Food & Beverage

from Glencoe Life - Summer 2017

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Glencoe’s Matthew Liesemer Brings Home Gold, Again!

Competing against top Chefs from around the world at the 2017 Hong Kong International Culinary Classic (HKICC) in May, Glencoe’s Matthew Liesemer won silver and gold medals in his categories (chicken and halibut), then went on to win the Bauhinia Cup for best of show! W ith tremendous growth in the past decade, the Hong Kong Culinary Classic is endorsed by WACS — World Association of Chefs Societies and co-organized by the Hong Kong Chefs Associations (HKCA). It’s part of HOFEX: The International Exhibition of Global Fine Food & Drinks & Hospitality Equipment & Supplies, a well-attended show that has been running now for 30 years, celebrating the very best of world cuisine. According to its page on the HOFEX website (hofex.com), for 2017 the Classic aimed to promote “culinary excellence, skills and abilities of Chefs, Cooks, Pastry Chefs / Cooks and Apprentices from close and far.”

The final was a mystery box cook off, with the winner taking home the Bauhinia Cup for best of the best at the show. Matthew was, indeed, best of the best and brought the Bauhinia Cup home to The Glencoe Club. Please take the time to congratulate him!

Here’s what our superstar Chef had to say about winning:

“Not really sure what to say! I was initially only entered into two hot cooking categories, one being chicken (silver) and the other halibut (gold). I was quite relieved being finished as there was a lot of stress lifted off my shoulders and I could help the other students from SAIT with a more attentive eye. Then on the second last night of the EXPO we got a phone call from the organizer of the event saying I was invited back to compete in the Golden Bauhinia Cup challenge, a semi black box-style competition meaning the protein provided is a mystery. Bauhinia is the flower of Hong Kong. Only the top four scoring contestants are invited back out of around 250 competitors. So we went to the supermarket at 10 pm running around looking for groceries and inspiration. The next day went by really quickly and before I knew it I was competing again! I performed extremely well and I had nothing to lose so I gave it my all and won! Wooooohooooooo!”

~ Matthew Liesemer, Glencoe Chef and Bauhinia Cup Winner A

add tropic al f ruit or repl ace mint with another herb like basil or sage.

Patio Party Favourites

The easy-mix Mojito is always refreshing! Blend light rum, lime juice, simple syrup, fresh muddled mint leaves and sparkling water. You can’t go wrong.

Recipe by Jack Phouthavong, F&B Operations Manager

Grow your own mint for this cock tail in your garden! It’s a fast-growing, low-maintenance pl ant.

The Easy-Mix Mojito

Ingredients 1 oz light rum 1 oz simple syrup 6 mint leaves lime wedge ice and sparkling water

How to mix it Begin by making the simple syrup. Slowly heat equal parts water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it rest and cool before use. Place the mint leaves and a lime wedge into a tall glass. With a muddler, squeeze the lime and gently muddle the mint leaves. Do not over-muddle the mint leaves or they'll become bitter. Just bruise them enough to bring out the aroma. Fill the glass with ice, then pour in the simple syrup and light rum. Finally, fill the glass with sparkling water and give it a stir. Once you’ve got the basics down on this cocktail, you can adjust the ingredient quantities to mix it to your personal taste.

Here's a great way to prepare salmon fillets on the deck or patio! Your guests will be impressed and it couldn't be easier: BBQ it on a plank, locking in all the flavours, including a hint of cedar.

Recipe by Dean Kanuit, Executive Chef

BBQ Sweet & Salty Cedar-Planked Salmon

Ingredients 1 untreated cedar plank 1 1 ⁄ 2 lb salmon fillet 3 tbsp sweet and salty rub lemon slices chopped dill garnish

For the rub 1 ⁄ 3 cup brown sugar 3 tbsp kosher salt 1 tbsp paprika 1 tbsp smoked paprika 2 tbsp chili powder 1 tbsp ground coriander 2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp celery seeds 1 tsp cracked black pepper combine and store it in an airtight container

How to cook it Remove pin bones from salmon fillet and generously coat fish evenly with rub. Cover and chill until ready to grill. Preheat grill to (350 - 400°F), place plank on the grill for 3 minutes and remove, place the salmon (skin side down) on heated plank and top with lemons slices. Place on grill, cover, cook 20 minutes or until done, checking occasionally to ensure the plank hasn’t ignited. Top with chopped fresh dill. Enjoy! A

To test for doneness, insert a fork into the thickest part of the salmon. If it fl akes easily, it's finished cooking.

Soak the pl anks for at least 30 minutes. You c an use pl ain water, but it's much more f un to soak them in something like wine, sake or cider...

Marc Badorek Food & Beverage Service Manager 403-287-4164 mbadorek@glencoe.org

2017 Wine Festival

by Marc Badorek

Each spring, as flowers begin to blossom and the weather warms up, The Glencoe Club holds its annual Wine Festival. We gain some insights into the wines available to us in Alberta, sniff an array of bouquets and savor a bit of sunshine in a glass.

This year’s Wine Festival featured 25 wine agencies and 117 wines. Approximately 280 members and their guests enjoyed the event and learned from the culinary expertise of Chef Dean Kanuit and his brigade. The market-style dining was as varied as the wines, with flavours from all over the world and an impressive cheese and charcuterie selection.

The event is a fun, social gathering that also offers some education! The Glencoe Creative Studio puts together a tasting booklet of the wines. The agents are very eager to tell you about the wines in detail. After sipping and sampling, guests are encouraged to vote on their two favourite wines. The votes are tallied and the winners featured for the following month by the glass and bottle. The wines are then listed for a year on the Glencoe Wine List as the 2017 Wine Festival Members’ Choice winners. We thank all the members, guests and agencies that help make this event a success.

Viña Cobos Winery, Argentina FOOD & BEVERAGE

Viña Cobos Cocodrilo Corte, Argentina 2014 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc and 9% Malbec. Cocodrilo 2014 is a complex but very balanced wine. There is great freshness to the nose, where we find morello cherry, cassis, pomegranate and black cherry. Spice notes from the cabernet component touch on black peppercorn, clove and paprika and are complemented by floral, herbal and balsam notes rounding out the elegant bouquet. The palate entrance is broad and round with pliable sweet tannins. The long finish alternates between the fruit and spice notes. Viña Cobos is the inspired vision of a dreamer who one day undertook the challenge of producing great Argentine red wine that would be on par with the best-known wines of the world. From that moment, Paul Hobbs started to make noble wines of superior quality, placing Malbec and Argentina on the world stage, alongside the greatest international wine producers.

Black Hills Nota Bene, Okanagan 2014

52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc This release of Nota Bene shows its tantalizing signature of raspberries, plum and fruit leather complimented by dusty, mushroom and earthy components. Rich, velvety smooth tannins coat the palate, resulting in a well-balanced, elegant and delicate lingering finish of raspberries and spice. Medium-full bodied with well integrated tannins and a lengthy weight. Black Hills vineyard terroirs have become recognized as some of the most exceptional in Canada. "Located on the famed Black Sage Road north of Osoyoos, we are right in the middle of Canada’s only official desert. Our west-facing orientation combined with our deep desert sand gives us intense daytime heat followed by very cool nights. The result is that our vineyard yields intensely flavourful grapes. With careful irrigation techniques and intensely focused viticulture practices, these are ideal growing conditions for growing the Bordeaux and Rhone varietals we have in our vineyards. In fact, we are so terroir-centric in our thinking, that our winegrower lives right in the middle of our vineyard. He quite literally eats, sleeps and breathes our grapes!" A

Black Hills Winery, Okanagan