This photograph is a combination of three vertical photos stitched together  in Photoshop. I had some hesitation at first to edit it as it was taken on hand held ,but after some trial and error it finally  came together. Its going to be mated to a 30 by 45 inch canvas .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canmore,_Alberta

Cheeses are so versatile to use in cooking and yet a lot of people are afraid to use it in recipes. One does not just melted or make a sauce with it,it needs to be incorporated on a lot of recipes in different ways, different uses and most of all incorporated with other cheeses for different combination of flavours. One might try a strong pungent cheese with a more stubble creamier easy going cheese and start building flavours from there.
The flavor flow needs to have a combination that complements the dish and the overall taste of it. In this particular dish I have used a cherry tomato fondue to not only complement the Five cheese rissoto but also to garnish the plate and give it a nice contrast ( as far as I am concerned all garnishes should be edible, none of these trees sticking out of food and such, if you won't eat it don't serve it) 


Rissoto is very simple to make one just needs to follow a few simple steps;
Arborio rice
onion,olive oil or butter or a combination of both
Chicken or any other stock,hot, usually 3 times the amount of rice(1 cup of rice to 3 cups of liquid)
Heavy cream
Cheese or cheese combination
Salt and pepper
Step 1
Add olive oil to pan with chopped onion, cook till translucent,add rice and stir in to the fat and let the rice absorb it
Step 2
Add 1/3 of the liquid to the pot and stir in moderate heat until it's all absorbed . Proceed with the other 1/3 of stock and then the rest of the stock,in other words you need to do it 3 times,by the time the last stock is absorbed the rice should be al dente
Step 3
At this stage I had the cheese combination,slowly while stirring (key component through out the recipe),check to see if the rice has cooked at this point you might have to add a little more liquid, keeping in mind you still have the heavy cream to finis it up
Step 4
Once the rice is just about done add the spinach  and finish it up with the hot heavy cream, and season to taste 
Its that simple

Cherry tomato fondue
Cherry tomatoes cut in half
Chopped onion
Chopped garlic
Olive oil
Bay leaf, parsley and fresh thyme
Cloves,coriander seeds and staranise
Lemon zest,
Sherry vinegar
Worcestershire sauce

In a sauce pot with olive oil saute onions , add garlic and then the cherry tomatoes,mix well and let the tomatoes come to a boil ,add the spices and the liquids and simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours while mixing it once in a while.
To season depending on the flavours,specially if the cherry vinegar was a to much, add a little ketchup .Remove the seeds and  the herbs ,adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Cool and then reheat for service if necessary

Here are some photos from the competition 
These are just resized with no other editing done
Will have edited ones in the next couple of days
Enjoy

This is one of those dishes that does not need to be debated where or when or by whom it came from,its simply good when its properly done. Simple!
 Yes, its raw meat or meat served raw that has been seared and cooled,contrary to popular belief it does not have to be frozen prior to serving,however for large functions and plating purposes, slicing it frozen is a benefit.
The types of cut depends on your budget,my favorite cut is Striploin (Bison preferably) some people prefer tenderloin,the only draw back for me it's tender but less flavorful.
The simplest method would be to clean the Striploin of any fat, trimmed to the meat sort of speak,due to the nature of the Striploin you need to tie it in to roll (log) so that the meat is distributed well  and both sides look the same size.
Once its done if should be brushed with olive oil and rubbed or pated with the following mixture for a whole Striploin(adjust accordingly):
1/2 -tbsp of cayenne (for heat)
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp of fine chopped fresh thyme and rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp of fresh cracked peppercorns
Cover it ,refrigerate for a couple of hours then sear it on a hot surface and refrigerate again . At this point it can go in to the freezer for an hour or so and then sliced thin and plated slightly overlapping 
A bit of horseradish and and cream mixed with lemon juice some fine chopped herbs and seasoned ,can be drizzled over it ,than you would add baby arugula that has been tossed in olive oil and white balsamic vinegar  with some sliced radishes for color and enjoy with some freshly sliced Parmigiana or even Pecorino  cheese

Will make an attempt to dissect the menu 
Professor Jalen, cheese expert gave a lecture on cheese for the first 20 minutes in witch 6 cheeses were tasted,( as per the photo on the previous post) we did not cook with any of these
The next course was the soup

Roasted Roma tomato and blue cheese cream
The combination of the two plus a few cheese crumbs in the little baguette basket, was simply pure pleasure , the  sharpness of the blue cheese  was outstanding
For the soup the following ingredients where used:
Roma tomatoes quartered,tossed in olive oil ,garlic and roasted
Leeks and onions where sauted in olive oil till translucent, a couple of chopped carrots where added then the roasted tomatoes 
Chicken stock made the day of was then added to  the pot with a couple of bay leaves and brought to simmer for a few hours
The broth was then pureed and beurre manie was added (equal parts of butter at room temperature and flour kneaded together ) to the soup to thicken, we then seasoning was adjusted  . A little ketchup was added a last minute, just to bring out the zing in the cheese, it was absolutely outstanding
Note to self <a foam would be even nicer.......next time >
As for the crostini baskets, frozen unbaked baked was thin slice and sprayed with garlic infused olive oil then inserted in mini muffin pans and finished in the oven till golden
Up next :Bison Carpaccio
 

Photos from the Wine and Cheese Dinner Extravaganza at the Derrick Club

I am happy to report that Shane Chartrand from L2 Grill at Fantasy Land hotel will represent Alberta at the Canadian Culinary Federation  Convention in Vancouver June 10-16 http://www.nationalchefschallenge.eventbrite.com in a national competition for Canadian Chef of the year honors where he will compete with chefs from other provinces
At the Alberta challenge, unfortunately one candidate had to drop out at the last minute, both remaining candidates for sure took their best shot with Sane coming out on top by a slight margin.
Scroll down for the winning presentation
Congratulations Shane!

