Fill the Grill Challenge Round 2

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Cheftestants Nicole Aidelbaum of WHERE Orlando and Christine Pittman of Cook the Story faced off for the second round of the Fill the Grill Challenge at Whole Foods on August 15th. The judges table was arranged much closer to the contestants, probably to avoid shoppers from walking through the competition on their way to the sandwich deli. The judges were, Chef Lenny, Brandon Moss and Chef Bruno, the winner of last year’s challenge. Dishes were judged based on flavor, originality and plating.

Nicole grew up in the kitchen helping her mom who was from Puerto Rico. She learned her mom’s recipes then went to work at a restaurant for ten years. She met a “foodie” (now her husband) who encouraged her to be more adventurous about food. Christine grew up in Canada where her parents owned a restaurant. She now is a freelance food writer, photographer and home cook. She did a run through the night before the competition to see how long it took her to prepare her dish.

Several audience members had made a sign that said, “Our Editor Sizzles! Go Nicole!” The cheftestants were given $20, and they had had 20 minutes to shop for their ingredients. Nicole was actually under budget and she went to get one more item. They were given a few minutes to prepare their work stations and then they had just 20 minutes to grill a delicious meal.

Nicole had this to say, “The dish I prepared was scallops marinated in
Chardonnay, garlic and olive oil then grilled. It was served with a
salad of grilled corn (on the cob then cut off), grilled red pepper,
grilled onion, avocado, cilantro, lime and a dash of Cumin. The last
addition was a grilled piece of baguette (multi grain baguette, sliced)
drizzled with olive oil. I would’ve added a bit more salt to the salad
to bring out the flavor of the avocado. I went sparingly and it cost me
but you never know with salt.”

Christine, “Made a skewer if grilled olives and lemons to
start. The main course was a burger made of beef and chorizo sausage
topped with roasted red peppers and onions. On the side was a salad of
lightly grilled zucchini with a tomato and grilled lemon dressing and
manchego cheese.”

The last few minutes were a hectic flurry of activity arranging the food on plates, and then everyone watched as the judges tasted the dishes. They took notes and cleansed their palettes with water between dishes.  There was a long tense wait as all the results were tallied. The winner was… Christine Pittman.

Mark Your Calendar! Christine Pittman will face off against last weeks winner, Kendra Lott for the Fill the Grill Championship on Thursday August 22nd at 6:30pm at Whole Foods (8003 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando FL).

Fill the Grill Challenge

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Cheftestants Ricky Ly, of the Tasty Chops blog and Kendra Lott, of Edible Orlando Magazine, faced off in the third annual “Fill the Grill Challenge“. The competition took place at Whole Foods at Phillips Crossing (8003 Turkey Lake Road Orlando FL). Ricky Ly has just published a book called “Food Lovers Guide to Orlando“. Ricky and I had been on a Daily City panel discussion about blogging in Orlando so he recognized me and gave me a warm handshake. His next door neighbors were also there to root for him. They ate pizza straight out of the box they had just ordered as they watched. It smelled so good!

The Cheftestants were given $20 and had 20 minutes to speed shop the store for their ingredients.  Two shopping carts awaited the contestants but one was swiped by an intrepid shopper. When a second cart was once again found, the competition began. An announcer on the stores loud speakers tracked the contestants progress down the isles. At the check out, Ricky Lee was over budget and he had to return some items and Kendra experienced the same problem. She did save 10 cents by reusing her own shopping bag. This is a Whole Foods policy and she cashed in.

When they returned, they were given a few minuted to prepare their work areas. They then had 20 minutes to prepare a dish to impress the judges, Brandon Moss, Chef Lenning and Chef Bruno who won last year’s challenge. Dishes were judged based on presentation and of course taste.

Ricky was preparing a surf and turf. He said, “My dish was a spice rubbed flank steak with lemon butter seared sea scallop, purple potato, and  a whole ear of corn. My Biggest challenge was time from prepping and grilling and getting everything together in 20 minutes.” He spent a sizable amount of time back at the spice table marinating the meat. “The rub I had used had garlic powder, dill weed, a touch of cumin, chili powder, coriander, and salt. The last minute countdown was nerve wrecking ” he said. When the 20 minutes were up, he had to serve the grilled steak rather rare.

Kendra told me about her 20 minute creation,  “I did Key West shrimp with lemon and black pepper,
and a paella-style rice with grilled heirloom tomato and Vidalia onion.
I had planned to stuff the rice into a hollowed out avocado along with
some chunks of avocado, but I ran out of time and had to just use a few
avocado slices as garnish.”

The judges spent a good deal of time tasting the dishes. The savory smell made my stomach rumble. The MC finally was given the tallied results. She announced, “And the winner is…..” She paused. I shouted out, “Commercial break!” Sure enough, she began discussing discounts available in the store. The contestants groaned and waited. “The Winner is Kendra Lott!“

Mark your calendar! The next Fill the Grill Challenge is tomorrow August 15th starting at 6:30pm again at Whole Foods (8003 Turkey Lake Road Orlando FL). Nicole Aidelbaum of WHERE Orlando will face off against Christine Pittman of Cook the Story. The winner of that round will then face off against Kendra Lott for this year’s championship title.

Fill the Grill Championship Cookoff

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I rushed to Whole Foods Market after work to witness the Championship Cook off. Steve Saelg, the master chef from The Crooked Spoon Food Truck, was up against Alec Cheak, the master chef from Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar. The chefs were each given $20 to spend then 20 minutes to shop and 20 minutes to prepare a delicious grilled summer meal. The stakes were high, a bronze chef’s trophy sat on the counter top waiting to be claimed. The announcer followed the chefs around the store. At the checkout counter, chef Steve realized he had gone a little over budget. He had to surrender his arugula. Then he hit the $20 mark right on the nose. Chef Alec was also over budget by ¢94. He was going to surrender his nuts, but instead returned a peach.

