29 appies in two hours- it's a record!

Brett set the record today for the greatest number of appetizers created - 29 in all - for his Cook Advanced appetizer test.

Students are required to produce at least ten different appetizers in the course of two hours. Nine apps doesn't cut it, and the student won't be marked. Chef presents them with the same challenge three days in a row- they are not permitted to duplicate any tidbits they have already made in the previous days, and cannot feature the same ingredients from one day to the next.

 Brett's class had a slow start on Tuesday when Chef Dan presented the first day's challenge, as students put their heads together to collaborate on the groceries for the week. By the third round today though, they all exceeded the required number of dishes, with Brett pulling off almost three times what he needed to complete his final appetizer test.

Visit our Facebook page to view more photos of the students and their appetizers from this week's classes. 

Appies inspired by Ontario greenhouse veggies

Brett fills cucumber boats with bruschetta.

Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) hosted a competition between Liaison campuses in Toronto today. After preliminary rounds at their individual schools, five semi-finalists recreated their appetizer dishes at Cirillo's Culinary Academy on Dundas Street West.

The panel of judges included chefs Christine Cushing (of Food Network fame) and John Cirillo, CCC (owner of this state-of-the-art recreational cooking school), along with self-professed foodies Jim Veri (greenhouse grower and board member of OGVG) and Elmer Buchanan (former Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food, and chair of the Greenhouse Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee).

Our AM Cook Basic students made the trek into Toronto to cheer on their classmate Brett as he got the experience of his first (but likely not his last) culinary competition.

To see more photos visit our Facebook page.

Some of the classmates that came out to support Brett in Toronto -
Clockwise from back: Brett (with hat), Don,  Melissa, Deborah and
Elizabeth, with their instructor Chef Steve Djerfi (right) 

Whetting our appetites...

Last week the PM Advanced students turned out some tasty morsels to fire up an appetite. Each day they were challenged to turn out at least ten appetizers, with no repetitions from one day to the next. By Thursday they were in the groove, demonstrating their skill, speed and creativity as they plated at least a dozen appetizers each within a two-hour time frame. By the end of the day, staff were standing by, waiting for Chef to finish tasting so they could do some sampling of their own.

Tony does a last minute touch up on the rim of his soup bowl.
He created 15 appetizers on Thursday afternoon.  

Rattakone adds some sweet corn to his salad. 

The trade-off: fun for feedback

Our afternoon Advanced students worked with Delft Blue last Thursday, dreaming up various ways to serve the company's newest, soon-to-be-released product - a breaded & pressed mushroom burger and an appetizer-sized mushroom petal.

The students got a chance to work their skills and unleash their imagination, while Delft Blue gained some valuable feedback from these future industry professionals. The student with the best creation was awarded a Victorianox scimitar knife for their efforts.

Brienne's winning recipe-A spicy mushroom shrimp burger,
with mozzarella cheese, lemon pepper shrimp and spicy mayonnaise. 

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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!”