Quick Update

I know it’s been awhile (again) since I’ve written, so here’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to.

First of all, Matt and I moved to an apartment in Davis Square. We’re just about settled in finally and loving the area so far.

I have also been volunteering on the weekends at Bondir, a new restaurant in Cambridge. In trying to figure out what to do with my life, I thought finding out what working in a kitchen is like would be a good start. Chef Jason Bond, the chef/owner, has been extremely patient with me as I’ve been learning the ropes. Also, his food is absolutely delicious – I highly recommend it!

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more posts.

I've Moved!

I finally made the move to New York! I know that an update is way overdue, but I have been crazy busy and basically without kitchen for the past month. I recently got an apartment in the East Village with my good friend Jess from college and am absolutely loving it so far. The food options in my neighborhood alone are overwhelming.

I have unfortunately only been around New York on the weekends because my job has me traveling back to Chicago Monday through Thursday every week. I’m staying in a corporate apartment on the weekdays, so I’m hoping that all of the traveling won’t hinder my cooking.

As you can see below, my New York kitchen is itty bitty. I’ll need to get very creative with storage and counter space, but I’ll make do.


Also, happy belated Thanksgiving everyone!

Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge: The Finals!

Well – I didn’t win, but had an incredible day at the finals. They were held last Thursday at the Bon Appétit Supper Club and Café in New York City, which is a “pop-up” restaurant that’s held in a different location for one week every year. They have chef demos during the day and feature lunch specials from well-known chefs. We spent the day there watching all of the demos, meeting some awesome people, and eating LOTS of food. The event happened in the late afternoon after the demos and lunch service were over. I’ll recap whole day, so please bear with me…this might be a long one!

I met the two other finalists when I arrived: Andreann Geise from Myrtle Beach, SC and Deb Kurtze from Schaumburg, IL. They were both super nice and – like me – excited to be there.


We started the day by ordering lunch. The people at Bon Appétit that were with us for the day suggested we share a bunch of things, so we had a quite a feast: José Andrés' JLT with Jamón Serrano and Manchego, Tom Douglas' Rub with Love King Salmon Sandwich, Rick Bayless' Skirt Steak Salad with Avocado and Chile Lime Dressing, Rick Bayless' Creamy Corn Soup with Ham, Tom Douglas' Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons, and Nancy Olson's Pumpkin Whoopie Pie. The JLT, corn soup, and whoopie pie were the standouts for me, but it was all fantastic!


Gina DePalma, cookbook author and pastry chef at Babbo, took the stage after lunch. She demonstrated how to make a zabaglione, which is made by beating egg yolks, sugar, and red wine. The whole process looked a little exhausting, but the end result (which we thankfully got to try) was delicious. Small portions were passed around with a little piece of hazelnut cake.


After Gina DePalma’s demo, Cat Cora sat down at the table next to us for a pre-demo meeting. Katie and I tried our best to not stare, but we couldn’t wait to meet her! The Bon Appétit and Santa Margherita people had her come over to meet us and take pictures after her meeting. I had always thought she looked intimidating on television, but she turned out to be one of the nicest people I have ever met. She’s also very tiny in person! Eventually, she had to pull away from all of the pictures so she could get up on stage and do her cooking demonstration. She energetically showed everyone how to make her skirt steak tacos with shitake mushroom salsa.




Fabio Viviani arrived shortly after Cat Cora’s demo. He did a demonstration of his gorgonzola-stuffed, pancetta wrapped shrimp over herbed polenta and baby spinach. Sadly, they did not give out samples of his dish. I’m definitely going to try the recipe though; it looked and smelled phenomenal!


Preparations for the Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge begin after all of the demos were over. They took a lot of professional pictures (which I hope to get a hold of at some point), but – for now – I’ll have to post the pictures my friends and I took.

The judges for the event were Fabio (again), Jacob Falleni (Fabio’s business partner at Café Firenze), Bill Terlato (President & CEO of Terlato Wines), and Barbara Fairchild (editor in chief of Bon Appétit magazine). I was personally terrified to cook in front of Barbara Fairchild. I always see her as a judge on Iron Chef, so I almost didn’t want to know what she thought about my food! That said, I was extremely excited to meet her.

Some of my friends in New York came to cheer me on :). We had some Prosecco while waited for everything to be setup.

Mike, Jess, me, Katie, and Hallie

My demo was first. Fabio and Bill Terlato first gave a brief introduction of themselves, the judges, and the competition to the audience. I nervously waited on stage behind them as Katie kept signaling to me to smile!



Here are some pictures of my actual demonstration. I had some difficulties at first because my pan wasn’t getting hot enough and I couldn’t melt the butter. I only had 10 minutes to demonstrate my dish from start to finish, so this was a bit of a challenge. Everyone was standing around me trying to figure out how to get the fancy touch-screen stovetop to get hotter. Once we figured it out, the rest went fairly smoothly. Fabio’s chattiness helped ease my nerves!




Finalist Deb Kurtzke went next with her Glazed Pork over Mango Couscous. The last finalist, Andreann Geise, cooked Mint, Fig, and Chianti Glazed Lamb with Spaghetti in a Lemon Chianti Cream Sauce. Their recipes (along with mine) are posted on the Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge website. They were both amazing, so I knew this would be a tough competition.

