Cream of the Crop
My projects as a food stylist are satisfying work-imagine being paid to grocery shop and spend part of the day in the kitchen. I don’t even mind the early mornings (once I get myself going, that is). I get to meet fascinating people like other foodies, home economists, dieticians, cookbook authors and chefs. My favourite Chef thus far has been the pleasure of working with Chef Michael Allemeir. I knew that his recipes would be stellar and written with care.
Here’s his impressive bio:
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Chef Michael Allemeier moved with his family to Hong Kong where he was smitten by the culinary bug at age 12.
He started his first official kitchen job at the St. Boniface Golf Club. He apprenticed with Delta Hotels and the St. Charles Country Club in Winnipeg. He has worked at the acclaimed restaurant Amici in Winnipeg; Executive Chef of Bishop’s Restaurant in Vancouver; Fairmont Hotels in the Wildflower Restaurant in Whistler; and Executive Chef of Teatro Restaurant in Calgary, where he won numerous awards.
In 2003, Chef Allemeier’s passion for food and wine pairing was realised with the call to Mission Hill Family Estate Winery in the Okanagan Valley, where he launched the Terrace Restaurant, created a culinary school, private dining program, retail line of preserves, designed and built Canada’s first Varietal Kitchen Garden and many other initiatives for sales and marketing.
A Certified Chef de Cuisine (CCC), which is Canada’s second highest professional culinary accreditation designation. Chef Allemeier is also a member of the international food and wine organization the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs.
He is currently pursuing his career-long passion as an educator. In 2009, he started as a culinary instructor at SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology). Currently, Chef Allemeier is a CMC (Certified Master Chef) candidate, which is Canada’s highest professional accreditation.
Chef Michael is a 1989 Red River College graduate and tells me of his fond memories working with Chef Tony of the St. Charles and Heinz Kattenfeld of Amici!
Chef Michael is currently team up with the Dairy Farmers of Canada promoting their Summer Berries and Cream. Check out their Anyday Magic website and vote for my friend Jeanine Friesen (aka Baking Beauties) in conjunction with this promo. You could win a Stainless Steel Cookware set!
I prepared two fabulous recipes for Chef Michael’s appearance yesterday on Breakfast Television. With permission, I am sharing this fabulous salad.
- ¼ cup (60 mL) 10% half-and-half cream
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) sour cream
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
- 1-½ cups (375 mL) diced celery
- 1 cup (250 mL) toasted walnuts, lightly crushed, divided
- 1 red delicious apple, cored, quartered and diced (skin on)
- 1-2/3 cups (400 mL) assorted berries (such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or quartered strawberries, if large)
- Salt and black pepper
- 8 to 10 whole butter lettuce leaves
- 10 to 12 celery leaves
- In a large bowl, stir together cream, sour cream, yogurt, and lemon juice. Stir in celery, ¾ cup (175 mL) of the walnuts and apples. Gently fold in berries. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- In a bowl or on a serving platter, arrange lettuce leaves and gently spoon salad on top. Garnish with remaining walnuts and celery leaves.
I sometimes take the left-overs from a TV appearance home with me for my family to taste but this one was whisked away by the staff on the TV set-it was that good! After they got tastes of the second recipe “Berry Delicious Potato Salad” I packed up the rest for supper at the Beach House tonight. A whole chicken with lemon and fresh sage leaves is in the crockpot and I am hoping that D will stop on the highway and pick up some corn. Ah summer time…..
Kath’s quote: “A cup of coffee – real coffee – home-browned, home-ground, home-made, that comes to you dark as a hazel-eye, but changes to a golden bronze as you temper it with cream that never cheated, but was real cream from its birth, thick, tenderly yellow, perfectly sweet,
neither lumpy nor frothing on the Java: such a coffee is a match for twenty blue devils, and will exorcise them all.”-Henry Ward Beecher
Love-that is all.