Official Liaison College Blog

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Book Launch is a Tasty Event!

Last week Chef Mick and his brigade from Liaison College Downtown served their tasty treats in a very unconventional venue...... The Atlas Boxing Club!

This was the scene for the launch of the new book by Adrian Humphreys, a senior reporter for the National Post.  And Liaison College provided the tasty treats for the unlikely collection of "cops, crooks, lawyers and journalists" who gathered to unveil the new book by the best seller.

The Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton is where this tale of the mob unfolds) tells the story of the evening of the launch and gives a glimpse into the meat of the book.  The main character of the book, the Weasel (a mob gangster turned snitch) is in the boxing ring at the book launch to greet the crowd.

an interesting evening all around! well done!

Liaison College SouthCoast Heats up the Kitchen

Locals in the Norfolk County area enjoyed some culinary heat at their recent event to raise funds for area food banks.  Line ups to get into "the Aud" at the local fairgrounds were out the door as hungry guests waited for their soup.  Area chefs provided hearty servings of their super soups for a good cause.  Click for  more information about the fundraiser - well done Liaison College SouthCoast and Chef Tracy Winkworth.

here's the recipe for the Liaison College creation:

At the Soup Luncheon held at the Aud on Tuesday, November 22nd 2011, Liaison College South Coast prepared a Creamy Tomato Soup garnished with a Risotto Ball. Thousands of dollars were raised and all of the proceeds went to the Local Food Banks in Norfolk County! What a great cause, and correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Liaison College South Coast were the first ones sold out! They did amazing, and all of us at the college are very proud of the students!



Enjoy these delicious recipes!





NORFOLK COUNTY ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

Fresh Tomatoes can be grilled or roasted to add a smoky flavor.



Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cups diced onion

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

½ cup fennel (optional)

3 large red peppers roasted

2 tbsp. minced garlic

3 pounds tomatoes, Roasted, Peeled and Seeded

6 cups stock

½ cup parsley

2 tbsp. thyme

3 tbsp. fresh basil

2 tbsp. rosemary

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

½ cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste



In a large stock pot over medium-high heat, add E.V.O.O to coat the bottom of pot.  Add onions, celery, fennel (optional), carrot, and garlic and cook until tender but not browned, about 10-15 minutes.  Add in the roasted peppers, tomatoes, and stock, simmer until the tomatoes peppers are very tender.  Puree the soup and return to the stock pot and stir in the herbs, cream, balsamic vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve hot or cold.









MUSHROOM RISOTTO BALLS



Ingredients:

5 cups (1.25 L) chicken stock, approximately

2 tbsp. (25 mL) olive oil

2 tbsp. (25 mL) butter

½ cup (125 mL) finely chopped onion, ½ cup (125 mL) leeks

8 ounces Fresh mixed Mushrooms, chopped

1 ½ cups (375 mL) Arborio rice

1 bulb of garlic, broken down into cloves, cloves minced

½ cup (125 mL) white wine

1/3 cup (75 mL) Parmesan cheese

¼ cup butter

2 tbsp. (25 mL) chopped parsley

Fresh Herbs of choice

Season with Salt and freshly ground pepper

Breading Station

1/3 Cup Flour

4 Eggs

3 cups Panko



1. For risotto, bring stock to simmer on stove. Heat oil and 1 tbsp. (15 mL) butter in a heavy pot on medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 3 minutes or until softened. Add rice and sauté until rice is coated in oil.

2. Pour in wine and cook until wine is absorbed. Stir in mushroom soaking liquid and dried mushrooms and cook, stirring until most of liquid is absorbed. Add 1 cup (250 mL) stock, stirring until most of stock is absorbed. Continue to add stock in 1 cup (250 mL) quantities, stirring most of the time until rice is creamy with a slight bite in the centre, about 18 to 20 minutes. Reheat and stir in mushroom mixture a few minutes before rice is cooked.

3. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining butter and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

4. Shape tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls. Dip in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Place on a tray. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat oil in a large, shallow saucepan over medium heat. Cook balls, in batches, for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a rack. Place in oven to keep warm. Serve arancini balls

warm.


