Culinary Showdown Montreal

1st CULINARY SHOWDOWN IN MONTREAL 

DEFI CULINAIRE SHOWDOWN

The Jewish General Hospital and Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation Host Celebrity
Chefs Tyler Florence, Kimberly Lallouz, Mark McEwan; Danny Smiles, Michael Smith and Top 50 Fundraisers in Quebec’s First Annual Culinary Showdown

Culinary Showdown is a peer to peer fundraising event and gala dinner for home cooks,
amateur chefs and foodies, who all have one thing in common – a strong passion for food and the
cause! This extraordinary challenge gives culinary enthusiasts the opportunity to fundraise for a chance to cook alongside celebrity chefs in the type of team cooking challenge normally reserved for TV.

Chef Mark McEwen

It will be held on Sunday October 29, 2017 at Arsenal Contemporary Art, 2020 William St, Montreal, Quebec and will include a Celebrity Chef School from 10:30am-3:00pm before the showdown begins at 6:00pm-11:00pm.

This extraordinary challenge gives culinary enthusiasts the opportunity to fundraise for a chance to cook alongside celebrity chefs Tyler Florence, Kimberly Lallouz, Mark McEwan; Danny Smiles, and
Michael Smith, Hosted by Brad Smith - Chopped Canada, in support of two incredible organizations. 

The Jewish General Hospital provides general and specialized care of the highest quality in a safe, humane and caring manner. The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is the only non-profit organization in Québec devoted entirely to the fight against breast cancer through research and innovation, raising awareness and providing education and support to those affected by this disease and their loved ones.

The Culinary Showdown is an exclusive experience that sets the tone for true culinary education.
Celebrity chefs will coach participants on epicurean techniques while the teams compete to be the
next Culinary team.

Enjoy a gourmet meal as the celebrity chefs and their teams of top fundraisers take the stage, but
keep your keen culinary skills handy throughout the dinner, as members of the audience may be
called upon to participate. The 50 highest fundraisers earn the right to test their culinary talents live
on stage alongside their team and celebrity chef. Five teams will compete under the spotlight to
create three unique dishes, applying the skills mastered during Celebrity Chefs School. Each food
course is time-sensitive and will be judged by a discerning panel for taste and presentation.

Fuel your food passion at the Celebrity Chef’s School, as the Celebrity chefs will coach you on how to become a culinary master. They will cover everything from picking the perfect ingredients to plating. You’ll learn trade secrets on food prep, knife skills, cooking methods and more. You’ll learn what it takes to keep your cool when things heat up in the kitchen.

Food lovers, cooking connoisseurs and novices alike are invited to this one-of- a-kind opportunity to
learn from the best chefs in the country and support JGHF and QBCF, register for the Culinary
Showdown at http://www.deficulinaire.ca.

I attended the launch recently at Mark McEwen's restaurant ONE in Yorkville where we sampled on some amazing appetizers while we learned about the Montreal version of the Culinary Showdown.

I have participated in raising funds for the Culinary Showdown in the past but unfortunately not enough to be able to participate in the live Culinary event.  I would love to participate in the MONTREAL version and if YOU would like to sponsor me I would be happy to represent Toronto in the city foodie rivalry that is Montreal and Toronto.

Please drop me a line if you would like to support me in fundraising.

About The Jewish General Hospital
Since 1934, the JGH has been providing cutting edge treatment and compassionate care to patients
from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds in Montreal, throughout Quebec and beyond, we are
one of the province's largest and busiest acute-care hospitals

About Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation
For more than 20 years, the Foundation has focused its mission on promoting the well-being of affected people and their loved ones through research and innovation, support and raising awareness. Find out why our foundation is now the reference and your best ally for a life without breast cancer.

McEwan's All Access foodie's sip and nibble.

photo by Linda Matarasso

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to post anything about my evening recently attending Top Chef Canada head judge Mark McEwan's All Access 3.0 at McEwan's Grocery Store at the Shops at Don Mills.   Hosted by Abbey Sharp of Abbey's Kitchen.  A bunch of select foodies and bloggers were in attendance sampling donuts from Von Donuts, some excellent tender beef from Prince Edward County.  Mark McEwan's own pillows of love Gnocchi, Macarons from MAKARON, some amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and spring rolls, wine, specialty soaps and some Hot Bunz too.

