Photo By Staff Sgt. Brian Ragin | Beef Showdown Alaska State Fair 2014 Palmer, Alaska. (Photo by Sgt. Brian Ragin/Released)... read more read more
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Paratroopers with Headquarters Company, 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division competed in the 2014 Ranchero Beef Showdown at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, Alaska, Aug. 31, 2014.
The competition resulted in third place for the second year in a row for the team from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
The team was made up of six Soldiers and one Airman. Team members were Staff Sgt. Aaron J. Warman, Staff Sgt. Raphael B. Bonair, Spc. John Sous, Pfc. Shannon Palmer, Pfc. Alexander Sanchez, Pvt. Daisy Streator and joining the Spartan team from the Air Force was Airman 1st Class Neeta Dension with the 673rd Air Base Wing.
“We had some support from Staff Sgt. Armando Pacheco, Staff Sgt. Steven Horne, Sgt. Abraham Gonzales and Spc. Preston Kim,” said Warman, the JBER culinary arts director. “They helped us a tremendous deal.”
“I just recently returned from Fort Lee for a competition like this,” said Gonzales. “The competitions [at Fort Lee] gave me good tools and guidance to help us try to win this competition.”
Fort Lee, Virginia, is where the Joint Culinary Center of Excellence is located. The center is also known as the “Home of the Food Service Professionals.”
“Prior to the competition, we conducted training Aug. 26,” said Warman. “We conducted training and preparation every day up until Aug. 31.”
Several training days were put forth for the cook-off, with the team putting in countless hours of work in preparation for the competition.
“We covered menu design, purchasing, event planning, knife skills and food service professionalism,” said Warman. “We practiced the individual plates and prepped for the event Aug. 28-30.”
The menu included herb and garlic marinated sirloin steak, German potato cake, seasoned red cabbage, smoked cheddar croquette, peach whiskey sauce, stuffed flank steak, pineapple coconut rice, basil mango and papaya salsa, roasted red pepper and gin cream sauce, grilled mustard rubbed flat iron steak and potato terrine. Complementing the main courses was a deconstructed mixed green salad with grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, toasted pine nuts, pickled red onions, shaved Parmesan and whole grain mustard vinaigrette.
The competition resulted in the JBER team taking third place overall. The 2014 Ranchero Beef Showdown overall winner was Naomi Everett, who represented the University of Alaska Anchorage. Team Mike Graham, representing Mat-Su Career and Technical High School, took the People’s Choice Award during the first and third rounds. Warman and the JBER team took the People’s Choice Award during round two.
“Though we did not win the overall cook-off,” said Warman, “I’m glad we came home with something, and I can’t wait to compete again next year.”
| Date Taken: | 08.31.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.05.2014 21:19 |
| Story ID: | 141337 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK, US |
| Hometown: | PALMER, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 96 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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