What’s your most essential tool in the kitchen?
My most essential tool in the kitchen is the wok pot. [I use] the wok because I like to pan sear a lot of my food. When I first started cooking, like most men, we just go to the grill, just throw on the grill seasoning and put it on the grill. The grill’s cool, but honestly … some of these meals I’m preparing are delicacies and sometimes the grill either burns too fast, and takes away the flavor, or it damages the food itself. And so a lot of times when I’m doing intricate, detailed work, I like to pan sear it, because I can control it.
Do you have any kitchen disaster stories?
When you are smoking something it’s different. … Some smoked items take 24 hours to cook. When I smoked a prime rib it took 24 hours. So, I tried to rush and do this smoked turkey leg. It looked like something off of the “Lion King” right off a zebra’s leg. It was the roughest, toughest, blandest piece of meat. I felt like a barbarian eating it. That was definitely a kitchen disaster.
Who will be crowned the King of the Kitchen? Come and cast your vote.
The House of Trend H.O.T. Men Cooking Competition takes place on Sunday, Jan. 8, at House of Trend 688 North Milwaukee, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Chefs include: Brian B. Brown, Noah Conley, Larry James, Darryl Petty, Kobie Randolph, and Khahil El Zabar. Pastry chefs by Shorty Capone.
–theo daniels