Here I go again,my second cod dish in a week...oh my you might say,does this guy love cod or what?
Truth be told, cod is it pour moi. As much as I love Alberta beef (Spring Creek beef  in particular) I just can not get away from my childhood cravings .
Growing up in an island with abundant fresh fish available some times twice a day, one of our staples specially in the Winter, was salt cod and dried preserved sardines and mackerel ( how I miss that) As much as I love salt cod it wasn't until I came to Canada that I started to cook with fresh cod. 
This is a very flavour full recipe for todays supper. Fresh cod fillets with a simple risotto with an Azorean twist.


Cod
1- fresh cod fillet about a pound cut in 4 oz portions 
3oz- of olive oil and canola oil ,1.5 oz each
,5oz- fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper to season

Crumb mixture
3oz-panko bread crumbs
1.5oz-regular breadcrumbs
1oz-flour
2 tbsp- chopped parsley, i used frozen chopped from the yard
.25 tsp-salt
fresh ground pepper

Mix it all up in a bowl, coat the cod fillets with it,pat down on the cod, I do not use eggs or milk for bidding,pan sear both sides on a hot frying pan with the oil mixture, remove to a pan lined up with parchment paper, top each cod portion with a tbsp of the remaining crumbs,finish in the oven that has previously been heated to 400 F for about 8 minutes

Tomato, onion and olive stew
1-medium onion sliced
3- medium ripe tomatoes
12- Kalamata olives pitted
1tsp- pimenta moida (pepper paste, I use homemade, can be found on any Portuguese store or bakery in Edmonton)
2oz-extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute the onions in the olive oil till translucent,add tomatoes ,olives and pepper let simmer for about 15 minutes season with salt and pepper

Risotto
1-cup of Arborio rice
1/2-small onion finely chopped
1oz-butter, can be subbed with extra virgin olive oil
2-cups of hot chicken stock, I use home made
3/4 cup of heated 10% cream, you can use a heavier cream if you wish,10% does the trick for me with less calories,or you can fore go the cream altogether and sub with more stock
2-oz- freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
This is a simple risotto,one can and should be able to add different ingredients to it
Saute the onion with the butter till translucent,do not burn the onion,add the rice mix well till nicely coated, add 1/3 of the stock mixing well till it dries and then do the same for the rest on the stock (stock is added 3 time while stirring), by this time the rice should be almost cooked,add the hot cream an finish cooking, then add the cheese and mix well, season with salt and pepper

Assemble as per photograph 
Enjoy

Photos taken with speedlight TTL wireless to the left side 

As a members of the Feastival comity, some of us  chefs  prepare up a meal that was auctioned during the event, usually at Characters http://characters.ca
As usual this year/s event was a blast. Jasmine (Appetizer of braised cabbage and stuffed rabitt loin ), myself  Main course, roasted bison tenderloin,grilled elk tenderloin and vanilla infused poached lobster tail )and Shonn ( Dessert , duo of passion fruit soufle and passion fruit ice cream,its official! Shonn is the soufle king ) prepared an outstanding meal for 6 couples
Here are some of the photos with more to come

Wow what flavours ...Can't say I have used walnuts and beef,turned out that pulling some beef out of the freezer a bag of chopped walnuts the wife uses for her amazing banana bred, fell on the floor,I picked up and figured ,hey why not. Turned out to be a fantastic combination very simple top prepare


Here is whats needed
2-top sirloin steaks,or any other steaks about 6 oz each
3oz- chopped walnuts 
2oz- butter
Cracked black pepper
Salt
1 frying pan 
.5oz-veg oil

Heat up a frying pan that can go into the oven, add the veg oil, once heated add the steaks that have been previously seasoned with salt and patted down with cracked black pepper on both sides, pan sear on both sides to seal all the juices in,once complete place in the oven that has previously heated to 400 F. Depending on the thickness of the meat it should not take more than 10 minutes for medium rare,remove from the oven and set the steaks aside on a plate covered with a cloth . 
While the meat rests ,place the pan on top of  a burner on medium heat (remember that the pan is very hot from the oven) add the butter ans the walnuts, stirring until the butter turns a little brown, here you might want to add a little slash of  freshly squeezed lemon juice and the drippings from the beef 
The beef used was a couple of  top sirloin steaks from Spring Creek Ranch,possible the best beef anywhere,here is a link to their site http://www.springcreek.ca/index.php?area_id=1009