scheib is modest about how he found himself “inexplicably” at the White House, chef to America’s chief executive and the First Family. But his arrival in April 1994 can be explained as a clear case of opportunity meets preparedness.

By Eric Stein, M.S., R.D.

Cacao refers to the genus and beans; cocoa is the foundation of what we love.

One of the oldest and most celebrated foods on the planet today, chocolate was so highly prized by ancient civilizations that is was used as a form of currency. Today, it is nearly impossible to find a dessert menu that does not feature at least one chocolate-based confection.

Consumers desire chocolate for reasons including its decadence, flavor and various health benefits. Chocolate comes from the genus-species theobroma cocoa, theobroma being derived from the Greek words for “god” and “food.” Cocoa is grown on almost 30,000 square miles worldwide, in mostly temperate climates between 20° North and 20° South of the equator. Notable cocoa-producing areas include Central and South America, Indonesia and Africa. The cocoa plant produces myriad different products, but before they become the delicious food known as chocolate, the cocoa beans must go through an involved process.

This year’s Chefs Collaborative Summit, held at Kendall College, revealed big news for a growing fan base from the USDA.

Chefs Collaborative’s 2009 National Summit was held at Kendall College in Chicago, Sept. 15-16, drawing chefs and media nationwide with a commitment to ecological sustainability in foodservice to the campus for the Boston-based nonprofit’s annual meeting. Keynoter Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo fame broke away from his new restaurant, XOCO, to stress the importance of small, sustainable, family-owned businesses to the lifeblood of a town or neighborhood to an enthusiastic audience of nearly 150.

Flavors in high demand next year will include cardamom, hibiscus and sweet potato, says Mintel

How do you follow up a wild year of $5 menus, gourmet meals for paupers' prices and buy-one-get-one restaurant specials? You return to quality, that's how. Mintel Menu Insights, a service that tracks U.S. menu trends, releases five predictions for 2010, saying the restaurant industry will focus on high-quality food and ingredients to lure in diners.

By Peggy Ryan

Transcripts of the acceptance speech of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs’ 2009 Educator of the Year.

If you had told me in 1989 that I would be named Educator of the Year by WCR in 2009, I would have been completely flabbergasted.

In 1989 I was the chef and owner of a popular and well-regarded regional Italian restaurant in Evanston, Illinois, Va Pensiero.

Peggy Ryan, a culinary instructor in the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College, Chicago, received Women Chefs & Restaurateurs’ (WCR) 2009 Educator of the Year Award on Nov. 3 during the association’s national conference at The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.

WCR’s Educator of the Year Award, sponsored by Visa Signature, recognizes excellence in culinary education and honors a woman whose dedication to teaching is making a difference to the culinary community. Ryan was selected among all candidates by a committee of culinary professionals.

Delmar, a part of Cengage Learning and a leader in skills-based solutions for educational institutions, businesses and professionals, today announced the publication of Poultry: Identification, Fabrication and Utilization (ISBN: 1435400380, $71.95) by Chef Thomas Schneller—the third book in the new, multi-part Kitchen Pro Series from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the world’s premier culinary college, based in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Poultry is a definitive manual that describes both time-honored and state-of-the-art methods of identifying species and cuts, purchasing, fabricating and storing of a comprehensive array of poultry ranging from domestically raised turkey and duck to quail and poussin, as well as wild birds.

Since 2005, culinary professionals looking to advance their careers by earning a diploma from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) have been completing their two-year associate degrees in just 15 months in the college's associate-degree program for students with Advanced Culinary Experience (ACE). Now, the CIA is expanding the program so twice as many culinarians can take advantage of this unique academic offering.