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<title>Catholic Outreach Soup Kitchen, Elk Meatloaf, Chef Bob Ballantyne, Grand Junction, Colorado, USA</title></head>
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<p>The third Saturday of March finds me down at the soup kitchen cooking for the
homeless. As many readers know I cook at the soup kitchen once per
month. I like the challenge of creating a balanced meal for the clients
with what ever donation come through the door. I look at it as "Iron Chef
Soup Kitchen" contest. Let me introduce the Secret Ingredient for Today!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/elkburger.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>Elk Burger...... 35 pounds of it! I love Elk, Deer, basically anything
you can catch wild and pull the hide, feathers or scales off of and I am there
to taste it! At the soup kitchen there are some problems with elk meat...
mainly some people won't eat it because of the game taste. This stuff is
mild in its game taste, but it is still wild! The rest of today's
ingredients are Spinach, potatoes, carrots and tons of strawberries. The
basics for a green salad, a fruit salad, a few sides and some dessert.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/carrots.jpg" width="445" height="284"></p>
<p>Now I must choose the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ia/0,1976,FOOD_16696,00.html">Iron
Chef</a> to compete against.... I chose
<a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">
Iron Chef Cat Cora</a>..... I figure even if she beats my butt into the ground...
she looks like she has fun in a kitchen... and she is also easy on the eyes
while pounding the tar out of me in the competition! </p>
<p>And so the battle is on at Soup Kitchen Stadium.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/outreach.jpg" width="399" height="336"></p>
<p> Now two parts of the soup kitchen that are interesting is having to
get the meal balanced and service is at high noon! Plus one must get it to taste
great so they will eat it. That means sneaking vegetables in where you can...
adding fruits in where you can... and using nutrient rich sides that offer up
some of the vitamins and minerals missing in these poor souls diet. I have
learned over the three years of cooking for the Soup Kitchen that anywhere you
can put a vegetable or fruit into the diet, you do it for them. Also you
have to feed 180 people on 35 pounds of meat. So that is certainly
interesting to try and accomplish. On with the battle. Cindi starts
to prepare the vegetables. Bell Peppers and Onions will be the main filler
in the meatloaf. We also need to make elk taste a little more like
something else so everyone will eat it. I have found a gallon can of
Teriyaki sauce in the store room. And the reefer hold a couple cases of
old mushrooms.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/cindi.jpg" width="344" height="275"></p>
<p>So the menu is set.... Teriyaki Elk Meatloaf with a Teriyaki Mushroom sauce
to go with it. Roasted root vegetables, Steamed spinach greens with
Artificial Shallot, salt, pepper and a little ginger. Dessert will be
strawberry short cakes!</p>
<p>I get the onions diced and pick up the peppers from Cindi...... and commence
to make 35 pounds of elk meat into 55 pounds of elk meat so we can get everyone
fed. That calls for the big mixer.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/mixingmeat.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>While I will need to mix three batches of this to make enough for service, I
am doing about 19 pounds per batch. Slat, Pepper, Teriyaki sauce, soy
sauce, stale bread, little ginger, onions, bell peppers, and additional
seasonings as my taste lends me to believe are required. While the mixer
runs, I start the volunteers on the root vegetables prep and the salads.
