By Carly DeFilippo

As the days grow colder and the holidays approach, we enter a season of culinary indulgence. But sugary, rich foods can leave us feeling less than energized. Fortunately, autumn is an excellent time to enjoy seasonal superfoods, as Chef Instructor James Briscione demonstrated this morning on CBS 2 “In the Kitchen”.

Wheatberries, Chef Briscione explains, are the most wholesome form of wheat, providing fiber, B vitamins and a range of minerals. Pumpkin supplies our bodies with the antioxidant beta-carotene, which can help prevent cancer. Last but not least, kale – one of the world’s most noteworthy health foods – provides vitamins A, C and K; more calcium per calorie than milk; and numerous antioxidants.

In this warm salad, the rich flavors and contrasting textures of these health-giving foods combine to make an ultra-indulgent (but guilt free!) treat.

Roasted Pumpkin, Wheatberry and Kale Salad

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wheatberries
6 cups salted water
10 oz chopped kale (8 cups)
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more as needed
2 cups diced acorn squash or pumpkin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 garlic clove smashed
pinch red pepper flakes
juice and zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup dried cranberries, chopped

Instructions

1. Rinse the wheatberries well, then combine in a sauce pot with the salted water and place over a medium flame. Bring to a simmer and cook until very tender, about 35 minutes. Strain the cooked wheatberries and spread into a thin layer on a baking sheet to steam dry.
2. Toss the kale with 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Spread the kale into a single layer on a baking sheet- use two if necessary- and bake at 300˚F until crisp. Set aside to cool.
3. Turn the oven to 400˚F. Toss the pumpkin with olive oil, salt and coriander. Roast the pumpkin in the oven until lightly browned and tender, about 12-15 minutes.
4. Place a large saute pan over high heat. Pour in enough olive oil to completely cover the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic clove and pepper flakes to oil. When the garlic begins to brown, add all of the wheatberries and stir until warmed through. Scatter the pumpkin and pecans over the wheatberries and toss or stir to mix well. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in the baked kale, lemon juice and zest and cranberries. Serve warm.

There is a reason that the Empire State Building is shining yellow and orange today! This year marks the 25^th anniversary of the James Beard Foundation and to commemorate his legacy, the foundation has released a new book, The James Beard Foundation’s Best of the Best: A 25^th Anniversary Celebration of America’s Outstanding Chefs and last night they honored these chefs as well as friends of the foundation at the iconic James Beard House in Greenwich Village.

The special evening featured James Beard-inspired hors d-oeuvres prepared by students here at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) along with a diverse group of ICE chefs who included Andy Gold (pictured above), Michael Laiskonis, James Briscione and Chris Gesualdi. After a month of reviewing legendary recipes, the team began prepping a menu reflective of the rich history of James Beard. Many of the students at ICE had a hand in testing, prepping and preparing for this special night.

The chefs and students from ICE arrived at the James Beard House yesterday afternoon and prepped for the guests of honor. When entering the James Beard House, you have to walk through the kitchen before reaching any other room, so not only did the students and chefs prep the food but they were the highlight of the evening. Chef Thomas Keller entered the kitchen and hopped right in to help a student put the finishing touch on a bite size BLT. It was an honor and unique experience to cook the food for this crowd and also receive their feedback right there in the kitchen.

More…

Neal from Admissions, Melissa from Career Services, Susan from the Recreational Division, Hillery from Admissions and Jordan from Special Events Enjoy the Party with Guests

Last Friday, ICE held a party like no other at the annual ICE Ball. While the party is usually held in January to celebrate the new year, this year the team celebrated the renewed energy of spring. The reoccurring celebration took over four floors of the school’s 43,000-square-foot facility. During the party, the entire ICE staff and guests enjoy drinks, food and dancing throughout the school.

Needless to say, if ICE is going to throw itself a party, there will be great food. This year, the line-up included four ICE alumni who are all working as chefs or chef-owners of their own business, three ICE Chef Instructors, and two ICE staff members. Here’s what they made: More…

Earlier this week, ICE Chef Instructor James Briscione led a half demo, half hands-on class, to give ICE students a general introduction to the uses of sous-vide and low-temperature cooking applications. It was the first of ICE’s dedicated modernist cooking classes teaching innovative techniques and how to use cutting-edge technology to our students.

