Culinary professionals nationwide are invited to compete for a total of $6,000 in cash prizes in the first Florida Strawberries--A Taste of Summer All Winter Long Recipe Contest.
Entries are due by Feb. 28. The categories for entry are starters and salsas, salads, sweets and best photo. For entry forms, rules and frequently asked questions, visit www.floridawinterstrawberrycontest.com. The contest is sponsored by the Florida Strawberry Growers Association (FSGA) and Taste of the South magazine.
The 12 finalists for the 2010 Bocuse d'Or USA Competition have been selected to compete Feb. 5 and 6 at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park. At the competition, the 12 teams will create two protein dishes before a live audience and present them to a panel of judges. The winning team, to be announced later that night, will represent the U.S. in the biennial Bocuse d’Or World Cuisine Competition in Lyon, France, in January 2011. The finalists are:
Luke Bergman, The Modern, New York City; Danny Cerqueda, Carolina Country Club, Raleigh, N.C.; Michael Clauss, Daily Planet, Burlington, Vt.; Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta; James Kent, Eleven Madison Park, New York City; Mark Liberman, Roxy's Black Sheep, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Christopher Parsons, Catch Restaurant, Winchester, Mass.; Jennifer Petrusky, Charlie Trotter's, Chicago; John Rellah, NY Yacht Club, New York City; Jeremie Tomczak, The French Culinary Institute, New York City; Andrew Weiss, The Lakes Club at Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas; and Percy Whatley, The Ahwahnee in Yosemite, Calif.
For more information about the Bocuse d'Or, visit www.bocusedorusa.org.
SPONSORED POST
As the saying goes, "there are only so many fishes in the sea." As a result, making the right choices for your menu in regards to sustainability is of paramount importance. While this can be a daunting task, Clear Springs Foods is one company that does a great job in this area.
Clear Springs maintains control over each phase of the growth cycle and processing of its Rainbow Trout and operates under a comprehensive program designed to minimize the environmental "footprint." This is supported by a state-of-the-art research and development laboratory and policies that reflect a long history of environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship in the local communities of southern Idaho.
High-quality water is critical to ensure product wholesomeness. Every minute, more than one million gallons of oxygen-rich spring water gushes out of the walls of southern Idaho's Snake River Canyon. Clear Springs is a non-consumptive user of these spring waters--it takes less than one hour for the water to flow through the concrete raceways on Clear Springs' six farm facilities and into the Snake River. To ensure purity, our technicians check this water quality on a regular basis. Each raceway has a 20-foot quiescent zone to settle fish waste solids from the water which is removed and made into Clear Organic fertilizer which is used by local farmers on their field crops. All of Clear Springs' farm facilities monitor effluent water quality to ensure it exceeds stringent EPA requirements. For more information, visit www.tommytrout.com.
Charleston Place Hotel by Orient-Express in Charleston, S.C., has been named the 2009 top corporate philanthropist by the Lowcountry Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).
The hotel's charitable initiatives have been led by regional managing director Paul Stracey and the general manager of Charleston Grill, Mickey Bakst. Charleston Place has supported organizations that cover cultural, educational and human needs issues. The most recent project is "Feed the Need," a coalition of restaurants, caterers and hoteliers who have rallied to help feed the hungry and assist local emergency food providers. The organization was set up in April 2009 and has so far helped approximately 14,000 people, saving food banks an estimated $42,000.
Charleston Place also offers charitable organizations space for events and rooms at reduced rates or sometimes at no cost. One of the most successful events was a fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, where $200,000 was raised in one evening.
AFP works to advance philanthropy worldwide through advocacy, research, education and certification programs. For more information, visit www.afpnet.org.
SPONSORED POST
Southern Style Striped Pangasius
Chefs and culinary schools across the country have something new and exciting encouraging their culinary creativity. The next great white fish has arrived: Striped Pangasius from Fishery Products International (FPI). It's been more than a decade since FPI made tilapia an integral part of American foodservice menus; now this new farm-raised fish has been in national distribution since the first quarter of 2009.
Not only is this new center-of-plate option inspiring culinary creativity among chefs, but it is also a big hit with consumers due to its light texture, large flake--similar to cod and haddock-- and a fresh, naturally mild flavor that carries sauces and seasonings particularly well. The fact that it's produced in a sustainable aquaculture environment is an added bonus for chefs and operators looking to address concerns about social responsibility.
Striped Pangasius' very attractive price point is also making it popular with operators looking for premium menu options with a better price point than the more traditional and expensive ocean-harvested seafood choices.
Owen Tilley, corporate chef and director of culinary for FPI said, "Chefs and cooks are going to really like working with this fish. Striped Pangasius offers the kind of menu flexibility a chef is always looking for in any center-of-the-plate protein choice. They can use it to make a simple upgraded fish and chips dinner for casual dining, create a flavorful Caribbean-style Striped Pangasius a la Parilla for lunch or even prepare an impressively plated baked Striped Pangasius, 'en sac' for a white tablecloth operation. Our culinary team worked closely together to make sure we had a solid range of recipe support, from developing the basics that a lot of chefs will use as a base to build their own creations on, to complete turnkey recipes for ethnic cuisine alternatives from North African to Indian to traditional New England entrées.
