Hill's Kitchen

It’s hard to believe that so much time has passed by since our last site update but it has been a busy year, the busiest to date!  We’ve made two trips to Spain since our last post, grown our program dramatically and become heavily involved in the local Farm to Fork Movement helping to develop a local farmer’s market and network with independent farmers, chefs and educators from around our area as well as integrate an educational component for the community to help spread the word about real food and real cooking!

While I was in Spain with Tomas Torres for our 3rd year competing in the International Tapas Competition in Valladolid, Melania Gonzalez was here at IHCC from Spain for a two week visit!  We met Melania during our July excursion and were pleased to be able to return a bit of the hospitality we were shown while in Spain.  We have another visiting dignitary from Spain this coming January 15th!  Chef Julian Arranz, celebrated Spanish pastry chef will be with us for a month and will be working with us on our scholarship dinner towards the end of January as well as work with our local chefs, colleges, and high schools to promote new food ideas and global friendship!

With winter break fast upon us, I’ll have some time to get everyone up to speed with our activities and put the spotlight once again on our dedicated students.  Meanwhile, here’s some images from Spain:

The event was designed to be a benefit for nonprofit organizations and this year it was for the G.I.V.E.( Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere ) foundation which provides golf experiences for injured veterans.

Organized by the American Culinary Federation of Southeast Iowa. The American Culinary Federation is a national professional organization which sets standards of culinary excellence by education and certification. Chapters around the country are  involving Culinarians in competition and various volunteer programs to improve nutrition, fight hunger and provide education.

40 chefs competing for over $12,000 in cash and prizes. There were 9 categories with each category having 8-10 entries in each. The categories Soup, Salad, Beef, Pork, Duck, Seafood, Student and a Local Iowa Foods . The chefs plated 6 plates of each of their entries to be judged by 20 professional chefs, educators and industry leaders. The chefs and students competing are coming from all over the State. Iowa culinary schools that are competing are Scott County CC, Kirkwood CC, Indian Hills CC. Professional Chefs competing are from country clubs , restaurants and casinos. The identities of the competitors are kept confidential until judging is final.  The judging is a blind tasting  so that ethically this competition is fare and not weighted.

The general public was invited to listen to some Jazz music and graze among the 68 various culinary preparations. This was more like a stamped to get to the chefs tables and sample the work they put forth.  At 7pm the awards were handed out with the grand finale being the Best Of Show prize a $2500.00 award . Included was Local Product Competition competing for a $500.00 cash prize . Any participant who utilized local, Iowa produced goods in their preparation entered in that portion of the event.

As the awards were given out the winners were awarded their medal, bronze for third, silver for second and gold for first as well as the cash for the placement and an educational certificate from the ACF of Southeast Iowa for competing, generally used for ACF certification.

To following were our winners, first place received $500, second place $300 and third place was $200 Best of show received $2500  and $500 for the best local foods recipe.

