Courtesy of The Culinary Institute of America’s ciaprochef.com

Finally, Americans are getting the message: Some dietary fats are good for you and some fats should get the boot. Clearly, choosing fats wisely is the first step toward a more healthful diet, which is why canola oil is now in the limelight. No culinary oil has more nutritional merit ... or more potential to improve the quality of the American diet.

In this online educational segment produced in conjunction with www.canolainfo.org, your students can learn why canola has so much to offer the health-conscious chef and how to use it to replace less desirable fats in the professional kitchen. Recipes developed by the chefs at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone demonstrate canola oil’s many talents. And in several streaming videos, students can watch the chefs prepare these recipes and perhaps pick up some new cooking techniques.

Modules include “Canola Oil: For a Healthier Kitchen,” “Canola From Farm to Table,” “Canola Oil: Why It’s the Healthy Choice,” “Canola Oil Takes the Heat,” “Recipes and Videos” and resources for more information.

To access the segment online, visit www.ciaprochef.com/canola/index.html.

Though not a lesson plan, Chef Gilles Renusson, a pastry professor at the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan, posted a video on YouTube last month that shows him preparing the next generation of sugar artists who will represent the United States in the 2019 Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in Lyon, France.

To watch this fun and interesting video on sugar pulling, click here. 

A new video from the American Meat Institute featuring a noted animal-welfare expert is part of the Glass Walls Project to increase transparency in the meat-and-poultry industry.

The American Meat Institute (AMI) recently released a video tour of a pork-slaughter plant hosted by leading animal-welfare expert Temple Grandin, Ph.D., professor of animal science at Colorado State University. The video is available on the institute’s dedicated animal-welfare website, www.AnimalHandling.org.

Also released with the video was a print companion brochure that may be downloaded. Single copies also are available upon request from the AMI. The pork-plant video tour and brochure augment the beef-plant video tour, also hosted by Grandin, which was released in August 2012. Since its release, the beef-plant video has been viewed nearly 50,000 times online and in countless classrooms and other settings.

Courtesy of the Idaho Potato Commission

This lesson plan for the culinary classroom focuses on an educational session presented at the 2013 CAFÉ Leadership Conference in Miami by Don Odiorne, vice-president foodservice for the Idaho Potato Commission, and Newman Miller, corporate executive chef for Bunge, at Johnson & Wales University’s N. Miami campus, June 22.

The downloadable PowerPoint reveals tips for perfectly frying Idaho Potatoes—for instance, blanching potatoes partially cooks the product, deactivates enzymes that discolor the fries, sets the texture, reduces oil absorption in frying, controls the color, decreases fry time and reduces bacterial count—as well as other applications. Additionally, the PowerPoint contains info on proper storage of Idaho potatoes, typical yields and food costs, and a comparison of oil types for frying, among other instruction. Several menu and foodservice trends are also revealed.

To augment the PowerPoint presentation, “Potato 101” at www.potato101.com is an easy-to-follow educational program and reference guide. It provides a base understanding of potatoes, starting with their history in Idaho and why the soil, water and climate combine perfectly to make their quality outstanding. Visitors to the site will also learn about the health and nutrition aspects of potatoes as well as their economical cost and versatility on menus.

DOWNLOAD, Frying Idaho Potatoes and Other Foodservice Trends

Find answers to hot (and cold) potato questions at dr.idahopotato.com.

The Dr. Potato Blog, the Idaho Potato Commission’s (IPC) popular resource for frequently asked questions about the state’s top crop, now has its own address. For answers to puzzling ingredient, technique and menu queries about Idaho^® potatoes, the Doctor is in at dr.idahopotato.com. Even better, operators, educators and students will find useful tips for maximizing the appeal and profitability of Idahopotato offerings.

Don Odiorne, IPC vice president-foodservice and Idaho potato-industry veteran, applies his practical and culinary experience to each response. His current posts tackle timely topics like healthy Idaho potato-menu options, the best internal temperature for a baked Idaho potato and techniques for baking 50 Idahopotatoes at a time.

Submit an Idaho potato question to Dr. Potato at dr.idahopotato.com. To browse the Idaho Potato Commission’s foodservice-recipe database, “Passionate About Potatoes” foodservice ad campaign, and shippers and processor directory, or to download the Idaho Potato Commission Foodservice Toolkit, visit foodservice.idahopotato.com.

To order a “Passionate About Potatoes” chef recipe set, email the Idaho Potato Commission at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (208) 334-2350.