On Monday, I was lucky enough to go to a demonstration by a Certified Master Pastry Chef named Frank Volkommer. There are really only a handful of CMPC's in the country so to see one at work is quite a treat. Chef Volkommer has taught at the Culinary Institute of America and is currently the corporate pastry chef for Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate.

Quite often these demonstrations are dressed up sales pitches for a brand of chocolate or other product. This one was no different, but that didn't make it any less interesting or relevant (at least to pastry professionals). While Chef Volkommer was using only Cargill brand chocolates, the demonstration was really about how to air brush colored cocoa butter into truffle molds to get colorful truffles.

Chef Volkommer made a tasty passionfruit ganache filling first. He then went into detail about a couple of different air brushing machines and how to use them for cocoa butter. The trick is to keep the parts of the air brush gun warm while using cocoa butter, if you're interested in trying this. The Chef went about finishing the truffles and set them aside to cool for later.

Cargill isn't having a good fall. A month after recalling 840,000 pounds of beef because of E. coli contamination, the company is again recalling beef. This time it's one million pounds of beef distributed to Stop & Shop, Giant, Weis, and Wegman supermarkets. The states involved include Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia.

Here is the info for this particular recall. If you have any questions, consumers are urged to call Cargill at 877-455-1034.

First we had the Topps frozen hamburger patty recall that eventually closed the company, and now comes this.

Cargill Meat Solutions has recalled almost 845,000 pounds of frozen patties. Several cases of sickness have been reported, and the company did find E. coli in their plant. The patties are sold under the name American Chef Selection of Angus Frozen Ground Beef Patties. The meat was produced in August and has been sold in Sam's Clubs locations across the country.

Cargill, Inc., the US's second largest meat processor, has done some research on consumer knowledge of beef. As it turns out, people don't know a lot about it. To remedy the problem, as well as hoping to boost sales, the company has launched a program to educate meat buyers on meat, including the differences between things like chuck roast and tri-tip and how to cook them properly. The target age group is people between 25 and 45 who may not have grown up in a family that cooked a lot in the home, so they have limited experience with meats.

BeefQuiz.com is a site launched by the company to help consumers learn about meat. As an incentive, people who do well will get a coupon for up to $1.50 off Sterling Silver beef, a Cargill brand. There is also a beef buying guide on their website, though you can check out our list of the leanest beef cuts if that is more your style. Consumer-friendly labeling is another one of their strategies, adding cooking tips and recipes right onto the packaging.

From a consumer standpoint, the campaign will help people to eat better. If you have no idea what a skirt steak is but know that you can make hamburgers from ground beef, you might never get around to trying the skirt steak. Knowledge gives consumers more options and, in this case, might help eliminate a beef with beef.