‘Culinary Institute of America’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Review: American Bounty {Culinary Institute of America’s restaurant}

April 16, 2014 · Narrative

A dinner at the American Bounty restaurant, located on the Culinary Institute of America’s campus. An upscale dining experience with the menu to match.

When I traveled to Rhinebeck, New York in February, part of the weekend festivities included dinner at the American Bounty restaurant on the Culinary Institute of America’s property. Staffed by the CIA’s students and graduates, it is a fine dining restaurant with perfect table settings, attentive service, and a carefully paced meal. Its focus is the farm-to-table experience, and many of the ingredients come directly from the Hudson Valley area.

To say we were in for a treat would be an understatement.

The menu was filled with seasonal items, and many specialties. I had heard good things about their new Pastry Chef, namely that she was into fun desserts that bordered on scientific experiments, but I tried my best to focus on first things first.

Appetizers.

Any time I’m out in a restaurant, I try to order things that a) I don’t usually cook at home and b) items I’ve never had. And this particular weekend was no exception.

Once I saw cage free foie gras on the menu, it was a given that I would order it, although it was hard to pass up the Prince Edward Island Mussels. Beautifully presented and perfectly proportioned, the foie gras was soft and smooth and everything it should be. Served alongside a smear of dipping sauce and several slices of toast points, it was devoured pretty quickly. (I *did* have a bite of the mussels as well, and they were garlicky and tender, and served in a generous portion.)

For my main course, I went with Wild Striped Sea Bass, with a crispy skin, kohlrabi, and shiitake mushrooms. It also featured a white wine butter sauce and it was amazing. Had I not been in the company of the Jones Dairy Farm team, I would have licked the plate clean. It was my first time having sea bass, and it won’t be my last. Expertly cooked and flaky bite after bite.

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Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower Spread

February 20, 2014 · Narrative

An easy to make Roasted Cauliflower Spread that is high on flavor, low on guilt, and perfect however you get it into your mouth.

I feel like every time Sarah and I have gotten together and broken bread over the past few years, we have compared it to our Seattle trip in 2011. Mostly because we do. And mostly because the trip was awesome. On many accounts.

In fact, not two weeks ago, when Sarah and I were leaving a dinner hosted at the Culinary Institute of America, our Seattle trip and the food we had came up again. Which kind tells you how awesome that trip was, because, I mean, you’d think we’d be rehashing the CIA dinner we had just inhaled.

Nope.

And so all road leads to Seattle. Including this one. The first night that we arrived there, we were famished and everything was closed. We ended up back at our hotel restaurant, Lola, and it couldn’t have been more perfect (see complete restaurant review here). We decided to order a few appetizer/finger food type items off the menu, to get a good sampling of the fare, and there was a roasted cauliflower spread that was kind of amazing.

Must have been if we are still talking about it three years later.

And clearly we need to go back to Seattle.

A few weeks ago, Sarah created a riff of that cauliflower spread and brought it to our holiday bloggers dinner. It was pretty close to the one we first had at Lola. Whether you spread it on crackers, a grilled piece of chicken topped with fresh salsa, or, um, just eat it with a spoon, it’s delicious. I took her version and played with it a little more. Still delicious, even just eaten off a spoon. It would even make a great sandwich spread, if you want to skip more fattening choices like mayonnaise.

And given it is pretty much packed with vegetables and a few simple other ingredients, it is a recipe you can feel good about making and eating. No guilt here.

And just a last ps for all you anchovy haters. This recipe has anchovies in it, but you will be fine. Truth be told, I hate anchovies too. But cooking with them is another story. It delivers a nice salty one-two punch to tons of recipes and you’d never guess it was anchovies.

Swear.

Hungry for more posts about Seattle?
We loved this oyster bar we discovered down a narrow alley way.
Tasty little snacks were had at Piroshky Piroshky.
The famed gum wall was equal parts gross and fascinating.
The Seattle music scene.
And lastly, it was love at first sight.

Tomorrow? January Instagram in Review.
Friday? We talk blueberries.

