It’s officially fall. The cooler weather and an appetite for something warm from the oven go hand-in-hand. Just in time, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Hotel and Restaurant Management Program offers its Fall 2012 Gourmet Dining Series with dinners Nov. 9 and Dec. 7 at the Richard A. Henson Center. Tickets are now on sale.

Students in the Commercial Food Production course led by Chef Ralston Whittingham have come up with menus sure to please, said Dr. Ernest Boger, chair of the department.

“This exercise provides the opportunity for these students to meet the third and final requirement in the Food Production classroom series,” Boger said. “Planning and management skills are emphasized as much as the culinary skills.”

“Collectively, they (the advanced culinary students) are an awesome bunch,” said Whittingham. “They have a good understanding of cuisine and are the managerial hospitality leaders of the future.”

Themed, “Salute to Our Military Men and Women,” the first dinner will be held Fri., Nov. 9. A cream of corn seafood chowder will be followed by a smoky bacon chicken cup appetizer and a lemon-zest sorbet. The main event, Cajun grilled filet mignon with island flavors curry lobster, is accompanied by a celeriac, apples and potato puree. Caramel molten cake with vanilla sauce tops off the evening’s culinary delights. read more…