Another group is started on the dessert prep.</p>
<p>Soon it all starts coming together... the convection oven is doing its thing,
the tilt skillet is doing its thing with my mushroom teriyaki sauce for the
meatloaf and things are going well.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/ovenloaf.jpg" width="380" height="312"></p>
<p>The large empty spot in the ovens is from me setting the racks up so I can
cook both the root vegetables and the spinach greens while the meatloaf is
cooking. I have three other pans of meat loaf... but I stagger the start
so the last person through the serving line gets a fresh from the oven piece of
meatloaf just as the first person did..... probably not important to a person
whom is getting what will probably be their only meal for the day... but it is
important to me that they get good, properly prepared food no matter what place
in line they stand. I am certain
<a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">
Iron Chef Cat Cora</a> would feel the same!!!!!</p>
<p>In the end it all comes together and we layout the food we have prepared for
line service.......</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/roastedroots.jpg" width="336" height="377"></p>
<p>Roasted Roots....... hand peeled carrots!!!!!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/spinach.jpg" width="336" height="325"></p>
<p>Spinach Greens, chopped, steamed and then roasted with the "artificial
shallot" on top.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/teriakimush.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>My teriyaki mushroom sauce.... I would have loved to finish this with a
little black truffle after saucing the meatloaf... but as you can imagine we
don't get a lot of black truffles donated to Soup Kitchen Stadium!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/loaffeed.jpg" width="338" height="294"></p>
<p>And my filler laden teriyaki elk meatloaf......</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/platedlunch.jpg" width="402" height="336"></p>
<p>This is how the line plated the dinner up.......... Not bad for a group of
volunteers working with a catering chef!!!!</p>
<p>So in the Iron Chef Soup Kitchen who won? Who's cuisine would rein
supreme? Will <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">Iron Chef Cat Cora</a>
beat the catering chef into the ground, pummeling him to a mound of stock
fixings? Or would the Challenge meet the challenge by bringing the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">
Iron Chef</a> out of her element enough to capitalize on the edge catering
cooking gives to someone in a soup kitchen? Who will win?</p>
<p>I like to think that 167 souls won today.... as they were able to eat another
meal.... and judging from their reaction to it... eat a good meal...... and for
a short time while eating in Soup Kitchen Stadium they might have forgotten
about the troubled existence they face and just ate their dinner and believed
for a short period that they would be OK..... at least for Saturday!</p>
<p>'til we talk again... if you have not made your donation to the soup kitchen
this month.... please make an effort to do so... the better the weather the
easier it is to get caught up in our own lives... and forget that some people
depend on our charity for their very existence. </p>
<p>Chef Bob Ballantyne<br>
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering<br>
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA</p>
<p>Patiently waiting for one TV chef I consider to be normal, <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">
Iron Chef Cat Cora</a>, to show up and help in Soup Kitchen Stadium!</p>
</body></html>
<title>Catholic Outreach Soup Kitchen, Elk Meatloaf, Chef Bob Ballantyne, Grand Junction, Colorado, USA</title></head>
<body>
<p>The third Saturday of March finds me down at the soup kitchen cooking for the
homeless. As many readers know I cook at the soup kitchen once per
month. I like the challenge of creating a balanced meal for the clients
with what ever donation come through the door. I look at it as "Iron Chef
Soup Kitchen" contest. Let me introduce the Secret Ingredient for Today!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/elkburger.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>Elk Burger...... 35 pounds of it! I love Elk, Deer, basically anything
you can catch wild and pull the hide, feathers or scales off of and I am there
to taste it! At the soup kitchen there are some problems with elk meat...
mainly some people won't eat it because of the game taste. This stuff is
mild in its game taste, but it is still wild! The rest of today's
ingredients are Spinach, potatoes, carrots and tons of strawberries. The
basics for a green salad, a fruit salad, a few sides and some dessert.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/carrots.jpg" width="445" height="284"></p>
<p>Now I must choose the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ia/0,1976,FOOD_16696,00.html">Iron
Chef</a> to compete against.... I chose
<a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">
Iron Chef Cat Cora</a>..... I figure even if she beats my butt into the ground...
she looks like she has fun in a kitchen... and she is also easy on the eyes
while pounding the tar out of me in the competition! </p>
<p>And so the battle is on at Soup Kitchen Stadium.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/outreach.jpg" width="399" height="336"></p>
<p> Now two parts of the soup kitchen that are interesting is having to
get the meal balanced and service is at high noon! Plus one must get it to taste
great so they will eat it. That means sneaking vegetables in where you can...
