A Cook-off To Be Proud Of

Yesterday, I was privileged to be involved in a very special cook-off at Kendall College. The cook-off was a fundraiser for Share Our Strength, an organization that works to end the invisible threat of child hunger here in the US.

I was there accompanying Spatulatta's newest youth spokespeople, brother-sister team Matt and Alisia. They were pitch hitting for Liv and Belle because the girls had a previous engagement. Belle was graduating from junior high. Graduation trumps cooking any day.



The Cook-off was held in Kendall College's 3 professional kitchens. Eighty kids split up in teams of 2 and were paired with Kendall College students. Each of the 3 kitchens was assigned a secret ingredient, Iron Chef style: carrots, sweet potatoes and tomatoes.

Team Tomato, Team Carrot and Team Sweet Potato came up with their own chants and cheers as took their stations and the competition began. Celebrity chefs, Michael Kornick, Paul Kahan, and Erik Williams were on-hand to give teams advice and encouragement.


Left to Right: Chef Michael Kornick of MK Restaurant, Chef Paul Kahan of Blackbird Restaurant, Chef Erik Williams of MK Restaurant.

Alisia and Matt interviewed the young cooks, ranging in age from 8- to 13-years old, about the inspiration for their dishes. The teams had one hour to come up with a recipe, cook it and attractively plate it. Even with the pressure on, cooks and chefs found time to stop and chat with Alisia and Matt. Thanks to the crew at Event Architects, interviews were fed live to the Kendall auditorium where the moms and dads got a chance to experience the kitchen action without feeling the heat.



When time was called, the teams put down their spatulas and laid out the dishes for the judges. Of course beautiful plating was considered, but inventiveness scored high points. Unexpected uses for familiar ingredients abounded. Tomatoes became jam, sweet potatoes became custards and carrots filled quesadillas.



One winner was chosen from each kitchen. After a break, the semi-finalists from Team Carrot, Team Tomato and Team Sweet Potato entered "Kitchen Stadium" for the final round.

Two of the teams were paired with celebrity chefs Michael Kornick and Erik Williams of MK Restaurant. Team Tomato retained there Kendall Student Chef, Brian. He'd seen them to the semi-finals and they were sticking together.



A new secret ingredient was announced - quinoa!

Not many in the audience had heard of the protein-rich, South American grain let alone cooked it. But the chefs and their teams didn't miss a beat.



Tension built in the final minutes. Sautés sizzled and steam bloomed everywhere. Chef Kornick produced an beautiful asparagus flan to accompany his quinoa curry dish.

But the judges had a surprise for us all.



It was the Tomato Team under Kendall's own Chef Brian, who produced the winning dish. A quinoa and kale salad surrounded by perfectly steamed asparagus, brussel sprouts and of course tomatoes.

Go Tomatoes Go!

Many thanks go to the folks at the ConAgra Foundation, who generously sponsored the event and the folks at Whole Foods, who donated the marvelous ingredients.



Visit Cooking: The Exhibition Chefs