Iron Chef Challenge comes to Friendship Village

Inspired by the popular Food Network television show, Friendship Village hosted a preliminary Iron Chef challenge on November 5^th in preparation for the competition at the annual Meeting and Exposition for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA). For those who have never seen the show, two teams of chefs are pitted against each other in a race against time to design, prepare and plate a three course meal, but with an added twist: each dish must contain the secret ingredient, which is revealed only seconds before the competition starts!

For this culinary showdown, Chefs Cathy Cusack of Friendship Village and Christina Fox of Wesley Willows competed against Cesar Betancourt and Ken Keith – both chefs are from Friendship Village. Both teams were skillfully efficient in cooking their feasts, while their creativity was exemplified through their unique food display.

Cathy and Christina moved on to participate in the AAHSA Conference Iron Chef competition. At McCormick Place in Chicago, they won their battle against Morrison Senior Dining. Progressing to the final cook off against Mather Lifeways, their secret ingredient was chocolate. The pair came in second place with a menu of flank steak with a mole rub, poached pears with a caramel pecan and chocolate ganache and a fresh fruit mix with chocolate reduction sauce. Congratulations to our talented chefs for their outstanding performance!