Fancy Pants Foodie

Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.

Food Blogger Bake Sale is Saturday!

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Arkansas Food Bloggers, Professionals Bake and Sell Goodies to End Hunger
100% of Sales to Benefit Share Our Strength  

(North Little Rock, Ark.) – April 20, 2012 – This Saturday, April 28, Arkansas food bloggers will join others across the country in the third annual Food Blogger Bake Sale, raising funds for Share Our Strength in the organization’s fight against childhood hunger. The Arkansas event, hosted by Christie Ison of Fancy Pants Foodie, will be held adjacent to the Argenta Certified Arkansas Farmers’ Market in North Little Rock, 6th and Main Streets, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Offerings will include items made by local bloggers, including: Hillary Kleck of Sensory Sun; Lisa Mullis of Arkansas Outside; Heather Nabers West of Bake Create Love; Sunshine Crawford of Make Life Delicious; Julie Kohl of Eggs and Herbs; Stephanie Hamling of Proactive Bridesmaid; Kelli Reep of What Have You Heard; Gina Knuppenburg of Desperately Seeking Gina; and Paige Burkham of Approaching Joy. Professional offerings will include gluten-free items by Dempsey Bakery, and other treats from the Peabody Hotel, Argenta Market, Brown Sugar Bakeshop, Whole Foods, Blue Cake Company, Sweet Love Bakes and Gigi’s Cake Boutique.

Last year, the Arkansas team raised over $1,000 with its first sale, and all proceeds went to support Share Our Strength programs such as No Kid Hungry and Cooking Matters. Ison, a graduate this May of Pulaski Technical College’s Arkansas Culinary School, will be a volunteer chef with the Cooking Matters program in Little Rock this summer.

Organized in 2010 by Gaby Dalkin of WhatsGabyCooking.com, the national Food Blogger Bake Sale features food bloggers from across the country who unite to support the cause by holding bake sales in their states on the same day.

Share Our Strength®, a national nonprofit, connects children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives. Through its No Kid Hungry® campaign – a national effort to end childhood hunger in America – Share Our Strength ensures children in need are enrolled in effective federal nutrition programs; invests in community organizations fighting hunger; teaches families how to cook healthy, affordable meals; and builds public-private partnerships to end childhood hunger, at the state and city level. Working closely with the culinary industry and relying on the strength of its volunteers, Share Our Strength hosts innovative culinary fundraising events and develops pioneering cause marketing campaigns that support No Kid Hungry. Visit Strength.org.

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Pulaski Tech Prepares for New $15M Culinary Facility

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Chef Todd Gold, Director of Programs at Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School, answers questions after Monday's student orientation.

As part of the school’s stated vision to “make Arkansas a culinary destination,” Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School Director of Programs Todd Gold announced plans on Monday for a new, $12.5 – 15 million facility for the program, estimated to be completed in about two years.

The announcement was made at an orientation for students of the culinary program, which included an introduction to the program’s staff and a review of uniform and other policies. (Students: Watch for a separate post detailing the orientation.)

The program is currently at full capacity, with 350 students currently attending hands-on classes and about 150 taking general education classes, waiting for the culinary classes to become available. Culinary classes are currently taught at Pulaski Tech’s north and south campuses, although headquartered at the latter.

Gold said the new facility will include teaching kitchens specifically designed for stocks, soups and sauces; baking; and meat and seafood (butchery). The meat and seafood kitchen will be held at 40 degrees, “like a huge walk-in [refrigerator],” Gold said, so carcasses may be safely held and broken down from a larger size.

A new wine studies center will include stadium seating and special features at each seat to assist the learner in viewing and evaluating different types of wine.

All details about the new facility are still considered preliminary, since the bond issue to pay for the project won’t happen until next month. But plans have been swift for months now, with the process to choose an architect currently underway.

“We received 21 proposals from architects,” Gold said, “and they will be reviewed by a committee to choose the top four. These will do oral presentations, and we should be able to select one by mid-October.”

The new facility is planned to be about 40,000 square feet and two stories tall, and will be located on the north side of the parking lot for the current Pulaski Tech South building on Interstate 30, near Bryant. The school’s truck driving education program will be moved from this space to another location.

“This will be state-of-the-art,” Gold said. “I would put it up against any other culinary education facility.”

Choy: Learn It All, But Chase Your Passion

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Chef Sam Choy serving his Hawaiian Tuna Poke.

Learn basic knife skills and don’t quit, even if you’re the dishwasher, said chef and television personality Sam Choy during this morning’s appearance on the Pulaski Technical College’s LR-South campus.

Choy demonstrated two dishes and various knife skills during the demonstration, while sharing insights for students of the college’s Arkansas Culinary School.

Choy noted that many accomplished chefs have minimal knife skills or may not know how to break down a chicken or pig, and as students we now have the opportunity to learn these things.

In a later interview, Choy added that culinary students should take advantage of their time in school to experience as much as possible, and at the same time find an area of focus.

“You’re trying to balance school with the rest of your life, and some things may fall through the cracks,” he said. “But try to do as much as you can, and at the same time focus on what grabs your interest. Then you’ve found your focus, what you like to do.”

