For two years running I’ve had the fun ‘job’ of judging the The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Bailliage Southwest Region Jeunes Commis Competition – it’s a mouthful (literally & figuratively) – a fascinating cooking competition with young chefs from all over the Southwest. The event is at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) at the historic Pearl.
The chefs are given a basket of groceries and have an limited amount of time to prepare an appetizer, an entre and a dessert. While they’re all stressed out in the kitchen, us judges sit back and enjoy some incredible food. The hard part is always choosing the winner.
My first year, Crockett Wessels, the sous chef from Auden’s Kitchen, won top honors. He made an incredible lemon pound cake. He shares his recipe in my recipe section – he infuses the whipped cream garnish with basil in the photo, but he also serves the lemony delight with a tasty gastrique made with black peppercorns—It’s delish! You can also "watch how he prepares the dish. ":/restaurants/audens-kitchen/award-winning-pound-cake-recipe/
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