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Monday, April 5   David Chapman of David’s Bistro kicks off our season with a series of spectacular appetizers. He’ll prepare a smoked trout tart with oven-dried grape tomatoes and castello blue cheese; crispy sweetbreads with morels and double-smoked bacon in puff pastry; roulade of smoked salmon and chevre on pickled celeriac and caper berries; gnocchi Parisienne with braised oxtail ragout and Parmesan crisp. The finale is a trio of eggs: miniature crab soufflé; savoury custard with pepper relish; and poached quail egg on double-smoked bacon. |
Tuesday, April 6  Chris Squire presents a wonderful selection of antipasti garnered from his many visits to Italy, including mussels with spicy tomato sauce; fagioli with rapini; eggplant Parmigiano; tomatoes with basil and goat cheese; shrimp with green beans; and marinated mushrooms. |
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Thursday, April 8 or Emily Richards joins us for a delicious evening of sweet and savoury fruit dishes. She’ll start the evening with two delicious appetizers: a raspberry pecan brie en croute and grilled figs wrapped in prosciutto with a balsamic drizzle. Her main course is pork tenderloin medallions in a blueberry merlot sauce. Dessert is a strawberry chocolate mousse and mascarpone stuffed roasted peaches. |
Monday, April 12 Paul Harding co-chef-owner of The Only On King presents a special spring meal. He’ll offer two first-of-the-season dishes featuring wild local greens. The main course is a braised spring lamb shank with saffron russet potato gnocchi. Dessert is a preserved stone fruit clafouti. |
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Tuesday April 13, 20 and 27 Chris Squire returns to Jill’s to share three fabulous menus from his travels in Italy. April 13 April 20 April 27 |
Wednesday, April 14 or Christie Pollard shares her dessert panache in this class with an emphasis on decorating. She’ll make a pavlova roulade with toasted coconut, cream and strawberries; Austrian walnut torte with coffee cream; lemon layer cake with rhubarb compote and lemon butter cream icing; and double Dutch chocolate cupcakes with incredible chocolate frosting. Participants will have an opportunity to do hands-on decorating of their own cupcake and take home a Cuisipro decorating pen. |
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Monday, April 19 Join Jill and registered dietician Noelle Martin for an evening of gluten-free cooking. Noelle will discuss resources in London and ingredient lists to avoid. Jill will prepare a gluten-free meal that includes: Thai spring rolls with mint and shrimp; quinoa tabbouleh salad; Spanish tomato and spinach soup; and pizza. Dessert is a lemon polenta cake with fresh fruit. |
Monday April 26 or David Chapman shares his expertise in cooking lake fish. His menu includes pan-seared lake trout with leek, pancetta and chanterelles; spice-crusted whitefish with mango salsa and Israeli couscous; pan-seared pickerel with lobster broth, asparagus and morels; and cornmeal crusted yellow perch with corn risotto and tomato chutney. |
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Wednesday, April 28 or Join Jill for a global look at vegetarian cooking. The night will start with phyllo samosas with mango chutney; and edamame and tofu dip with whole wheat pita. Next is chilled vegetarian borscht followed by Asian quinoa salad with a spicy orange sesame dressing. Last is penne with a tomato, sage and balsamic vinegar. |
Sunday, May 2 Start the morning with freshly brewed coffee, banana mango frappe and rhubarb streusel muffins just out of the oven. For lunch Jill demonstrates a spring vegetable soup with pistou; brie and walnut tart served with a fennel and asparagus salad with a truffle vinaigrette. To complement the theme, dessert is lavender panna cotta. After lunch, join Nicola Kamp of Nicola’s Garden Art to make a spring lavender pot, using dried French lavender, hydrangea and moss. This easy-to-make creation is long lasting and smells lovely! |
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Monday, May 3 or This is one of Jill’s favourite classes of the season. Learn helpful tips on starting an herb garden. Jill’s menu includes: Italian bean and tomato soup with sage oil; asparagus and herb salad in a lemon vinaigrette; and hangar steak with cilantro jalapeno salsa, served with a zucchini slaw. Dessert is a fresh, fruit compote with lemon balm and mint. Each participant will take home a perennial potted herb for their garden. |
