I have been with The Chef's Academy since the 8th of March of this year, and as another term comes to an end I have seen competitions come and go at the school as well as a few competitions outside of the school. My blog was due the day of The Clash of the Tailgaters, but I decided to hold off because I had two more competitions following that one. After competing in the Clash of the Tailgaters, I competed in an ACF sanctioned competition at the McFarling food show at Lucas Oil Stadium. At this competition I was the first competitor that was judged. I only earned a certificate of participation, but all of the information that I gained was priceless. This brings me to my last competition: the Huantsburg Chili Cook off in Brownsburg, IN. On my team was Rhiannon Spafford (a fellow TCA student and member of the Student Advisory board). We had a few obstacles to overcome, but we did it, and when it came down to it at the end of the day we won First Place with our Voodoo Chili that we used not just two weeks prior at the Clash competition. We took to heart what the judges and public told us, and improved upon the recipe and it paid off. Does any of this rambling have a message? Simply put, be patient and persistent when competing in the kitchen. When one doesn't win right away, they have two choices: they can quit, and not do it anymore, or they can learn from what they did and push through the disappointment that comes with loss.
My name is Josh, and I am a competitive culinarian.
Life is one big lesson. For those of you who have yet to figure this out, well, I wish you luck. Learning for me is a big deal. Given unlimited funding, I would probably spend all of my time in school, studying anything and everything of interest. I am very enthusiastic to add my degree from the Chef’s Academy to my Bachelors from Indiana University in 2011, and it is unlikely I will stop there. Case in point, I love to learn.
From my perspective, most of life’s lessons are not something we acquire intentionally. Some of the hardest lessons come at the expense of others. One of my favorite anti-motivational poster quotes states: “It could be that the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others.” Humorous but painfully frank, I try to learn from the mistakes of my peers. Unfortunately, it is more often than not my own mistakes teach the hardest lessons.
Chef Hamilton was my instructor for 101 last term. I admire him not only for his obvious skill in the classroom, but his patience with a challenging class. I didn’t think that I personally would need his help, hoping that I would pick up the material very quickly on my own. I had no idea just how wrong I was.
We began breakfast cookery, starting on the basics. It was then that I met my match: the incredible, rumored to be amazingly edible, egg. One ingredient means no margin for error. It also requires far more patience than has been required of me for awhile. This much was obvious to Chef Hamilton because I became visibly frustrated in class. I could not get my eggs over easy just right. This was evident by the growing pile of “sunny-side up” failures directly behind my station.
Chef Hamilton strolled over, wondering why I had apparently given up. With that coy, boyish smile of his he said, “Show me what the problem is.” He stood there, watching my work on egg after egg until I got it right, instructing and directing me through every step. My confidence increased as I finally turned out one single perfect over-easy egg. I was elated, and he moved on to help the next student.
I do not think Chef Hamilton realized the events that transpired that day, and probably went about his business as usual. However, I will never forget. What he taught me was not just how to make an egg. Chef Hamilton taught me the value of patience, and more importance, the value of humility. Everyone needs help sometimes, and being afraid to ask for it will never help you improve. I voted for Chef Hamilton as instructor of the term for this very reason. He has given me the confidence, patience and humility that will make me a great chef. I will never stop learning and I vow to treat my fellow students, colleagues and hopefully, proteges with the same patience and respect as Chef Hamilton did for me that day.
If you have not noticed, The Chef’s Academy now has bicycle racks installed.
In an effort to accommodate the request of a few students and to become more environmentally friendly we have installed two bike racks that will accommodate up to six bicycles each.
It was a very long process to procure the racks but we have them securely installed now. Please utilize these racks to secure your ride if you commute to or from The Chef’s Academy via bicycle. You can find the bicycle racks located in the front of the building by the visitor parking spaces.
The Chef’s Academy’s 2nd Annual Rib Cook off was held on Friday the 23rd of July. Although there were not as many entries as we had hoped for, everyone that participated in the grilling as well as the tasting and voting had a great time!
Man it was smoking hot and I am not just talking about the grills!
The National Weather Service had issued a heat advisory for Marion County that day, I do not recall the exact temperature with heat index but the only thing hotter than the weather was Rodney Franklin and Patrick Early’s Raspberry/Chipotle sauce. Ha! I really doubt there was much raspberry in that sauce! Just kidding guys, it was great.
The tasting only cost a measly $5 and participants could taste as many as 6 or 7 different ribs prepared by The Chef’s Academy students. The participants could then vote for their favorite ribs. The judging was performed by a panel of 5 judges comprised of Chef/ instructors of The Chef’s Academy, student advisory board member, and other staff and volunteers.
We would like to congratulate Ryan Beck for winning first place at the 2nd Annual Rib Cook off! We would also like to give special mention to Jenna Turner and Tanya Russell for winning the People's Choice award.
If you missed it this year well you just missed it!
Students, make a point next time to display your talent and abilities, join in on the fun and camaraderie these events provide.
Tasters, voters, friends, family, and general public, please come out and support our students, the future chef’s of the world.
Our next competition will be the Clash of the Tailgaters, on Friday, September 17, 2011!