Chef James covered the theory and concepts behind sous-vide and low-temperature cooking, highlighting food safety and how to be sure the food was cooked safely using these new methods of cooking. Readers of DICED will recognize many of the techniques he taught the students from the experiments he has shared with us here. The new class was a chance for ICE students and alumni to learn from his experience and knowledge and add it to their culinary arsenal. More…

The Main Course is the much-loved newsletter of ICE. Published three times a year, every issue contains the upcoming schedule as well as interviews, articles, profiles and recipes. In the Winter 2012 issue, former ICE Director of Center for Food Media Anne E. McBride took an in-depth look at the developments in sous-vide and how the Chef Instructors at ICE are integrating it into our career training programs and kitchens. We’re sharing the article here on DICED.

Long the domain of a few select chefs, sous-vide cooking is now making itself at home in kitchens around the country—those of professionals and home cooks alike, thanks in no small part to the proliferation of appliances allowing for the process. The teaching kitchens of the Institute of Culinary Education are no exception.

“The goal of using sous-vide systems is to capture food at its peak and preserve it at that state,” explained Chef-Instructor James Briscione. “Chicken, for example, is at its best the day it comes in the door; the sooner it is cooked or processed, the lower the risk of spoilage or decline in quality.”

Sous-vide, which means “under vacuum” but more accurately refers to the absence of air in the cooking process, was first developed in the 1970s in France. Three parts are essential to sous-vide cooking: the absence of air; temperature; and time. Removing the air is typically done by vacuuming it out. Temperature refers to that of the water in which the bag is immersed once sealed, below simmering. Time is less critical in sous-vide than in traditional cooking, since food that reaches the desired temperature will never go above it, no matter how long it stays in the water. That said, spending too long in a water bath can affect the texture of certain ingredients. More…

Earlier this year, Chef Instructors James Briscione and Chris Gesualdi traveled to Italy to learn about sous-vide techniques at Orved. Since then, they have both been working hard trying out different techniques and methods here at the Institute of Culinary Education. Last week, Chef James tried out some those new techniques on steak. He tried the same cut of meat at 50ºF and 52ºF for one, two, three and four hours each. While they were cooking, he also cooked a duck breast and a pork tenderloin using sous-vide technology because, well, why not?

To cook sous-vide, food is sealed in vacuum-packed bags so there is no oxygen in contact with the food. That way, food can be cooked at low temperatures over long periods of time without the risk of dangerous aerobic bacteria (bacteria that require oxygen to grow and survive) developing and contaminating. Chef James wrapped the meat in foil before sealing it in plastic to cook sous-vide in water — a technique he and Chef Chris learned while in Italy. Wrapping the meat in foil protects it from being exposed to light and oxidizing. Usually, exposure to light and air cause the meat to change color. When the meat was wrapped in foil and cooked sous-vide, it emerged looking completely raw, but cooked to a perfect rare. More…

Ever have one of those weeks at work where you felt like you constantly under pressure and you couldn’t get away from it — like you were working in a vacuum?

I just had one of the weeks; but no one around here seems to feel very sorry for me. Chef Chris Geualdi and I recently got an assignment from our boss and we knew the pressure was on us, heck it was all around us. We were shipped off to Venice, Italy for a week of training in sous vide technology.

We visited Orved, an amazing company in Musile, a small town on the Piave River just 30 km north of Venice. It was a phenomenal time to eat and learn. I’ll tell you more about the food later; first, lets get down to the really fun stuff — sous vide. Since sous vide is likely to become a regular subject on this blog, let’s start with the basics.

What is sous vide?
The term sous vide literally translated means ‘under vacuum’ in French. It refers to food that is sealed in a vacuum packed in food safe bags. The method of vacuum sealing meats was originally developed to help extend their shelf life, but is now commonly used for to cook meats also. The term sous vide is often incorrectly used to refer to all types of low temperature cooking. More…

Regular readers of DICED will know Chef Instructor James Briscione from his many adventures around ICE. In April alone, he went to Italy to study sous-vide, starred in the Celebrity Apprentice and gave us a recipe for potato-crusted halibut.  What you may not know is that he and wife Brooke Parkhurst’s book, Just Married & Cooking, will make its debut next week.

