Be sure to check out their holiday recipes below!
ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX (Dec. 21, 2014) Cody Hayes is inspiring a select group of Rockwall ISD students to pursue the joy of cooking, starting with Pumpkin Rolls – more than 600 of them!
Selling Pumpkin Rolls is an annual fundraiser for the Culinary Arts program, necessary because it is expensive to operate six classes considering food and supply costs.
“The price of my groceries is going up like crazy,” Hayes said, using butter as an example.
The recipe for the holiday dessert is his mom’s.
“She taught me how to make it,” explained the 35-year old Fate resident and Rockwall High School Culinary Arts teacher, known as “Chef Cody” in the community. He admitted that getting the cake out of a jelly roll pan and rolling it up twice “is not the easiest thing to make. Students learn so much from that recipe.”
His students also raise funds by catering for groups in Rockwall. But the main purpose of catering, he said, “is because they need the experience.” A catered meal involves math (calculating increasing recipe servings and figuring the cost to make them and what to charge) and teamwork.
“They learn to think in a different ways about cooking,” Hayes said. “Even if they are nervous, they must learn to hide it. If they go to culinary school, they must be able to present in front of people.”
Catered meals are how students are tested.
“They are tested in front of everybody, so everyone knows how they do, not just mom and dad,” Hayes said. “It’s nourishing the community. It’s a big deal.”
Recently, students provided a Blast from the Past dinner requested by the Rockwall County Historical Foundation that included meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and gelatin salad. It took more than one time to get the salad done correctly, Hayes said, calling it a great learning tool.
“They had to start thinking and that’s when learning begins,” he said. “They learn to be resourceful – and that’s what I love about my students!”
Sixty students were selected by Hayes for the course out of 145 that applied, necessary due to kitchen space limitations. Classes are divided by first year and advanced students. The course begins with instruction in food safety and sanitation. By the end of September, it’s on to Pumpkin Rolls.
Hayes teaches atRockwallHigh School, so students from Rockwall-Heath are bussed to RHS.
This spring students will compete in the ProStart Invitational. Last year, the Culinary Management team won the National ProStart Invitational in Restaurant Management by developing an original restaurant concept and business proposal and applying critical thinking skills for addressing challenges that restaurant managers, owners and executives face each day. They had to prepare a 10-minute verbal presentation and “sell” their concept idea (The Grate American Grilled Cheese Factory with the slogan: Two GRATE Loves: Our Food & You!).
Hayes was honored in June with the 2014 Texas Restaurant Association Education Foundation Educator Excellence Award, given to an educator that has made significant contributions to culinary education – shown through dedication to students and a strong presence in the community using the Texas ProStart Curriculum.
This spring, four of the five-member Culinary Arts Competition team will be first-year students.
“It’s not how experienced they are,” he said, “but how passionate they are.”
They are indeed passionate.
Marcus Moehler, 17, said food is his “favorite passion.” His goal is to be a Nutrition Engineer. Amya Bee, 15, has always wanted to a chef (“It’s fun and challenging!”). Her goal is to attend the Art Institute inHoustonand then get a degree in science. Jacquellyn Carranza, 17, said it was a blessing to be chosen for the RHS course.
The team, including Taylor Mead and Miranda Myers, practice Monday through Friday (4:30-8:45 p.m.) and Saturday (9 a.m.-4 p.m.). Homework for other classes, they agreed, can be done in the car on the way to school, at lunch, late at night or early in the morning.
“It’s a lot of time, but in the end, it’s worth it,” said Marcus.
Hayes has accomplished a lot in a relatively short period of time, especially considering he got the job by chance after deciding to go back to school and get a teaching certificate.
“I decided to look at the RISD website and noticed an opening for Culinary Arts Instructor,” he said. “I had a mini-interview on the phone on a Monday, applied on Tuesday, had an interview on Thursday and was hired on Friday as the first CA instructor.
“It was November before I had a spoon in the kitchen, but after one year, we had a kitchen operating.”
While teaching, he worked to get his teaching certificate through Region 10.
Hayes is a man that loves his job because it involves his love of cooking and his love of working with enthusiastic teens. “I am simply blessed beyond measure to teach them every day.”
By Blue Ribbon News contributing writer Judy Evans, an award-winning journalist who spent her career in Rockwall as a reporter, editor and columnist working with The Rockwall Success/Rowlett Record and The Dallas Morning News.
Sweet Potato Towers with Chipotle
Serves 12
Ingredients
2 ½ cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon chipotle puree
(use canned chipotle in adobo sauce and puree in food processor or blender. Available at your local grocery store)
3 medium peeled sweet potatoes very thinly sliced into rounds
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2/3 cup shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 tablespoon light brown sugar, divided
1-2 green onions, sliced (optional)
2/3 cup of french fried onions strings (optional)
Directions
Preheat conventional oven to 350°F. In a muffin pan, line each section with foil, making sure the foil is about 2 inches taller than the pan itself and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
Combine heavy cream and chipotle puree in a small bowl. Add the thinly sliced sweet potatoes to the bowl of heavy cream and chipotle puree. Gently stir to make sure the potato slices are completely coated with the chipotle cream mixture. Line the bottom of each foil-lined muffin section with 2-3 potato slices, stacking one on top of the other. Every two or 3 slices, add a bit of the heavy cream to ensure depth of flavor and moisture. Continue stacking 2-3 potato slices and adding cream until you have created a tower of sweet potatoes and cream. Make sure the foil is tall enough to hold the towers.
Bake about 35-40 minutes, or until all of the cream is absorbed and a toothpick is inserted without force. During the baking process, you may add more cream so the potatoes turn out moist. The last 10 minutes of baking, remove muffin tin with sweet potatoes and top with shredded cheese and then brown sugar. After baking, let them cool for about 3 minutes, pull out of the muffin pans, remove foil and serve immediately. You may use French fried onion strings to top off each sweet potato tower and a few slices of green onions. This adds texture, crunch, color, and a yummy flavor!
Cranberry & Pomegranate Poached Pears
Yields 6 Servings
Prep: 20 min. Cook: 1 hour 25 min.
Ingredients
3 cups of cranberry and red grape juice (equal parts)
1 bottle (16 ounces) pomegranate juice
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
3 fresh rosemary sprigs (4 inches)
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
6 mediumConcordor Bosc pears
6 orange slices
6 tablespoons Mascarpone cheese
Directions
In a large stockpot, combine the first eight ingredients. Core pears from the bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears; place on their sides in the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until pears are tender, but not so soft that they fall a part or begin to get mushy. Gently remove with a slotted spoon; cool and refrigerate.
Strain poaching liquid and pour into a small saucepot. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1 cup, about 45 minutes (you may thicken with a cornstarch slurry to speed up the thickening process). Discard rosemary and cinnamon. Place an orange slice on each serving plate; top with 1 tablespoon of cheese and a pear. Drizzle with poaching liquid.
*Pears can benefit from an overnight soak in poaching liquid in the fridge. They’ll pick up more flavor, along with ruby hues from the pomegranate and cranberry juices. Guests will enjoy identifying the subtle tastes in the reduction sauce from the juice, to the rosemary and cinnamon.
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