BC holds Junior Iron Chef Competition
Inside-out eggplant Parm takes Best in Show; See photo gallery here
The Bethlehem Central School District found out whose cuisine reigns supreme as the district held its Bethlehem Central Junior Iron Chef competition on Wednesday, Oct. 12.
Participating students were given 90 minutes to prepare and cook a dish to be judged by Diane Giacone Stever, President of the Bethlehem Central Board of Education; Jody Monroe, Assistant Superintendent; Bethlehem Central Director Food Services Paul Franchini; and Ron Knoth, Chef at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
This is the second year that Joanne Smith and the Family and Consumer Science department have run the program.
"Family and Consumer Sciences was founded on the premise that cooking good nutritious food is of the utmost importance for the health and wellbeing of all children. Jr. Iron Chef offered BC students the opportunity to showcase their culinary skills while producing good quality healthy foods. Once again the participants in the 2011 competition accomplished these goals with the great dishes that they prepared. They proved that great tasting food can also be very healthy," said Smith.
The Best in Show award was won by Moriah Greenstein, Henry Taylor and Sydney Ferigan who made an inside-out eggplant Parmesan.
Best in Category went to the following: Soup -
Ethan Gunty, Ian Ksanznak, Brett Kaplan; Dessert - Sarah O’Halloran,
Nora O’Hanlon, Jenna Lee; Vegetarian Entrée - Rachel Musiker,
Rachael Micelli.
Karissa Alonzo and Eleanor Burrows-Hoare were also in the Vegetarian
Entrée division and made an asparagus penne pasta dish.
“We had a great time that night. The kids involved really did a great job and put out some very good food. It was nice to see a few students really have a good sense for cooking and working around a kitchen - a lost skill,” said Franchini.
“We will be mixing in a few of the dishes on the High School Menu for November,” he said, adding that Knoth said he was going to start serving a version of the inside-out eggplant Parmesan at RPI.
“All of the dishes were excellent,” said Monroe. “It really speaks well of the work the Family and Consumer Science department is doing and of the hard work of its students.”
“FACS courses are taught using a hands-on experiential approach. Learning occurs in the context of real-life situations. The use of real-life relevant tasks, laboratories, simulations, and community involvement is an integral part of these courses as is the use of research, class discussions, and group activities. Students are expected to be actively involved in learning in a participatory, supportive environment and to have the opportunity to practice and to develop skills related to the content topics," said FACS Supervisor Fred Powers.
"The Junior Iron Chef competition exemplifies the hands on, real life and community involved approach to teaching Family and Consumer Science.”
The organizers of the Junior Iron Chef competition would like to extend a special thanks to Karen Shaw and Becky Lane of the Bethlehem Healthy Kids Committee, the Delmar Farmer’s Market, Monica Bush, Trish Henning, Joanne Smith and Christine Murphy of the Family and Consumer Science staff, and Nick Nealon of the Audio Visual department.
To see more photos from the Iron Chef
competition,
click here.