Soup

1 Eran Salzmann, Zbest café – Roasted Corn & Crab Soup

2 Joshua Delperdang, Winifreds Catering – Carrot Soup with Carrot Cracklins

3 Martha Cleveland, Blue Cat Brewery-Tomato Coconut

Salad

1 Travis Allen, Vesta – Mediterrannean Date Salad

2 Christine Jordan, Rhythm City Casino-Iowa Fresh Salad

3 Ben Halperin, Augusta-Scarlet Salad

Beef

1 Brenton Miller, Isle of Capri- Grass Run Farms New York Strip Loin

2 Monkut Sayasit, Venos-Braised Short Ribs

3 Jamie Hatzis, Cedar Rapids Country Club-Strip Loin Medalion

Duck

1 Jon Olson-Ripple at Riverside Casino-Ginger Scented Duck

2 Joshua Delperdang, Winifreds Catering- Duck Confit & raisin Quinoa Rissoto

3 Travis Allen , Vesta- Duck Confit Tostada Napoleon

Seafood

1 Eran B Salzmann, Zbest Café- Vidalia Onion Crusted Salmon

2 Zeph Leaton , Ruthies at Riverside Casino-Corriander Seared Fish

3 Shawn Timmerman, Isle of Capri-Sea Bass w / Vanilla Vinaigrette

Pork

1 Monkut Sayasit, Venos-Bacon and Egg Sous Vide Pork Belly

2 Jason Gomez, Isle of Capri-Smokey Caramel Pork Tenderloin

3 Jeremy Henson, Fermented Black Bean Rib, Shitake Miso Grits

Dessert

1 Jackie Fairbrother, Roberts Buffet at Riverside Casino- Goat Cheese  Ravioli

2 Melissa Yetter, Roberts Buffet at Riverside Casino-Campfire Smores

3 Seth Hershey, Vesta-Vanilla Bread Pudding, Balsamic Ice Cream

Students

1 Ashley Lane- Indian Hills Community College- Café au Lait Cheesecake

2 Linda De Jong, – Indian Hills Community College-Apple Crostata with Caramel Sauce

3 David Van Riet– Indian Hills Community College-Rollitini

4 Jorge Santiago, Kirkwood College-Tamales with Green Mole

Local Iowa Foods

1 Seth Heshey, Vesta – Gorgonzola Beef

2 Barry Greenbergh, University of Iowa-Iowa Charcuterie Assortment

3 Christine Jordan, Rhythm City-Iowa Fresh Salad

Best of Show

Monkut Sayasit   , VENOS  – Bacon and Egg Sous Vide Pork Belly.

Congratulations to Marjorie Beckman’s culinary class from Mount Pleasant High School for yesterday’s big win!  Incredible product and professional attitudes made the day!  I’ll be updating the site with images taken by instructors and parents as well as post-event information as the week moves forward.

And now a note for the high school instructors:

I can’t tell you how proud I am of the performance given by your students on Friday!  You 5 instructors are the new models for all of the high schools in our area and I just have to salute you once again!  The way your students looked and acted and the restaurant quality product of the dishes absolutely  astounded the judges and parents.  They saw in real time what these young people are capable of and the enthusiasm and seriousness I saw with my own eyes speaks volumes about the quality of your work.

Be sure to have your students look me up on Facebook as well so I can track their progress and invite them and their parents to future events as I want all of them in our program!  Just  the type of students that can set us apart and move us forward!

A truly exceptional event!

http://ottumwacourier.com/local/x300769879/Competitive-students-get-a-taste-of-hectic-food-industry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VUNDKEC7Is

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/BHS-Iron-Chef-040111

As the weekend approaches excitement is growing along with the list of details to finalize. Hopefully you are all on board and prepared for a record breaking event. All of the categories are full with the exception of the student category which is over full. We have 10 entrants in the student category ! There will be 68 entries to judge plus the best of show and the local foods category.  Even with the amount of judges we have it will still be a lot to judge in a short amount of time.

At 2pm on Sunday there will be a judges meeting in the private dining room in Roberts buffet . At that time all of the rules and guidelines will be reviewed , judges assigned to the categories and some time frames reviewed. The competitors will be out of the room at 3pm and we need to be prepared to enter and start judging at that point. I would like to have final tallies within the hour and best of show judging at 4 if possible. The evening event will start at 6 pm and awards will be handed out at 7:15 pm.

Second Annual Riverside Casino Culinary Classic

Our last meeting was a three-hour information and education marathon.  We covered many aspects of good stewardship of seafood resources and ate a lot of clams, oysters and fish.  We had a fish identification quiz, and Dillon made the grade.  He won an autographed copy of Charles Carroll’s book, Tasting Success.  Well done!  Chef Matt Meadows showed us aspic basics for competition plates.  I was also impressed by the attendance at our meeting.  We are growing every month.  I say all these things as I look forward to summer.  We need others to step forward and keep moving this Chapter in a positive direction.  If you wish to nominate someone for a leadership position, please let me know.  Membership is still growing each month.  Invite a friend or colleague to a meeting.  We love to see new faces.

April is proving to be a busy month.  The 2nd Annual Riverside Casino & Golf Resort Culinary Classic is April 3rd; the ACF of Southeast Iowa meeting is Tuesday, April 12, at the Catholic Church in Grinnell; and, we will be finalizing the MICA dinner plans at this time.

