The thrill of competition...

Have you ever heard of Skills Canada Competitions? They hold a variety of provincial and national competitions in a variety of fields for students and apprentices. Including Culinary Arts.

Yesterday was competition day here, at a provincial level. I was lucky enough to be able to participate in a provincial level competition. We had three plates of three services to prepare - an entrée, main dish, dessert. We had shrimps, scallops and mussels for the entrée, we had pork loin for the main dish, and dessert was up to us.

I started my day, as usual, steeling my knives. Unfortunately, my knife slipped and struck my thumb to the bone. The wound was difficult to control, because it would bleed for 15 minutes. I'd get it stopped, bandaged, then bang it and start all over again. I was lucky in my bad luck though because had the knife struck at a slightly different angle, I could have split my thumb at the joint. This didn't stop me though. My goal was control the bleeding, and get the meal out to the juges. So with plasters and bandages on, gloves over that, I started working.

I started with dessert... Thym flavoured Panna Cotta. That with a wild berry couli and fruits made for a yummy plate. The gelatine had to set though, so what better way to start than with dessert? ;)

Then I worked on the entrée, a seafood mousse duo. A scallop mousse was the center, and a shrimp mousse was the surrounding part. Lovely light pink on the exterior, and creamy whiteness in the center. Completely delicious. To serve with that, a baby spinach salad, with a simple homemade vinegrette - made with white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, a neutral oil, pinch of salt, a bit of sugar, some romano cheese and some french shallots. Oh! I forgot... A few raspberries crushed and blended in... mmmmm!

Afterwards, it was on to preparing the main dish. This time we are talking a simple bread stuffing stuffed into the pork loin, which was pan roasted. This was served with a turned beet, some turnips and a fenel salad. Oh, and a nice chive-merlot demi-glace to top it off.

Even with my injury, my plates were on time and delicious. Comments? Good. A little on the bland side, but better that than too seasoned - which was the case for some of the other competitors.

Last night, we had the award ceremony and a celebratory banquet. The awards were anounced for another group of competitors. The culinary arts medals were given to them... an oversight by the presentors... Oops! We all had a good laugh. Especially the other group since they were saying that they don't cook at all! Things got straightned out and then it was on with the presentations for my group, the culinary arts. We were all at a table together and we waited with baited breath. A small speech and then on with the placements... Third place, ME! :D :D :D, Second place, Sebastian Richard from Rogersville NB. First place went to Chrisine Iforgetherlastname from Fredericton NB. From what I understand, it was only decimal points difference between first and third...

The medals and prizes handed out, we had the obligatory pictures for the media and away we went to party the night away! Congratulations to my fellow winners, and to the other competitors. We all worked hard, and we all deserved the recognition. I hope we have a chance to meet again and share a meal together. It's been a pleasure meeting and working with each of you all!

Mmmmm.... Ribs!

We're having ribs tonight. A recipe simple enough to follow.

Ribs
Bbq spice rub
A hit of hot sauce just to give it an extra punch of heat

Throw in a low oven (200F) in the morning. Go to work. Return from work hours later. Throw it on the Bbq for a few minutes to finish with a bit of flame. Add a nice rye maple syrup Bbq sauce and glaze. Serve with extra sauce. Finger licking good. Once your fingers get covered with sauce, be careful NOT eat your fingers! :)

Meme... Visual DNA

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