The Bulldog Café kitchen was busy on Thursday as the would-be chefs were making final preparations to compete in the annual Iron Chef competition at Indian Hills Community College on Friday.
The competition starts at 8:40 a.m. on Friday, April 20 with one student on each team fabricating a chicken. Students had to practice that skill, cutting up a whole bird into parts for competition. Then the cooking begins. OHS will compete with eight or nine other southern Iowa high school teams.
This year’s competition has an Italian theme. Since students are cutting up a chicken, chicken breast is the only required ingredient. They have practiced twice this week. The menu includes tortilla chips and spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer; creamy chicken alfredo with vegetables as the main entrée; and molten chocolate lava cake for dessert. “The whole menu changed on Monday,” said Heather Crandall, café instructor. The team felt they needed to incorporate items more difficult to prepare.
Senior Hailee LaPoint was busy making the lava cakes. She plans to pursue a degree in culinary arts at Indian Hills and hopes to someday be a chef for Disney. Trailyn Evans was in charge of the entrée. Another senior, she also plans to pursue a degree in culinary arts. “I have an aunt in Florida who owns a restaurant and has offered me a job,” she said.
The competition provides really good great experience for students, according to Crandall. “Students not only present to the judges but judges walk around during preparation and students explain the process. It’s a reality check.”
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