Chef Dwayne LiPuma of the award-winning American Bounty Restaurant at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York shares a delicious taste of the restaurant with his recipe for Roasted Halibut with Clams, which is reflective of the restaurant's focus on American regional cuisine.

Chef Dwayne LiPuma, C.H.E., Assistant Professor in Culinary Arts at The Culinary Institute of America, clearly knows what it takes to be a successful chef having graduated from this prestigious school, and honed his craft working at such illustrious New York restaurants as The River Café, Aureole, Park Avenue Cafe, as well as working in Tarrytown, New York and Houston, Texas before joining the faculty 10 years ago at The Culinary Institute of America.

The American Bounty Restaurant is the classroom for Chef Dwayne LiPuma, C.H.E., Assistant Professor in Culinary Arts at The Culinary Institute of America, where his students will learn to perfect their art with restaurant training before graduating from this prestigious culinary school.

Edward and I had dinner at American Bounty Restaurant in November 2009 while we were enrolled in an intensive Holiday Boot Camp at The Culinary Institute of America, and we were impressed with the high level of service as well as the cuisine, which is served and prepared by The Culinary Institute of America students. Speaking with Chef Dwayne LiPuma, we learned about the school's restaurant program where the students receive on-campus restaurant training at three of the school's restaurants, which Chef Dwayne referred to as "restaurant row." After culinary students complete their classroom cooking experience and externships, before they graduate, they work at Catarina de' Medici which features Italian cuisine where the students will spend 7 days cooking in the kitchen and working in the front of the house, followed by a stint at St. Andrew's Café, which features farm-to-table cuisine and a casual ambience where they will work 7 days cooking in the kitchen and 14 days working in the front of the house, and lastly working at either American Bounty Restaurant, or Escoffier Restaurant, the school's flagship French restaurant where they spend 14 days cooking in the kitchen and 14 days working in the front of the house. The emphasis at the school is on the importance of service to a restaurant and by the time that these students graduate, they know the meaning of a well-run restaurant is the team effort of the kitchen and the front of the house staff.

For those considering a culinary career, Chef Dwayne LiPuma advises that being a chef is a glorious and fulfilling industry with self-gratification. You are responsible from the beginning to the finish, and that working as a chef is like taking a picture every day and placing it in a frame on the wall; it is euphoric. However, you need to cook with love and passion; otherwise do not bother, as the hours are long, and you need to love what you do.

As for culinary trends that he foresees for the future, he believes that there will be a continued trend towards organic and sustainable food, going back to the roots, from the garden to the plate, and not playing with the food too much. When not teaching, he enjoys playing with his children ages 11 and 9, and reading.

Chef Dwayne LiPuma and The Culinary Institute of America graciously provide a delicious taste of the American Bounty Restaurant with his recipe for Roasted Halibut with Clams.

Roasted Halibut with Clams
Yield: 6 portions

Halibut Ingredients:

Method: Prepare rice, sofrito, salsa verde, and fish broth per the recipes below, before cooking fish.

Season halibut with salt and pepper then dust the fish lightly with flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Sauté on one side for 4 minutes, turn and continue to sauté for 2 more minutes until the fish is done. Remove from pan and keep warm in preheated oven. Prepare clams: place 6 slices of garlic in a large sauté pan and lightly brown. Add clams and 3 tablespoons of salsa verde, ½ cup each of red and yellow peppers, broth, and season with salt and pepper.  Cover and poach the clams until they open, and peppers are cooked.

While clams are poaching, add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of a large sauté pan and add the rice.  Once rice is hot, mix in 6 teaspoons of sofrito being careful not to break up the rice.

Presentation: Place the rice on a large platter. Coat the Halibut lightly in the sofrito mixture and place them on top of the rice. Remove the clams, and thicken the clam broth mixture with butter.

Slightly warm the watercress in clam broth. Stack the clams on top and around fish. Garnish with the peppers and watercress mixture on top of clams (do not cook the watercress, just slightly warm it in the clam broth).

Rice Ingredients:

Method for Cajun Mirepoix: Mix 1.5 ounces each of onion, celery, and green pepper.

Method: Combine the herbs, spices and seasonings, reserve. In a two-quart sauce pot add the mirepoix and cook until tender. Add the rice and the reserved seasonings; sauté briefly. Add the simmering stock. Covered tightly and bake in a 350° F (177° C) oven for 18 to 20 minutes.

Sofrito Ingredients:

Method: In a saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add all the dry ingredients. Cook for about 5 minutes, until all vegetables are soft and the saffron is toasted. Add the sherry, and reduce half way. Add the stock and reduce half way. Finish with cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Puree until smooth in a blender.

Salsa Verde Ingredients:

Method: Fine mince everything and mix with the olive oil.

Fish Broth Ingredients:

Method: Sweat the onions, leeks, fennel, and garlic until half way cooked. Add the white wine, saffron and red pepper flakes, reduce by half.  Add the clam broth, tomato juice, and bay leaf. Simmer for 30 minutes and season. Remove from the heat and strain onion and leek mixture from broth.

In addition to their professional career culinary curriculum, The Culinary Institute of America offers a diverse curriculum of Two-Day, Three-Day, Four-Day, and Five-Day Boot Camps, as well as Weekends at the CIA: 1-day cooking classes held on Saturday or Sunday. In addition to the Hyde Park, New York location, The Culinary Institute of America also has locations in St. Helena, California, and San Antonio, Texas.

For additional information and program schedules, or to make a reservation at one of their award-winning restaurants, please visit The Culinary Institute of America website at www.CIAChef.edu or call them at 1-800-888-7850.

Read other articles on The Culinary Institute of America in the Destinations, Restaurants, Gastronomy, and Chefs' Recipes sections.

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