How to make, fill and fold a crepe

Timing, timing, timing. If you make your pastry cream first, drop a sheet of plastic wrap right on top and keep it in an ice bath at your station.

Make sure your eggs aren’t curdling; keep stirring!

Keep your pastry cream smooth and as light (thin) as possible.

Keep your crepes as thin as possible.

Make sure your crepes are the right color.

Practice folding your crepes.

Play with the presentation before you get to competition, to give yourself a plan and options in plating.

Be careful about your chocolate sauce, and how you pipe it onto the crepes and plate.

Chocolate piping doesn’t need to be too glitzy!

Finally – don’t forget to taste! The pastry cream should taste sweet enough, with a whisper of vanilla.

Chef Marz says, “If you want this, fight for it. The night before, review every step and make out lists. Visualize everything you will do and what your plates will look like,”

More than that, she adds, “Develop a sense of urgency in your work. And visualize how it will feel to win. You want an emotion to hang on to as you work.”

PSSSSST! Want some extra tips from the pros?

Last year, Chef Francine Marz, a major competition veteran who’s now teaching at The Art Institute of Phoenix (yes, we expect she’ll be on hand this Saturday), gave out a few keys to the competition kingdom when she ran through a major list of hints and suggestions to get your game on for the coming competitions.

See below!

General help in competition

Know the rules and make sure you’re observing them to the letter.

· Know your recipes inside and out.

· Develop a timeline that includes techniques for each step of each recipe. You can tape a timeline to the top of your tool kit or keep it in a pocket for reference.

· Keep a clean working area.

· Don’t leave anything stacked on the cutting board while you continue to cut another ingredient

· Have a waste bucket and a scrap can (so usable ingredients can be salvaged).

· Clean up as you go and remember to maintain sanitation.

· Be careful of cross-contamination.

· Have enough gloves along with you.

· Ditto on pots. Have an extra one or two on hand in case something burns or you need to redo a step quickly.

· Don’t use glass containers for your mise en place – if they shatter, it’s a sanitation mess.

· Don’t wait until the night before competition to sharpen your knives – you need to know how sharp they are so you can avoid accidental cuts.

· During competition, stay busy every minute – or, at least, look as if you’re busy.

· Know how to think on your feet, so that nothing throws you off course.

· Taste, taste, taste! Know how each recipe is supposed to taste and get it as close as possible.

· Get a good oven thermometer and make sure you use it.

· Know your cooking temperatures as well as times!

· Stir everything as it should be stirred.

· Use enough ingredients to create a presentation plate, a tasting plate, and to resolve any mistakes or problems that may develop.

· Leave the food alone while it cooks!

· Don’t leave a plate to sit with half a presentation on it – plate everything at one time.

· Remember when plating: hot food, hot plate; cold food, cold plate.

Supreme poulet chasseur avec pommes chateau (Hunter’s chicken with turned, sauteed potatoes)

Make sure your chicken breast is about the right size for a serving. If it’s too large, cut it.

Stock needs to be perfectly clear, with a good taste.

To help sweeten the stock, add more onion.

Be careful with the glace. Even a small burned bit in your saucepan will give it a bitter, burned taste. (Butter will help take care of lingering bitterness.)

Don’t leave tomatoes or potatoes sitting in an ice bath.

Remember to season the potatoes.

Let the potatoes get just a little color in the saute pan.

Be careful how you slice the chicken for plating; don’t fan it out too much (it will cool too quickly).

Have some sauce under the chicken and some sauce or garnish on top.

Create a presentation with a delicate look to it; if you use a parsley or herb garnish, mince finely and don’t let it clump. Also, it belongs on the food, not the plate.

WAIT! Coming tomorrow - how to make, fill and fold a crepe!

Final Competition Practice set for this Saturday - February 26th, 2011.

This practice is mandatory - all other practices are optional. In addition to practicing some components of the Final Competition recipes we will also be discussing each scholarship opportunity in detail. Your parents are welcome and encouraged to attend. The details are:

Saturday, February 26, 2011

10am - 1pm

The Art Institute of Phoenix, 2233 W. Dunlap Avenue, Phoenix

(Meet in the Gallery Cafe, first floor by the Starbucks)

Dress code - full kitchen uniform

Tools to bring – tourne knife (if you have one) or paring knife (no other equipment necessary)

Agenda:

chef demonstration of competition recipe tourne practice - hands on (please practice your tournes before arriving) make and plate crepes (please come with an idea for plating your crepes) scholarship information interviewing techniques (an interview with Richard Grausman is part of the Final Competition)

The agenda is very full and we will start promptly at 10 am.

All Final Competition Recipes are on the C-CAP website www.ccapinc.org, click on Arizona, click on Competitions, click on Final Competition recipes - or use this link:

http://www.ccapinc.org/locations/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2011-Final-Competition-Recipes6.pdf

Contact C-CAP Arizona executive director Jill Smith to register today! (JSmith@ccapinc.org)

WATCH THIS SPACE! Extra tips from a competition veteran will appear in this space on Wednesday, February 23!

C-CAP Arizona junior finalists ready to compete

Junior winners of the 2011 C-CAP Arizona preliminary competition faced steep competition; they and their teachers are commended for their hard work and participation. The Top 10 juniors, in alphabetical order are:

• Dulce Alaman, Metro Tech
• Christopher Andrade, Valley Vista
• Jeremy Ballester, Casa Grande
• Alyssa Falshaw, Flagstaff
• Karen Kreiger, EVIT/Gilbert
• Tiffany Miller, Flagstaff
• Jack Quijada, Metro Tech
• Royce Schlittenhart, Canyon del Oro
• Emery Van Gilder, Catalina Magnet
• Shoshanna Wright, Payson

Arizona 2011 senior finalists announced

Many thanks to all of the teachers and students who participated in this year’s preliminary competitions.

According to C-CAP Arizona executive director Jill Smith, this year’s preliminary competitions were tough. “We had many highly qualified students, and scores were very close.”

The following students are the 2011 C-CAP Senior Finalists (in alphabetical order of school):

• Max Hodge, Basha
• Taylor Beck, Cactus
• Brigette Michel, Canyon del Oro
• Ana Timmis, Canyon del Oro
• Cameron Rogers, Casa Grande
• Billy Lemke, Casa Grande
• Amber Poole, Catalina Magnet
• Juan Vazquez, Chaparral
• Yuselin Ortega, Douglas
• Matther Meiers, EVIT/Corona del Sol
• Sasha Ivie, EVIT/Hamilton
• Ashley Ludlow, EVIT/Higley
• Rebekah Lung, EVIT/McClintock
• Rebecca Rasmussen, EVIT/Queen Creek
• Cherrish Callahan, Goldwater
• Trace Ishmael, Kingman
• Kalia Rosales, Kofa
• Shelby Park, Liberty
• Randi King, Maricopa
• Jose Mantilla-Campos, Metro Tech
• Elizabeth Cruz, Metro Tech
• Emily Sterrett, Moon Valley
• Kaitlyne Ladden, North Canyon
• Marlo Everett, Paradise Valley
• Leticia Martinez, Payson
• Amber Santiago, Peoria
• Andrea Madrid, Peoria
• Kristen Voegtly-Mutch, Perry
• Nyisha Harrison, Sahuarita
• Heather Hohn, Wickenburg

This year’s top ten juniors will be announced tomorrow morning. Please check this site after 10 a.m.!