Friday, November 16, 2012

 
 Smoked Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
1 Pork Tenderloin

 Brine for the Pork (Enough for 8 tenderloins)
1Qt Apple Juice or Apple Cider
1C Brown Sugar
4oz Morton’s Sugar Cure
5 sprigs Fresh Thyme
5 springs Fresh Parsley
1T Black Peppercorns
½ C Cider Vinegar
¼ C Kosher Salt
Enough water to cover the pork

 Method
1.     Trim the pork tenderloin.  Combine all ingredients for the brine.  Cover the pork with the brine, and refrigerate overnight.
2.     In a stovetop smoker or with a smoke box on the grill, hot smoke the pork until light golden brown.
3.     If the pork is not fully cooked in the smoker, finish cooking in the oven.  Cook to 140°.
4.     Allow to rest.  Can be served hot or cold.

 Yield: 3-4 portions

 Autumn Grain Salad
Ingredients
1oz     Quinoa
1oz     Israeli Couscous
1oz     Crimson lentils
1oz     Bulgur Wheat
1oz     Barley
2oz     Dried Cranberries, chopped
1T       Capers, chopped
2t        Walnuts, chopped
TT        Kosher salt
Vinaigrette (enough to bind grains together)

 Method
1.  Individually cook each of the grains.  Combine all ingredients.
2.  Combine with vinaigrette.  Season accordingly.

 Yield: 4 servings

 
Walnut Vinaigrette
Ingredients
1 oz      Golden balsamic
.35 oz   Stone-ground mustard
⅛ oz     Granulated sugar
.5 oz     Shallot
2.5 oz   Olive oil
.5 oz     Walnut oil
.5 oz     Fresh parsley
TT          Kosher salt
TT          White pepper

Method
Combine all ingredients.
Yield:  5.5 oz


 Flax Seed Cracker
Ingredients
1 oz    Cornmeal
4 oz    Flour
⅛ oz   Olive oil
2 oz    Water
1.5 oz Stone Ground Mustard
1 T      Butter
Egg wash
1 oz    Flax seed
TT        Salt & Pepper

 Method
1.  Mix cornmeal and flour together in a bowl.
2.  Make a hole in the middle.
3.  Use mortar and pestle to mill stone ground mustard.
4.  Add mustard and olive oil and mix.
5.  Add water and mix until a dough forms.
6.  Knead butter into mix completely.
7.  Allow to rest 10 minutes.
8.  Roll to shape and cut. (1/2 inch wide, 8 inches long, ribbon cut and slanted cut on opposite ends.)
9.  Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with flax seed, and salt.

 
Cranberry Sauce

 Ingredients
1#       Fresh Cranberries
2          Shallots, minced
1t        Orange Zest
½         Celery stalk, fine dice
2oz.    Orange Juice, fresh
1T       Red Wine Vinegar
1C       Sugar
1T       Honey
½ C     Chicken Stock
Olive oil

Method
1.     In a sauce pot sweat the shallots and celery in olive oil over medium heat until soft, but do not brown.
2.     Add the remaining ingredients, and cook until the cranberries pop.