We were pleased to have Chef Terrie Kohl, owner of Country Club Market in Des Moines with us on the 17th of March.  She lead an event for the Laureate Guild who generously donated $1000.00 to our culinary students!  Thanks so much to all of you that support our students!

Hello, I wanted to reiterate several new opportunities available through ACF announced this week in hopes that you will share this news with your chapter.

The Student Culinarian Invitational is open to all ACF student culinarian members. Students are invited to apply by May 13, 2011, for the chance to win full registration and accommodations at the 2011 ACF National Convention at the Gaylord Texan, Dallas, July 22‑26, 2011. Winners who meet the age requirements mandated by World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) will also travel, with complimentary airfare, hotel and registration, to the 2012 WACS International Congress in Seoul, South Korea. Five teams will be selected to prepare their region’s cuisine at a special reception/dinner July 23, 2011. Visit the ACF website for complete guidelines and for an application.

The Be Like “Mike” Contest is back, and ACF student culinarian members who are first-, second- or third-year full-time culinary students enrolled in either a degree-granting, diploma or certificate postsecondary culinary program, or who are in an ACFEF Apprenticeship Program, are invited to apply. One student will win a trip to the 2011 ACF National Convention in Dallas to shadow Chef Ty. Students must submit an application, essay and other necessary documents by May 4, 2011, to be considered. Visit the ACF website for more information.

ACF chefs are invited to apply for Food Network’s “Chopped.” Chefs of all levels and types from across the country are invited to apply. Chefs will compete in a mystery basket competition for the chance at $10,000 prize. Lear more about the show at www.foodnetwork.com/chopped and apply at www.choppedcasting.com.

Thank you for your time,

Leah

Leah S. Craig
Communications Manager

Editor-in-Chief, Sizzle

American Culinary Federation
180 Center Place Way, St. Augustine, FL 32095

Office: (904) 484-0213

Cell: (904) 419-3346
Fax: (904) 825-4758

lcraig@acfchefs.net
www.acfchefs.org

www.sizzle-digital.com

A new year arrives, and with it come expectations for a steady economy and a better business climate; expectations of establishing new relationships and improving old ones; expectations of bettering ourselves personally as well as professionally and bettering the people around us and the world in which we live.  Expectations come cheap at the beginning of a new year because they are just that…expectations.  Goals.  Hopes.  Dreams.  It’s in meeting those expectations where the value lies.  Let’s face it.  Achievement is hard work.  We, both personally and as a sub-chapter, have achieved a lot over the course of 2010.  We’ve hammered out a consistent meeting schedule and stuck to it, we’ve attended those meetings in large numbers, and we’ve even attracted new members.  We’ve represented ourselves at the regional conference as well as the national conference.  We’ve voted to apply to become a stand-alone chapter and have jumped through hoops trying to get there (while the IRS lingers with our application for tax-exempt status, our application goes to Chef David Russell, Vice-President of the Midwest Region, for consideration).  We’ve taken and passed labs and tests and certification practicals.  We’ve worked toward advanced degrees.  We’ve welcomed one of the largest incoming classes in the history of IHCC’s Culinary Arts program.  We’ve laid our culinary souls bare in competition, both here and abroad.  We’ve organized events, including the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort’s Culinary Classic and November’s Festival of Ice, that have successfully raised funds, not to mention our profile.  We’ve done all these things and at the same time have managed to excel at our jobs and in the classrooms.  I believe we can achieve even more in 2011.  Some of the ideas that have been floating around include a nutritious- and fun-foods cooking demonstration to youth members of the area Big Brothers Big Sisters program; a cooking demonstration at the Grinnell Home Show in March; a summer-time “throw-down” style competition either in Grinnell or Ottumwa, or even somewhere in between; and, a proposal to ask Fritz Sonnenschmidt, CMC, to visit our sub-chapter and teach a short-course in charcuterie.  We’ll talk about these possibilities and brainstorm additional ideas at the meeting coming up on Tuesday, January 11 at Tassel Ridge Winery.  Look for an e-mail from Chef Scott with more details.

