Liberty High School Culinary Arts team takes top honors

There are many reasons that the Liberty High School Culinary Arts team took top honors at the Washington Restaurant Association Education Foundation ProStart Invitational in March. They went into this year's competition as defending champions from last year. Their Culinary Arts teacher Lisa Phillips was named "2006 Teacher of the Year," winning a trip to the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago and $1,000 for her own education.

The students also showed incredible resourcefulness and a willingness to try the unusual! King County Journal photographer Matt Brashears spent an afternoon with the students just a week before the competition. He tasted their practice food and made a subtle suggestion - that they consider truffle oil with the salmon. As Phillips explained, "Truffle oil is very expensive but our chef coach agreed that it would be great. We compromised and used white truffle/olive oil which was more economical but still added truffle flavor."

Phillips reported that Brashears "got a chuckle" out of knowing his suggestion was adopted by the team that took first place, "And that," she said, "is the rest of the story."

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Tarragon Salmon  (recipe courtesy of the LHS culinary team)

Ingredients:
2 six ounce salmon fillets
1 tablespoon White Truffle Olive Oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 pinches tarragon

Instructions:
Skin the salmon. Trim salmon and rub skin side with salt, pepper, and tarragon. Heat oil in fry pan. When oil is hot, place salmon carefully into the pan, skin side down. Cover and cook 3-4 minutes. Uncover and flip. Cook another 3-4 minutes. Uncover and check for doneness. Continue cooking until the salmon is light pink in the center, and flakes when separated with a fork. When done, place on plate, skin side up, and serve. Serves 2.


District news release

King County Journal article