A Master Class: Sensational Recipes from the Chefs of the New England Culinary Institute and Ellen Michaud
New England cooking has come a long way from clam chowder, baked beans, and Indian pudding. This collection of recipes from Vermont’s New England Culinary Institute takes its inspiration from the four seasons, which in that region offer some marked extremes. Although recipes stress today’s lighter and more environmentally aware cooking, classic New England favorites still survive, albeit in new and unfamiliar guises. Bright red and green sauce crowns fresh oysters for the Christmas holiday. Maple syrup sweetens baked beans. A biscuit crust blankets rich lobsterpot pie. In a remarkable juxtaposition of flavors, lamb cutlets find themselves accompanied by a coffee-based sauce with cardamom, allspice, and dates. New England cooking has adapted to a new wave of immigrants: crab, shrimp, and scallops combine with melted cheese in a decidedly international New England quesadilla. For regional collections. --Mark Knoblauch