The Chef’s Academy Spud-tacular first annual potato race on Friday, July 16, quickly became a terrific twist on tubers. More than 30 chefs, staff, students and family were our tater-race challengers, and chose their potatoes pensively. Carved, assembled and wheeled, a few spud cars were creatively named, “The Buzz Spud,” “The TaterNater,” “Team HRM,” and “The Begermeister.” Competition was fierce as Chef Hamilton and Chef Powell joined forces and created a starchy monstrosity, complete with an avocado grill and carrot racing stripes. Despite their culinary expertise, they were quickly thrown out of the running by a very versatile vehicle carved by The Hanslits sisters. Participants of all ages recklessly raced their Russets through different heats, beating each other's spectacular spuds into submission. It was a harrowing and heated day, but finally student Rodney Franklin won the Yukon gold. Staff member Dorenda Roberson took home the win for her potato “Best in Show.” Student Patrick Early and Financial Aid Analyst Josh White came in 2nd and 3rd respectively with their spectacular spuds!
As a student at the Chef’s Academy, I have volunteered at many different events. Each event had been crafted with care and attention, but I think my absolute favorite was our dinner for the Broad Ripple Farmer’s Market in June of this year. I was proud to be one of the dozen or so students that lent their talents to the night’s proceedings.
The dinner helped raise funds for the Broad Ripple Village Association, which has been working since 1969 to make Broad Ripple a truly beautiful place. Comprised of approximately 350 households and 500 businesses, the BRVA has been thriving for over 40 years because of the dedication of volunteers and the success of their Farmer’s Market. Running every Saturday from May 1st through November 20th (8:00 AM to 12:30 PM), the Broad Ripple Farmer’s Market has 32 regular vendors.
One of the Market’s vendors is Ross Faris, who hosted the dinner and offered one of his scenic gardens as the setting for the event. Mr. Faris told me the story of how he began his garden. Twenty-nine years ago, his children (who were then very young) wanted to make a lemonade stand. Faris, who had been growing tomatoes for the summer, wagered his tomato stand would do more business than their lemonade stand. This went on for many summers until his children had grown up. By that time, Mr. Faris had started growing a variety of vegetables. When he finally retired from Eli Lilly, he dedicated himself to his hobby. He now has four acres of land devoted to his garden. He provides produce for ten restaurants and ten farmer’s markets, including of course the Broad Ripple Farmer’s Market.
As the guests came into the plentiful, picturesque garden, they were greeted by not only my fellow chefs-in-training, but also some thirst-quenching beverages. Clay Robinson of the relatively new but up-and-coming Sun King Brewers donated his Sunlight Cream Ale, which won silver at the 2010 World Beer Cup. John Hill, owner of the Broad Ripple Brew Pub and co-founder of the BRVA, provided a lovely Hefeweizen. And Mallow Run Winery (located in Bargerville, just 30 minutes south of downtown Indianapolis) provided the evening with a delicious assortment of wine.
The night’s menu (featuring five decadent courses) was carefully crafted by Chef Greg Hardesty of the restaurant Recess. We began with Tomato Panzanella Gazpacho Salad. While it had the distinct taste of gazpacho soup, it also had the texture of panzanella (a traditional Italian bread salad). It was a delightful contradiction and a refreshing start to the meal. The second course was a tamale made of Indiana sweet corn. Topped with mushrooms, swiss chard, peppers and a spicy green onion cilantro salsa, the tamale was warm, savory and provided an overall nice transition to the third course.
Next, we served a wonderful summer vegetable soup. It was composed of turnips, cabbage and braised greens. With a drizzle of bacon oil for a refined finish, the soup was hearty and scrumptious. For the entrée, we grilled some tantalizing meat terrines with a beautiful red wine glaze. They were served with horseradish green beans and a roasted leek and new potato salad. To end the meal, the guests had a truly unique dessert. With the texture of cheesecake, the goat cheese panna cotta was topped with local fruit marinated in maple syrup. It was rich, delectable and a lovely conclusion to the menu.
As the sun began to set over the trees, all the volunteers were asked to come up to the front by the guests’ table. We weren’t quite sure what was going to happen next. Suddenly, we received a standing ovation from the very people we fed that night. It was extremely satisfying, not just that we were thanked, but that we used our time and talent to help a well-deserving organization raise money for their noble cause.
How many times each week do you find yourself waiting in a line somewhere? We wait in line at the bank, at the checkout counter at the grocery store, at the airport, at the DMV, and many other places! How much of that time do we stand there annoyed, thinking of all the other things we could be doing? Unless you one day have someone to run all of your errands for you, count on continuing to have to stand in line at some point throughout your week! This occurrence may never go away; however, how we deal with it may determine our stress level on any given day.
I was very fortunate to be standing in line the other day behind what appeared to be a mother and son. They were having a whistling contest while they were waiting in line! I was fascinated by how quickly the time went by before we were being serviced. . . 30 minutes in line felt more like 10 minutes. Imagine if I had my own version of whistling while waiting each time I was in a line? There are so many things people could do to pass the time. After all, we know we’re going to be waiting today or tomorrow or the next day. So, why don’t we prepare ourselves?
Ways to Pass the Time While Standing in Line:
• Check your voicemail messages.
• Take out pen and paper and make a “To Do List.”
• Bring a report or paper you’ve been working on and proofread it.
• Read a book, magazine, or something that is fun and will keep your interest.
• Pack a handheld game and play until you hear that you’re NEXT!
• Clean out your pockets, purse, or wallet.
• Whistle or hum softly your favorite tune!
Jokima Hiller, MBA, Hospitality & Restaurant
Management Program Coordinator
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