Hey guys! I know its been a minute since I first posted. Okay, okay...its been over a year and a half but I can explain. See I never knew how hard it would be to live and blog about it at the same time. Hey, I'm a social butterfly leading a very packed life. I can't help it if I am popular. You will be happy to know that during this long hiatus I have been doing anything but resting. Let's see if I can bring you guys up to date...
For the past couple of years, I have been trying to break into the wine & spirits industry. Who knew that trying to get a retail position in a wine shop could be so hard?! So I started working trade events as a volunteer. Once I got some event experience under my wings, I received referrals for events which paid me to present and pour wines at portfolio tastings for several different producers, importers and agencies. It was through these events that I realized that I was a natural when it came to promoting and marketing wine. Not to toot my own horn but... TOOT TOOT!!! So I took this experience and applied it towards a wine retail internship at Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit. Now originally as an intern, I was assigned to explain and pour the wines selected for the in-store tastings. However, you know me...I have to do better than the average. See some of the customers would say that they were looking for something else: wines were not their style, pairing with a meal, buying a gift, etc. So I began to step away from the tasting table and onto the sales floor. Now anyone that knows me knows that I do not like sales and I have never considered myself a sales person...that was until I stepped onto that floor. Everything came so naturally that it didn't feel like sales, it just felt like I was having a casual conversation about some of the things I love most, food & wine. The management staff loved this and asked me to help out with the classes and food/wine tastings. From that day forward, I signed on to help out for everything they offered. I think they may have gotten tried of my face at one point because I was there so much lol. Seriously, it isn't just the wine that I love at this store, its the staff. They have become like my wine family, my Cru...
Oh, I have not given up on my culinary ambitions. I cook all the time and I have the pictures to prove it, so there :p . Last year, I took a chance and tried out for the third season of MasterChef. I think Gordon Ramsey is hella sexy (Purrr...). Now when you go to these open calls they tell you that you will not have access to a kitchen or even a microwave to reheat your food. They say that the judges take this into account but I was taking no chance. So, I decided to make a dessert, Heavenly Hash Cake. Like its name suggest, this cake is inspired by the ice cream flavor. Its a chocolate cake with walnuts topped with marshmallows then covered in a chocolate ganache. This cake is my brother Emile's favorite. So much so that I use it as a bribe to get him to do anything just about anything. That is why I also refer to it as "The Bribe" or "Emile's Price".
 |
| Heavenly Hash Cake aka "The Bribe" |
I thought I was on to something because I was one of the few out of thousands of people to bring a dessert. Everyone seemed to love it at the open call, even my fellow competitors. A couple of them compared it to good sex and some even tried to hug me. The judge said it reminded him of his childhood and he loved the way the different textures went well together. Well, apparently he didn't love it too much because as you can see I did not make the show :(
Do you think that stopped me?! Hell no! Matter of fact, I tried out last Saturday, the the 14th, for this new cooking show coming on ABC with Nigella Lawson and Anthony Bourdain (Love him!). Instead of several rounds in one day like MasterChef, you presented once to the judge and then they would call you to let you if you advanced to the next round. This time I decided to go with something savory: Poulet a'la Diable (Chicken Diablo). The chicken is brushed in a herbed dijon sauce covered in panko breadcrumbs then baked with a little butter for color. I sauteed some spinach with mushrooms, green onion, garlic and truffle oil and served it on top of basamati brown rice. It may sound complicated but actually the dish is quite simple and may I add quite delicious. Don't believe me?! My friend tried to put his fork on his boyfriend's plate and they almost had a misunderstanding. My chicken almost broke up a happy home, people! That is why my friends now refer to this as "Shea's Dealbreaker Chicken" lol... What do you think? Does it look "super crunchy"?
 |
| Poulet a' la Diable aka "The Dealbeaker" |
This time I knew I had them. Don't only did I prepare this killer dish fresh that morning, I paired it with a off-dry Gewürztraminer from the Alsace region of France. The touch of sweetness helps to cool the palate and temper the spiciness of the chicken. Food and wine go hand-in-hand. I believe pairing food and wine is like writing music. If you bring the right melody together with the right harmony, you will walk away with a Billboard Top 10 hit. However, if you make the wrong combination, you could end up with a huge flop. The pairing definitely helped my dish stand out, along side my glowing personality :) . The judge came back around to my station several times... However, I am still waiting for that phone call... Oh, well. In the words of Jay Z, "On to the next one, on to the next one..."
Trying out for cooking shows can be a little stressful and intense. But it can actually be quite a lot of fun too, especially doing the test runs on my friends/coworkers aka "culinary guinea pigs". Oh and standing in line for hours just for less than 15 minutes of face time, its freakin PRICELESS! I may not have won a spot on a show... YET but I have done something others may never even attempt to do and I've done it twice so far. So, I haven't really lost and I am not going to lose simply because I refuse to quit.
"It's never too late to be who you might have been."
- George Eliot
(one of my favorite quotes)
