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Chicken-Fried Steak: The Unofficial Meal of Texas
February 22, 2012
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
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What does a Minnesota culinary institute have to do with Texas cooking? With culinary trends moving away from highbrow cooking techniques and towards down home techniques with a twist, they have a lot to do with each other. Students at Minnesota culinary institutes are learning how to reinterpret classic comfort food cooking in new and unexpected ways. Let’s take a look at one of the mainstays of Texas cooking: chicken-fried steak.
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How to Store Fresh Herbs
January 23, 2012
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
The winter months have settled in on us once again. And for cooking in Minnesota, that means short, cold, dark days and bone chilling, sub-zero temperatures at night. Long gone are the days of fresh greens, vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Or are they?
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Urban Food Legends – Fact or Fiction?
January 11, 2012
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
So we have probably all heard them at one point or another, seemingly outrageous food and beverage claims that have happened to a friend…or maybe a friend of a friend…or someone who knows someone it happened to. While many of them are intriguing claims involving bad luck or odd consequences, some are simply urban legends while others may have some truth behind them.
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A-Tale-of-Two-Carbs
December 26, 2011
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
To paraphrase a master: It is the best of foods. It is the worst of foods. If there is one thing that we’ve learned from the diet revolution of the past 20 to 30 years is that not all carbohydrates are created equal.
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Hitting the Slopes – Packing Food for a day at the Mountain
December 15, 2011
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
Break out the mittens and strap the skis to the roof of the car. Winter and all its magical holiday appeal is here in full force, but in a season packed with tasty, yet not always the healthiest, treats, it’s important to fuel your family for winter fun. There are several easy snacks and meal ideas to take with you this year when you hit the slopes. Often the food offered for sale in the ski lodge smells tempting, but can be quite costly, not to mention more than a little unhealthy.
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The Best Cookbook Ever
November 25, 2011
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
Okay, I’ll admit that calling Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet the best cookbook ever is very subjective and maybe even a little controversial. It got your attention, though, didn’t it? And your attention is exactly what this mammoth six-volume, 2,438-page masterpiece deserves. This culinary reference, instruction, and history book is magical, mysterious, and strangely beautiful in many ways. Any graduate of a culinary school in Minneapolis would be proud to have this on her reference shelf.
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How To Make a Roux
November 16, 2011
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
No, not a roo or a rue, but a roux. “And what is that?” you ask. At its simplest, a roux is a mixture of equal parts flour and a liquid fat used to thicken sauces, soups and stews. Rouxs are a major part of French, Cajun, and Creole cuisines. In fact, a roux is used as the base for three of the four “mother sauces” of French cuisine: béchamel, espagnole, and velouté. And while it helps to have Le Cordon Bleu training to know that, you don’t have to have it to learn the proper methods for cooking in Minnesota.
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DIY Halloween Candy
October 25, 2011
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
Prices for everything are more expensive these days. Even Halloween candy has been hit hard by the boogeyman of inflation. When was the last time you or your kids saw a full-sized Snicker’s or Butterfinger?It’s probably been a lot of years.It’s not that people don’t want to give out great treats at Halloween.It’s simply a matter of expense.Those big candy bars are expensive, even at your favorite wholesale club.
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Halloween Food Traditions
October 12, 2011
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
Today’s celebration of Halloween, or All Hallows Even, is a comic and macabre mixture of laughing children begging at doors for candy and cinematic killers and beasts slavering to decimate unaware teenagers. This wasn’t always the case. As with many modern holidays and celebrations, Halloween’s origins have pre-Christian beginnings. While they may not teach you these traditions in Minnesota culinary schools many of those ancient traditions are still practiced.
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How to Make Jelly
September 19, 2011
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Le Cordon Bleu
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Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
When it comes to jellies and jams, nothing compares to homemade. Today, however, homemade jellies are all but gone. Store-bought brands just can’t be beat for convenience. But if you long for that sweet Minnesota culinary tradition of grandma’s homemade grape jelly, we’ve put together this quick guide to making your own at home.
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