3rd Annual Super Chefs Cook-Off by Sue Barry “You can always whip up something great with twenty dollars,” said Chef David Kokesh of 5:01 Downtown in Harrisburg when he first revealed the ingredients that went into the dish that won him first prize at the Super Chefs Cook-Off held on August 25 at the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg. What did his twenty dollars add up to? Roasted red peppers stuffed with shrimp, andouille sausage, and couscous with roma tomato chick pea ragu accented with tabasco, garlic, and thyme, served with a side of steamed asparagus. The crowd has never had a stuffed pepper quite like this. This Super Chefs Cook-Off followed a series of three preliminary cook-offs earlier in the month. Local chefs were given twenty “market” dollars to buy their ingredients at the Broad Street Market. After a tasting by the judges, all dishes were shared with the crowd. Besides Kokesh, the chefs who made it to the Super Chefs Cook-Off were Carrie Bogar, co-owner (with husband Jerry) of Empire Restaurant and Bar in Carlisle, and Mack Granderson of the St. Moritz Supper Club in Harrisburg. Chef of the Year for the last two years, Jason Viscount, sous chef at the Golden Sheaf Restaurant at the Harrisburg Hilton and Towers, was also invited to compete. Being one of the four judges was exciting, as my duties began with following the chefs around the Broad Street Market as they bought their ingredients for their optimum dish, which had to be made within an hour. After putting in her order for beef at the Lebanon Valley Meat Products counter, Bogar was recognized and approached by shoppers seeking tips on meat selection. That same purveyor was asked by Granderson, “does anybody sell fresh chicken?” He was sent down the line to Beiler’s Poultry. All the while, Viscount and Kokesh quietly stood their place in line with other patrons at the Garden Fresh produce stand. A few minutes later, intently searching the shelves at the International Food & Deli stand, Bogar found fish sauce while Kokesh nabbed a can of chick peas. A few ingredients were permitted from the chefs’ personal pantries, i.e., oils, wine and salt and pepper. The chefs arrived at their outdoor individual cooking stations within moments of one another and wasted no time lighting the professional burners that they brought from their restaurants. Bogar was prepared, bringing a mortar and pestle and a type of wood finishing tool turned kitchen gadget to zest her lemons. She confessed that at the last Cook-Off, she forgot her saute pans and had to borrow some from a nearby restaurant. Spectators watched the chefs’ intricate knife work and fast wrist action as they asked them questions about their dish and their restaurants. As the band on Market Plaza was playing the Brazilian folk song, “The Girl from Ipanema,” Granderson was sauteing a mild pork sausage that would be a key ingredient in his Jambalaya, a dish that is very popular at the St. Moritz Supper Club. Cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper was generously sprinkled over the sausage, chicken, peppers, onions, and tomatoes to add that certain amount of kick — a kick that snuck up on you. Although, if he were not making a batch for the masses, Granderson said that he would have made it much more fiery for his own taste. Speaking of fire, a torch was lit at the Kokesh cooking station. Patiently, the chef was charring beautiful large red peppers with a handheld blow torch the prerequisite to the skins gently slipping off when rubbed in a small tub of water. A painstaking chore, it produced gallant results. Viscount’s first priority would be his finishing touch. He shaped a slice of yucca into palm-like spikes and fried it to become part of the garnish for his twelve dollar seared pork chop dish. Baby red potatoes and yucca were mashed with homemade butter to form a base for the tender pork chop. Add to that a side of lima bean succotash with baby portobellos surrounded by a porcini mushroom sauce then lightly splashed with truffle oil and you sensed the essence of autumn. As Bogar was grilling cantaloupe, she was wooing the crowd with her casual banter, her love for competition showing through. This grilled cantaloupe would later join yellow watermelon and Asian flavors as a salsa to balance Bogar’s bold flavored coriander-crusted steak salad made with local spinach. Judging criteria was based on quality of the entrée — flavor, tenderness, juiciness, knowledge of products used, technique, presentation and use of side dishes. Although Kokesh may have one the first prize ribbon and bragging rights, the other chefs didn’t seem to mind. They enjoyed the professional comradery, the interaction with the audience and the freedom of creating almost anything gastronomically imaginable with the vast array of products they found at the Broad Street Market. The series of Chef Cook-Offs was organized by Barbara Skelly, Market Master for the Broad Street Market.