Menu Wars

Hello again. This is my final blog and one of my final assignments of high school. I have to say, it has been quite the journey these past few months and I enjoyed every part of it. Mrs. Herzog and Chef Gans started talking to my classmates and I about Menu Wars. It's basically a competition between two groups and those groups form a restaurant. They figure out what the overall theme is, a combination of all of the different themes each person has, and they figure out what to cook that is based on their individual theme and the restaurant's theme. They cook the dish and they serve it to the judges and they score the dishes and restaurant. I was excited the first time I heard about it and I was still excited when we started planning. I was put on the same team with the other seniors in the class and I was team captain. Seniors v. Juniors. We tried to figure out what would be our overall theme because Jaron and Christian both did Italian Food and Christina and Abby did like a healthy eating theme. We decided to have our theme based on summer, like a vacation vibe and bright colors. I decided to make Caribbean Chicken with Pineapple and White Rice, Christina made a fruity cheesecake, Abby made a corn salad, Jaron made Italian Strawberry Basil Mocktail, and Christian made Bruschetta. It wasn't easy trying to figure out what to name the restaurant but we finally decided to name our restaurant The Final Destination because it was our last year of high school and we reached the end of the K-12 education, ready for another adventure. May the best restaurant win!

And It Begins: Round 1

This week, we have officially started Menu Wars and since we spent our usual prep day actually deciding what we were cooking, we prepped and cooked today. And I decided to make Caribbean Chicken as our restaurant's hearty meal that I found on Taste Of Home website. This is basically a practice run to see how our dishes will come out and decide what changes to be made and how we would serve to our judges.

I started by getting the rice going. I forgot to bring the Maggi from home, so I used scallion to fry in the oil and the unsalted butter. I accidentally let the scallion burn, so I added water and then poured it out. I redid it and it was better. I rinsed out my rice, which was really not clean, but I managed and I added them to the pot when the water started boiling.

As the rice was cooking, I got a chicken breast and cleaned it with 2 limes. I rinsed it out and started cutting it into thick strips and then cubes.

I seasoned it with Haitian Blended Seasoning that I usually bring from home. Then, I drizzled olive oil onto a pot and I poured in the chicken. I stirred them and allowed them to cook. When they were no longer pink and when they started turning brown, I added the tomatoes, pineapples, barbecue sauce, and parsley. I didn't know how to remove the skin off the pineapple, so Chef Gans did it for me. I stirred and allowed them to boil. I tasted it and I realized it was missing something, so I added Old Bay like I usually do in nearly everything that I cook. The taste was much better and ready.

Overall, the cook went great. I actually thought that I was going to run out of time when I messed up with the scallion at first, but it turned out great. Time management was really good since I managed to finish in time before we had to get to class.

My feedback was amazing. Chef really liked it, like her exact words was "It's so f***ing good". I laughed since she usually doesn't curse but it did make me feel good that she really liked my dish. She also said that the rice was also perfectly cooked and really good. She suggested garnish like parsley on top of my dish, which I'm considering for our next cook.

My teammates also really liked it, Especially Jaron, who kept saying that my dish was fire and that it's so good. He even said that he was skeptical about the pineapple and so was I. It really surprised us the fact that it was an amazing addition to the dish. Abby, Christina, TJ, and Robert also really liked it

I have a few plating ideas like having a pineapple or 2 on top, the chicken on the side, sauce streaming down over the rice and parsley leaves on top or I'll have everything on top like having the chicken and pineapple side by side on top of the rice, etc.

Chef Gans liked everyone's dishes and we all received feedback. I needed a garnish and I decided to top it off with parsley leaves, Jaron needed more base of strawberries for the mocktail, Abby also needed garnish, like some sort of seasoning, and Christian needed less onions and something unexpected. Christina finished her cheesecake the next day and she also needed to add garnish.

It Continues: Round 2

My team and I continued working on our menu and other things for menu wars. Abby and I were all set with our dishes, so we didn't have to cook again for Round 2. Chef thought that my dish was perfect and all I needed to really do was to add garnish like parsley and figure out how I was going to plate it. Christina needed to bake her cheesecake again, Jaron didn't make his drink again, and Christian wasn't here. While Christina was baking, Abby and I got all of the plates that we would be using, glass cups that Jaron would be using, and the forks. In total, we washed 28 plates, 7 cups and forks since there were 7 judges and many of our dishes needed plates.

