Tails to Toepads

by Kate Djupe

The geckos are back in Columbus and their very stickiness is fascinating and revolting at once. 

I'm not generally a squirmish person, but that thing gives me chills.

I do love the eye patterns and textures and colors...

It is hard to take photos while lifting small children for a game of "I-spy geckos" but these give you an idea of the creep going on at COSI. 

The Competition Begins

by Kate Djupe

When we last met, the Conference Center at NorthPointe had set the stage for the Copper Skillet Competition and the competitors were introduced and awaiting the reveal of their secret ingredients. 

After much ado, the basket contents were revealed: cauliflower, red onion, zucchini, roma tomatoes, arugula, wild rice, couscous, lemons, chicken, shrimp, and fish. A bit overwhelming, indeed, until you remember there is no rule about how many ingredients need to be used in this competition.

Insider tip: When preparing for a mystery basket competition (or for a mystery basket job interview), many chefs will come in to the event with a few entrée templates in their mind. These will be composed dishes that the chef has practiced, they know can be completed in the allotted time frame, and are flexible enough to allow for the mystery basket ingredients to be used. For example, a chef might walk into a competition with this possible idea for an entrée:

(Fish or other protein) in a Oaxacan black mole, paired with a (vegetable)-filled tamal, grilled (vegetable) salad, roasted onions and a three nut (and other possible ingredient) crunch.

In this composed dish, there are places to utilize a variety of ingredients that might show up in a mystery basket.  This particular entrée was Rick Bayless's winning dish (for a non-mystery basket challenge) on Top Chef Masters: Hawaiian ahi tuna in a Oaxacan black mole, paired with a plantain-filled tamal, grilled nopal salad, roasted knob onions and a three nut crunch. It clearly won't be appearing in any 30 minute competitions.

Once the baskets were revealed, there was a 15 minute period for the menu to be planned, prep lists to be made, stations arranged and spectators amused. The chefs seemed ready to compete after 5 minutes.
And then they were off... 

Thirty minutes is not very long, really.

It wasn't long before the plates were presented to the judges. 
Charles Chambers - Hamilton Park Hotel & Conference Center, Florham Park, NJ 
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Stephen Fratianni - The Desmond Hotel & Conference Center, Albany, NY 
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Tricia Gardner - Conference Center at NorthPoint, Lewis Center, OH 
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Craig Mason - National Conference Center, Leesburg, VA 
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Jason Weaver - La Torretta Resort & Conference Center, Montgomery, TX 
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Jeffrey Witte - Airlie Conference Center, Warrenton, VA 

I didn't have a lot of time to take photos of the plates before we were ushered into our own dinner.

While we dined on crab cakes made to order, a generous buffet of lamb, "crazy vegetables", polenta, crème brulée, bread pudding, etc, the judges tasted and made their choice for the winner of the 2011 Copper Skillet Competition: Jason Weaver. 

Congrats, Jason, and good luck in Leesburg in March!

 

Setting the scene: Copper Skillet

by Kate Djupe

The Copper Skillet Mystery Basket Competition: USA Chapter took place on Thursday, January 6, 2011 at The Conference Center at NorthPointe, Lewis Center, OH. The winner of this competition will continue onto the International Copper Skillet Competition in Leesburg, VA on March 23 or 24th. (The official website says: "On March 234rd")

I stare at the big green lawns of The Conference Center of NorthPointe every time I get stuck at the stoplight at routes 23 and 750. Beyond that, I didn't know a thing about NorthPointe before this evening. I expected a fairly generic conference center but was pleasantly surprised by the digs. The planners of this competition did an excellent job of showing off their facilities. Each stage of our evening was held in the perfect venue: a living room type atrium for the cocktail reception; a conference room with a beautiful exposed brick wall for the competition; this cafeteria for an inviting buffet dinner. Doesn't it have that lovely ski lodge feel? I snooped around and found an indoor gymnasium and many guest rooms in the same building.

Back to the competition. Six chefs were presented with a mystery basket of ingredients that they would need to incorporate into a single entrée. This dish would need to be prepared, plated and presented to the judges in 30 minutes. As is the case with most culinary competitions (including the reality TV versions), the chefs had equipment and pantry items available for their use.

This competition differed from other mystery basket competitions in several ways.

  • The chefs did not need to use all of the ingredients from the basket. It was unclear whether they had to use a certain number or could pick and choose as they wanted. Perhaps they earned more points for each mystery item used? All conjecture. 
  • They were given an additional 15 minutes to plan their dish prior to the competition. For a contest as short as this, the planning time is generally limited to 5 minutes or included in the cooking time. 
  • There was no critique of the dishes offered by the judges.  (As a former competitor I can say that the critiques are the most insightful and best continuing education you can get. As a spectator, this omission made me sad.)
  • There was an emcee providing some commentary throughout the competition. This guy:

  • A crowd full of people doing this:

Why do these chefs do this? Go ahead and pick one:

  • Pride.
  • Accomplishment.
  • Bragging rights.
  • Self-hate.
  • Testing their skills.
  • World domination.
  • A free trip (?) to central Ohio in the middle of a freak white out.
  • They were tricked into it.

but only these chefs know the real answer:

Charles Chambers - Hamilton Park Hotel & Conference Center, Florham Park, NJ 

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Stephen Fratianni - The Desmond Hotel & Conference Center, Albany, NY 

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Tricia Gardner - Conference Center at NorthPoint, Lewis Center, OH 

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Craig Mason - National Conference Center, Leesburg, VA 

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Jason Weaver - La Torretta Resort & Conference Center, Montgomery, TX 

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Jeffrey Witte - Airlie Conference Center, Warrenton, VA 

 

Next up: the food

Photos by Kate and Paul Djupe.