While Chef James can usually be found teaching in one of ICE’s professional Culinary Arts kitchens or cooking pork in a recreational class, Brooke is also an ICE Instructor who leads classes in ICE’s Center for Food Media. In addition to all this, they teach couples cooking classes together. As a newly married couple with a strong background in food, they created e a compendium of delicious recipes for any occasion — from weeknight meals to special moments.

Just Married & Cooking is jammed packed with over 200 recipes for couples to prepare affordable, seasonal meals at home together — a venerable guide to life together in the kitchen. They say, “We think it’s simple enough not to intimidate beginners yet inspiring enough to entice first-timers into the kitchen.” Ted Allen, the host of Food Network’s Chopped (which Chef James won twice!) praised the book as “an instant classic that every young couple should put on their gift registry. Yes, it’s a great collection of recipes, as easy as they are delicious and interesting. But, more than that, it’s an owner’s manual for the heart of the household, as inspiring to (ahem) older couples as it is essential to newlyweds.” For an example of some of their great ideas, check out these Derby Day recipes.

If you are in the New York City area, you can catch them at Williams Sonoma at Columbus Circle on May 11, or catch one of two “Cook the Book” classes they will be doing at ICE on May 14 or May 15. The book will be available in stores on May 10, but you can preorder online in the ICE bookstore.

For more from the duo, check out their Twitter and Facebook or their website.

Last night, ICE took a primetime starring role in an episode of what has been a tumultuous season of the Celebrity Apprentice on NBC. For this challenge, the remaining celebrities were tasked with creating a live cooking demonstration for Omaha Steaks, in front of executives for the company as well as a live audience at ICE. Ivanka Trump tasked them, “The cooking demonstrations will take place tomorrow in front of a live studio audience at the prestigious Institute of Culinary Education.”

As they prepped for the demonstration, each team worked with a Chef Instructor from ICE — the women with Chef Instructor James Briscione and the men with Chef Instructor Mike Schwartz — perfecting their menus and techniques for the demonstration. The men struggled under project leader Gary Busey’s seemingly unfocused leadership style, while on the woman’s team, former Playmate of the Year Hope Dworaczyk took on her first challenge as project manager. After a day of prep, the teams came to ICE and worked in our professional kitchens to give their demonstrations. Both presentations were certainly memorable — it’s not often that stars like Meat Loaf and La Toya Jackson cook a steak dinner in ICE’s kitchens! Who was sent home? Watch the video to find out! More…

ICE President Rick Smilow Introduces Modernist Cuisine Author Nathan Myhrvold

Modernist Cuisine is perhaps the most highly anticipated cookbook ever. Nathan Myhrvold and co-authors Chris Young and Maxime Bilet (an ICE grad) worked with a 20-person team and spent six years creating the six-volume, 2,400-page set that reveals science-inspired techniques for cooking. And last night, the team celebrated the launch of their book at ICE.

During their week in New York, the team appeared on the Today show and The Colbert Report and prepared food for events at the Core Club, the New York Academy of Sciences and Jean Georges. The last event in the city was the launch at ICE. In attendance were industry notables such as chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Nate Appleman, Johnny Iuzzini, Paul Liebrandt, Waldy Malouf, as well as food media personalities such as Amanda Hesser, Gail Simmons and many others interested in hearing from the chefs behind the immense project.

Red Rooster Chef Marcus Samuelsson with ICE Alum Gail Simmons of Top Chef and Chef Nate Appleman

Myhrvold, the former Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft, feels that the book represents a revolution in the art of cooking. Ferran Adria has said, “The book will change the way we understand the kitchen.” He shared that there are over 1,150,000 words, 1,522 recipes and 3,216 photos in the completed volumes. While many people assume the book is full of very technical recipes that require expensive equipment, Myhrvold said, “Half the recipes in the book anyone can cook at home.” For example, while his detailed chart for making different types of custard looked confusing, he pointed out that the only ingredients on it were milk and eggs and the only technology required to make it was a thermometer. More…