Last Friday night, Sacramento foodies were treated to an iron chef competition like no other. INALLIANCE, a nonprofit organization that provides support programs for people with developmental disabilities in the greater Sacramento area, hosted its 9th annual event at the California Automobile Museum (formerly known as the Towe Ford Museum). Chef Russell Michel, the Executive Chef at the Sheraton Grand's Morgan’s Restaurant and last year's celebrity chef champion, was the Emcee for this year's competition.
I spoke with this year's winner, Chef Evan Elsberry of the family-owned and operated Evan's Kitchen in East Sac, who said the competition was "hard." Faced with the challenge of using a variety of secret ingredients, some of which he had never worked with before, Chef Evan was able to plate an award-winning three-course meal for the six judges. Chef Evan beat out stiff competition from Ramiro Alarcon of Tequila Museuo Mayahuel, Richard Pannell of Cuisine Noir Magazine, Jim Turknett of the Vizcaya Pavilion, Mark Liberman of Black Sheep Butchery, and Keith Erickson of the Colusa Casino Resort, by using the Chayote squash, a fish, watermelon, Columbian espresso beans and sirloin in creative and delicious ways.
The first course was a molded, warm watermelon salad with the juice of a blood orange, tomato Concassée, toasted pistachio nuts, pink sea salt and micro basil, enchanced with a balsamic vinegar reduction. It was accompanied by a a pureed chayote squash soup made with carrots, celery onion, roasted garlic and chicken stock, with a touch of pear vinegar, and a generous amount of butter. The remainder of the chayote became thin-cut sticks that were deep fried and tossed with powdered sugar to be used as a garnish on the soup.
With fish and sirloin still be used, the main plate had to be a variation on surf and turf. Mashed yukon gold potatoes boiled in cream with aged sharp cheddar cheese and shallots were stuffed in deconstructed deep-fried, halved yellow onions, and served with sirloin medallions soaked in bourbon and seared. Chef Evan then brewed and reduced some espresso, combined it with Portabello mushrooms and Kahlua for a demi glace to top it all off. The fish was served lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice baked with a sea scallop and blueberry stuffing and topped with pasilla chili and papaya chutney. The surf and turf plate was served with blanched white asparagus wrapped in fontina cheese and prosciutto.
The prized was clinched by Chef Evan's assistant, Chef Michael Steele "Yoshi" made a fresh mango souffle with a whipped cream flavored with Yuzu Juice, an asian citrus fruit reduction.
Chef Evan's daughter, Evelyn, says the best part of the competition was getting to taste the fish, which she described as "pure fish goodness." She even liked the asparagus - wrapped in bacon, what's not to like? She also liked the dramatic entrances of the chefs, each of which was themed. Chef Evan's theme was Born to be Wild and his entrance included a lion chasing a lamb. Wild!
Chef Evan has won many awards at the California State Fair chef's competition since its inception. The many ribbons are displayed in the window at Evan's Kitchen and the winning dishes sometimes show up on menus for special events, like Chef Evan's monthly wine dinners. Chef Evan's grace under pressure is his strongest asset when competing in chef competitions. His relaxed style makes him enjoyable to watch and his talent for blending flavors not only wins him awards, but has led to a strong following of customers who have followed him from restaurant to restaurant throughout his career.
Remarkably, Chef Evan has had no formal culinary schooling, learning his craft thirty years ago from local Italian Chef, Frank Parisi. More information about his background and Evan's Kitchen is available on the restaurant's website at http://chefevan.com.
Congratulations to Chef Evan on another great showing!
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