Seattle Surf and Turf

Interviews. I happen to enjoy them.  Both being the interviewee and the interviewer. Most people cringe when they hear the word. I have always enjoyed the interaction and the exchange between a prospective employer and the fellow team members on the panel, if the interview process reaches that point. So when my current GM asked me to fly up to interview with Centerplate here at Comcast Arena at Everett I was pretty pleased regarding the job opportunity and excited to see new lands. As part of the process of becoming an Executive Chef at a corporate setting you are required to perform what Centerplate refers to as a “Black Box” or a mystery box. Basically a box filled with a wide variety of ingredients that you have to create a fabulous four-course meal from including an amuse bouche (A single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre that is a gift from the Chef to stimulate the palate and get the guest excited about the rest of the meal), a salad, an appetizer and an entrée. Similar to the TV show Chopped.

Some of the challenges involved are not just the ingredients that you find out about immediately before you cook, but also the challenge of being in unfamiliar surroundings as every kitchen has its quirks.  I did my face to face interview here in Everett and was asked to do my cooking demonstration at Safeco field in Seattle, which is also a Centerplate account. David Dekker is the Executive Chef there and he was primarily conducting that part of the interview process. I was to be in the Diamond Club kitchen at 8 AM and have my amuse bouche on the table at noon. So I had four hours to nail it. On my own. All by myself. 

I reasoned that if I left my hotel here in Everett at 6:30 AM that I could be in the kitchen at Safeco sipping coffee by 7:30 to 7:45 AM. I pulled out at exactly 6:29 AM and hit I-5. On my way down the traffic stopped dead right before the exit for the stadium. A Fed-Ex truck had overturned and burst in to flames, completely closing down I-5 south bound. I called and David told me not to worry. He said that whenever I arrived that he would begin the four hour countdown and that he would call everyone scheduled to join us and let them know. I arrived at 9:55 AM and went directly to my ingredients. After looking them over I decided to just go for it. When David came into the kitchen I told him that I would be ready at noon as promised. He said “You don’t have to do this Chef” and I said “A deal’s a deal” so I was off and running. 

I had halibut, scallops, skirt steak, bacon, lentils, red potatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic, shallots, lemons, heavy cream and all kinds of other ingredients. The wild card was the ground hot Italian sausage so I began by making a sausage patty and cooking it on the char broiler. After it was cooked, I crumbled it and put it in the lentils and cooked them in a Turkish curry spice I made from scratch. This was to be the foundation of my amuse bouche. I put the lentils in a soup spoon, topped them with red and yellow cherry tomato slivers, drizzled it all with a roast garlic olive oil and sprinkled it with thinly sliced fresh basil. As promised, they were on the table just before noon. The crowd went wild. Next I made a scallop casino chowder with bacon and bell peppers. The soup bowls came back clean. Then I made a nice frisee salad with dried fruit and sherry vinaigrette. Another crowd pleaser and all courses were flying out of the kitchen looking good and tasting great. I was pleased, so far.

My grand finale, the piece de resistance, was a Seattle Surf and Turf. I crusted the halibut with Romano cheese and pan seared it, then I made a roast garlic lemon cream sauce to go with it. The skirt steak I marinated in fresh herbs and grilled it to a perfect medium rare, then I made a port barbecue au jus for it. My starch was red potato Tuscany home fries and my vegetable was grilled asparagus with lemon zest. I put the potatoes in the center of the plate, the halibut on one side and the steak on the other. I placed the asparagus over the top of the home fries perpendicular to the steak and the fish, then topped the asparagus with thinly fried onion rings. The sauces went down last and out the plates went. They loved the dish and the presentation and I have been doing a similar dish here in the Arena Grill restaurant ever since.  All six guests really enjoyed the meal and guess what? I got the job! I am posting some of these recipes soon and hope that you enjoy them all. See you at the Arena!