 Yield: 1 Pint 

Thursday, May 17, 2012

NE ACF Regional Competition 2012

NE Regional ACF Student Competition
Team Members: Maria Provencher, Team Captain and Dessert, Brandon Show-Entree, Ryan Contraski-Fish Course, Peerce VanMeter-Salad and Jason Wells-Alternate.
We won the WV cook-off to represent WV in the NE Regional ACF Competition held in Niagara Falls, NY April 27-May1st.
Competition began with the display of Cold Restaurant Platter. We did a “Spring Rabbit Medley”. “We were very pleased and the platter got a lot of praise from the judges and participants. It takes an extreme amount of work but only counts for 10% of the total point scale.
The next phase was the skills phase. As usual our students performed like professionals. I couldn’t have been more proud, especially standing there with coaches and students form some of the biggest and best culinary schools in the country. We behaved and performed even better than I expected. It made me very proud to stand there as their coach.
The final phase was the Four Course Meal. The performance in the arena was immaculate; Chef McCue (Assistant Coach) and I could only observe from outside the kitchen but as far as we could see the team looked fantastic. They even finished a little early and composed themselves to begin taking the plates to the judges at the exact time. It was impressive, their composure was something to behold! Three plates of each course were taken to the tasting judges and one plate of each course was taken to a display table. When they arrived at the display table there wasn’t a student or coach in the event that wasn’t standing around our table with awe and amazement! I can honestly say there wasn’t another table there that got the attention ours did. I was sure of that since I had watched the reactions very closely on each team. It was another proud moment.
Afterwards our critique was given to us by all but one of the judges that had to leave, and it was incredible. The only negative thing said was the fact that the desert was so good they wanted more of the pistachio ice cream on it! We walked away feeling very, very positive!
The awards banquet came the following day and needless to say we were very excited. Unfortunately our name was called out a little earlier than we expected. Third place again? Bronze medals? We expected first or at the very least second. The critique was absolutely outstanding! How could we end up in third place? Goes to show, you just never know about these things.  We were disappointed but in retrospect we should be very proud, and we are. We actually beat Johnson Wales! One of the oldest and largest culinary schools in the country! The only schools that did beat us were from Cincinnati, an incredible school and their coach was the previous National president of the American Culinary Federation! And Delhi, NY the school that has won the past several years, and I won’t go on about who their coach was but many of the teams and coaches felt that his position with the national ACF office should have made it a conflict of interest. For some reason this has been overlooked for several years.
Regardless of the frustration with the final results, our team realizes what a fantastic journey it’s been. We came together as a team, worked hard endless hours month after month and had an incredible time doing so. There are very few things in this profession that offer the opportunity to work as a cohesive unit and strive for the common goal of excellence and perfection. After a few days of disappointment I believe I can speak for all involved when I say that we were victorious in every aspect of the word. For a school of our size to compete with the likes of nationally recognized schools and come home “placing at all” is commendable, and I can say that I personally feel as though we took on the giants and won!  I’m pretty sure our team members now feel the same way after a few days of rest and realization. I won’t be licking any wounds, I’ll just begin thinking of how we might be able to improve just a little more each time we compete and get a little closer to perfection!
Jay R. Mahoney CEC
Coach/Instructor
Pierpont Culinary Academy
1201 Locust Avenue
Fairmont, WV 26554




Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Guest Chef Hall Hitzig Talks about Pastry Entrepreneurship






Hall Hitzig "The Crazy Baker" worked with students on hands-on and demonstration of baked goods including gluten free. Hall shared is experience as an entrepreneur and pastry chef.
For more information about Hall click here:

Guest Chef Jeff Kessler Talks about Baking Entrepreneurship









Students in the FOSM 2230 Advanced Baking class were recently treated to a hands-on class and demonstration from Jeff Kessler. Chef Kessler is the sole proprietor of Jeff's Breads in Lewisburg.

Jeff led a discussion about entrepreneurship. He has been in the baking business for nearly 30 years.
Read more about Jeff's Breads:

Friday, February 10, 2012

Pierpont Wins Fourth Straight State Competition



Members of the Pierpont Community & Technical College Culinary Competition team are bringing home their fourth straight ACF West Virginia State Culinary Competition title. The team has qualified to compete in the ACF Northeast Regional in Niagara Falls, NY April 27-30, 2012. Pierpont Culinary Academy’s team includes: Maria B. Provencher, Team Captain and a member of the 2010 & 2011 ACFWV Regional Teams; Brandon Show, member of the 2011 ACFWV Regional Team; Ryan Contraski, member of the 2011 ACFWV Regional Team; Peerce Van Meter V, and Jason Wells, Team Alternate.

The team is featuring a menu inspired by classic recipes. As the team researched this year’s classic entrée: Supreme de Volaille a l’Ecalarte, they continued to find classic ingredients and recipes that paired well with the entrée. While the recipes are not completely from Escoffier, his work served as a great opportunity for discovery and learning.

One of the interesting items on the menu is the appetizer featuring rainbow trout grown in West Virginia. The fish was grown as part of the West Virginia University Aquaculture program. The trout is presented with the classic Meunière style in mind. It is accompanied by classic flavors such as white beans, chard, and fennel. Similarly, the salad course is inspired by Escoffier’s Salade a la Andalouse. The team’s version is highlighted with a savory grain salad. Lastly, the meal culminates with a dessert featuring three meringue variations.

In addition to the state title, the group qualified for ACF Silver Medals with a score of 34.24.

Pierpont’s team is coached by, Jay R. Mahoney, CEC, 2010 ACFWV Chef of the Year, and Allison McCue, CC, CPC.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Chef Hawkins & Pierpont Non-Traditional Students Help with Farmer's Market Fundraising Dinner

Chef Dale Hawkins, adjunct chef instructor, and students in the evening Quantity Foods class helped raise money for the Bridgeport Farmers Market recently. The team paired up with farmers and organizers of the event to highlight the Bridgeport Winter Market.

The evening of jazz helped feature awareness of local foods available in the winter.