SCCC cooks compete at regional event (Schenectady County, Niskayuna)

SCCC cooks compete at regional event (Schenectady County, Niskayuna)

Posted on: 02/10/09
Jackie Sher
email: news@spotlightnews.com

This weekend students from Schenectady County Community College’s Culinary Arts program will compete head-to-head in a competition not of culinary skill, but of the mind.

Four SCCC students will head to the American Culinary Federation’s Northeast Region H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl Competition, held Feb.7 to 9 in Boston.

“They need to understand all of the definitions ranging anywhere from nutrition, sanitation, culinary basics, baking basics, as well as classical French cooking,” said Christopher Allen Tanner, chef instructor at SCCC and head coach of the team.

Participants had to memorize facts from five culinary textbooks including Escoffier’s “Le Guide Culinaire,” “Culinary Fundamentals,” “Baking Fundamentals,” and a book on management, which is produced by the National Restaurant Association.

The road to the competition has been taxing on the participants.

“They practice three days a week, three to five hours a day,” said Tanner. “They go through a grueling process of getting quizzed by me on the different topics.”

And that’s only when they’re all together. Participants are also expected to practice on their own. The four team members, who were selected from about a dozen applicants, all work full time and also attend school full time.

Many have little time to eat the food they’re studying so much about.

“I work about 55 hours a week at Creo, and I’m the head pastry chef here so I’m in charge of two other students who go to Schenectady County Community College as well,” said Jose Arteche III, team captain. “Then on top of that I go to school full time, but generally I stick to four classes but that’s still four days a week that I physically drive to school.”

Arteche said that one of the challenges of preparing for the competition has been learning French terms.

“Trying to remember French words when you haven’t really taken a French class is tough,” said Arteche. “We’re trying to guess in our minds what the actual words sound like. All of the questions will be read verbally so we have to really listen carefully to all of the questions.”

He said that he and his teammates are used to reading the phrases and words — not hearing them.

This is the first time Schenectady County Community College has participated in the competition in more than 10 years.

Team members include Arteche of Colonie, Valerie Inman of Watervliet, Daniel Sala of Watervliet, Lisa Valentine of Clifton Park, and Evan Weissman of Saratoga Springs. They will compete against students from Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to take home the Northeast Regional title. The winners will go on to compete in the national competition held at the American Culinary Federation’s national convention in Orlando in July.

The questions asked during the competition will be very specific.

“They need to know all the primal cuts that are found in a beef cattle and what can be done with them. They need to know the proper techniques or the amount of time to wash your hands underneath sinks before you work in a kitchen. They need to know different laws on sanitation, as well as management laws,” said Tanner.

Students might have to name the two species of fish that Escoffier recommends using for fish stock (sole and whiting), and they might have to specify the type of gas that is employed in the flour bleaching process (chlorine gas).

However, despite the endless number of facts participants must commit to memory, they and their coach are excited and have enjoyed the process.

“If anything, this has expanded my knowledge in culinary arts. I can now point things out in recipes and menus that I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” said Arteche.
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From the SCCC Kitchen: Chicken jambalaya dish easy, healthful Cooks can control level of spiciness in recipe that’s well-suited for Mardi Gras

From the SCCC Kitchen: Chicken jambalaya dish easy, healthful
Cooks can control level of spiciness in recipe that’s well-suited for Mardi Gras
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
By Jeff Wilkin (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

http://www.dailygazette.com/videos/2009/feb/10/134/

Carnival law is now in effect for New Orleans, as tourists and natives prepare for Mardi Gras.

The Cajun version of easy living includes masks, costumes and plenty of spicy food. Christopher Tanner’s version of easy living gives home chefs a fast way to celebrate the day, without all the carousing and purple and green party favors.

“It’s really easy to make,” Tanner said of his chicken jambalaya, a healthful and spicy version of a rice stew. “They call it the creole trinity; the three main vegetables are in there — celery, bell pepper and onions. They’re just sautéed with a little bit of olive oil, put the Cajun seasoning in with that along with one cup of the andouille sausage and you kind of brown that a little bit on the bottom.”

This browning puts a bit of crust in the dish, and some extra flavor.

“Then you put the rest of your ingredients in there, the tomatoes, the stock, the rest of the sausage and the chicken, add your rice, stir it up put a cover on it and let it go until it’s fully cooked.”

It’s as simple as throwing beads off a balcony. Using chicken as the main protein also makes this healthier than a shrimp-based jambalaya, as Tanner said the latter dish can be high in cholesterol. A chicken jambalaya, the chef said, means people with allergies to shellfish can fill up their bowls.

