Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kelvin Ringold | Sgt. Kory Bender, Alpha Company, 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 11th Signal...... read more read more
FORT HOOD, Texas — The III Corps Culinary Arts Soldier/Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter board was held on Jan. 7 at the Ironhorse Dining Facility here, with the winner advancing the Culinary Arts Soldier/NCO of the Year competition on Jan. 8 – 9.
Five cooks from the different units under III Corps here and at Fort Huachuca competed to see who would earn bragging rights as the Culinary Arts Soldier/NCO of the Quarter.
After winning the brigade Culinary Arts Soldier/Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter board in November 2014 at Fort Huachuca, Sgt. Kory Bender, Alpha Company, 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 11th Signal Brigade, came to Fort Hood to compete in the III Corps board.
Bender, who has been in the Army for almost five years, has always enjoyed cooking, and the Army gives him the opportunity to improve his craft.
“I enjoy learning different styles of cooking,” said Bender. “I also enjoy working with others.”
After winning the quarter board, he went on to the III Corps Culinary Arts Soldier/NCO of the Year competition. The competition started with a board on Jan. 8 and concluded with a cooking portion on the following day.
Bender was originally supposed to leave after the Culinary Arts quarter board on Jan. 7, but after the NCO did so well, Sgt. Maj. Timothy Woods, food operations sergeant major, III Corps, was able to coordinate for Bender to stay for the next board.
Before the board began, Woods shared some words of encouragement with the Soldiers about competitions.
“These things are stepping stones in your career,” said Woods. “They can take you where you want to go.”
Up against six Soldiers this board was increasingly more difficult, but Bender stayed focused and kept his composure.
It was tougher than a normal board, said Bender. One board member asked each Soldier a question, and then a different board member asked each Soldier a different question on a different topic. Questions continued rapid fire until they were complete, Bender said.
Not knowing the board results from the previous day, Bender and the four remaining competitors met back at the Ironhorse Dining Facility for the cooking finale the morning of Jan. 9.
Just like an episode of the reality TV series “Chopped,” the Soldiers were to cook an entrée and dessert with ingredients from mystery baskets, with each meal having an added mystery ingredient they had to use.
“It’s going to be something to make them think outside the box,” said Master Sgt. Mack Julien Jr., III Corps and Fort Hood culinary arts team chief.
The entrée basket for each Soldier contained a chicken breast, an egg, a russet potato, a carrot, spinach, an avocado, an onion, a red pepper and cilantro. The dessert basket contained a puff pastry, an apple, blueberries, a kiwi and marshmallows.
After seeing the ingredients, Bender immediately knew what he wanted to make for his entrée.
“I am going to do an herb baked chicken with veggies on top,” he said. “I haven’t baked it before but I am confident it’s something I can do.”
The twist for the Soldiers was the mystery ingredients they had to incorporate in their meals. The entrée mystery ingredient was escargot and for the dessert, wasabi beans.
“I didn’t even know what escargot was before they pulled it out,” said Bender.
With only two hours to complete both meal portions, every second counted.
When a grader called out the 15-minutes-left warning, Bender was just completing his pie and had placed it in the oven. His chicken entrée was plated, warming and waiting to be presented.
When the grader finally yelled, “hands up,” Bender had just finished plating his dessert and had just completed wiping off the plate so the presentation was near perfect.
He was the first to present his meals to the three judges and they were immediately impressed with his chicken and vegetables.
“The chicken is very moist,” said Woods. “I like what you did to the carrots. They are good.”
Moving on to his pastry, Bender talked about his usage of the mystery ingredient.
“I have never messed with wasabi beans a day in my life,” he said. “I decided to use it as a garnish.
Although it was close, Bender did not end up winning the III Corps Culinary Arts NCO of the Year award, but he felt good knowing he tried something new, and still won the quarter board.
“The experience I learned here was great for me,” said Bender. “I was glad I won the initial board and I will be back to compete again next year.”
| Date Taken: | 01.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.13.2015 14:18 |
| Story ID: | 151909 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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