Getting Healthy with Chef Ryan Conklin, Rex Healthcare

Posted on January 20, 2015 by kelleychisholm

Chef Ryan Conklin

As part of the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, Triangle 2015, I had the pleasure to interview the talented chefs from the four Raleigh restaurants participating in the competition and learn more about their experience, why they think they have what it takes to win, and other fun tidbits about them.

A hospital chef in the Got to Be NC Dining Competition? Really? Really! Ryan Conklin is the executive chef for Rex Healthcare in Raleigh, N.C. A native New Yorker (but loyal Carolina Hurricane’s fan!), Chef Conklin is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and has worked in restaurants in Manhattan (The Four Seasons Hotel); Limerick, Ireland; Sarasota, Florida; and New York’s Hudson Valley region.

Chef Conklin made the switch to health care more than 11 years ago and Rex Healthcare (patients, staff and visitors) has certainly benefitted from his skills, experience and commitment to bringing freshness and quality to modern health care cuisine. As a recent patient at Rex, I can tell you firsthand that I was impressed with the room service menu and food!

Chef Ryan Conklin's food

I had the extreme pleasure of sitting down with Chef Conklin and learning about the health care side of the restaurant industry. He was so gracious and passionate about what he and his team are doing. I was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchen and the two restaurants in the hospital, and left impressed and quite excited that there are visionaries like Chef Conklin right here in Raleigh. He just may be the dark horse in this competition.

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Don’t Let His Youthfulness Fool You. Chef Benjamin Harris Has What It Takes!

Posted on January 18, 2015 by kelleychisholm

 

 Executive Chef Benjamin Harris

As part of the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, Triangle 2015, I had the pleasure to interview the talented chefs from the four Raleigh restaurants participating in the competition and learn more about their experience, why they think they have what it takes to win, and other fun tidbits about them.

Chef Benjamin Harris, a native of Raleigh and 2005 graduate of Millbrook High School, became the executive chef at Midtown Grille in trendy North Hills late last summer. Chef Harris has worked at various restaurants in Charlotte and Charleston, S.C. He served as chef de cuisine at the highly-rated Poogan’s Porch in Charleston and later as executive chef at Charleston’s Republic Garden & Lounge when it opened in 2012, where he also garnered positive reviews.

Chef Harris’ dishes are inspired by his Southern roots as well as from his grandmother, and are prepared with seasonal offerings from local farmers and vendors. He strives to source his ingredients from the area and makes frequent visits to the State Farmer Market every week.

I sat down with a most enthusiastic Chef Harris earlier this week to learn more about his culinary background, cooking style and how he plans to prepare for this competition. And I left quite impressed with this young, charming and talented chef.

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Spotlight on Chef Christopher Hill, Faire Restaurant, Raleigh, NC

Posted on January 15, 2015 by kelleychisholm

 

Chef Hill, Faire

As part of the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, Triangle 2015, I had the pleasure to interview the talented chefs from the four Raleigh restaurants participating in this year’s competition and learn more about their culinary experience, why they think they have what it takes to win the competition, and other fun tidbits about them.

Chef Christopher Hill is the executive chef at Faire, a modern and funky steak and seafood restaurant newly opened in Raleigh’s Cameron Village. He is a long-time lover of food and has spent years working in the restaurant industry in North Carolina and Oregon. Before coming to Faire, he was head chef at The Oxford, another Eschelon Experiences establishment in downtown Raleigh. This gives him great insight into the tastes and trends of the Triangle restaurant community. Chef Hill’s cooking style is classical French foundation with Southern influences.

Lobby

I sat down with Chef Hill earlier this week and had a delightful conversation about his restaurant, cooking philosophies and how he and his team plan to win this competition.

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Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, Triangle 2015

Posted on January 15, 2015 by kelleychisholm

Participants

I am so excited to announce the upcoming schedule for the Got to Be NC Competition Series 2015 Triangle battles, which start next week on January 19th! For those of you who follow this blog, you may recall I had the honor of being a media judge for one of the competitions last year (read about it here: https://kelleychisholm.com/2014/07/27/fired-up-about-fire-in-the-triangle/ ), as well as a special guest for one of the semi-final matches in the Final Fire, which was held in Raleigh this past November.

I was asked to do a write-up for this year’s upcoming competition and wanted to take a different angle from my previous blog posts. I thought it would be fun to interview the participants in this fun and tasty culinary contest, but knew there would not be enough time to speak with all of them. So I narrowed my choices down to the four teams located in Raleigh (Faire, Midtown Grille, Rex Healthcare and Tobacco Road) since this is where I live. Yes, I’m selfish that way. Plus, I had eaten at all four establishments prior to being asked to do this write up, so I knew something about their food upfront.

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Kel’s Classic Collards With Ham Hocks

Posted on January 11, 2015 by kelleychisholm

 Almost done!

Collard season in N.C.’s Piedmont region is almost over, so if you love these leafy greens like I do, now’s the time to make them until they disappear from the end of January until late fall. I made a big batch for New Year’s, as their color represents paper cash and eating them is supposed to bring monetary good luck for the year. Hey, I will take all the help I can get!