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Meeting Jones Dairy Farm

February 12, 2014 · Narrative

My sister and I grew up on Jones Dairy Farm breakfast sausages. In fact that’s the first thing my Mom mentioned to me when I said that I would be meeting the folks from Jones Dairy Farm this past weekend. And both my own kids love sausages, whether for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, so it’s a tradition that has continued to this day.

So how was I going to say no to a weekend adventure? Especially when it was taking place at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

I wasn’t.

With iced coffee in hand, at the unforgiving time of 6:20 am on Saturday morning, I set out for the campus. The CIA side of the visit will come in another post, likely next week. For today, we focus on Jones Dairy Farm.

First of all, I hate to admit it, but I didn’t even know they made bacon. I don’t know if I just wasn’t paying attention, and maybe really did know but just didn’t know that I knew …? But that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. If you saw my bacon picture on Instagram on Saturday morning, you know what I thought about the bacon.

Amazeballs.

Just the perfect amount of crispiness, and fat, and chew, and black pepper.

And if we didn’t have a full day ahead of us that morning, I totally would have gone back for more.

In fact, I even texted Sarah across the table that we should, because, you know, there is strength in numbers.

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Recipe: Spicy Whole Roasted Cauliflower

February 10, 2014 · Narrative

A super simple cauliflower recipe made in a way that you’ve never seen it before. Indian flavors, two steps, pure deliciousness.

To say I have a new appreciation for cauliflower would be an understatement. Or, at the very least, an appreciation for turning cauliflower into something completely unique and different than how it originally started out. So when my friend Cathy sent me a recipe for a spicy whole roasted cauliflower, it immediately got added to my list of things to make.

Natch.

Gone are the days when we just had straight up cauliflower smothered in melted cheese. Now we’re turning cauliflower into breadsticks and pizza, risotto and mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and steak. In fact, I even have a cheddar and bacon cauliflower pancake recipe coming soon. I made tonight’s cauliflower recipe on Friday, and it ended up coming in handy this weekend. The basic premise of the recipe is you mix Greek yogurt with a handful of spices, cover the cauliflower with this marinade, and bake it in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. It could not get simpler than that, and beyond the simplicity of the recipe, I love the flexibility of it. Although the spices I used are Indian-influenced, you could mix and match any flavor profile you want. Make a Greek version with some oregano and lemon juice. Or perhaps an Italian version with oregano and basil, with maybe some sun-dried tomatoes thrown in for good measure. I honestly don’t think this recipe can be screwed up.

I made it on a night when I needed something easy that required pretty much no thought and ingredients I had on hand already. I didn’t have a dinner plan ready, and Nick had a dance to go to that night. I made the kids a tray of roasted broccoli (they’re not cauliflower converts … yet), and this for me. Leftover ribs for protein.

Now for the cauliflower story from this weekend… I spent Saturday at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) campus in Hyde Park (more details on that coming later this week), and one of the things we did while we were there was to have a Chopped-style challenge. If you’re not familiar with the Food Network show Chopped, you’re basically handed a basket of ingredients and have to make something amazing with it. I, along with three other team members, was handed a basket that had broccoli, kale, bulgur, lettuce, cauliflower, oranges, and Greek yogurt. All those specific ingredients had to be used to create one main dish and one side dish in an hour, and we could also use any Jones Dairy Farm products we wanted, along with any herbs and spices in the CIA kitchen.

Once I saw the cauliflower and the Greek yogurt, it was a no-brainer, and I took the reins for making the side dish, while the other three team members worked on our main course.

There was a team of CIA chefs in the kitchen during our one hour of cooking time, offering assistance as we needed it, and doing some taste testing along the way. Two of the chefs were also judges, along with two members of Jones Dairy Farm. When Chef Michael came around and took a taste of my marinade (pre-bake), I watched his face for a reaction, and he said “Interesting.” I asked him “Interesting bad or interesting good?” “Just interesting. I can’t say anything else because I’m judging.”

Although I wasn’t worried, I was certainly wondering.

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