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CUF Chats with 2009 Winner, Martin Weaver

KeeperTeam — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:43:40 +0000

Martin Weaver, named winner of Chefs Under Fire 2009 by Chef Kent Rathbun, has grown up in the restaurant industry. At the age of sixteen, he worked with his dad to open up his third barbecue restaurant. Martin went on to attend the Texas Culinary Academy (now Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts) to further his knowledge of food. As a TCA student, Martin also won the Texas Culinary Academy Barbecue Competition as well as Chefs Under Fire 2009 with his killer Pork Tenderloin and Fall Pumpkin Barbecue Sauce (see recipe below), a take on Chef Rathbun’s Wood Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Peach Barbecue Sauce featured in Plate & Vine Interactive Cookbook. And to top it all off – Chef Kent Rathbun is confirmed to be a Celebrity Chef Judge for Chefs Under Fire 2010! Follow Chefs Under Fire on Facebook this week for a chance to win a full case of Kent Rathbun Elements!

Q: How would you describe your style of cooking?
A: Modern American Backyard Cuisine.

Q: Who are your culinary influences?
A: Other chefs like me who are not afraid to try new things and combinations that no one has tried before (and are successful at it).

Q: What’s your advice for Chefs Under Fire 2010 Contestants?
A: Get to know what the judges look for in a dish, and just relax when you’re competing.

Q: What did you learn as a result of competing in Chefs Under Fire 2009?
A: That it feels great to win.

Q: Will you compete in Chefs Under Fire 2010?
A: Yes I plan to compete if my chef allows me to have off.

Think you’ve got what it takes to compete against Martin for his title?

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Momofuku Ssam Bar & Milk Bar – With Cookie Recipe!

KeeperTeam — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:16:45 +0000

Restaurant Name & Location:

Momofuku Ssam Bar & Milk Bar

207 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003

ph: 212.254.3500

Chef Name: Tim Maslow Chef de Cuisine of Ssam Bar, Christina Tosi Pastry Chef/Owner of Milk Bar (see recipe below)

Type of Meal: Lunch – 1:30 pm – No reservation and walked in with no wait – always a nice surprise

Ssam Bar Menu

What we Ordered: Ssam Bar Menu, Milk Bar Menu

Shigkou Oysters with Kimchi

Cured Hamachi with Horseradish & Edamame

Steamed Pork Buns with Hoisin, Cucumbers, and Scallions

Fried Brussel Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette & Mint

Spicy Rice Cakes with Pork Sausage, Chinese Broccoli, & Crispy Shallots

What we Drank: Comte de Gascogne, Blanc de Blanc NV
1998 C. H. Berres Riesling Auslese – WINE OF THE MEAL!

Favorite Dish: This is difficult because the food was soooo delish, but if we have to only pick one, it’s gotta be to be the Pork Buns. The texture of the buns was a perfect compliment for the luscious fat of the pork! A very close second was the Cured Hamachi for the combination of flavors and textures. The horseradish sauce was finger-linking good, and the crunchy texture of the rice/seaweed topping was perfect with the silkiness of the fresh Hamachi.

Least Favorite Dish: Spicy Rice Cakes – the rice cakes reminded us a little of Gnocchi and were somewhat overpowering for the other ingredients.

Other Highlights: Ssam Bar had a fun, comfortable atmosphere, and the servers were knowledgeable and friendly. They picked up on us being from Austin – letting us know an Austin pastry chef (Courtney McBroom, formerly at Jeffrey’s. Her Bing Cherry Panna Cotta is featured in the Wine & Food Foundation’s cookbook as well!) had recently moved to NYC to work at their sister place, Milk Bar. They let us in on the “secret” hallway to Milk Bar (which is next door to Ssam Bar, but no need to go outside). Of course, we couldn’t resist the sweet side of MOMOFUKU and gladly proceeded!

Milk Bar:

Milk Bar Highlights:

The Compost Cookie was really good, so many flavors and layers. Milk Bar is known for its Crack Pie and charges for it too – $5.25 a slice or $44.00 for a 10” pie! We had to order a slice to see if it was all it’s “cracked up to be”. Immediately one of us said “this reminds me of my childhood “chess pie”! The oatmeal crust was different, but not enough to make it unique for us. You can also order their sweets online, we were told. The Compost Cookie was soooo good that we tried to replicate when we got home using the recipe posted on Live with Regis & Kelly (see full recipe below). There’s no way this is the recipe they use at Milk Bar – it was good but missing many of the flavors and layers that made it so special. In case you want to try to make some of the Ssam Bar dishes, here are some recipes but can’t promise they’ll be the same. They definitely keep some secrets tucked away!

Ultimate Question – Would you go back? YES. And OFTEN. (if I lived there of course!)

