Local Chef

Demonstrations

10:00

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Microgreens and Balsamic Reduction

Chef Mark Beland, Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)

Mark Beland has 20 years of experience in the culinary industry ranging from humble beginnings as a short order cook to country clubs, catering, senior services, to his current position of senior executive chef of all the Mayo foodservices in Rochester, MN. Mark received his formal culinary training at Dakota county Technical College, in Rosemount, MN. Mark is certified by the American culinary federation as a certified executive chef, and certified culinary administrator, among the highest professional distinctions a chef can earn. Mark also contributes regularly to the ACF by serving as a certification evaluator, chef mentor, and has been a past president of the local chapter. Mark’s passion is food; when he is not at work he enjoys participating in community activities to promote healthy eating, locally produced products, as well as constantly learning from new experiences and traveling.

 11:00

Chef Ruth Hampton, Trout River Catering (Decorah, IA)

Ruth grew up on a farm in eastern Iowa and has always experimented with food. She honed her love of knives, flavors, stainless steel and kitchens in places like Scattergood Friends School (near Iowa City) and restaurants in the Twin Cities, including the Loring Café with chef Lenny Russo. She eventually found her way back to Iowa and for the past 16 years has run Trout River Catering in Decorah, Iowa where she melds cuisine nouveau with rural realness in the Driftless region that's teeming with fantastic local producers. Though she is interested in everything about food, her real love is producing performance-dinner events and exploring the theater of dining with its collage of elements. Thus was born Edible Alien Theatre where Ruth facilitates a group of artists, actors, and chefs through a process of creating unique events that explore Food and Performance Art. Her latest adventure is managing the website AWEsome Cookery, a cooking blog celebrating art and edibles where she helps people become more relaxed and versatile in the kitchen by understanding their food.

 12:00

Roasting Chicken and the Ease of Basic Kitchen Cookery

Chef Carrie Summers, Chef Shack Companies (Bay City, WI & Minneapolis, MN)

Chef Shack is a mobile kitchen serving up some of the tastiest street food in Minneapolis. Started in 2007 by two of the Twin Cities' best known female chefs - Carrie Summer and Lisa Carlson, you can find the Chef Shack at all sorts of fabulous catering events, weddings, festivals, and farmer's markets around town. Both classically trained in New York City and holding membership to the James Beard Society of chefs,, the ladies have brought their expertise back to the upper North featuring the best in field-to-table country French cuisine. They’re the owners of 3 food trucks & 2 restaurants for nearly a decade of service.

 1:00

In a Jam and a Pickle! Holiday Gifts from the Kitchen

Beth Dooley, Local Food Writer and Hometown Chef (Minneapolis, MN)

Beth Dooley has been covering the local food scene in the Northern Heartland for over thirty years. Author of six cookbooks, including Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland, with Lucia Watson (a James Beard Nominee), Northern Heartland Kitchen, Minnesota’s Bounty: The Farmers Market Cookbook, and The Birchwood Café Cookbook with Tracy Singleton and Marshall Paulson, she writes for The Star Tribune, Mpls./St.Paul Magazine, and appears regularly on KARE 11 TV and Minnesota Public Radio. Beth teaches at the University of Minnesota Land Scape Arboretum and lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three sons.

 2:00

                                                         Combining Fruits and Vegetables for Fantastic, Healthy Juices

Nicci Sylvester, Tonic Fresh Juice  (Rochester, MN)

Nicci has spent over 20 years in the food service industry. As she worked in various roles at restaurants throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, she learned the business and developed an interest in locally sourced ingredients, creative flavor combinations, and healthy, tasty food.

After her many years working and consulting in the restaurant business, she created Tonic, voted Minnesota's best juice bar in 2015 by WCCO viewers. In addition to juice, Tonic serves made-from-scratch soups, wraps, and treasured Ukrainian family recipes like pyrohi and borscht. Nicci's passionate about making people feel welcome and for creating delicious food and drink that nourishes body and spirit.

Juicing is an easy way to get your daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, and the flavor combinations are endless. Nicci will talk about why juicing is not just a trend, but a lifestyle choice that can enhance your life and help you look and feel your very best. She'll discuss the ingredients she uses, from the apples and oranges you might expect to ginger, kale and acai, and how you can combine ingredients for optimum health benefits.

 3:00

Raw Lamb & Spelt Grain Salad with Burnt Purple Cabbage & Dried Morel

Chef Jordan Bell, Forager Brewery  (Rochester, MN)

Jordan Bell never thought he’d be a professional chef – his cooking experiences growing up were centered on family gatherings and holidays, working with his mother in the family kitchen. Jordan received his associates degree from Le Cordon Blue and jumped right into cooking professionally. At Norton’s in Haggar City Wisconsin, Jordan got his first taste of local sourcing of materials. It was there that he started to understand the confluence of art and craft that makes for great food. Working at Nosh restaurant in Lake City in 2007 Jordan moved quickly through the ranks of cooks, developing his own tastes and learning techniques for preserving foods that he still uses.