The Culinary Arts Cafe returns to Rend Lake College this month with unique meal creations prepared by its students and offered to the public.
The first meal of the spring will be served Thursday, January 22. The menu includes appetizers of spinach and sesame salad as well as wild rice and sun-dried tomato soup. The main course features ivory tower chicken, lemon sheaths wrapped in leeks, quartered new potatoes with parsley, creme bruelee with fresh berries, and pumpernickel, wheat and white braided bread.
The meals are prepared by students in Culinary Arts Instructor Diane Catalfamo’s Restaurant Operations class. The meals, held on Thursdays through April 8 in the RLC Student Center, each feature a different student serving as executive chef. The students also will work in different stations of the kitchen at each meal, providing them with hands-on experience, Catalfamo said.
Future Culinary Arts Cafe dates and entrees are: January 29, stuffed center-cut pork loin; February 5, chicken cordon bleu; February 12, roasted prime rib with au jus; February 19, pecan-crusted chicken breast with honey glaze; February 26, New York strip steak; March 4, beer-battered deep-fried cod filets with tartar sauce; March 11, mozzarella-, basil- and tomato-stuffed chicken breast; March 18, country-style barbecue ribs and country fried chicken; March 25, Asian beef short ribs; and April 8, apple cider pan-seared center-cut pork chops.
A Taste of Rend Lake will be held Thursday, April 1, at Rend Lake Resort. Tickets will be available in advance or at the door for $10 per person. These tickets also are good for the Rend Lake College Scholarship Auction to be held later this year at Rend Lake Resort.
The students will use gratuities from the meals to help fund a trip to the International Food Show in Chicago.
Tickets are $15 per person and seating is by reservation only. Reservations can be made by contacting Jean Huie, Assistant to the Vice President of Instruction, at (618) 437-5321, Ext. 1247. Reservations should be made by the Tuesday prior to each meal and should be scheduled for arrival times between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. For more information, contact Catalfamo at (618) 437-5321, Ext. 1332.