Compost Cookies

Yield: 15 6oz cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Corn Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1 3/4 cups AP Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Kosher Salt
1 1/2 cups Your favorite baking ingredients! – (Kelly used mini chocolate chips, raisinettes, rollos & cocoa krispies)
1 1/2 cups Your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc) – (Kelly used goldfish, ritz, & fritos)

DIRECTIONS:

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.
When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.
Using a 6oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheetpan.
Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week.
DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
Heat the conventional oven to 400F. (350F in a convection oven)
When the oven reads 400F, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment or silpat-lined sheetpan a minimum of 4″ apart in any direction.
Bake 9-11 min. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.
At 9 min the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies stills seem pale and doughy on the surface.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh 5 days. In the freezer, cookies will keep fresh 1 month.

OTHER RECIPES:

Momofuku’s Crack Pie from the LA Times

Momofuku’s Hanger Steak Ssam from WSJ

Other Various recipes from Time out NY

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Flames of Success!

KeeperTeam — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:28:43 +0000

Chefs Under Fire™ came and went and left us smiling from its success! From the fervent competition in the kitchen to Jim White’s flavorful commentary to the judge’s insightful remarks, Chefs Under Fire was chock-full of excitement, laughs, and entertainment. At the end of the night, our adept celebrity judges, Chef David Bull, Chef Tyson Cole, and Chef Kent Rathbun, were proud to finally announce the three outstanding winners. After quiet deliberation, Chef Bull selected Keith A. Hildebrandt II (of Texas Culinary Academy) for his exquisite (and inverted!) chicken and pancetta cacciatore, Chef Cole chose Loren Root for his unique, refined version of Cole’s Uchiviche dish, and Chef Rathbun picked Martin Weaver (also a graduate of Texas Culinary Academy) for his original, pumpkin-infused barbecue sauce and pork tenderloin. And as an additional surprise from the judges, they even awarded Keith Hildebrandt the Best in Presentation award for his beautiful Deconstructed Chicken Cacciatore!

Keith Hildebrandt's Deconstructed Chicken Cacciatore

As all three of the judges noted, each contestant created drastically different versions of each recipe, which made the judging exceptionally challenging. Despite the stiff competition between the contestants, the three best dishes certainly stood out, and both Keeper Collection and The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas are very proud of 3 the acclaimed winners! We also want to give a special thank you for the commitment, cooperation, creativity, and above all, the magnificent attitudes of all nine finalists. In addition to the three winners, Alysha Cable (of World Beat Cuisine), Trysh Gonzales and Eli Ollinger (of The Art Institute of Austin) Steve Crisler (of Chefs Creative), Tonni Hinojosa (of HinoSpices™ Rio Grande Catering), and Maite Palma (a graduate of the Hospitality & Culinary Education program at Collin College) were carefully selected as finalists among numerous applicants. Their dishes—and dedication—deserve high praise. Everyone who attended the event would agree that each contestant brought his or her own unique spice to the night!

Keeper Collection, LLC and The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas would also like to recognize Jon Pluskota and his Audio-Visual Team from the Art Institute of Austin for their hard work and organization that was vital in capturing the entire event on film. We can’t wait to release the footage! In addition, we want to thank the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center for providing such a state-of-the-art setting for Chefs Under Fire.

Thank you to everyone who contributed in making Chefs Under Fire a flaming success! After all, the dedication, support, and enthusiasm of everyone involved is what truly fueled the night’s flame.

Did you attend Chefs Under Fire? Comment here to let us know what you thought!

For those of you who didn’t get to attend Chefs Under Fire, check out these great photos from John of Austin and Austin Food Journal’s recap of the event!

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Chefs Under Fire Finalists Announced!

KeeperTeam — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:14:28 +0000

Congratulations to the Chefs Under Fire Finalists! These 9 lucky and talented chefs will get to compete for a chance to be named winner of the 2009 Chefs Under Fire Competition! Come cheer them on at the event on November 30 at the AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center! Limited Tickets still available!

Chef David Bull Finalists:

1. Alysha Cable

2. Trysh Gonzales

3. Keith A. Hildebrandt II

Chef Tyson Cole Finalists:

1. Steve Crisler

2. Eli Ollinger

3. Loren Root

Chef Kent Rathbun Finalists:

1. Antonio Hinojosa

2. Maite Rodriguez-Palma

3. Martin Weaver

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Great meeting with Chef Josh Watkins about His Chefs Under Fire Food Creations!

KeeperTeam — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:17:21 +0000

The Keeper Team had a great meeting to plan the food and festivities for Chefs Under Fire with Executive Chef Josh Watkins of the A T & T Executive Education & Conference Center. No doubt the lucky people who purchase a ticket to this event will enjoy some tasty treats! Josh also told us that he saw several of the Chefs Under Fire contestants at Big Reds and Bubbles last night, the Wine and Food Foundation‘s premier event of the year. The contestants were quick to admit that they hope to be one of the Finalists, which will be announced on this Keeper Blog on Monday, November 23rd. Come see the heat turned up in the Tejas Dining Room kitchen for this competition on November 30th. Thanks again, Josh for all of your hard work on this event – can’t wait to see you there!

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