Tuesday, May 4 or Vicci Coughlin of Telegraph House returns to share her expertise on pie-making. She’ll make her famous rhubarb custard pie, a fresh strawberry glazed pie and a blueberry lattice pie. Each participant will take home an Emile Henry pie plate. A light salad and soup will be served at the beginning of the class. |
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Tuesday, May 11 or We’re excited to have Emily Richards in our kitchen to conduct this hands-on knife skills class featuring Wüsthof knives. Emily will go through the fundamental cuts for many ingredients in the kitchen as well as offer helpful tips for keeping your knives sharp. A number of knives will be demonstrated and used this evening. A light meal will be served. Each participant will take home a Wüsthof Santoku or 8-inch chef’s knife. Limited seating. |
Wednesday, May 12 or Learn sandwich secrets with Christie Pollard. On the menu is a sharp cheddar and chutney sandwich with pecan cream cheese on raisin bread; roast beef croissant with caramelized onions, horseradish rouille and arugula; grilled Cubano with ham, Swiss, pickle and mojo mayonnaise; sweet potato club with avocado, pea sprouts, tomato, red onion; and lemon poppyseed spread on multigrain. |
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Tuesday, May 25 Kent Van Dyk celebrates spring. He’ll start the evening with a spring pea soup with white truffle oil followed by ravioli filled with C’est Bon chevre and herbs in a morel mushroom sauce. The main course is marinated lamb with asparagus. The finale is rhubarb ginger shortcake with mascarpone/vanilla cream and rhubarb sorbet. |
Monday May 31 or Summer is salad time. Join Jill and explore the range of oils and vinegars, and local fresh ingredients that can go into summer salads. She’ll make an asparagus, fennel and haricot vert salad with a truffle vinaigrette; Tuscan tuna salad with sun-dried tomatoes in a red wine vinaigrette; Du Puy lentil salad with smoked duck in a pomegranate and avocado oil dressing; cornbread panzanella salad with a lime vinaigrette; and shrimp salad with orange and cashews on Asian greens in a soy/tahini dressing. |
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Monday, June 7 Add to your Mexican recipes with Jason Miller. He’ll make pico de guio, salsa verde, guacamole and jalapeno corn salsa to serve with tortilla chips. Next is Mexican black bean soup with cumin and fresh lime followed by a fresh shrimp taco salad and zesty chicken empanadas. The main course is roasted beef tenderloin with a mole sauce, served with sautéed peppers, onion and flour tortillas. Dessert is churros dusted in cinnamon sugar served with vanilla ice cream. |
Monday, June 14 or Denis Cotter, award-winning cookbook author and owner of the renowned Café Paradiso in Ireland, returns to Jill’s to demonstrate more of his fabulous vegetarian dishes. His spring menu includes; asparagus and Toscana gratin with hazelnut crumb and mustard cream; braised artichokes with broad bean and ricotta filling and olive and caper salsa; chard dolma of quinoa, carrot and currants with saffron cashew butter sauce; grilled zucchini, green bean and lentil salad with coriander, mint and yoghurt dressing. Dessert is rhubarb and strawberry trifle with prosecco, orange mascarpone and pistachio-lemon praline. |
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Tuesday, June 29 Learn Korean cooking with Kent Van Dyk. He’ll start with Korean pork dumplings (mandoo) followed by sweet potato noodle salad (japchae). The main course is marinated beef rib eye Korean barbecue-style (Bulgogi) served with pickled cucumber and cabbage (kimchi) followed by a vegetarian mixed rice dish (bibimbap). |
Cooking Classes
Welcome to the Spring and Summer cooking classes at Jill's
We're about to celebrate the beginning of an incredible array of local produce that comes with spring and summer. It's also a perfect time for cooking and entertaining because we're just so much more relaxed.
New Way to Register
Please take note of our registration procedure for this season. Registration begins at 8:00 am on Monday, March 22. Please note that we will not take phone registration on this day. We will be happy to take phone registration beginning 8:00 am on Tuesday, March 23 and beyond.