New Orleans cooking means spicy, and Tanner’s salute to Mardi Gras is a spicy one.

“What you do to make it less spicy is take some of the Cajun seasoning out,” he said. “There are 5 tablespoons in this recipe. If you want it less spicy, just put 2 tablespoons of that in there or take the Tabasco sauce out as well.”

But people should not remove too much of the seasoning and sauce — this is a Mardi Gras diversion, after all.

“You want to have some of that in there,” Tanner said. “That’s the flavor of the actual dish.”
Chicken Jambalaya

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups Spanish onions, diced medium

3 cups green bell peppers, diced medium

1 cup celery, diced medium

5 tablespoons Cajun seasoning

3 cups chicken andouille sausage (found in supermarket poultry sections), sliced in quarter-inch rounds

6 cups chicken broth

2 cups peeled, chopped tomatoes

8 ounces chicken breast, sliced julienne

3 cups Uncle Ben’s rice

2 teaspoons Tabasco

Coat the bottom of a heavy, 5-quart pot with the olive oil, place over high heat and preheat. Add onion, peppers and the celery, 3 tablespoons of the Cajun seasoning, 1 cup of the andouille sausage and cook, stirring constantly until a crust begins to develop, about 12 minutes. Add 1 cup of stock to de-glaze, cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and julienne chicken slices, cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the rest of the sausage and chicken broth. Stir in the rice and return to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the rice is tender.

Stir in Tabasco sauce and serve.

Have an Offal Valentine's Day at Irving Mill

Irving Mill is a restaurant down in Manhattan on 116th East 16th st with a menu driven by American ingredients with a classical rustic French and Italian twist. They describe their menu as "Old World clean." Ryan Skeen, their chef has a decidingly Italian background with a Sicilian grandmother along with his early years at Riccardo's in Portland, Oregon. At Elisabeth Daniel in San Francisco he picked up his French style of cookery, along with stints at Daniel, DB Bistro Moderne, Cafe Boloud, and even an Executive sous chef spot at Jeanes Georges in New York City. In 2008 he was rated on of the top ten fifteen young new chefs by the James Beard Association.


So why does all of that matter. Well, I took a look at Irving Mill's website recently and found a picture of Chef Skeen lugging a small pig on his back, a man with a similar passion for the swine I must say. Upon further look, from a suggestion of a friend, I checked out his Valentine's Day menu. The main menu was the usual high end great food that one would expect from a restaurant like this, however, I scrolled down to the bottom of the page to find this wonderful addition to the menu.

7 Course Heart Tasting Menu $85

Chicken Heart Tempura with Sweet Garlic and Parsley Sauce
Duck Heart Confit & Crispy Duck Neck with Smoked Duck Bacon, Chicory and Poached Quail Egg
Grilled Pork Heart BLT with Tomato Confit, Horseradish Aioli, Parsley and Romaine
Squab Heart Sugo with Gnocchi and Burrata Cheese
Cured Shaved Lamb Heart with Pickled Beets, Rapini Leaves and Goat Cheese
Sweetbread Stuffed Calves Heart Grand Mere with Grilled Porcini, Thumbelina Carrots, Pearl Onions and Veal Bacon
Hearts of Palm Tres Leche


Holy cow, it's too bad the wonderful woman I am currently dating will be away for Valentine's Day, well maybe too bad for me and lucky for her in her mind. I might have to make a trip down to NYC for the day at any rate to just see for myself how good this chef might be. With the "guts" (pun inteneded) to put together a menu like this, along with his impressive resume, I'm guessing this menu will be an exciting venture.

Restaurant info:

Irving Mill
116th East 16th Street
New York, NY 10003
212-254-1600

website: http://www.irvingmill.com/restaurant/

Schenectady County Community College Knowledge Bowl Team

For the first time in over ten years, Schenectady county Community College will be representing the New York Capital District region in the Baron H. Galand Knowledge Bowl competition at the American Culinary Federation regional convention. This years convention will be held at the Westin in Boston, MA.

We have an amazing team this year representing the college. The members include Jose Arteche III (Captain), Evan Weissman, Lisa Valentine, Valerie Inman, and Daniel Sala. They have been practicing constantly for the last two months preparing themselves for this grueling academic competition which requires them to have a vast knowledge of culinary arts. the topics range from basic cooking and baking, to hospitality management, nutrition, sanitation, and knowledge of classical French cooking from Escoffier's le Guide Culinaire.

