Get back, Giving

As I am sure most of you are aware, I am a culinary teacher at Warren Technical High School in DeKalb County School System and I have just started summer break. Like every teacher in this field I was counting down the days ‘till summer break and eagerly anticipating the release of the students. During these past couple weeks of break I had an opportunity to reflect on what my students in my culinary program actually participated in and conquered this year as culinary students. To give you insight on the type of students I teach on an everyday basis, they are students with special needs and disabilities that require adjusted curriculum to fit their IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and constant supervision monitoring behavioral disorders. These students come from all over DeKalb County and are placed in programs that they choose to be in, which is nice. These students have an attention span of a child, spelling and writing skills of a first grader and attitudes filled with raging hormones. But with all of that, these students have hearts of gold and minds wanting to learn.

Another great benefit of Warren Technical High School is that the set up is vocational minded and the students are able to venture out into the real world on Wednesday through Friday to participate in work base learning opportunities at designated work sites such as the Grand Hyatt, Evergreen Resort and Northside Hospital just to name a few. At these sites our students learn how to perform various actions and responsibilities related to the field of study they are interested in becoming a professional employee while they receive real life exposure to that certain industry.

One of the aspects of my job is to prepare the students for these work base opportunities which hopefully will lead to employment with that company or serve as a reference from that company to assist in another job opportunity down the road. My culinary students at Warren Technical High School also study and take the Serve Safe Management certification test which gives that individual knowledge and skills needed to be a manager in the hospitality industry. The Serve Safe Management certification test is not easy and is usually administered to students exiting high school that plan on attending a culinary school or are in colleges that relate to the hospitality industry. Out of all my students in my culinary program, 10 passed with scores high enough to obtain the serve Safe management certification certificate. This will benefit them in their employment success and can be used as a resume booster. This alone was something that opened my eyes to the possibilities of my students and is amazing to have so many students with disabilities pass this challenging exam. I believe my school, Warren Technical High School, had the most students in the County to pass the Serve Safe Management certification exam.

As I continue to instruct my culinary students in the art of culinary skills and proper food handling expectations, Warren Technical High School has a lot of functions and fundraisers that require my student’s assistance throughout the year. A break in instruction can be tough because it requires a lot of organization and teamwork to keep on task. I work with a very strong team of teachers and Para-Professionals who also believe in our students as much as I do and work around the clock to help them be successful. I could not do it alone and it is because of our team work that we are as successful at Warren Technical High School as we continue to push the limits of our students in the culinary field.

Each team member is expected to participate in the extracurricular activities that our program is involved in. Expectation is the word used in this job requirement but each teacher is excited and open to any extracurricular event or extra mile that we must go in order to further the education of our students. I am honored to have such a wonderful supporting cast and dedicated queen, my principal Carla Jones, to help our program be the best it can be and help better the future for our students.

To give you an idea of what exactly I am talking about take a second and look at what we have done at the high school level with our students and the tasks and functions they have completed with flying colors. Each year at Warren Technical High School we have two business advisory luncheons held in the middle of each semester. The business advisory luncheon is a time for Warren Technical High Schools’ financial supporters, foundation members, job site coordinators, DeKalb County board members, including the new superintendent, Legislators of Georgia, and family and friends to come and see what the students of Warren Technical High School are achieving and the future plans of each program at Warren Technical High School. This event gives our students an opportunity to shine in the field that they are in, especially our students because our culinary program prepares the lunch for our guests at the business advisory luncheon which we have done with the up most class and professionalism. During this luncheon our culinary students serve 150-200 people a plated meal that consists of 5 components followed by a dessert as well, in about an hour. Many of you may say “so what” but to my industry professionals and Chefs reading this, you are aware that it is difficult to produce that many dishes in that short of time frame and is looked upon as a successful service when done properly. Not only did my students produce that number of dishes in that short period of time, but the kitchen space is limited as well because the lunch ladies have their responsibilities for feeding the students lunch as well. It is a symphony of food production when the business advisory luncheon is being held and is a sight that should be seen by all.

