The contest begins March 1 and runs through June 8, 2012. The challenge is for entrants to create up to three original recipes for appetizers or small plates that showcase duck in creative ways.

Students, Enter 2012 Lead Like “Mike” Contest www.acfchefs.org/LeadLikeMike
ACF students and apprentices are invited to enter the 2012 Lead Like “Mike” Contest by May 2 for the chance to access culinary leaders and top-notch networking opportunities. One student will be selected to attend the 2012 ACF National Convention in Orlando, Fla., July 14-17, to be mentored by ACF National President Michael Ty, CEC, AAC. Five finalists will be selected for phone interviews. The winner will be announced by June 6, and will receive airfare to Orlando, accommodations at the Orlando World Center Marriott and a full convention registration. View complete guidelines and apply at http://www.acfchefs.org/Content/NavigationMenu2/About/Overview/President/Contest/default.htm.

We’re not only celebrating our students this year but also the beginning construction of our Community Market Place downtown, our articulation with ISU, our work with local farms and glorious Iowa products and our international collaboration with Spain!

This year we are proud to announce that Chef Julian Arranz of award winning father and son pastry team extraordinaire Raul and Julian Arranz from Valladolid, Spain will be with us from January 15th through February 14th and will be preparing one of his incredible creations for our dessert the night of the dinner!

You can take a look at Chef Julian’s work on his website from the following link: http://www.pasteleriaarranz.com/

The menu that night will be of Spanish influence with local products – honed towards Iowa tastes!

6:00 – 6:30 will be devoted to social time with wine and an assortment of Spanish tapas to please your palate.

6:30 – 7:00 will offer a glimpse into our program’s international articulation from our student’s perspective.

7:00 sharp – dinner is served!

First Course
House Mozzarella with Bruschetta and Arugula

Second Course
Crunchy Goat Cheese and Seared Melon Salad

Third Course
Beer Battered Caribbean Stuffed Peppers

Fourth Course
Lobster Thermidor

Fifth Course
Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Seared Duck and Crispy Sage

Sixth Course
Filet Mignon with a Spanish Potato Cake

Seventh Course
Bleu Cheese Rolled Grapes with Powdered Pistachios

Dessert
Julian’s Surprise!

Of course, a nice selection of wines will be served throughout dinner and live music will be a part of the evening.

This year winners will be announced at the end of the meal and we’re looking forward to a really big crowd! As always, after the bills are paid, ALL proceeds go to help our culinary students continue their education with us here at Indian Hills!

Tickets are on sale now at $75.00 per person and would make great stocking stuffers if you’d like to pick yours up tomorrow!

Email grader@indianhills.edu to RSVP

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:

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.

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