Chocolate vs the Drug Lords: Peru's move from Coca to Cacao

Chocolate vs the Drug Lords: Peru's move from Coca to Cacao

Le COrdon Bleu alumni and students participated in the Disney on Ice Let's Celebrate.....Cake Competition held at the United Center on Wednesday, January 20th. Our students, Diana Alicea-Cuevas(Cafe 757), Jesus Renteria(La Baguette Bakery), Aireen Dungca and Kim Schuster chose the theme Let's Celebrate.....Chicago Culture and Food....The participants were given a three tiered 16", 10" and 8" cake that was buttercream frosted, and technically, no rules other than you have to finish the cake in 1 hour and 45 minutes.and of course, Mickey has to be present. Of all four culinary schools that participated, our team was the only one who took the cakes apart, slipped an aditional 12" tier in between, covered the cake with fondant and assembled it back on a totally new and covered board. Each member of the team was assigned a particular task, having met only 1 full day. Diana created all six Disney characters, Jesus created the Chicago community arches, Aireen made the flags, Kim created the Chicago skyline. the Mulan dragon was also an added feature that Jesus created on site. The group also met at school the day before the competition to finalize their design and go over their game strategy.

The competition was a charity event to honor each school's chosen charity. The Le Cordon Bleu Chicago has an ongoing partnership with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, and it was amazing to see our partners and their families come and join us in the competition. The kids were cheering our team and were so proud of the cake that the students created.

Clearly, our students' cake had an edge over all the other competitors. They were organized, methodical, their cake was very creative, well constructed, colorful, and "very Disney". Excellent job.....

One Celebration Marks Two Milestones

January 14 officially marked the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago's name change to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Chicago. It also celebrated the partnership with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana as our official charity. Over a hundred reservations to the "friendly" chef competition/dinner/silent auction were placed. Chefs Stephanie Izard, winner of the first season of TOP CHEF, Ron Aleman, sous chef at Aria, and Radhika Desai, all LCB alumni graced the event. Also present were guests from the Ronald McDonald House Charities, CEC Corporate and some of our very own staff. Over 30 students volunteered to help with the event, and almost everybody in the building got involved...

Ready for a Change?

The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago is shedding its name. In a few short days, we will be officially called the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts-Chicago. Signs on the front facade are coming up, and it will be as bright as our future chefs. The well lit name, we are told, will be visible from any building facing west in the downtown area. We are in the process of removing old logos and signs. There are events happening to mark the name change including a tickets only dinner/competition prepared by Ron Aleman and Stephanie Izard.

Come and check out the new images.....

Heritage Prairie Farms

Nate Sumner, California Culinary Academy Alumni, which is part of the Le Cordon Bleu North America system, was the guest speaker for the final In-Service Faculty Meeting of 2009. Nate is Assistant Farm Manager for Heritage Prairie Farms, an organic agricultural enterprise 2 miles west of Randall Rd on Roosevelt, in the eastern part of Elburn, IL. Nate brought with him samples of microgreens still being harvested late this time of the year in covered but unheated grreenhouses. He also talked about other varieties of greens still on the farm that are getting sweeter as the weather gets colder.

Nate started his first garden on the roof top of his Wheaton apartment, and now manages acres of land that supply vegetables to some of the top ranked Chicago restaurants including Alinea and the Chicago Marriott. He explains that he is able to connect with some of the top chefs because of his kitchen background and ability to speak and understand their language. He pointed out that each of these chefs have specific requirements for the produce for their restaurants and the economics and dynamics of satisfying each and everyone of them.

And would you actually think I will let him go without asking the ever important question of bringing students for a field trip and possible taste tasting of heirloom tomatoes, and possible getting some of their extra seedlings? Wait til the summer of 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJjiEzJMZc&feature=related

Gingerbread House Recipe

Gingerbread Dough
28 ozs bread flour
2 tbsps cinnamon
2 tsps ginger
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
(if you want your gingerbread lighter in color, reduce spices)
1 tsp salt
8 ozs corn syrup
8 ozs molasses
(if you want it lighter, reduce molasses, increase corn syrup)
10 ozs brown sugar
8 ozs shortening
(if you are making cookies, you can substitute butter)

Combine corn syrup, molasses, brown sugar and shortening in a sauce pot, and warm just until the shortening is melted. Transfer warm liquid into a mixing bowl, and with a paddle, mix in dry ingredients. Mix until well blended. Pour dough into a parchment lined sheet pan or silpat. Cool for several minutes, sheet out to about ¼ inch thick, sometimes thicker, depending on your structure. Chill in the refrigerator overnight. (Tip: after cutting your templates, you can bake your pieces halfway, pull them out of the oven, re cut the pieces using the original templates. This will insure that your sides are all straight and lined up)