All is quiet but the whisk and ladle

All is quiet, but for the sound of the whisk and ladle.

Tom starts on his risotto,
the second course of the day.

Our weekend class- a new addition to the Liaison schedule in the past few months- hit the kitchen about the time that the rest of us were putting our feet up for the weekend. These students were often overlooked in our blog and Facebook page for this reason. In the midst of their final exams though, Chef Greg took a few minutes to capture them at the height of concentration.

Students from this class will be amongst our lineup when we hold our next graduation ceremony in January.

Aaron

Students prepped everything they needed the day before, so they were at the
stoves right away starting their mushroom soup and  risotto.

Hitting the sauce

The transition is seamless as students enrolled in the Chef de Cuisine diploma complete their Cook Basic training and move on to Advanced Level 2. First on the agenda for the current Advanced class, along with some Basic students and alumni, was three days of prepping, cooking and serving a Christmas lunch to almost 400 children at Hess Street School.

Jessica works up a bechamel sauce.

Kevin starts his veloute with a roux.

The glow of team work and camaraderie that made the Christmas lunch lively, fun and efficiently executed will follow everyone that pitched in to make it work. With such a concentrated curriculum to work through in the next 15 weeks though, our students have little time to digest the experience before returning to the kitchen.

Essential groceries for sauce week-
the reason those sauces taste so good!

After a quick review of mother sauces (béchamel, velouté, Hollandaise, brown and tomato sauces), Chef Dan demonstrated an array of small sauces that are borne from these five. Students cooked up a few of them; the rest were relegated to quick jottings in their kitchen bibles. Chef delivered a homework-in-the-making heads-up: they will be making sauces from their own notes in a few days, and will need to remember much more than turkey gravy and cranberry sauce. 

A lot of sauces start with quality stock,
so this spigotted stock pot is often on the
back burner. 

Students' kitchen bibles are their best friends
when a demonstration includes twenty sauces. 

Chef Elaina Ravo makes us gush

Chef Elaina Ravo amongst the books that she loves best.

We train a lot of chefs here at Liaison College Hamilton, and meet many more who do great justice to their chosen craft. We are proud of all of our graduates, but we don't often melt into a barrage of superlatives. Chef Elaina Ravo, though, is worthy of all the accolades we can summon, and we are extremely happy to count her amongst our graduates.

Chef Elaina's story is the latest in our series of alumni profiles on our website. Check out this recent addition to our pages (Graduate Success Stories), and get in touch if you, or someone you know, has a story to share.

Gearing up for the final stretch

BEFORE: students' evaluation depends
on matching the dish to its rightful owner. 

AFTER: Chef has to try them all, but a
spoonful is all he needs to determine
if the soup is done right.

Gearing up for final, practical exams, Chef Bill challenged his Basic students with a couple of black box days, named for the culinary competitions that present competitors with surprise ingredients, and a short time-frame in which to produce a dish from them. Our students were kept in the dark about what they would cook, though they had already learned how to prepare the dishes at some point in their lessons.

Tom works with melted
chocolate for his mousse

As they set up their stations, ingredients were revealed: all the fixings for cream of mushroom soup and chocolate mousse with Genoise sponge. The deadline for the first – 45 minutes, no more, no less – presented hot, in a warm bowl. The timing for dessert: finished, ready to unmold and plate the following day, when they also had the challenge of producing a risotto and a main course of stuffed chicken supreme.

Joleen whips egg whites for her Genoise sponge.

These challenges were a lead-in to exams last week, both hands-on and written. As the last pen was laid down, the knives laid aside and the ovens shut down, silent tension made way for giddy relief. For better or worse, exams are over.

Culinary Bootcamp will whip your kitchen skills into shape

The atmosphere in the college can feel a little tense as the afternoon Advanced class nears their final exams. At the same time, afternoon Basic class is approaching their deadline for their all-consuming, research- and calculation-intense menu project.

Culinary Boot Camp, in contrast,  helps offset the intensity of the diploma programs. The weekly recreational classes lend levity and balance to the school. Laughter spills from the kitchen as amateur cooks -from 18 to 80 years young – share their love of food while learning knife skills,  recipes and new techniques.

Mushroom ragout in the works
 at Culinary Boot Camp.

Our current Boot Camp is fully booked through mid-December. We have just introduced a 10-week springtime program, though, to run from March 13 to May 15, 2013. There’s nothing quite like a warm and fragrant kitchen on a 

cold and rainy spring evening, but you’ll have to start planning now. Classes fill quickly. Hope you can join us.

Food dreams come in all shapes and sizes....

Graeme Smith graduated from Liaison College Hamilton in 2009.
photo courtesy of Terry Asma, 2020studios

Gorilla Cheese was not the first food truck business in Hamilton, but owners Graeme Smith and Scott Austin might have been the first to announce their ever-changing location on Facebook and Twitter. It’s this urban-savvy marketing combined with their innovative curbside menu that attracts great crowds wherever they set up shop.  

