Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.
My friend Paula and I are finally in New Orleans for the International Food Bloggers Conference!
I’ll tell you more about the sessions later — I’ve only caught one so far about food styling and photography — but for now, I leave you with (forgive the term) food porn from our Taste of New Orleans small-plate sampling dinner tonight.
Chef Malik reviews her mystery box ingredients during the March 2 preliminaries.
June 6, 2011
Today I was in the kitchen at Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School, the first day cooking for my summer class, Food Production III. I’ll write a separate post about that…stressful, but ended up okay!
While I was there, I noticed Chef Cindy Malik (known to some students as Chef East, as she got married last semester) and her hubby chatting with some of the other chefs. She was in street clothes — I hardly ever see her out of chef whites — but she meant business.
She’s playing two roles this week, both as lead instructor at the culinary school and a competitor in tomorrow’s Diamond Chef final, hosted by the same school. She won the preliminaries on March 2 against a bevy of local heavyweights to compete against last year’s Diamond Chef winner, Chef Daniel Capello of the Chenal Country Club.
Chef Dan Capello finishing his dish at last year's Wildwood Wine and Food Festival.
I’m sure it’s an awkward balance for her this week. She has worked very hard to practice, study, learn new techniques and memorize all kinds of possibilities for tomorrow’s black-box style competition (think Chopped on Food Network). Meanwhile, all her colleagues are putting together the actual event, including the secret ingredients that she can’t know anything about.
Chef Malik, from what I overheard, was informing the others about what she’d be bringing, since the competitors are allowed to bring some of their own equipment and product. After she left, the others whipped back into action, packing up all the pantry ingredients and equipment that the two competitors will have available during the competition, as well as the top-secret mystery baskets.
The Diamond Chef competition, a fundraiser for the Pulaski Technical College Foundation, will be held at the Statehouse Convention Center tomorrow night (Tuesday, June 7), with a reception at 6 p.m. and program at 7. Food fans can purchase tickets for $150 and enjoy a three course dinner — not the ones prepared by the competing chefs, but by the school’s other professionals and students — and watch the two competitors sweat and chop it out.
I was sick and wasn’t able to attend last year, so I am totally excited to be going tomorrow. I’m so excited, in fact, that I was willing to send my husband and kids ahead on our vacation to Charleston, S.C. without me, and I’m flying out Wednesday morning to meet them.
The school has me scheduled to help in the kitchen, but if I’m at all able, I hope to live-blog the event here and on Twitter as I did the Diamond Chef preliminaries. If you’re a Twitter bird, follow me at @ARFoodie. If nothing else, I’ll send some awesome behind-the-scenes photos of food and frenzy.
Deets:
June 7, 2011
Diamond Chef Arkansas – Finale
Statehouse Convention Center
6 p.m. Reception
7 p.m. Program
Table of 10 – $1,500
Individual Tickets – $150
For tickets, contact Yvette Henton at (501) 812-2271 or yhenton@pulaskitech.edu
The conclusion of the ultimate culinary competition will unfold on center stage. Chefs will have 60 minutes to prepare a three course meal for judging that features a mystery ingredient revealed just before the clock starts. Chefs are judged on creativity, taste, presentation and technical skills. Guests are treated to a three course meal including wine.
Diamond Chef Arkansas is presented by Pulaski Technical College Foundation.
Note: Scroll down for live coverage.
Continuing to position itself in the forefront of Arkansas’ culinary scene, today Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School and the Pulaski Technical College Foundation host Diamond Chef preliminaries at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Little Rock. The event, held in the hotel lobby’s bar area, is free to the public and helps raise awareness and funds for the state’s only culinary school accredited by the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation.
Diamond Chef is patterned after competitions such as Iron Chef and Chopped on Food Network, placing the state’s top chefs against each other for the year’s esteemed title. For the preliminary competitions, chefs are presented a mystery basket of ingredients and given 40 minutes, with the help of one sous chef, to prepare a dish using all the ingredients.
Last year’s champion, Chef Daniel Capello of the Chenal Country Club, will defend his title later this year against today’s winner.
Capello, who has been executive chef at the Chenal Country Club since 2009, has been cooking professionally for two decades. Before moving to Arkansas, the Texas native was an executive chef at several Houston restaurants, as well as for the corporate dining facility of British Petroleum. He’s one of just a handful of chefs in the state who have earned the American Culinary Federation’s Certified Executive Chef designation.
Tickets to the final Diamond Chef competition, to be held June 7 at the Statehouse Convention Center, are $150 and include a three-course meal. (For tickets, contact Yvette Henton at (501) 812-2271 or yhenton@pulaskitech.edu.)
As a student of Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School, I encourage you to follow along, or even come by and watch the excitement. If you have a little extra cash floating around, consider bidding on one of tonight’s dishes by live auction, and/or purchase a ticket for the June final. Both will help buy equipment for the school, so we can continue bringing up the next generation of great Arkansas chefs.
Stay tuned for live updates!
Chef Jamie McAfee and sous Duke Eyman take a few moments to evaluate the mystery ingredients.
Chef Cindy East-Malik quickly removes items from her mystery basket, alongside sous Billy Ginocchio.
Round 1 winning dish by Chef East-Malik and sous Billy Ginocchio.
Heat 1: Chef Cindy East-Malik (Sous Billy Ginocchio), PTC Arkansas Culinary School vs. Chef Jamie McAfee (sous Duke Eyman), Pine Bluff Country Club.
Mystery Basket: Coffee-flavored Patron, Hershey chocolate bar, ribeye, catfish, pork rinds, horned melon, pineapple, blood orange and nectarines.
WINNER: Chef East-Malik.
Heat 2: Chef Brian Kerns of Country Club of Little Rock (sous Jon Bobo) vs. Chef Jacob Peck of Forty-Two.
Mystery Basket: Skirt steak, red drum, Cocoa Krispies, granola bars, white asparagus, assorted fruits, Bacardi aged rum.
WINNER: Chef Brian Kerns. Note: Win was by only 1/4 point. Kerns, 33/50; Peck, 32.75/50.
Heat 3: Chef Paul Clinton of YaYa’s Euro Bistro (sous Matthew Loman) vs. Chef Jeremy Reeves of Fox Ridge Estate (sous Mark Elliot).
Mystery Basket: Veal, trout, Fruit Loops, Chex party mix, squash blossom, assorted fruits, Gentleman Jack bourbon.
WINNER: Chef Paul Clinton.
Heat 4: Chef Brian Kerns of Country Club of Little Rock (sous Jon Bobo) vs. Chef Cindy East-Malik (sous Billy Ginocchio) of PTC Arkansas Culinary School.
Mystery Basket: Top sirloin, soft shell crab, mini marshmallows, Pringles potato chips, cipollini onions, assorted exotic fruits and Patron Anejo tequila.
WINNER: Chef Cindy East-Malik, who will go on to the final round against Chef Paul Clinton for tonight’s win.
Heat 5/Final: Chef Paul Clinton of YaYa’s (sous Matthew Loman) vs. Chef Cindy East-Malik of PTC Arkansas Culinary School (sous Billy Ginocchio).
Mystery Basket: Beef cheek meat, oysters on the half shell, Frosted Flakes, Apple Jacks, broccoli rabe (a.k.a. rapini), assorted exotic fruits and Tanqueray Rangpur gin.
WINNER: Chef East-Malik.
Chef East-Malik, lead instructor for Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School, will battle Chef Daniel Capello of the Chenal Country Club on June 7. See above article for ticket information.