This year our students participated in two events for the Fernbank Science Center that held a reception and an honorary program for the top 50 scientists in the world at their Fernbank facility. Keep in mind that this facility is a museum of artifacts and records of historical events that are collected throughout the years and put on display for the general public and for students in the surrounding areas to learn from. There is NO KITCHEN! My culinary students prep the food at Warren Technical High school and then transport the food to the Fernbank Science Center where the students finish the preparation of the food and plated the cuisine for the 500 guests. That’s right, 500 guests attended this evening’s event and as a team we conquer this event with only 15 students. Now that is something my students should hang their toque on because I have worked in this industry for a very long time and for the number of guest we served that night, most restaurant caterers would have brought double the amount of people to help with that specific event. This event was done with such precision and grace that my students were asked to do a follow up reception with Fernbank Science Center later that year and the menu consisted of 19 different complex menu items on a tiered buffet line that had an arrangement of service stations, which the culinary students worked throughout the night. These students once again performed with such grace and excitement. Once again this was another event that made me realize why I love what I do and who I am doing it for.

My culinary students have done events at Warren Technical High School for the new superintendent and her board members of DeKalb County. My students have created culinary delights for the House of Representatives and Senate members of Georgia that left our guests with the feeling of having just dined in a five star restaurant in France. The culinary students prepared a brunch consisting of eggs Benedict Oscar and apple stuffed French toast for the Dunwoody woman’s club and 150 Administrative Assistants of DeKalb County enjoyed a 10 menu item buffet spread that even to this day I receive emails thanking me and my students for the time and expertise for this event. These are just a few of the events my amazing students have done because there are countless more times my students have been called upon and they have exceeded the expectations of the guests as well as me and my team.

To finish this up, I have a set of students who are my top students who participate on my competition culinary team that travels around the county and state to competitions in various arenas. These competitions are held every year and include every school in the county that has traditional college bound students. Most think that students with disabilities and handicaps would not stand a chance against students that are of higher learning abilities and have normal functioning capabilities. That is why I love my job and where I am at! My culinary students participated in a regional competition in FCCLA against some of the top schools in our region in 2012 and out of 15 schools my students placed third. Two of my culinary team students have competed for scholarship opportunities at the Art Institute of Atlanta and have won honorable mentioned. One of my culinary team students competed in the NAACP culinary competition in 2011 and won first in the State of Georgia and went to Nationals in California and won third out of the whole nation. Another culinary team student, took his skills to the CTI competition in 2012 and brought home the gold in his event and still holds his head up high about this accomplishment.

You see, these students are the reason why I get up and look forward to going to work every day. The students at Warren Technical High School are capable of anything that a traditional student can do. They just need an opportunity to prove it to the world. To watch these students grow, mature and become successful is why I chose to go into the educational field and especially at Warren Technical High School. I am here to tell the world that these students are something special and can do anything you or I can do with the right guidance and an even playing field. Yes, the pay sucks, there is tons of paper work, unread emails to check and you always have somebody checking in to make sure you are following protocol, but at the end of the day, the feeling you have about what you are doing on a day to day basis is worth every headache. I love to give back and to give back to these students and watch them be successful and excited about what they are doing is the reason why I can say....

I love my job, now can you say that?

What is a Chef?

As an experienced culinarian and someone who has been in the business for a very long time, it upsets me when the term CHEF is thrown around like a ragged doll. Ever since the uprising of the Food Network everyone wants to be a Chef. Where was everyone when being a cook was looked down upon as a low end hustle and a place where the rejected business class workers made there last stop as a hope for making some money. Being a cook was not glorious and was not looked at as a great way to earn a living. It took passion and desire as  a cook to be successful and you traditionally had to have some screws loose in your brain because the pay was horrible and in fact it still is. The hours, forget about it, they suck! Family time, don’t get it and the holidays are just another intensified busy night on the line.

The glorification of being a cook has hurt the restaurant industry in my mind because now you have all of these imitators wanting to be Bobby Flay but have never been in the weeds on a Friday night serving 500 hundred covers with a three man line. Back to my point, if you have no idea what I just said, stay out of the kitchen! The kitchen was a place for pot smoking, coke sniffing, and alcohol abusing degenerates that wanted nothing to do with the corporate world and wanted a release from the reality of life. To those individuals a plate was a canvas of creativity that they played with every night and allowed them to be successful by inspiring their guests through the use of their food.