Properly cooked, collards are one of my favorite leafy green veggies, plus they are rich in vitamins and nutritionally just plain good for you. Plus, the liquid that is left once the collards have cooked, aka as pot liquor or potlikker, is absolutely divine. Make sure you save this liquid gold as it contains many of the collards’ beneficial vitamins and minerals.

Some people cook their collards to death and then there are others who just sauté them a bit to maintain some crunch. This is completely a personal preference. I like them somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, not too crisp but not a soggy mess. Frankly, I am more concerned about how they are seasoned, which goes back to having great pot liquor to savor.

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Kel’s Creamy Oyster Mushroom Soup, With Bacon or Not

Posted on January 5, 2015 by kelleychisholm

Kel's creamy oyster mushroom soup

The other day my sister and her boyfriend, Rob, brought me some fresh oyster mushrooms that Rob had foraged and gathered. I have to admit that at first I was skeptical to try them, until I learned that their friend, Beth, a certified mushroom expert, had approved them for consumption. How cool to have a source for fresh mushrooms, at least as long as they grow!

Fresh oyster mushrooms

Mushrooms are a great source of vegetable protein, potassium and iron, and are packed with B vitamins. Oyster mushrooms are mild and have a sweet, woodsy taste. Nancy had asked if I had any good mushroom soup recipes, so I knew that was what I would make with some of these oyster ‘shrooms. Since it is winter, I wanted a creamy soup, so after looking at several recipes I came up with this tasty version, which, by the way, is Lexi approved!

Lexi-approved mushroom soup

If you don’t have access to fresh oyster mushrooms, no worries. I’m sure you can easily substitute other types found in your grocery store’s produce department. In addition, you can keep this soup meatless, or kick it up some and garnish it with crispy bacon. Your choice!

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Kel’s Twice-Baked Potato Casserole, Rockcrok® Style

Posted on December 28, 2014 by kelleychisholm

 Kel's Rockcrok potato cheese and bacon casserole

This is one of the first recipes I made in my awesome Pampered Chef Rockcrok® casserole**  and it is definitely a keeper! It is so easy to make and the results are absolutely yummy — of course, how can you go wrong with a dish that features potatoes, bacon and cheese? I modified Pampered Chef’s recipe some by using a bit more bacon and cheese. Also, I used nonfat yogurt instead of low-fat, and reduced-fat cheddar instead of regular. But you could never tell the difference, and it does reduce the guilt factor.

What I love about using the Rockcrok® is that I took it from stovetop to microwave to oven, with no cleaning among steps. What a timesaver – no extra pans to wash! If you don’t have this amazing vessel, just cook your bacon as you normally would and then switch to a 2-quart casserole (or larger) dish that is both microwave and oven safe.

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Smashburger, Take Two

Posted on December 15, 2014 by kelleychisholm

 Smashburger Tasting menu items

For those of you who follow this blog, you may recall my post earlier this year about Smashburger’s debut in Durham. In that post I wished that owners Ketan and Jayshri Patel would open a location in Raleigh, and I’m thrilled to say my wish is coming true this Wednesday, 12/17/14, as Smashburger comes to Fall Village Shopping Center on the corner of Falls of the Neuse and Sandy Forks Roads.

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Five Days of Cookies — Day 5, Bold and Beautiful Bourbon Balls

Posted on December 12, 2014 by kelleychisholm

 A Christmas tradition

It just wouldn’t be a merry Christmas in the South without these potent little no-bake morsels of comfort and joy. The cool thing about these bourbon balls is that once you have made the basic recipe, you can really make them festive and roll them in powdered sugar, cocoa, finely chopped nuts, coconut flakes, etc. or dip them in melted chocolate. I opted for the powdered sugar for this batch.

Jim Beam Honey BourbonAt the liquor store, I came across some Jim Beam® honey bourbon and decided to give it a try. The folks at Jim Beam describe this as “Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey infused with real honey and liqueur” and I thought it would be a sweet addition to the bourbon balls. And I was right! The honey adds a subtle sweetness to the balls.

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Five Days of Cookies — Day 4, Butterscotch and White Chocolate Blondies

Posted on December 11, 2014 by kelleychisholm

Blondie with ice cream

If you’ve never tried a butterscotch blondie, you’re in for a treat – these decadent beauties are melt-in-your-mouth awesome. They are easy to make, and I love the addition of the white chocolate morsels as they make these brownies even richer and more delicious. Dagwood would definitely approve of these blondies!

Hello, Blondie

I made these in my Pampered Chef brownie pan. I love how each individual brownie just pops out the pan and that they are all uniform in size (something important if you have kids, trust me, especially when there are only two blondies left!) If you don’t have one of these awesome pans, I totally recommend that you get one, as it is great for desserts, but also breakfast casseroles, mini-meatloaves, sliders, etc. Until you do get one, use a 13×9 inch baking pan instead.

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