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!
Official Liaison College Blog
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
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:
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!
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:
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!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
From Paris with Love ... and Pumpkins
We can find recipes in interesting places if we are always on the look out. The following great find came from my obsession with celebrity gossip and Hello Canada Magazine (the Oct 17 edition). This yummy recipe is an excerpt from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. Who knew that a magazine devoted to lifestyles of the rich and famous would also be a source for recipes. The other recipes from the book look equally delicous and worth a try. But with Hallowe'en around the corner and pumpkins in tremendous supply, this seems like a good place to start.
I might experiement with the cheese as well .... gorgonzola sounds fantastic, but I'm going to ask the experts at Sam's cheese at the Hamilton Farmers market for some other options. Some people are shy about their cheese and I think a less robust variety might work, too.
Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flans
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Makes: 6 servings
Greenspan likes serving these flans in their cups, but you can unmold them. While the French would garnish this flan with creme fraiche, Greenspan prefers a tiny drizzle of honey or maple syrup. The flans are best served the day they are made. Keep, lightly covered, at room temperature for about 6 hours before serving.
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 1/2 ounces Gorgonzola, crumbled (generous 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped roasted walnuts
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter six custard cups or ramekins. Line the bottom of a roasting pan that’s large enough to hold the cups comfortably with a double layer of paper towels. Put the custard cups in the pan. Put a kettle of water on to boil.
Put the pumpkin, eggs, yolks and cream in a food processor or blender. Process to blend. Season with salt and pepper; pour the custard into cups. Divide the Gorgonzola among the flans, poking the cheese into the custard a little bit, just to distribute it. Sprinkle the tops of the flans with the walnuts. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cups.
Bake until a knife inserted into a custard comes out almost clean, 35-40 minutes. Transfer the roasting pan to a rack; let the flans cool in the water bath to just warm or room temperature.
I might experiement with the cheese as well .... gorgonzola sounds fantastic, but I'm going to ask the experts at Sam's cheese at the Hamilton Farmers market for some other options. Some people are shy about their cheese and I think a less robust variety might work, too.
Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flans
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Makes: 6 servings
Greenspan likes serving these flans in their cups, but you can unmold them. While the French would garnish this flan with creme fraiche, Greenspan prefers a tiny drizzle of honey or maple syrup. The flans are best served the day they are made. Keep, lightly covered, at room temperature for about 6 hours before serving.
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 1/2 ounces Gorgonzola, crumbled (generous 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped roasted walnuts
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter six custard cups or ramekins. Line the bottom of a roasting pan that’s large enough to hold the cups comfortably with a double layer of paper towels. Put the custard cups in the pan. Put a kettle of water on to boil.
Put the pumpkin, eggs, yolks and cream in a food processor or blender. Process to blend. Season with salt and pepper; pour the custard into cups. Divide the Gorgonzola among the flans, poking the cheese into the custard a little bit, just to distribute it. Sprinkle the tops of the flans with the walnuts. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cups.
Bake until a knife inserted into a custard comes out almost clean, 35-40 minutes. Transfer the roasting pan to a rack; let the flans cool in the water bath to just warm or room temperature.
Stay tuned for reviews as I try this recipe on my unsuspecting friends tomorrow night.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Delicious Food Show - Oct 20 - 23
Calling all "foodies"! The DELICIOUS FOOD SHOW is underway at the Better Living Centre at the Toronto Exhibition Place. Visit hundreds of vendors dedicated to tempting your palate. And while you take a rest, watch your favourite celebrity chefs on the Food Network Stage. Liaison College is presenting along with LIFE EXPERIENCES.CA in booth number 724.
At the opening night for VIP's last night the samples were flowing. Mark McEwen was signing his latest cookbook and the celebrity stage was cooking. Everything from organic CSA farmers to decadent chocolates in the shape of designer shoes. There is something there for everyone. Get great ideas and recipes from the vendors with new sauces and dips. Perfect for the holiday season just around the corner.
Come and visit us this weekend!
Here's Chef Tracy from our new SouthCoast Campus with Chef Lynn Crawford:
At the opening night for VIP's last night the samples were flowing. Mark McEwen was signing his latest cookbook and the celebrity stage was cooking. Everything from organic CSA farmers to decadent chocolates in the shape of designer shoes. There is something there for everyone. Get great ideas and recipes from the vendors with new sauces and dips. Perfect for the holiday season just around the corner.
Come and visit us this weekend!
Here's Chef Tracy from our new SouthCoast Campus with Chef Lynn Crawford:
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Fall Food Spectacular
This time of year the bounty of the fall harvest gets even the most timid of foodies out of their shell to taste the delicious yield. We are so fortunate to have access to the farms and fields who provide us with such good, tasty products.
Along with the fall harvest come the fall showcases of food. Here are some of the events we are participating in (recent and upcoming) that might "tickle your food bone"!
September
Oinktoberfest
Taste Local Taste Fresh
October 2011
Foodstock 2011
Delicious Food Show
There are so many great and tasty events to choose from ..... venture out before the snow flies!
Along with the fall harvest come the fall showcases of food. Here are some of the events we are participating in (recent and upcoming) that might "tickle your food bone"!
September
Oinktoberfest
Taste Local Taste Fresh
October 2011
Foodstock 2011
Delicious Food Show
There are so many great and tasty events to choose from ..... venture out before the snow flies!
To Decorate 1/4 cup pecans chopped 2.5 tbsp Brown Sugar |
| Method In a food processor pulse to chop the gingersnap cookie and 1/3 cup pecans, set aside. Melt the 2 oz butter in a saucepan, add the cookie and nut crumbs with 1/4 cup Brown sugar. Line a 9" cake pan with parchment paper and place the cookie crumble onto base and flatten. Chop the 1/2 cup pecan to a fine dice, set aside. In a mixer with the paddle attachment cream together the cream cheese and brown sugar, add all spices and pumpkin puree, beat together for 2 min. Add one egg at a time and continue to beat until all 3 eggs are incorporated. Add in the chopped pecan and mix together, pour batter into lined mold and bake at 350 F. for 1 hr. or until firm on the top. To decorate, mix together the finely chopped pecans with the brown sugar and pour on top of the cheesecake |
Monday, October 03, 2011
A "Follie" Good Time in Hamilton
On the evening October 1st the Hamilton Campus of Liaison College turned into a fabulous rock 'n' roll venue complete with live band Jacke de Keyzer (award winner!) and refreshments. Oh, I mean, gourmet delights to tempt the most discerning palate! Including upscale grilled cheese, pear and brie on crostini, potato puffs, mini beef wellingtons (to name a few!) and a dessert table to make even the crustiest heart melt. What a feast. Paired with local WINE and BEER for a total gourmet package.
The Chefs and students were working feverishly in the kitchen and the office staff were busy taking care of the front of the house.
Proceeds from the event will support the Hamilton area Geritol Follies which is a show not to be missed.
A wonderful evening .....
The Chefs and students were working feverishly in the kitchen and the office staff were busy taking care of the front of the house.
Proceeds from the event will support the Hamilton area Geritol Follies which is a show not to be missed.
A wonderful evening .....
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)