The inspiration for Gorilla Cheese’s gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches took flight while Graeme was studying at Liaison College Hamilton.

“Originally I developed the project as a restaurant,” he recalls. After graduation, he was ready to follow through with his plan until his long-time friend got him thinking outside the box. “Scott came up with the idea of a food truck. We started researching the same day. I had no idea until then that they were such a massive trend in the United States.” 

Gorilla Cheese’s popularity is no accident. With a small crew of employees they work long hours in a hot truck, producing comfort food with a twist. Who would have thought a grilled cheese sandwich could create such buzz? By adding things like bacon, apples and maple syrup (the Lumberjack), or turkey, pear and cranberry sauce (Quirky Turkey) to the requisite cheese and bread, they have elevated the status of North American street food to a new level.

After just one year in business, the demand for their portable menu has outstripped their one-truck capability. “It kills me to turn down so many functions,” says Graeme. Their second truck is on order, and should hit the streets in late 2012. “Another truck will let us travel out of town, or be in two places at once in Hamilton.”

That’s great news for fans who check their phones before deciding on lunch, and for the rest of the Golden Horseshoe hungry for a twist on tradition.

You can follow the Gorilla Cheese schedule or check out their imaginative menu at http://gorillacheese.wordpress.com

Twitter: @gorilla_cheese

There's always a crowd waiting in line for Gorilla Cheese's
gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.

Baking week... sweet!

Focaccia with caramelized onion- one of

the bread techniques that students learned during 

their baking week.

When Cook Basic students move from classroom to kitchen, Chef Bill Sharpe puts them through their paces with baking, sugar work and chocolate work. The first hands-on week is chock-a-block making a variety of breads, fruit tarts and pastries. The lessons are fast-paced and fun, incorporating a number of formulas, techniques and principles that will follow students throughout their careers. 

Chef makes it all look like child's play, but kneading and proofing doughs, hand-whipping creams and batters and getting just the right temperature to bring sugar to a pliable, caramel state all take patience, practice and good timing. The outcome on first attempt is rarely perfect, but is usually delicious, and the lessons are always priceless. 

See our Facebook page for more photos.

Spencer works on a garnish of

caramelized sugar. 

Chef's Table - September 27, 2012

Nathan, Devon and Resti created a six-course meal that was big on fall-harvested vegetables and fruit (five of the courses featured apples). They served a dozen guests, invited to join Liaison's chefs in critiquing each course and the overall presentation and creativity of the meal.

The entree for the evening: Braised stuffed veal breast,
served with a warm Brussel sprout salad and root vegetable chips,
placed on top of a scallion mousse. 

Check out more of Nicole's photos on Facebook.

Chef Greg Singh at GO Cooking

Chef Greg Singh at GO Cooking

The table is set for guests to enjoy wines
chosen for each course by the evening's sommelier.

Chef Greg Singh filled the house on Tuesday evening at GO Cooking in Hamilton.  Guests reserved their spot months in advance to learn how he adds his own twist to the comfort foods of our autumn harvest.  Potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes; they all conjure memories of festive dinners and family gatherings. Our chef-instructor turned up the heat, though, adding chili oil to his soup, chorizo and jalapeño to the crown roast stuffing, garlic and caraway to the brussel sprouts and, best of all, bourbon to the sweet potato pie. 

The menu:

Butternut squash soup with candied pecans and chili oil

Crown roast of pork, stuffed with chorizo and cornbread

Yukon Gold mashed potatoes with garlic and buttermilk

Braised fennel

Brussel sprouts with garlic and caraway

Glazed carrots

Sweet potato, maple syrup and bourbon pie

Check our recipe page for a couple of Chef Greg's creations. 

Spinning veal into gold

 Chef Dan instructs on how valuable good butchery skills can be to the bottom line. 

With his gloved hand, Chef cuts carefully
around the knuckle and along the bone.  

The leg of veal was courtesy of Delft Blue Veal. The entertainment value was added by Chef Dan Notley. With practiced skill, a sharp knife and an alchemist’s outlook, he demonstrated how to transform a $200 primal cut into steaks, roasts and cutlets, and bits and bones for burgers, osso bucco, soup, stews, sandwiches and sauces. Those can translate to at least $1200 at the till in an upscale restaurant: not bad for a one-hour date with a skilled butcher. 

After the demonstration, this hindshank was braised for a couple
of hours until it was melt-in-your-mouth tender.

The secret's in the sauce...and the soup, and the appetizers.

       
Where Cook Basic classes hinge on foundation and technique, Advanced students spend a lot of time expanding on those fundamentals and nurturing their creativity. With Advanced classes following on the heels of Basic level, students are thrown right into a series of days that test their memory, concentration, creativity and organizational skills.

The challenge starts with sauces: reviewing the five mother sauces that are spun like gold into dozens of delectable smooth-as-velvet, sweet, savory, fiery or tangy finishes that can make a well-crafted dish pop, sizzle and sing.

Simon whipped up a Hollandaise sauce
over hot water.