This is my drawing of how I'll plate my dish. I was thinking of having a scoop of rice topped with chicken and the sauce streaming down the rice and a parsley leaf or two on the top. I was thinking of either having the pineapple on the side or just having them both on top of the rice. Still figuring that out.

It Ends: Round 3

WHOO!!! I was really excited. My team and I prepped for our dishes the day before so we wouldn't run into too much trouble on the day of the Menu Wars. Christina made her cheesecake and she put it in the fridge for the next day, and Christian prepped the read made the things on top that had tomato and onions.

I did the same for prep as I did during round 1, except I added more chicken. Jaron kept saying how he was going to get a big plate, which made me really laugh 😂. I seasoned the chicken with my mother's blended seasoning and I put it in a bowl and the pineapple and parsley in separate bowls.

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The next day, I quickly got my rice started and I gathered all of my ingredients. Chef had everyone's recipes taped up and mine was right in front of the stove since I was going to be there only. I rinsed my rice and when the water was boiling, I added the rice. While it was cooking, I checked in with Abby, Jaron and Christina. They were all doing really good. The rice started boiling and I started on the chicken. Same as round 1, I drizzled olive oil onto a pot and I added the chicken. I stirred them and allowed them to cook.

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The rice began to dry, so I topped it with aluminum foil and covered it with the fire low. The chicken took a little while longer because it was more chicken but when they were no longer pink and when they started turning brown, I added the tomatoes, pineapples, barbecue sauce, and parsley. I stirred and allowed them to boil. I tasted it and I added Old Bay like I usually do in nearly everything that I cook and I also added butter so there would be more sauce.

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I was finally done and I lowered the fire under the chicken and I went to help around. I helped with getting water for the judges and I was told that the team captains would have to introduce their restaurant to the judges. I'll admit, I was pretty nervous I don't usually do public speaking but I then started to calm down a little. Christian wasn't here so Abby and Christina helped me plate his dish while I went to talk about our restaurant to the judges. Jaron's drink went up first and he talked a little bit about himself and his drink, then it was Christian's dish and I had to talk about his dish and his theme, then Abby's corn salad. While she served her dish and talked about it, I was plating my dish. I think I left the fire on a little too high because the sauce had dried out and the chicken was a little dry but I kept going. I had forgotten to take a photo of the plate because I was rushing so I could be ready to serve my dish once Abby's dish was cleared. I introduced my dish and I explained my theme and dish. Afterwards, Christina's dish was served and we were done. We cleaned while the Juniors went and true to his word, Jaron got a big plate. Honestly, so did I. I was pretty hungry and I plated out Chef's as well.

The Judges

Abby's Corn Salad

Christina's Cheesecake

Food Lit, 2023

Overall, I had a fantastic time with everyone. I enjoyed working with my teammates and I loved how we worked to collaborate with our different themes. Sadly, the Juniors won 120-118 but I had fun. The whole experience was great, making the menu, and actually making it come alive. Competing against the Juniors was also very fun and we all had a great time. I hope that the next class will also have fun with this as much as I did.

This is related to my theme because of the seasoning and its Caribbean. It’s related to my other classmates’ themes because it is a healthy meal and there are tomatoes to give it a little Italian feel. Since our overall theme is summer, this is a great meal during the summer.

Ingredients:

1 tbs olive oil

1-2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 t. Haitian Blended Seasoning

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 C of fresh pineapple chunks

1/4 C Barbecue sauce

Hot cooked rice

Fresh parsley leaves

White Rice:

1 lb of Jasmine White Rice

1 t. of Maggi Chicken Bouillon Powder

1 stick of Unsalted Butter

2 C of Water

Salt

Directions:

Get a pot and drizzle olive oil and add the maggi and right after add butter and stir and as soon as the butter is melted, add water and let it boil
Taste to see if it needs salt, add if needed and rinse your rice 2-3 times as the water boils and add rice
In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and seasoning; saute until chicken is lightly browned and no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Stir every now and then and when the water dries up, cover the rice with aluminum foil and the top of the pot and lower the fire for 10-15 minutes
Add tomatoes, pineapple and barbecue sauce and allow it to boil
Cook and stir until flavors are blended and chicken is cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Serve with rice and cilantro

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