A few more tips

Chef Francine Marz is a competitor.

She likes the intensity of a good competition - and she's good at it, too. More than that, she heads up the Art Institute's competition team, has served as the chair of the A.C.F. Chefs' Association of Arizona competition committee, and participates regularly in competitions herself.

That's to say, she's more than familiar with both the pain and the joy of competing. So when she doles out advice, it's coming from a veteran in action. Listen up!

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). (Remember, it's a judge's easiest question: "What are you planning to do with your scraps?" ANSWER: "Make stock!")

· • 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 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.

Yes, but the important thing is....

WHAT’S FOR DESSERT?

Show-offs.

Just a bunch of show-offs, that’s what they are.

Put a gaggle of chefs together and be prepared.

You’d think someone might be judging and handing out prizes.

Instead, it’s Getting Our Just Desserts, 2011, a premier showcase for more than two dozen of Arizona’s top women chefs.

Set for November 19, from 2 until 5 p.m. at the Art Institute of Phoenix, Getting Our Just Desserts benefits Arizona C-CAP’s scholarship funds.

Lucky ticket holders will have a chance to sample both sweet and savory bites, participate in special tasting intros, and view a special exhibit of food vs. art presented by senior students at AIP.

A full listing of participating chefs appears below; WATCH THIS SPACE for news on what specialties to expect – and more.

Turns out it takes a tough cookie to make it in a profession still dominated by men. These women share candid opinions about culinary careers and advice for young women and students preparing for the profession (find out if there really is a “glass ceiling” in the kitchen – and how to deal with it!).

Getting Our Just Desserts has a Facebook page, OR you can go to blacktie-arizona//rsvp – with the code justdesserts11 and order tickets NOW!

(and here’s who’s currently set to be there)

Appearing for the first time will be

Amy Binkley, co-owner and vice president of Binkley’s Restaurant and Café Bink

Tammie Coe, chef and owner, Tammie Coe Cakes

Sherrye Chapin, chef and owner, Sherrye’s Kitchen

Maya Dailey, chef and owner, Maya’s Farm

Tracy Dempsey, pastry chef and owner, Tracy Demspey Originals

Hanna Gabrielsson, chef and owner, Beaver Choice

Chantal Hause, co-owner and vice president, Fabulous Food

Chrysa Roberstron, chef and owner, Rancho Pinot

Susan Kolman, chef and instructor, Estrella Mountain Community College

Jackie MacCannell, chef and instructor, Classic Cooking Academy

Peg McNerny, pastry chef, Talking Stick resort,

Samantha Roberts, chef, The Phoenician

Tasha Slatton, chef, The Phoenician, About Thyme Personal Chef Services

Samantha Sharrar, chef, Sanctuary

Returning this year to Getting Our Just Desserts are

Jo Ann Ayres, chef and instructor, The Art Institute of Phoenix

Charleen Badman, chef and owner, FnB

Sasha Levine, sous chef, FnB

Lisa Dahl, owner and sous chef, Cucina Rustica and Dahl & DiLuca Ristorante

Dezirea Elizondo, sous chef, POSH

Julie Fiedler, front of the house, POSH

Lucinda Flores, pastry chef, Mazatzal Hotel & Resort

Tricia Guerrero, director of culinary arts and chef, East Valley Institute of Technology

Renae Hannum, executive chef, Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa/Quorum Hotels

Therese Hills, pastry chef, Troon Country Club

Heidi Lee, chef and owner, Into the Soup

Francine Marz, chef and instructor, The Art Institute of Phoenix

Monica O’Brien, chef, Scottsdale Community College

Joan O’Connor, chef and owner, HoneyMoon Sweets

Country Velador, chef, Cowboy Ciao

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.”

At Just Desserts, an Iron Chef competitor assists, a well-established food maven contributes...

...Here's more about Julie Fiedler and Heidi Lee.

Getting Our Just Desserts, November 20 at the Art Institute of Phoenix, will showcase sweets and savories from around two dozen top women chefs from across Arizona.

Julie Fiedler, Iron Chef Competitor

A C-CAP graduate, Julie Fiedler holds a degree in culinary management from the Art Institute of Phoenix. Besides competing in the Food Network’s Iron Chef America series, she’s also competed in FHC in Shanghai, and The Big Cooking Contest in Innsbruck, Austria. She’s a top assistant with Getting Our Just Desserts, 2010.

How she got her start: “It was an accident! I loved to cook, and went to EVIT just to see what it would be like. Once I experienced working in a professional kitchen, I knew that was where I wanted to be.”

What she loves about it: “Being able to create something delicious that looks beautiful on the plate – it makes people happy.”

How the industry’s changed: “There are definitely a lot more women entering the industry – and I believe we are beginning to garner more respect.”

What the future holds for women chefs: “There are going to be more and more women in professional kitchens. Our competition team is mostly women!”

Heidi Lee, Into the Soup

Founder and owner of Into the Soup, Heidi Lee and her company educate and entertain with food and travel through all media channels. She promotes professionalism in the culinary arts through her support of chefs and chef-driven businesses and through regular appearances on radio and television.

How she got her start: “I was the only one among my friends in college who knew how to cook. Then I learned I really love being in the kitchen.”

What she loves about it: “I discovered early on it was possible to make boys like me when I cooked.” Seriously? “Well, I also found I loved being in the kitchen and hosting and teaching others, too.”

How the industry’s changed: “I think women are more accepted, but it’s still a man’s world. Women are, though, beginning to move into management.”

What the future holds for women chefs: “There’s still only one chick in the Iron Chef line-up. But there are more opportunities – and tons of women in pastry.”

Next: Charleen Badman of FnB dishes a little, Sally McCarty, too.