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Warrior chefs bust out the moves

By Airman 1st Class Jessica McConnell, Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs / Published May 11, 2011

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MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Chefs from Air Force Global Strike Command's 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Missile Wing competed in the third annual Warrior Chef Competition at the Dakota Inn Dining Facility here May 5.

"The event was held to create healthy competition between the chefs from each wing on base," said Tech. Sgt. Keon Pinckney, 741st Missile Squadron NCO in charge of chefs. "This competition gives the chefs an opportunity to really showcase their talent and skill."

Sergeant Pinckney said each team had 60 minutes to prepare one main entrée and one side dish. And if that wasn't enough, each team was challenged to pick from a basket of secret ingredients to include in their overall dish.

At least two secret ingredients were required to be included in each entrée. Secret ingredients included everything from scallops and animal crackers to twizzlers and cheese whiz.

Judging the competition was Col. Julian Tolbert, 5th BW vice commander, Col. Christopher Coffelt, 91st MW vice commander, and guest judge Chryseis Catudio, from Michael's, a downtown Italian restaurant here.

Competitors were judged on their ability to work as a team, the overall presentation of each dish, originality of the dish, and the taste of each meal.

The 5th BW came out on top with Staff Sgt. Brandon Smith, 5th Force Support Squadron chef, leading the team as the head chef. Airmen 1st Class Marki Keepers and Kelsey Keppner, both 5th FSS chefs, competed as assistant chefs.

"The hardest part was just trying to wrap your mind around the challenge and getting everything done within the allotted time," said Sergeant Smith. "I've been doing this for a little more than seven years, so that helped a lot."

Sergeant Smith said he had worked with his teammates prior to the competition and thought that their practice helped with their overall performance.

Both teams were given the same ingredients to work with, so it was up to the chefs to employ various techniques to ensure their meal stood out.

"We made sure our food was unique by using a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors and textures," he continued.

"We made stuffed chicken, spiraled zucchini, asparagus, wild rice, apple and raisin crisp, and an Italian spaghetti soup," said Sergeant Smith. "Our secret ingredients were asparagus and animal crackers. We used the animal crackers as a piecrust-like crumble for the apple crisp dessert."

Staff Sgt. Joseph Kean, 742nd Missile Squadron chef, Airman 1st Class Liana Roray, 741st MS chef, and Airman 1st Class Bobby Bermudez, 740th MS chef came together as the 91st MW team. All members of the 91st MW team had rarely worked together before, but still managed to get through the competition successfully.

"The hardest part was the fact that none of us had worked together before, but we tried to manage that by meeting and getting to know one another beforehand," said Airman Roray. "Overall, we had a good time. It taught me how to be flexible and adaptive."

Sergeant Smith said the competition was more than just the 5th BW winning an award, it was about the chef career field as a whole getting an opportunity to show that they could do more than just cook regular meals at the dining facility.

"Overall, this competition gave us a chance to show the new Airmen in our office the full scope of the job," said Sergeant Smith. "It showed the fun and competitive side of our job. And, as most competitions do, it fostered teamwork and bolstered shop morale."
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