The competition will take place February 7th during the ACF regional convention which takes place from Feb. 7-9th. So please join me in wishing them luck next month while they take on this great challenge. The team captain and I will be on Channel 13 WNYT news in Albany next week at 8 am talking about the competition and then we will be preparing some healthy Super Bowl goodies afterward.

American Culinary Federation SCCC Spring Culinary Classic

American Culinary Federation
Capital District – Central New York
and
Schenectady County Community College

Spring Culinary Classic

Please join us on April 18-19 for a weekend of culinary excellence during an ACF sanctioned culinary competition. Local chefs and culinary students along with chefs and students traveling from far and wide to display their skills.

Local chefs will be competing in an intense Nutritional Hot Food (F/4) during which they must prepare an appetizer, soup or salad, entree, and dessert - ten portions each in a four-hour time limit with incorporation of the principles of moderation and balance as identified in The 1990 Dietary Guidelines for America, U. S. Department of Agriculture and US. Department of Health and Human Services.

Chefs will also be competing in a variety of other equally intense categories including single chef Market/Mystery Basket (F/1, F/3, F/5), two chef Market/Mystery basket (F/3), individual Contemporary dish (K/1-9, P/1-5), and “Student Skills” (S/1), Edible Cold Food (G), and Cold Food display (A-E) competitions.

For more information contact Chef Christopher Allen Tanner, CEC, CHE at 518-526-6427 or tannerca@sunysccc.edu

Émile Zola and Charcuterie

"It [the charcuterie:] was almost on the corner of the Rue Pirouette and was a joy to behold. It was bright and inviting, with touches of brilliant colour standing out amidst white marble. The signboard, on which the name QUENU-GRADELLE glittered in fat gilt letter encircled by leaves and branches painted on a soft-hued background, was protected by a sheet of glass. On the two side panels of the shop front, similarly painted and under glass, were chubby little Cupids playing in the midst of boars' heads, pork chops, and strings of sausages; and these still lifes, adorned with scrolls and rosettes, had been designed in so pretty and tender a style that the raw meat lying there assumed the reddish tint of raspberry jam. Within this delightful frame, the window display was arranged. It was set out on a bed of fine shavings of blue paper; a few cleverly positioned fern leaves transformed some of the plates into bouquets of flowers fringed with foliage. There were vast quantities of rich, succulent things, things that melted in the mouth. Down below, quite close to the window, jars of rillettes were interspersed with pots of mustard. Above these were some boned hams, nicely rounded, golden with breadcrumbs, and adorned at the knuckles with green rosettes. Then came the larger dishes--stuffed Strasbourg tongues, with their red, varnished look, the colour of blood next to the pallor of the sausages and pigs' trotters; strings of black pudding coiled like harmless snakes; andouilles piled up in twos and bursting with health; saucissons in little silver copes that made them look like choristers; pies, hot from the oven, with little banner-like tickets stuck in them; big hams, and great cuts of veal and pork, whose jelly was as limpid as crystallized sugar. Towards the back were large tureens in which the meats and minces lay asleep in lakes of solidified fat. Strewn between the various plates and dishes, on the bed of blue shavings, were bottles of relish, sauce, and preserved truffles, pots of foie gras, and tins of sardines and tuna fish. A box of creamy cheeses and one full of snails stuffed with butter and parsley had been dropped in each corner. Finally, at the very top of the display, falling from a bar with sharp prongs, strings of sausages and saveloys hung down symmetrically like the cords and tassels of some opulent tapestry, while behind, threads of caul were stretched out like white lacework. There, on the highest tier of this temple of gluttony, amid the caul and between two bunches of purple gladioli, the alter display was crowned by a small, square fish tank with a little ornamental rockery, in which two goldfish swam in endless circles."
— Émile Zola

Pigging Out in the Clink

Most people who know me, know of my love for meat from the swine persuasion. Clink is a restaurant in Boston that I have had a couple meals at and I have a feeling this pork themed series they are doing will be quite good. I will be making a trip out to partake in the swine meats.


Clink
photo: differentperspective.com

Starting tomorrow night, Clink in the Liberty Hotel will host a series of pork-focused meals featuring acorn-fed pig from La Quercia (a highly regarded pork purveyor in the Midwest). The four-course meal, served alongside the regular menu, will include various cuts and preparations of the meat, beginning with the feet and tail and moving onto the loin, belly and bones. Dishes include a pork broth and dumpling soup; a grilled piece of brined pork loin served along with crispy pork belly and porchetta-style pork shoulder; and a peanut tart made with a lard-based crust (December 19, 20, 26 and 27; January 2 and 3; $47 per person; 617-224-4004).