Friday, November 25, 2011

Holiday Snacks

Over the holiday season we are always looking for ways to impress our guests, please a hostess with something edible or create a festive flare with ease.  Recently a guest brought a salmon pate to our festive gathering and it was a hit.  Everyone raved about the delicious pate and how it melted in on the crackers.  Would she share her secret recipe?  Absolutely.  And when we heard how simple it was we knew it would be a must do again  (and we also figured out why it "melted"):


Salmon Pate 



1/2 pound of Butter   (beat it )

1 cup of Mayo

2 tbs Lemon Juice

2 tbs Dijon Mustard

1 tbs Tarragon

one pkg of fresh Dill

Pepper to taste

2 small cans of Salmon....rinse well

2 small pkgs of smoked salmon

hand full green onions  chopped

handful of parsely



mix together   serve with crackers.....can be frozen for a few months....


Wednesday, November 23, 2011

US Thanksgiving - Happy Holidays to our Neighbours!

With the US Thanksgiving happening tomorrow we have a few things to think about:
1)  Christmas Shopping - has anyone done all their shopping yet?  Black Friday is the traditional start to the shopping season in the US with Canadian retailers adding plenty of sales to encourage us to keep our holiday shopping bucks in Canada
2)  The turkey - whether you made one for our Thanksgiving or plan to make one for Christmas, before you do anything check out this handy video to help - I followed the method for this turkey preparation and my guests raved about the flavour and the juicy texture of the bird - best turkey they have ever had apparently -- be the kitchen hero in your family for the holidays and check out how to make a turkey on You Tube!
Bon Appetit!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Canada Cooks the Books - Student Culinary Competition

Every year Cuisine Canada, in conjunction with the University of Guelph, hosts the Culinary Book Awards at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.  To honour the authors, the awards organizers hold a student competition where student chefs are paired with culinary book authors and prepare a dish from the nominated book.  What a delicious combination:  student chef, culinary author, tested recipe and Voila!
This year on the weekend of November 4 - 6, 2011, student chef teams from culinary schools across Ontario competed.
We are so pleased to announce that a team from Liaison College placed third in the competition.
Bryan Kenny and Patricia Penkaukas represented Liaison College and cooked a dish from Sonia Day's nominated cookbook.  Well done!!  Bravo!!

The recipe they cooked follows:

Chard à la Aldona

From Incredible Edibles by Sonia Day



Sonia Day writes: This recipe comes from Aldona Satterwaite, former editor of Canadian Gardening. She loves to cook, but like me, never measures ingredients precisely.



Ingredients

             3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

             2 Tbsp | 25 mL canola oil

             Big bunch of Swiss chard

             Blue cheese – as much as you dare

             Grape tomatoes

             Salt to taste

             Freshly ground black pepper

             Pasta of choice



Directions



Prepare pasta. While pasta is cooking prepare the chard.



Finely chop the garlic. Sauté in canola oil until just tender. Do not brown.





Cut a big bunch of Swiss chard, rinse well, but do not whirl in a salad spinner. Trim off coarse ends and chop leaves and tender stems into smallish pieces  (about ½ inch | 1.25 cm). Add the chard to the pan, sauté on gentle heat, covered, until leaves are tender, stirring occasionally. About 10 minutes.



The chard leaves will yield up water, which is good, because next you will whomp in as much blue cheese as you dare. Stir it in until a yummy sauce forms and coats the garlic and chard leaves. Taste for salt.



Serve on cooked pasta with a generous grinding of black pepper and a handful of grape tomatoes and parsley (optional).


Wednesday, November 09, 2011

The Test Kitchen

The pumpkin flans were a hit.  I tried out the recipe on family and friends and it was an overall pleaser.  The recipe was easy to follow and it turned out well.  Better than I expected for sure.  The flavour combination of the pumpkin, gorgonzola and the walnuts was really clever. I would definitely recommend this as a recipe to try out.
Enjoy!