During Week Two they revisit a number of soups and breads, and learn a few new ones along the way. The process of making a sparkling clear consommé is reviewed, from its birth as a full-flavored stock through its clarification. With a list of 15 different soups- everything from purees and cream soups to clear broths- they build their repertoire of breads alongside. The week culminates in a two-hour demonstration of their skills, with five soups and five breads to show for their efforts. 

Nathan made crispy chips from paper-thin
slices of  candy cane beets.

Appetizer week finds the budding chefs turning out progressively more imaginative and abundant morsels. The final day finds them absorbed in the kitchen, their concentration casting a blanket of silence save for the muted thud of knives against the cutting boards. This deceiving stillness, though, gives way to the clatter of china plates with the call from Chef Dan, “Five minutes to service, folks!”

Sculptural works of art, but would you eat them?

 

Judith with her dragon- fondant over
marshmallow -Rice Krispie mix

Shari's gift for a musician friend

Croquet anyone?

Details from desert island

Call me a dinosaur: I don’t watch much TV, and must be the only foodie in Canada that doesn’t subscribe to the Food Network. It was a bit of an awakening, then, to discover that cake decorating has become a whole different animal since my mother made my three-dimensional Barbie doll cake some forty-odd years ago.            

        With the rising popularity of rolled fondant, contemporary cakes are now, more than ever, sculptural works of art. Liaison’s evening recreational Cake Decorating mini course through June and July was a testament to the range of possibilities. With a tub of fondant, some logistical tips, a few techniques and recipes, a novice in the world of cakes can bring their technicolor imagination to life.

After: Deb's cake for girls'
weekend at the cottage

Before: Deb's flip-flops 

A modern day Portuguese adventurer

In the Liaison kitchen
for Chef's Table.

Nuno Cordeiro sits in the foyer at Liaison, pouring over the ads on the job board. He zeros in on positions with Fairmont Hotels – a chance to travel and work in Dubai, Beijing, maybe even Hawaii.

Nuno at a recent burger challenge. 

He was born and raised in the Azores, the Portuguese archipelago known for its surf, sun, volcanic landscape and laid back way of life. Make no mistake though, this ambitious 26-year-old is no slouch. His life in Ribeira Grande on the main island of San Miguel was an active one; working in adventure tourism, skippering on a whale-watching boat and leading back-country hikes and jeep tours.

It was adventure, as well, that brought Nuno to Canada, with hopes of becoming a commercial pilot. A change of heart brought him to Liaison to follow his passion for great food instead.

“I could have studied in this field in Portugal,” he admits, “but I would only be learning the basics of European cuisine.” It is the multicultural influence in Canada that he finds most appealing. “When I talk to people from other countries, they are using the same ingredients, but in a thousand different ways.”

Starting an hors d'oeuvres test at the pasta machine.

Nuno will graduate from the Chef de Cuisine program in August. Over the next few years he plans to travel and work, gathering different perspectives. He is looking forward to gaining a broad range of experience before deciding where he will eventually open his own establishment. 

The lawn chair's a-callin'....

Our staff have been working hard to get students through their studies this summer. It’s time to take a break from the heat of the kitchen, so we can relax and soak up some sun. Liaison College Hamilton will be closed for holidays for two weeks - from July 19 to August 6. There will be no-one in the office during this period, and no open house on the evening of July 24 or August 31.

Food as Art

Chaud-froid takes the creative process beyond the mouth-watering, well-balanced, multi-hued meal, creatively plated with eat-with-your-eyes appeal. Count yourself among the fortunate few when you discover a dining establishment that adds show-stopping works of art to a cold buffet, created with this time-intensive technique.

With emphasis on eye candy, the Advanced students in June cut wafer-thin slices of veggies to arrange on a béchamel background, and put their sculptural talents to work before finishing with a glossy aspic glaze. The cold creation had to ultimately be edible. With this in mind, they prepared their food in steps, paying particular attention to keeping the underlying cooked, stuffed chicken breasts at a food-safe temperature.

Ready. Set. Action ......

Murline Mallette, our fearless leader,
is comfortable in front of the camera.

Kevin takes time out from Cook Basic for a quick interview.

What would it be like to work in front of the camera? Our students got a quick taste last week when Liaison’s head office brought a video team to the Hamilton campus. Though the experience is not likely to qualify them for a stint on Hell’s Kitchen, you may just spot them on Liaison College’s YouTube channel.

Katy and Nuno push through their
exam as the camera rolls.

Katelyn picks up knife skill
tips from Chef Bill. 

The morning Cook Advanced class was in the midst of an exam in the kitchen, giving the videographers a chance to film their creations at the stove and on the plate. The Cook Basic class, meanwhile, were learning the difference between a brunoise and batonnet. Chef Bill demonstrated a variety of vegetable cuts that always challenge novice knife skills. He turned a few students loose to flute some unsuspecting mushrooms while the camera-shy amongst them tried in vain to dodge the frame.

Head office will be filming at all of the campuses in upcoming weeks. Check their website and YouTube channel in the months to come for their latest short clips on campus life.