He also encouraged small famers and growers in Arkansas to cooperate with chefs in bringing local foods to the restaurant table.

“Farmers are no different than any other profession, in that they want to make sure change will be profitable for them,” Choy said. “But slowly they will start turning [toward growing for restaurant use]. The most important thing is growing food to be enjoyed on the table.”

Choy has appeared on Ready…Set…Cook! and Iron Chef America on Food Network, and will soon debut a show called What’s for Dinner? on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The new show will feature surprise visits to homes in which he creates a meal based on what he finds in the kitchen.

The dishes Choy demonstrated were poke, or Hawaiian dishes of various diced ingredients.

Sam Choy’s Hawaiian Salmon Poke

  • 2 lb. Alaskan wild salmon, large diced
  • 1/2 c. Soy sauce
  • 2 T Sesame oil
  • Medium white onion, diced
  • Medium cucumber, diced
  • 2 Scallions, sliced
  • 2 Avocado, diced

Mix ingredients well and serve cold.

Mexican Restaurant Association (MERA) National Conference

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Chef Ulysses Mora shows Tuesday morning's first pan of paella.

In case you hadn’t heard, North Little Rock was the epicenter of a Mexican culinary throwdown this week.

Our great city (I can say that because I moved back into NLR city limits Wednesday) hosted the Mexican Restaurant Association’s (MERA) national conference. Demonstrations, management discussions and vendor displays took place at the Wyndham Riverfront. The convention also included Monday’s community night at Dickey-Stephens Park (link is to Kat Robinson’s coverage on Eat Arkansas) and a banquet for conference attendees on Tuesday night at Pulaski Technical College, hosted by the Arkansas Culinary School.

Did I mention I moved this week?

Because of a long list of unavoidable circumstances, we pretty much packed and moved our entire house the first half of this week. So, the only event I made it to was part of the conference itself on Tuesday morning. I’m still kicking myself for missing the community and banquet events — especially since there’s a rumor that Guy Fieri was at the former. (Can anyone confirm that, with photos?)

But I did sign up some time ago for the Tuesday morning task of assisting Chef Ulysses Mora, a delightful, handsome chef and accomplished artist from the Orlando area. We were to make paella, a Spanish rice dish that would be demonstrated alongside another chef’s authentic Mexican dish. It was a friendly “versus” setup, commemorating Mexico’s 200th anniversary of independence from Spain.

While the morning conference activities began, Chef Mora prepared two huge dishes of paella, in traditional pans so large that one took up the entire flattop cooking surface. While he made the first one, I ran around finding things for him, running other things to the walk-in, and basically absorbing the craziness of the busy kitchen.

As Chef Mora transferred the first dish of paella to a hotel pan for sampling during his demonstration, he started the second pan that would be for display. (And, of course, kitchen-worker eatery. Bonus!) He let me sweat the onions and prep some of the other ingredients: Uncle Ben’s parboiled rice (really), mussels, tilapia (he said he prefers mahi-mahi), crab legs, and the most amazing chorizo sausage I have ever had. He said it was flown in from Spain for $17 per pound.

If any readers went to the other events, especially if you have photos, please leave me a comment!

So Sushi, I Was Wrong (about Lewis Curtis on Hell’s Kitchen)

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Image from Lewis Curtis' Hell's Kitchen Facebook page.

SPOILER ALERT…If you’ve DVR’d last night’s premiere of Hell’s Kitchen and haven’t watched it yet, don’t read this!

In an earlier post about the Wildwood Park Wine and Food Festival, I talked about meeting Lewis Curtis, executive chef at Lulav. Curtis appeared in last night’s premiere two-fer of Hell’s Kitchen…at least until he was axed in a surprise move by Chef Gordon Ramsay in the last moments of the second-hour episode.

At Wildwood, I described Curtis as “delightfully punkish, the one you’ll ‘love to hate’ in the show.” I was wrong. And possibly, in my opinion, it was his lack of ratings-drawing “punk” that got him cut.

Lulav Executive Chef Lewis Curtis (right) watches Wednesday's Iron Chef competition with sous chef J. Matt Lile (left).

Curtis came across as genuine and heartfelt, showing great emotion in the one-on-one interview after his dismissal. He also sounded much more country-fried on the show than he does in person, and I’ve spoken with him twice in the past week. Maybe, just as the television camera sometimes adds 20 pounds, for others it adds a few degrees south of the Mason-Dixon line.

The show’s second hour featured a sushi challenge, starting with a demo from none other than (!) Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Curtis never seemed to get the hang of sushi, failing the challenge gloriously. So, of course, Ramsay places Curtis in charge of sushi for the men’s team during dinner service.

Would this happen in a real restaurant? Possibly in a teaching kitchen, or on a slow night when the chef wants a cook to learn a new skill. But Curtis was set up for disaster, which was apparent when, two hours into service, he still hadn’t produced a saleable plate of sushi.

At the end of the show, three other cooks stood before Ramsay for his decision on who would go home: moronic, bumbling Raj; talented, headstrong Boris; and charming, overconfident Vinny. Ramsay took a deep breath and plucked Curtis from the waiting group, sending him home instead for holding up dinner.

