I know I've been lagging on updates but I wanted to give everyone a look at what I've been participating in.  I've been training to do a Century Bike ride (122 miles to be exact) in Las Vegas to help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (http://www.lls.org/).  I'm part of their Team In Training fundraising group and I am trying to help fundraise for the charity.

I hope everyone will help me participate with the group by donating.  Every penny counts and I can use your support. Please donate at: www.TNTCancer.com to help Blow Up Cancer!

High School Mentoring/Competition

So part of my absence from my blog has been partly due to the fact that I've been helping mentor 5 high school students to compete in a national competition this week.  A reporter came in and wrote this nice little blurb!  Needless to say, I'm happy to be a part of this event and think it is even more awesome to be in print now!

The Article:

Cooking Under Fire

valley students prep for cooking comp

From the outside it looks like an ordinary high school classroom door. But when you step inside you can hear clamor of pots, the crisp slicing of vegetables, and the bustling boil of a kitchen under the pressure of time. Professional chefs gather around their protégés, turning Francis Polytechnic Senior High School’s class kitchen into a pressure cooker for five students.

The five will compete against each other Saturday, May 5, at the Long Beach Hyatt. One will go on to a bigger competition in Houston, Texas, representing Poly, and the city of Long Beach, to compete nationally against several other cities across the US.

In his white chef’s garb, sophomore Jose Garcia, takes his time hovering over a water-spotted metal table, intently placing the finishing touches on a gourmet “Strawberry Field” salad. Dressed with a tangy balsamic vinaigrette and accented with a crumbly type of cheese, the tuft of greens seem to pop off the pristine white plate. The dish looks more like an artist’s creation than a first course.

“I feel like this is my stepping stone for my new career because this is was what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Jose said. “[I’m] Excited because this is my first time [competing]. I really want to do it because it’s not for winning but for having the experience and enjoying myself.”

Saturday’s judges will have to put Jose’s Strawberry Fields against four other equally decorative first courses, including  11^th grader Karina Yepez’ dish. Karina will present an Asian cuisine-style of diced carrots, red and green peppers brilliantly placed on 3 large endive leaves. Like bright green boats of flavor, the dish has a timeless, zen-like quality reminiscent of a leaves floating down a creek.

The theme of her dish seems to fit her cooking style. She usually goes with the flow when she cooks at home, freely mixing ingredients from the family fridge to create dishes her family enjoys ­– like chicken and bacon, or whatever’s there, she said.

“I’m glad I’m in it,” she said of the competition. “I just need to improve a little better.”

Jose and Karina are among the students being mentored by a dedicated group of professional chefs and educators behind the program in the days running up to the event. Executive Chef and mentor Christopher Haydostian, along with other volunteers from Sodexo and professional food educators , have spent the last few weeks putting in extra hours after school with the help of the Keep Youth Doing Something afterschool program staff.

“It’s phenomenal to see people that are younger and have the ability to take on this program. They come in…on their own time after school to learn this and do this,” Haydostian said. “They’re dedicated to do it.”

The executive chef goes on to sternly mentor the students, being as tough on them as the 2-and-a-half hour time limit the students will have to prepare 3 plates of an appetizer salad and 3 plates of a main course. It seems like plenty of time but the executive chef assures the students they will have to use their time wisely. As one other executive Sodexo chef put it, come competition day, “the clock will be your worst enemy”.

As the students prepare all week for the competition, Food and Learning will follow the students in a multi-part series as they prepare and go on to the next level of the competition. The competition is hosted by several groups including Hyatt Hotels; the Afro-Academic Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO);  and the food service company Sodexo with KYDS, Inc.

Semi Homemade Chocolate & Strawberry Bundt Cake

So there seems to be some issues with my past posts.....they never showed up! So here I go beginning to catch up on all my lost content....

I ended having to make/bring a dessert for a little dinner party we were invited to.  Not having a lot of time, I went with the Semi-Homemade route.  To make a simple dessert from the grocery store and dress it up to look like MONEY, this is all you need to do:

1ea Fudge Bundt Cake

1pkg Organic Strawberries

1can Aero-Whipped Cream

I dusted off my vintage cake stand and ended with my final creation!

To make this just wash and slice your strawberries.  I then made a layer around the cake on the stand. Use only the middle slices. This will make it look more uniform and keep it as a flat layer.  The end pieces were used to encompass the bundt circle in the middle.  Then fill the bundt hole with the remaining strawberries.  Done!  Just have some whipped cream (or in my case areo-whip) ready to go for service. Enjoy!

Instagram = InstaFoodgasim

With the new release of Instagram for Android phones, I felt the need to jump on the band wagon! So if you're a current Instagram user, be sure to follow me.  My user name can be found as RTechChef. By following, you'll be able to keep up to date on my current visual food misadventures as well.

Some of my Instagram work (Pictures from a party for 200 I just did):

Here are the Chocolate Dipped Strawberries, from the post below, all plattered up.

This is a Cheese & Berry Platter. We had 3 more like this.

Picture of some Spanikopita we made (we made a total of 400 pcs).

In this picture you can see some of the Mini-Quesadillas for the party. They are filled with Papaya, Jalapeno, Pepperjack Cheese, and Black Beans.

Now if your bummed that you don't have Instagram access on your phone. Don't worry!  There's a site for that!  Just follow me on my web-base Instagram site here: RTechChef's Instagram Site

Thank You for reading and spending your time on my blog!