The Spring 2010 Inspired magazine has arrived! I am always excited to get my hands on a copy of the latest issue as soon as it hits the stores! If you knew how much hard work from all the contributors went into each edition, you wouldn’t dare spill a drop of sauce on it. However, please get it sticky and stained. There are so many great entertaining and everyday recipes inside, that your Inspired should live in the kitchen!

Fondue is a fun interactive way to entertain and dessert is no exception. We here at the Compliments Culinary Centre take on extern students for a seven week stint, we try to give them experience in all of the projects we work on here at the centre. Melissa just finished her time with us but before she left I asked her for a quick, simple, tasty dessert fondue that was not chocolate recipe (no pressure Melissa!).

We here at the George Brown Chef’s School put a lot of thought and effort into the FONDUE theme I was particularly interested in an Asian themed hot pot. Not a traditional fondue but a very similar and delicious and nutritious to boot.

I love the "fondue" style of eating. It is relaxed and laid back, social, fun and interactive. Equally as important, it’s delicious!

I haven’t been to many fondue restaurants, but have many great memories from the one I have eaten in. Jana, some friends and I made a road trip to Montreal a number of years back to see U2 in concert. The show was amazing, as was our meal at "Fondumentale". We had numerous courses of different fondues in a private candle lit dining room with some great wines. It was a great night.

One of the most talked about chicken dishes is the “drunken chicken”. This is where you take a chicken and rest it upon a can of beer and roast it in an oven or BBQ. The theory behind this technique is solid: dry heat on the outside to create that classic crisp skin; moist steam from the beer inside, to create a juicy tender chicken. I thought that the more subtle flavour of a Green Tea Beverage would be a nice replacement for a can of beer!