The chefs then raced to prepare their meals. Sharp knives sliced and diced. Steve was making a deconstructed Italian sausage. He cut up a red pepper. A bagette was toasted as he prepared a tomato sauce with pepper romano and rosemary. Chef Alec was grilling pork chops. He combined fresh lemon juice and olive oil to create a Spring mix. Apples and peaches were grilled. He whisked a balsamic reduction. Roasted red peppers were mixed in with an apricot coulis. Brie cheese was served as a side.

The judges were, Patricia Letakis of Florida Travel and Life, Kendra Lott of Edible Orlando and Bernie Tostanowski the Whole Foods prepared Foods Team Leader. Steve’s Italian Sausage was served first. He instructed the judges to assemble the ingredients into a sandwich. Patricia stacked a Dagwood sized sandwich and chomped in. Bernie held back preferring to use his fork. Chef Alec’s pork chops were savored by the judges. The brie cheese was a bold choice but it was complimented by the grilled fruit.

Chef Steve’s waited with his wife and daughter for the verdict. I figured he might get bonus points for being a family man. In the end, Chef Alec Cheak was declared the winner. The Fill the Grill trophy has a new home at Fleming’s Steak House. I desperately wanted a pork chop, instead I went home to leftovers.

Fill the Grill Cook off 2

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The second “Iron Chef” style Cook off at Whole Foods matched chef Tuan Tran from Crave against chef Steve Saelg of the Crooked Spoon Food Truck. The chefs were given $2o to spend and 20 minutes to shop. They then had 20 minutes to prepare a healthy summer meal using an electric grill. The event was again held at Whole Foods Market at Phillips Crossing (8003 Turkey Lake Road). When I arrived the chefs were arranging their respective cooking areas. With a minute to the start of the throw-down, two shopping carts were rolled out for the chefs. An announcer began a countdown to the start of the competition. As the chefs shopped I sketched the grilling area.

Chef Tuan Tran arrived at his grilling station first. He prepared a Korean grilled beef marinated in soy sauce with a pepper paste, sesame seeds and sugar. He also made cellophane noodles marinated in soy, sesame seed oil and garlic, all grilled in butter. He also grilled tomatoes with olive oil, garlic and minced cilantro. The crowning touch was that he also bought several bottles of Vietnamese beer to serve with his dish.

Chef Steve Saelg was busy preparing a chili crusted chicken thighs with ginger, fennel served with couscous. He also grilled avocado and sliced orange wheels sprinkled with a ginger fennel vinaigrette. The chefs moved with swift deliberation. Before I knew it they were done.

I continued sketching as the three judges tasted the dishes and deliberated. Chef Steve Saelg was declared the winner. He will go to the final competition against the winner of the previous throw-down, Alec Cheak of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar.

Fill the Grill Cook-off

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Whole Foods Market at Phillips Crossing (8003 Turkey Lake Road) hosted the first of three celebrity chef cook-offs. In this high stakes battle, renowned local chef John Rivers of 4 Rivers Smokehouse competed against Alec Cheak of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Each chef was given $20 and 20 minutes to speed shop for ingredients. They then had 20 minutes to make a delicious, creative summer meal using only a grill. They stood side by side with their shopping carts as the announcer counted down to the start. As the chefs wandered the aisles, I remained behind sketching the grilling area. Oriane Lluch who helped organize the event, gave me a press release. A Sentinel reporter video taped the competition.

Both chefs spent $19 and change on their ingredients. John Rivers hit an unexpected snag when he realized that the calamari steaks he had purchased were frozen. They were sent back and fresh steaks were ordered. Then John discovered that his grill wasn’t working. Unfazed, he ran to a grill in the far corner of the kitchen to grill his fresh vegetables. I began to wonder if the competition was rigged. Whole, fresh, local and seasonal ingredients were used by both chefs. Alec grilled a Pacific Cod over a bed of grilled spring leaks, jicama and mango, accompanied with a balsamic orange, blackberry reduction. John prepared a grilled calamari steak with cilantro along with grilled red and yellow peppers and fresh carrots, topped with a ginger BBQ sauce.

Three judges tasted the light summer dishes deliberating with each taste. The announcer stirred the crowd raising the excitement. After some deliberation, chef Alec Cheak was declared the winner. He smiled broadly. On August 16th Chef Tuan Tran of Crave will face off against Chef Steve Saelg of the Crooked Spoon. The winner of that cook-off will then face off against chef Alec Cheak in the final cook-off on August 30th. The cook-offs all happen at Whole Foods at 6:30pm. I realized as I was leaving that I was hungry. I went home and popped a frozen diner in the microwave.

Whole Foods Fresh Market

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Terry and I went down to see the Whole Foods Outdoor Fresh Market. There really wasn’t much of a selection when it came to produce. This sketch is of one of the few vendors that offered plants and produce. The rest of the vendors offered cheap trinkets and crafts, non of which interested me. One vendor did have nice ripe tomatoes for a great price, but honestly the trip was a bit of a hassle. The tents take up a large chunk of the parking lot leaving few spaces to park and some genius arranged it so all the traffic leads to a dead end at a traffic cone where everyone must do a 10 point turn to go back the other way. Some folks back up at top speed while others are making the turn. It is a disaster waiting to happen. In front of the store a huge tourist bus was parked in the no parking zone forcing cars to face off into one lane of traffic. A security officer was yelling at the bus driver to get out of there before there was a head on collision. Whatever urban planner designed the traffic flow of this spot should be fired. If Americans didn’t have cars this place could be a fun place to shop.