photo McEwan group

Here's a photo from McEwan's Group website where you can see Top Chef Mark McEwan and me behind him and a bunch of other foodies listen to him talk about his experiences.  Chef Mark talked about how to make his excellent Gnoochi recipe and after giving everyone a chance to ask questions I spoke to him about my Food Revolution Day Workshop event the following week where I was planning on making potato Gnocchi but after tasting Chef Mark's Ricotta Gnocchi and speaking to him I decided to change it up and make them with Ricotta.  Chef Mark suggested that I should show my Workshop attendees how to make the Ricotta cheese from scratch and then make the ricotta gnocchi.   I made a batch of the ricotta cheese the day before but had a store bought on hand in case I failed.  I picked up Chef Mark's Rustic Italian cookbook and followed his recipe to make sure I had the right measurements for a recipe and then I doubled it up.   I made a huge mess in my kitchen but it worked out perfectly.  The next day I did the demo at the workshop and it was a lot less messy and it turned out great and everyone was amazed at how easy it really was.  I ended up using the store bought Ricotta cheese as a comparison to the freshly made one.   It was unanimous that the fresh one was 100% better.

 It was a fun night with people that all have a love of quality food and appreciated all the treats we sampled and we got to take home a goodie bag full of great stuff provided by Brands and Buzzing.

I am grateful for the excellent timing of this event even though I was exhausted from work and getting ready for my own event it was incredibly helpful chatting with Chef McEwan about tips for my gnocchi in my workshop and I provided recipes to the attendees so they can now all make their own Ricotta cheese and know how to make fresh gnocchi from scratch but there is always Fabbrica and McEwan's if they don't want to mess up their kitchens and still get the great quality Gnocchi.   I have to say that I have been to Fabbrica just after it first opened and had the gnocchi then and it was the best gnocchi I have ever had in a restaurant in Toronto.   The sauce is just the way I like it.   Classic simple Italian tomato sauce similar to the way I make mine.  I like to add a few chili flakes to mine but otherwise it's pretty much the same thing.

Besides the great food I got to meet fellow food bloggers and one that I have been communicating online with that I have never met face to face before.   So it was like a great cocktail party with friends.

I didn't get to sample the skull chocolates but I had to take a photo for a certain movie critic that I know who wears a skull ring.

I didn't have any wine but the rest of the food was really great.   I especially liked the grilled cheese and the beef.  Both melt in your mouth.

If you haven't visited McEwan's grocery store before because you thought it was too far away, you will be happy to know that he is opening another one in the TD Centre downtown soon.  The Bay streeters will be all over that place.

Thanks to Chef Mark and his team, Abbey Sharp and Brands and Buzzing for a fun event.  I hope there are more like it to come.

Martha Stewart makes some Cakes in Toronto

Day 1 of the Delicious Food Show started with a huge crowd of women ready to see Chef Chuck Hughes.  Once again Chuck had a little fun with the audience even with his mom in the front row of the crowded audience.  As Chuck calls it he warmed up the crowd for Martha Stewart.   While Martha Stewart isn't no where as much fun as Chuck Hughes she did create some mouth watering desserts from her new Cake cookbook.  Whipping up a Raspberry Cheesecake, Coffee Cake and a Baked Alaska all in an hour while making it all look pretty with the help of her assistant but the domestic Diva was all hands on deck compared to the Roaming, charming Chuck Hughes.   There was such a big crowd for Martha that I was relegated to standing in the back row so I didn't get a lot of great shots while she was baking but I tried to get a few while she was signing her new book.  She was in such a huge demand that when I went to pick up the new book it was already sold out.  That's a good turn out for a 1st day for sure.
Chef Mark McEwan was up after Martha Stewart with his Bymark Chef Brooke.  Chef Mark is somewhere in between Chuck and Martha where he is all business but can crack a joke at the same time.  He turned out 3 delicious looking dishes.  Too bad we didn't get to sample any of them.  I asked him if he would ever have a food truck, his answer was "Definetely Not".

Here are some of the snaps I took with one of my cameras on Day 1.  I shot some with my Ipad and another camera and will post some of those later.

I will be back at the show again for Day 2 because I will be helping out Cheesworks with one of their Chef's Table presentations as part of some of my fellow Gastroposters are helping out with some of the workshops at the Chef's table and Seminars.   I will take a few more pics tomorrow and do another wrap up after that.

But in the meantime check out these pics from some of the stuff I checked out today.