Hey Backstagers!!

October was a great month, wasn’t it?! Great fall weather, great events for us to work on, and new people to work with. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Earlier this month however, I had the opportunity to partake in The Big Brothers Big Sisters “Chef Showdown” event. I was one of the Judges this year. It was nice to sit back and watch my peers in the industry compete. There were four chefs from local establishments, one commentator and three judges, which all happened to be chefs as well! The part I enjoyed the most was watching the opposing chefs from the first round jump in and help their opponent in the second round. The camaraderie between the chefs in our community at such a great event, which I can proudly say I have been a part of for the past 6 years, made me feel proud! This year the well-deserved champ is Chef Jyll!! CONGRATULATIONS

At the event, Backstage had a booth and I was able to show off a recipe I created. If you missed out on the event, you’re in luck! Here is the recipe we featured. This recipe will be perfect for a small gathering as a horsd’oeuvres or made larger to make an entree for 2-3 people.

From the Kitchen of Chef Nicole:

Salmon Cakes: 8 oz. salmon ½ cup panko (bread crumbs, course ground) ½ cup mayo 1 egg 1.5 tbsp. fine diced yellow onion ½ tbsp. fresh chopped parsley Season with salt, pepper, lemon pepper, garlic, dry mustard and paprika Season and cook salmon (you can either bake or sauté). Let salmon chill. Mix all other ingredients together. Once other ingredients are all combined and salmon is chilled, add salmon. (adding salmon last will help keep the salmon a little bigger in size, instead of shredding) Patty to desired size. Orange Maple Beurre Blanc: ¼ orange, juice and zest 1 tbsp. maple syrup 1 tbsp. white wine 2 tbsp. cold butter cubes In sauté pan, add fresh OJ, wine and syrup, reduce to almost dry. Add heavy cream and let it get frothy on the sides of pan (You can skip the heavy cream, and jump straight to the next step, however be very careful and stir immediately. Heavy cream will make it a little easier to be able to cream the butter and not go straight to melting the butter), remove from heat and stir in the cold butter cubes. Continuously stir until all butter is creamed in to make the sauce.