By the way, if anyone wants an interesting read, check out Knives at Dawn by Andrew Friedman.  Friedman profiles at length the chef and his commis who represented the United States in 2009′s Bocuse d’Or competition in Lyon, France.  He takes us along as they move through the selection process in Orlando, design their platters, and practice their routine.  I highly recommend it, even if you’re not interested in competitions.  Also visit www.bocusedorusa.org to check in on the progress Team USA is making toward this year’s competition.

Chef Jamie L. Leonard

From the Junior Chapter…

We recently concluded our annual Thanksgiving pie sale.  In all, we sold 330 apple, pumpkin and cherry pies from October 27 to November 17.  Also, we sold 87 cookie platters from December 1 through December 15.  In addition, our hot lab has put on two French lunches lately.  For pictures and more information, contact me at spikintony@hotmail.com.

Anthony Nace

From the Hills…

At least six IHCC culinary arts students plan to attend this year’s Midwest Regional ACF conference.  It will be held from Sunday, April 17 to Wednesday, April 20 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in New Orleans, Louisiana.  To register, or for more information, log on to the ACF website at www.acfchefs.org.

The annual Culinary Scholarship Dinner will be held at Indian Hills Community College on Friday, January 14.  Tickets are $65 and can be reserved by emailing grader@indianhills.edu.  Appetizers will be served promptly at 6:00 pm, and dinner begins at 6:30 pm.  The event will feature live music as well as wine pairings with each course.  Proceeds will go toward scholarships for four IHCC culinary arts students.  Former graduates will assist in preparing each course.  Following is the menu:

• Gruyère Cheese Gougère

• Leeks Vinaigrette Fourme D’ambert
• Butternut Squash Soup with Brown Butter, Sage and Nutmeg Crème Fraîche
• Roulade of Pekin Duck with Creamed Iowa Sweet White Corn and Morel Mushroom Sauce
• Market Greens with Warm Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts
• American Pot Roast en Cocotte with Winter Vegetables and Whole Grain Mustard Sauce
• Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake
• Artisanal Bread Assortment
• Tea & Coffee

For more information, contact Chef Gordon at grader@indianhills.edu.

November and December were busy months for us and now that we’ve wound down into Christmas break I thought it would be a great time to update the site and share some of the best images from our students and their work!  This particular group of students have done outstanding work and shown great enthusiasm for our craft and we’re certainly happy to have been able to share this last year with all of them.  I’ve included images from our recent trip to Spain and want to thank all of those we worked with during the tapas competition for making lasting impressions for all involved.

Hope everyone has the best of holidays and we’re looking forward to the coming year and the continued growth of our students and program alike!

As summer wanes, our thoughts turn to ice…the Festival of Ice, that is.  On Tuesday, November 9 our chapter will host an ice carving demonstration and competition at Grinnell College.  To follow will be a special dinner in the college’s dining hall as well as a banquet for which tickets will be sold.  This is still in the planning stages, so let’s all step forward to help bring it off.  Any menu ideas, please send them to Chef Scott Turley, turley@grinnell.edu.  Eager to try your hand with a chisel and a hammer?  Let Chef Scott know.  Want to lend a hand behind the scenes?  We need all the help we can get, and then some.  If you have any friends or neighbors who carve wood, ask them if they’d like to work in a new, frostier medium.  If you know of someone who has any artistic aspirations whatsoever, let them know that this is their chance to display their artistry in front of a large audience.  I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again.  This is our one chance to showcase our fledgling chapter.  Let’s make ourselves look good!

Speaking of showcasing our chapter, you might recall from last month’s newsletter that we had planned to operate a food booth at Grinnell’s Friday Fest, September 17.  With cool temperatures threatening to put a chill on beer sales–not to mention the band’s cold feet–the event organizer canceled at the last minute.  It’s too bad, as we had several members ready to work the food booth that night.  Thanks for the commitment, all.  Maybe we can try again when the weather warms.

