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.