Colulmnist Muriel Stevens: CCSN culinary team serves up gold medal

Friday, March 9, 2001 | 8:53 a.m.

Muriel Stevens' dining column appears Fridays. Her shopping column appears Wednesdays. Reach her at 259-4080 or muriel@lasvegassun.com.

Bringing home the gold is getting to be a delicious habit for our culinary community.

The most recent honors were bagged by two student teams from the Community College of Southern Nevada's Culinary Arts department.

The Culinary Knowledge Bowl Team, coached by Culinary Arts Instructor-Chef John L. Metcalfe, competed against seven CKB teams at the recent American Culinary Federation Western Regional Culinary Competition on the Big Island of Hawaii and won the gold.

Team members Teresa Cachia (captain), Chris Launey (co-captain), Sonya Vasquez, Lillian Lazaro and Khaled Darwish will now represent the Western United States at the ACF National Convention at the MGM Grand July 22-26. They will compete against three regional teams for the national championship.

CKB is a "Jeopardy"-style ACF competition named in honor of past ACF National President Baron H. Garland. Garland encouraged the student-apprentices who are junior members of ACF chapters to get involved in their profession outside their kitchens.

The CCSN team trained for the regional competition for four to five months. On the days the students had classes, Metcalfe met with them at 6 a.m. Fridays for eight hours. It was a grueling schedule, but they met the challenge. Training will be even more intensive for the national competition in July.

Team members must be able to answer questions on all the information contained in four textbooks, including "On Cooking: Techniques from Expert Chefs 2nd Edition," "The World of Culinary Supervision & Management," "Nutrition for Foodservice Professionals 3rd Edition," and "ServSafe Manual 4th Edition." Quite an accomplishment.

CCSN's Hot Food team, Steve Dunafin (captain), Tina Redus (co-captain), Aaron Beers, Robert Silva and Sandy Krasnow was coached by Director of Culinary Arts Chef Jill Mora. The Hot Food team won a silver medal for their four-course gourmet menu.

Mora won an additional honor when she was presented with a Presidential Medallion in recognition of her continued mentoring and support of culinary students and culinary competitions.

ACF National President Noel C. Cullen awards 50 medallions each year as a token of appreciation and tribute to people such as Mora who make significant contributions to the culinary profession.

This wasn't the first time CCSN's culinary teams won medals. In 1998 both the CKB and Hot Food teams won the gold. In the nationals, CKB took the gold and Hot Food the silver.

Congratulations to the students and their coaches. I'll be rooting for you in July.

Short orders

* New at Pick Up Stix: Pick Up Stix, Southern California's award-winning chain of quick-serve Chinese eateries, which also has many outlets in Las Vegas, has added a number of new dishes to the menu: teriyaki bowls, chicken, beef or vegetable, $4.55; Kung Pao beef ($7.95); and Szechuan chicken or lemon chicken ($6.95) made with white meat.

There's more: Kung Pao shrimp or shrimp with black bean sauce ($8.95) and orange peel tofu ($4.95).

All foods are wok-cooked, they're lighter and leaner and made without MSG. The lunch menu is value priced -- $4.95-$5.95. Included are salad, steamed rice and a fortune cookie.

Call ahead for takeout, even eat-in. I did this one lunch time and within minutes my food was served, even though all dishes are cooked to order.

Take advantage of the St. Patrick's Day promotion available now; a takeout California roll tray -- 32 pieces, $19.80.

There are five Pick Up Stix in Las Vegas: Green Valley Parkway and Lake Mead Drive; West Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road; West Lake Mead and Rainbow Boulevards; Horizon Ridge Parkway and South Eastern Avenue; and Village Center and Trail Center Drives in Summerlin.

* Castaways price changes: Price changes at San Brisas Buffet at the Castaways (formerly the Captain's Buffet at the Showboat): lunch Monday through Friday, $6.49 per adult, per child, $4.49, kids 3 and under free.

Dinner Monday through Thursday, $8.95 adults, $6.95 kids, free under 3. Friday seafood dinner, $14.95 adults, $12.95 children, kids under 3 free.

Saturday and Sunday brunch, $8.95 adults, $6.95 kids, youngsters 3 and under free. Italian buffet dinner Saturday, $10.95, $8.95, kids 3 and under free. Polynesian buffet dinner Sunday, $12.95, $10.95, under 3 free.

* Nevada woman makes chicken finals: Connie Emerson of Reno has made it to the finals of the National Cooking Contest 2001. This 44th contest offers a first-place prize of $25,000. An additional $11,000 will be shared by four runners-up. That's not chicken feed. Emerson's chicken dish, Pacific Rim Chicken Salad with Curried Singapore dressing, was selected from thousands of recipes submitted by home cooks nationwide. The competition takes place April 6 at the Sacramento Convention Center.