I was SO nervous when it was time for the judge’s critique and the final decision. They announced that Andreann’s lamb dish with the Chianti won. I can’t say I wasn’t a little bit bummed, but I really can’t complain because I had an amazing time and met some incredible people. I hope they’ll let me enter again next year!

Congratulations Andreann!

And the winner is...

I won the Santa Margherita Great Taste Chicago Challenge! I’ll be heading to NYC in about a month to compete in the Finals.

I’ll try to give a little rundown of how the night went…

When Katie and I arrived at the Signature Room at 5:30, we were turned down and told the event doesn’t start until 6. Katie snappily responded with “no, she’s IN the event.” We called her the soccer mom the rest of the night!

At about 5:45, the other two contestants and I were introduced to the judges (Fabio!) and given a rundown of the logistics. The Signature Room chefs were going to prepare small portions of the dish for the judges and everyone in the audience. We just needed to finish and plate one dish for the demo. They said that John Terlato was going to be the emcee and ask questions throughout each demo.

After that, they showed me my demo station and what had been prepared already. The base of the sauce had been made and the pasta had been cooked; I just had to heat up the sauce, add the marscapone, sear the scallops, and plate the dish.

Demo Station
A couple of glasses of Prosecco later, it was time to be hooked up to a microphone and hit the stage!


Judges:
Colin Crowley (Executive Chef of Terlato Wines)
Susanna Negovan (Editor and Chief of Michigan Avenue Magazine)
Fabio Viviani
Let me tell you – I have a new respect for people who cook on television. My whole demo was kind of a blur. I remember my sauce was boiling over already when I got up on stage, then I dropped my whisk and tongs, and then Fabio had to step in and turn my scallops for me while I dealt with the sauce. During all of this, I was trying to make sure my microphone was staying in place so people could hear me. My friends told me I didn’t look nervous, but I don’t know if I believe them!


I was relieved that I had to go first so I could relax and watch the other two demos. Andrew Ettenhofer went next and made a chicken roulade with goat cheese and roasted red peppers to pair with the Pinot Grigio. I didn’t actually get to try his dish because I think I was busy blabbing to everyone about how nervous I was in my demo, but people said it was delicious.

Next up was Deborah Kurtzke, who made veal meatballs wrapped in eggplant to pair with the Chianti. I did try her dish and it was quite good, especially with the wine. I got a little nervous!

About 10 minutes after the last demo, each judge did a brief critique on each dish. The only critique I got was from Fabio, who said that I should maybe season the arugula before adding it to the top of the dish. Next time I will! He also said that it’s rare for a home cook to use seafood stock, which I’m not sure is a critique or a complement? However, he then said that it was the kind of dish he would actually cook in his restaurant and that he might need to steal the recipe. I felt pretty confident at this point! Shortly after, they announced me as the winner. I took tons of pictures afterwards, but here are some highlights:

Fabio Viviani and John Terlato
Kit, Katie, Me, Fabio, and Kate
Me and Colin Crowley
Me and Fabio…again
Special thanks to Kate for taking most of the pictures!!

Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge

I entered the Santa Margherita Great Taste Challenge on a whim last week with my Seared Scallops with Pappardelle and Saffron Sauce recipe that I posted back in March. The contest asked for a recipe that would pair well with one of their three wines: Prosecco, Pinot Grigio, and Chianti. I thought the richness of the sauce and the scallops would pair well with the light, slightly sweet Prosecco.

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Winning Combination?

Well - I got a call today to let me know that I was a semi-finalist! This means I have to present my dish to judges (including Fabio from Top Chef!) next Wednesday at the Signature Room. Wish me luck!!

PS: If you watched Top Chef New York, then you know Fabio's thoughts: “Ees not top scallop!” I hope it will be!

Impulse Shopping

Like most girls, I am very prone to impulse buying. Food shopping is no exception; I usually have to be pulled away from the truffle section of Di Bruno, my favorite food store in Philadelphia, so I don’t make ridiculous purchases. I think I’ve actually saved a lot money since I moved from Philadelphia because I don’t have a Di Bruno-like store near me in Chicago. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I recently discovered that I can order from them online. I’ve had my eye on this White Truffle Set, but have yet to justify it. Do I really need white truffle honey, or truffle anything for that matter? Hmm, yes – I think I do. Justified.

I did just order various Thai curry pastes and some Pad Thai ingredients online, which I think is a more reasonable purchase than the truffle set. I haven’t been very impressed with the take-out Thai restaurants around where I live, so I’m just going to have to start making my own!

After much anticipation...

I’m finally following through with the blog I created months ago! For those that don’t know me, I am a little bit (ok, very) obsessed with everything food-related. I love to cook, watch the food network, dine out, and read up on everything having to do with food. I often wonder why I opted for an engineering degree rather than a culinary school degree...

Nevertheless, I spend a lot of my free time experimenting with food. I’ll be documenting my findings and adventures here, so I hope you enjoy!

-Colleen