As a budding culinarian, I can’t fault the guy. We all have styles in which we’re comfortable, and Asian (at least sushi), obviously, just isn’t his. I’m sad that we won’t see his other talents on the screen. So I guess you’ll have to just go to Lulav and try the food.

Diamond Chef Puts Spotlight on Local Chefs, Culinary School

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NOTE: Please check below for real-time updates.

OK, so I couldn’t stay wordless all day. There’s a big event afoot. And although I can’t get down there until later today (sick kiddo), I know you’re clamoring for updates.

It’s Diamond Chef. And the heat is on.

Eight local chefs and their sous chefs (assistants) are duking it out today at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, in the lobby bar area. The competition echoes the format of Food Network’s popular show Chopped, requiring the chefs to use items from a mystery basket of ingredients and produce a dish in 40 minutes. Attendance is free, but you’ll have the chance to purchase completed dishes auction-style. The funds will benefit Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School, of which I am a student. Your contributions are greatly appreciated. 😉

The two winning chefs from today’s event will compete on April 8 at the Arkansas Diamond Chef finals event at the Statehouse Convention Center. At this event, chefs will create a three-course meal using a mystery ingredient announced just before the start of competition. Tickets to that event cost $150 per person and can be purchased by calling Jamie Higgins at (501) 812-2271 or e-mailing jhiggins@pulaskitech.edu.

Today’s schedule and results:

12:30 p.m. – Heat 1 – Chef Brian Deloney (Maddie’s Place) vs. Chef Jason Godwin (Simply the Best)
Basket ingredients: Flank steak, whole dill pickles, tequila, Asian pear, tomatillos, white cheddar cheese.

Heat 1 Winner: Chef Jason Godwin, Simply the Best
Judges noted the winner’s thinly sliced beef, making the flank steak tender. He created a pico de gallo topping out of the pear, tequila and lime.

1:30 p.m. – Heat 2 – Chef Timothy Morton (1620) vs. Chef Jason Knapp (Pulaski Tech Big Rock Bistro)
Basket ingredients: Veal, star fruit, gorganzola cheese, coffee grounds, Kahlua, tarot (or taro) root.

Heat 2 Winner: Chef Jason Knapp, Pulaski Tech Big Rock Bistro
The competition was close in this round, with Knapp edging out Morton by just two points.

2:30 p.m. – Heat 3 – Chef Diana Bratton (Café 1217 and Taco Mama) vs. Chef Daniel Capello (Chenal Country Club)
Basket ingredients: Cowboy ribeye, mandarin orange, mandarin kumquat, red wine, chayote squash, cornflakes.

Heat 3 Winner: Chef Daniel Capello, Chenal Country Club
Cowboy steak with cornflake crust, puree of yukon gold potatoes with onion/mandarin orange marmalade, beef roulade with spinach, chayote, tomato and mushrooms.

3:30 p.m. – Heat 4 – Chef Joseph McCullough (Best Impressions) vs. Chef Donnie Ferneau (Ferneau)
Basket ingredients: Brussels sprouts, vodka, yellow mustard, flat iron steak, mangosteen, feta cheese.

Heat 4 Winner: Chef Donnie Ferneau of Ferneau.
Ferneau’s dish was a flat iron steak marinated in mustard and garlic; brussels sprouts, mangosteen and feta cheese ravioli with a wild mushroom veal cream; fried onions and a green onion pesto. Technical judge Andre Poirot, Executive Chef at the Peabody Hotel, said the two dishes were equally delicious, and Ferneau won on creativity with the given ingredients.

5 p.m. – Winner of Heat 1 vs. Winner of Heat 2
Chef Jason Knapp of Pulaski Technical College Big Rock Bistro vs. Chef Jason Godwin of Simply the Best
Basket ingredients: Denver cut beef, kohlrabi, rum, saltine crackers, gorgonzola cheese, gooseberries.

Quarterfinal 1 Winner: Chef Jason Knapp of Pulaski Technical College Big Rock Bistro.
The winning dish (which I got to taste, and was fabulous) included thinly sliced Denver cut beef, mashed potatoes with kohlrabi, a cracker-coated crust with camembert cheese, and a pan sauce with dark rum, butter, cream and gooseberries.

6 p.m. – Winner of Heat 3 vs. Winner of Heat 4
Chef Daniel Capello of Chenal Country Club vs. Chef Donnie Ferneau of Ferneau

Basket ingredients: Sirloin steak, fiddlehead ferns, passionfruit, cottage cheese, peanut butter, brandy.

Quarterfinal 2 Winner: Chef Daniel Capello of Chenal Country Club.
With a perfect score, Chef Capello ousts 2008 Diamond Chef Donnie Ferneau. His dish featured a mushroom and cottage cheese stuffed sirloin, crisp vegetables with fiddlehead ferns, blue cheese gnocchi, smoked sirloin with balsamic onions. The beef was served in a glass cloche filled with smoke.

I’ll update as frequently as possible today with winners and photos. You should also check out the photos and commentary at the Arkansas Times’ Eat Arkansas blog.

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