"The Striped Pangasius line gives the back of the house team a lot to work with and includes fillets in the most popular sizes and cuts," Tilley continued. "Our award-winning culinary team has even created three unique, premium-quality, value-added offerings and some exciting, easy-to-fix recipe ideas for them, too. The value-added varieties include: Southern Style, Blazin' and Ale House Battered. They are perfect for chefs and cooks who may not always have the time or the skilled staff for more detailed or complex preparations. They're going to find that Striped Pangasius is easy to work with and has the same characteristics of the harder-to-find and more expensive species like cod, haddock and even sole that they are already familiar with, but at a much more reasonable cost per pound."
FPI is a leading provider of quality seafood in the foodservice market, offering an exceptionally broad portfolio of on-trend and in-demand seafood solutions to America's largest restaurant chains, national distributors and regional specialists. FPI is a division of High Liner Foods (USA) Inc. For more information about FPI, visit our Web site at www.fisheryproducts.com.
The United Fresh Research and Education Foundation will host a one-day Global Conference on Produce Sustainability on April 23 immediately following the United Fresh 2010 conference in Las Vegas. The inaugural sustainability conference will bring together supply chain experts to explore the opportunities presented by sustainable produce industry practices.
"On a global level, it is becoming increasingly critical to have an overall sustainable approach to business," said United Fresh chairman Jim Lemke in a statement. "It is a way to add value, improve efficiencies and invest in the long-term for future generations. This conference is a milestone event, bringing together representatives from the entire produce industry supply chain to work towards advancing sustainable practices."
The conference is presented by the United Fresh Center for Global Produce Sustainability, which was founded through a grant from Bayer CropScience. The Center for Global Produce Sustainability is designed to help companies across the fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain use sustainability to enhance their businesses
Registration for the conference is included with United Fresh 2010's All Access Pass, or may be purchased separately. United Fresh 2010 will take place April 20 to 23 at the Palazzo Resort and Casino at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. For more information on the Global Conference on Produce Sustainability and United Fresh 2010, visit www.unitedfresh.org.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) issued the following statement from president and CEO Dawn Sweeney regarding the health care reform package proposed by Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
"The Senate has made key improvements in its bill over the House-passed version. The health care reform package currently before the Senate demonstrates meaningful progress toward protecting jobs and small businesses while taking steps toward providing access to high-quality, affordable health care for Americans.
"We need to ensure that the final bill improves job creation and entrepreneurship, and does not weaken the improvements included in the Senate bill.
"The part-time worker exemption is of critical importance to our industry. As the nation's second-largest private sector employer, this recognition addresses the nature of our business model and is essential for our ability to continue to create the jobs that form the foundation of our economy. We applaud the provisions that protect small businesses, which are the backbone of our industry and the U.S. economy. As well, we are pleased that the legislation preserves the ERISA framework to allow larger, multi-state employers to continue to offer coverage.
"We very much appreciate the hard work of the many senators who have listened to and advocated for our concerns in this process. We will continue to work with the Senate, the House of Representatives and the administration to develop a solution that allows the industry to provide its employees meaningful benefits and supports our industry's ability to generate the economic growth and jobs our nation needs."
For more information, visit www.restaurant.org or www.restauranthealthcarereforminfo.com.
Staff from the Massachusetts Restaurant Association (MRA) volunteered Dec. 9 at the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), sorting and boxing more than 14,000 pounds of potatoes for distribution to the agency's network of almost 600 hunger relief agencies and food pantries. This is the second straight year that the staff at the MRA has volunteered at the GBFB.
(l to r) MRA staff members Lon Breedlove, Janine Harrod, Marybeth Maloney, Mark Sarno, Heather Carneiro, John McGrath, Kathy Murphy and Peter Christie
The GBFB is a nonprofit organization that feeds more than 320,000 people annually across nine counties in eastern Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.gbfb.org.
About
Chef's Stirrings is the official blog of Chef Magazine, the industry publication for restaurant and foodservice professionals. The blog offers culinary news and online exclusives from the editors ofChef.
The 12 finalists for the 2010 Bocuse d'Or USA Competition have been selected to compete Feb. 5 and 6 at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park. At the competition, the 12 teams will create two protein dishes before a live audience and present them to a panel of judges. The winning team, to be announced later that night, will represent the U.S. in the biennial Bocuse d’Or World Cuisine Competition in Lyon, France, in January 2011. The finalists are:
As the saying goes, "there are only so many fishes in the sea." As a result, making the right choices for your menu in regards to sustainability is of paramount importance. While this can be a daunting task, Clear Springs Foods is one company that does a great job in this area.
Charleston Place Hotel by Orient-Express in Charleston, S.C., has been named the 2009 top corporate philanthropist by the Lowcountry Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).
Southern Style Striped Pangasius
The United Fresh Research and Education Foundation will host a one-day Global Conference on Produce Sustainability on April 23 immediately following the United Fresh 2010 conference in Las Vegas. The inaugural sustainability conference will bring together supply chain experts to explore the opportunities presented by sustainable produce industry practices.
(l to r) MRA staff members Lon Breedlove, Janine Harrod, Marybeth Maloney, Mark Sarno, Heather Carneiro, John McGrath, Kathy Murphy and Peter Christie