Moms and Dads are now excited to see their son or daughter go to a culinary school to study culinary arts when in the past parents would avoid telling anyone that there child has made that horrible decision. “My son/daughter is going to school to become a Chef”, really? Face it folks you do not come out of medical school as a lead doctor. You practice in that field until you reach a certain plateau to call yourself a doctor. Let me ask you this, would you want someone to operate on you if they just graduated from medical school and you are going to be there first surgery, hell no. That type of responsibility comes with time and practice. It is the same in the culinary world; it takes time and practice to be labeled a Chef. In fact, cooks do not even need to go to culinary school to become Chefs! That’s right Mom and Dad’s around the world, you can save that 100 thousand dollars and just let your son or daughter start working in a local restaurant and gain some experience and be groomed to become a Chef within the industry. I do believe in culinary school though as I am a graduate of one, go ahead and work hard to receive a degree which gives you a great foundation to begin with but please do not think because you have graduated from a culinary school that makes you a Chef. I have worked alongside of young men who could not speak very good English and have never seen a culinary school and they ROCKED out on the line putting me to shame. I found out quick that it is the passion and time you put in that makes you what you are and not some piece of paper from a printer that has a fancy letter head.

Get into the industry for the right reasons and not what you see on TV because this industry will chew you up and spit you out in a heartbeat. Even the Bobby Flays and Tyler Florence of the world, who never graduated from High School, put their time in before obtaining the recognition as a Chef. It is not something that happens over night and it is not given to you because you have a fancy document that states you are certified and trained in the hospitality industry. It is a matter of respect and respect is earned, it is not easily given out. So keep your head down, your fingers curled back and start chopping away at your dreams at becoming a Chef but stay grounded and always absorb everything you are being taught. One day you might be leading the brigade and someone will be looking at you for the answers as the Chef.

Grilled Georgia Stuffed Shrimp served on a bed of Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients:

1 pound large Georgia shrimp (16-20), peeled, deveined and butterfly

1 pound of turkey bacon slices

8 ounces Goat cheese

8 ounces Feta cheese

1 cup Parsley, rough chopped

2 TBS Cayenne Pepper

2 TBS Chili Powder

2 TBS Garlic Powder

2 TBS Paprika

Pinch of Salt and Pepper (for seasoning mixture)

5 large Zucchini, thinly sliced

1 Pineapple, peeled and cored, medium dice

2 red onion, small dice

6 roma tomatoes, small dice

1 bunch Cilantro

1 lime, juiced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Procedure:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is pre-heating, take a broiler pan and put 1 cup of water into the bottom pan. Spray top pan of the broiler pan with a non-stick cooking spray and lay out bacon strips, making sure not to overlap the bacon strips.

Put bacon into oven and cook until desired crispiness, about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. Once cool, chop bacon into tiny, little pieces and reserve for later use.

In a medium bowl add feta, goat cheese, bacon and parsley. Mix well until incorporated and reserve for later use.

In a small bowl, combine cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and paprika. Mix with a fork until incorporated.

Take one butterfly shrimp and scoop a spoonful of the cheese mixture into middle of shrimp. Lay out one zucchini strip on cutting board and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning mixture. Roll shrimp with zucchini strip. Keep in mind that you will be grilling these shrimp so the zucchini needs to be rolled tight. You do not want to overlap the zucchini too many times. Continue this procedure until all stuffed shrimp are wrapped with the zucchini. Drizzle all wrapped shrimp with a small amount of olive oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking to the grill.

Place wrapped shrimp on a grill over medium heat and cook until shrimp turns light pink. If shrimp starts to curl you are over cooking the shrimp. If so, remove from heat immediately. Once all of the shrimp are grilled, remove and let sit for 2 minutes.

While shrimp are resting, in a medium bowl add pineapple, red onion, roma tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper.  Mix well until incorporated.

Place a spoonful of salsa on the plate and top with three grilled and stuffed shrimp, then serve.