For those of you who missed it, in August we voted to become a chapter independent from the ACF of Iowa.  Well, the process has begun.  We now have our very own EIN, and soon our articles of incorporation will have been filed with the state of Iowa.  Once we are acknowledged by the state as a corporation, we will submit our application to the IRS for tax-exempt status.  It’s not a quick process, or a matter of a few phone calls, but we should be ready to apply for chapter status with the ACF in November.

Chef Jamie L. Leonard

Junior Chapter Serves up Indian Fare

On Thursday, August 5 Indian Hills Community College student chefs Suresh Miller and Anthony Nace served an Indian feast to IHCC faculty and program supporters.  According to Junior Chapter President Nace, “We organized the dinner to further our skills and to generate funds for our ACF junior chapter account.”  On the menu were turkey mulligatawny, samosas with mint and tamarind chutneys, butter chicken, naan bread, and gulab jamun for dessert.  With fifty-five new students enrolled this term in the IHCC Culinary Arts program, there are bound to be many more opportunities for dinners such as this.

Nace also writes, “The practicals had many students biting their fingernails and sweating.  All of us were extremely glad to see that we had all passed.”  Now that practical exams are over for the students, many are attempting to generate enough funds to go to Spain during summer 2011.  For more information about junior chapter fundraising efforts, contact Nace at spikintony@hotmail.com.  To listen to a July broadcast of IHCC students Miller, Charlie Schiller and Linda DeJong on the Steve Boss radio show Great Taste, go to http://www.kruufm.com/station/programs and click on Steve Boss’ link.

Check out the Updated Website

Chef Gordon Rader has customized our ACF of Southeast Iowa website and brought a more contemporary feel to it.  Hopefully in the near future we can begin posting more content on our website, including pictures and, yes, maybe even video, which will make our home page more lively, timely, and ultimately relevant as a tool for communication between chefs not just in our own chapter but between our chefs and chefs outside the state as well.

Welcome Mt. Pleasant High School

Mt. Pleasant High School’s Family and Consumer Science instructor Marjorie Beckman and program Director David Christensen have been collaborating with Culinary Arts at Indian Hills Community College in an effort to become the first high school program in Iowa to be accredited by the American Culinary Federation.  Accreditation  will bring established standards and a high level of credibility to the program at Mt. Pleasant.  Check out the photos of Beckman’s new class on our website, http://www.acfofsoutheasterniowa.org.

From the Hills…

Mediacom will be filming in our kitchens next Wednesday, October 6, and we’re looking forward to some great local commercials featuring our program!  Also, Matt Milner from the Ottumwa Courier was by this week to talk to us about cooking with wine.  The Courier will be featuring a three-part article about the wine boom in Iowa.  Look for the article within the next two weeks.

Indian Hills Community College’s Fall Advisory Board Dinner will be held on Thursday, October 21, at 3 pm.  We look forward to seeing our advisory board members for a recap of our accomplishments and the goals we’ve set for the coming year.  If you haven’t yet received an invitation, or would like to be a part of our board, be sure to contact Chef Gordon at grader@indianhills.edu.

Ruthie Rogers from The Book Vault in Oskaloosa will be working with IHCC to host an Iron Chef competition among culinary arts students after the first of the year.  We’ll be visiting with Ruthie at our advisory board meeting regarding details.

Hold your breath…on Tuesday, October 5, our friends in Spain will be announcing the Second Annual Tapas Competition winners.  We’ve submitted our recipe, and Suresh Miller’s name is in the hat.  Check out our ACF of Southeast Iowa website for the announcement next week.

We’re also working with our colleagues in Spain for travel there during the summer of 2011.  We’ll be planning fundraisers for our students and hope we can count on your support to help our students take a big step outside the proverbial box.  Our traditional January Scholarship Dinner will once again be held at Bridge View Center, with a date yet to be determined.  We would like to have four professional chefs to help us design and implement the menu.  Tickets will be available for $75 per person, and all proceeds after food expenses go to our students to help fund international travel.

Chef Gordon Rader

A few images from a recent lunch service!

Working through stocks, soups, and sauces….

A series of images from work done for various parties including some experimentation with tapas….