American Regional Cuisine, The Art Institutes SM - Solutions, summaries, and outlines. 2022 updated

Manual and test
to Accompany




American Regional Cuisine




iii

, The Cuisine of New England

OBJECTIVE:
This chapter introduces and explains the many ingredients and products indigenous to
New England Cuisine. In addition the student will review and demonstrate cooking
techniques as well as:
 Follow standardized recipes
 Create a timeline for food production
 Demonstrate and explain plating technique
 Practice collaboration

SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES ADDRESSED:
Simmering (New England Boiled Dinner)
Shallow Poaching and Pan Frying (Cod Cakes)
Roasting (Turkey Roulade)
Baking (New England Bread Stuffing, Baked Scrod)
Glazing (Glazed Turnips)
Saute (Green Beans with Mushrooms)
Deep Fry (Fried Onions)
Puree Soup (Butternut Soup)
Broiling (Bluefish with Clams)
Steaming (Boston Brown Bread)

MODELING/ DEMONSTRATION:
How to open clams
How to remove skin from a turkey; assemble a roulade
How to cut and scrape corn on the cob
How to pan fry corn cakes
How to peel and cut butternut squash
How to prepare a temporary emulsion

INSTRUCTIONAL INPUT:
Lecture, book, recipes, hands on demonstration and guided practice
 Read through all recipes, ingredients and instructions
 Give students timeline for production
 Give each group time to come up with food list and equipment list- who’s doing what
 Cook
 Critique
 Clean

TRADITIONAL DISHES OF THE REGION:
Each menu item has been carefully selected to highlight or reinforce a regional
ingredient, a technique, or a basic skill. The Chef Instructor may use the following
suggestions when preparing the lecture, or may assign research projects for the students.




1

, Menu One
New England Clam Chowder
History of chowder
Compare and contrast types of fish based soups specific to each region (i.e. New
England Clam Chowder Manhattan Clam Chowder, Conch Chowder (in Florida),
Seafood Gumbo (Louisiana), Cioppino (San Francisco)
Discuss use of starchy potatoes vs. waxy potatoes for use in soup
What is purpose for adding the flour, and scalding the milk
Marinated Tomato and Zucchini Salad
Discuss types of tomatoes (for example: 5 x 6, heirloom, red tomatoes, yellow
tomatoes, cherry tomatoes), why roma tomatoes are the best choice for a
marinated salad (they are meatier) and the purpose of peeling and seeding the
tomato (the peel prevents absorption of the marinade, and seeding keeps the
marinade from becoming “watered down”) for a salad
Reinforce knife skills
New England Boiled Dinner with Horseradish Sauce
Discuss influence of cooking styles of England
Technique: Simmering. Compare and contrast: simmering, submerged
poaching, boiling, and braising
Corned Beef: Flat cut, point cut and difference between the two
Regular corned beef vs. “gray” corned beef
How to corn beef (wet method vs. dry cure method)
Varying the vegetables, cuts, and cooking times
Consider using fresh horseradish for the sauce
Peach and Blueberry Cobbler
Types of cobbler toppings
Fruit fillings for cobblers and thickening agents

Menu Two
Clams Casino
Opportunity to use fresh clams, demonstrate how to open fresh clams
Types of clams and their uses
Receiving fresh shellfish
Cod Cakes
Cod: Farm raised fish, aquaculture
History of cod in New England
Technique: Shallow poaching, pan frying
Use of different binding agents, necessity of proper handling of potatoes to ensure
quality in final product
Use of fishcakes for total utilization during fabrication, or from leftovers
Roasted Turkey Roulade with Cranberry Sauce
Advantages of preparing a roulade vs. whole turkey
Demonstration: How to remove skin from a turkey or chicken and how to
assemble a roulade
Technique: Roasting
Discuss how cranberries are grown and harvested



2

, New England Bread Stuffing
Technique: Baking
Opportunity to discuss different types of stuffing found in different regions
Safety and sanitation when handling a stuffing
Glazed Turnips
Discuss receiving, care and handling of root vegetables
Reinforce knife skills
Technique: Glazing vegetables and types of glazes
Discuss maple syrup and its production, “real maple” syrup vs. imitation
Green Beans and Mushrooms with Fried Onions
Technique: Parcooking, deep frying
Classroom exercise: have the students taste a raw green bean, a partially cooked
green bean, and a properly cooked green bean and discuss the flavor and texture
of each
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Discuss types of sweet potatoes and their hybrids
Gingerbread
Discuss the history of importing spices to America
Research molasses

Menu Three
Butternut Squash Soup
Technique: Process of making a puree soup
Demonstration of how to peel and cut butternut squash
Opportunity to research winter squashes
Classroom exercise: Consider using different varieties of apples and evaluate
taste and texture of final product
Boston Baked Beans
Discuss types of beans and rehydrating methods
Classroom Exercise: Use different types of beans in this recipe, compare and
contrast resulting products
Mesclun Salad with Cranberries, Apples, and Cider Vinaigrette
Technique: Temporary emulsion
Discuss fruit ciders and vinegars
Identify lettuces in spring mix
Discuss toasting almonds in the oven vs. in a pan on the stove
Bluefish with Clams and Fresh Corn Cakes, or Fresh Noodles
Discuss bluefish, an underutilized fish. Discuss the different methods of cooking
a fatty fish
Fresh Corn Cakes: How to cut and scrape corn on the cob, how to pan fry corn
cakes
Fresh Noodles: Review technique of preparing, rolling, and cutting fresh pasta
Cole Slaw
Reinforce hand skills, shredding cabbage
Discuss choice of vinegar based dressing for coleslaw to be served with a fatty
fish



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