adding fruits in where you can... and using nutrient rich sides that offer up
some of the vitamins and minerals missing in these poor souls diet. I have
learned over the three years of cooking for the Soup Kitchen that anywhere you
can put a vegetable or fruit into the diet, you do it for them. Also you
have to feed 180 people on 35 pounds of meat. So that is certainly
interesting to try and accomplish. On with the battle. Cindi starts
to prepare the vegetables. Bell Peppers and Onions will be the main filler
in the meatloaf. We also need to make elk taste a little more like
something else so everyone will eat it. I have found a gallon can of
Teriyaki sauce in the store room. And the reefer hold a couple cases of
old mushrooms.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/cindi.jpg" width="344" height="275"></p>
<p>So the menu is set.... Teriyaki Elk Meatloaf with a Teriyaki Mushroom sauce
to go with it. Roasted root vegetables, Steamed spinach greens with
Artificial Shallot, salt, pepper and a little ginger. Dessert will be
strawberry short cakes!</p>
<p>I get the onions diced and pick up the peppers from Cindi...... and commence
to make 35 pounds of elk meat into 55 pounds of elk meat so we can get everyone
fed. That calls for the big mixer.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/mixingmeat.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>While I will need to mix three batches of this to make enough for service, I
am doing about 19 pounds per batch. Slat, Pepper, Teriyaki sauce, soy
sauce, stale bread, little ginger, onions, bell peppers, and additional
seasonings as my taste lends me to believe are required. While the mixer
runs, I start the volunteers on the root vegetables prep and the salads.
Another group is started on the dessert prep.</p>
<p>Soon it all starts coming together... the convection oven is doing its thing,
the tilt skillet is doing its thing with my mushroom teriyaki sauce for the
meatloaf and things are going well.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/ovenloaf.jpg" width="380" height="312"></p>
<p>The large empty spot in the ovens is from me setting the racks up so I can
cook both the root vegetables and the spinach greens while the meatloaf is
cooking. I have three other pans of meat loaf... but I stagger the start
so the last person through the serving line gets a fresh from the oven piece of
meatloaf just as the first person did..... probably not important to a person
whom is getting what will probably be their only meal for the day... but it is
important to me that they get good, properly prepared food no matter what place
in line they stand. I am certain
<a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">
Iron Chef Cat Cora</a> would feel the same!!!!!</p>
<p>In the end it all comes together and we layout the food we have prepared for
line service.......</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/roastedroots.jpg" width="336" height="377"></p>
<p>Roasted Roots....... hand peeled carrots!!!!!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/spinach.jpg" width="336" height="325"></p>
<p>Spinach Greens, chopped, steamed and then roasted with the "artificial
shallot" on top.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/teriakimush.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>My teriyaki mushroom sauce.... I would have loved to finish this with a
little black truffle after saucing the meatloaf... but as you can imagine we
don't get a lot of black truffles donated to Soup Kitchen Stadium!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/loaffeed.jpg" width="338" height="294"></p>
<p>And my filler laden teriyaki elk meatloaf......</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/elkmeat/platedlunch.jpg" width="402" height="336"></p>
<p>This is how the line plated the dinner up.......... Not bad for a group of
volunteers working with a catering chef!!!!</p>
<p>So in the Iron Chef Soup Kitchen who won? Who's cuisine would rein
supreme? Will <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">Iron Chef Cat Cora</a>
beat the catering chef into the ground, pummeling him to a mound of stock
fixings? Or would the Challenge meet the challenge by bringing the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">
Iron Chef</a> out of her element enough to capitalize on the edge catering
cooking gives to someone in a soup kitchen? Who will win?</p>
<p>I like to think that 167 souls won today.... as they were able to eat another
meal.... and judging from their reaction to it... eat a good meal...... and for
a short time while eating in Soup Kitchen Stadium they might have forgotten
about the troubled existence they face and just ate their dinner and believed
for a short period that they would be OK..... at least for Saturday!</p>
<p>'til we talk again... if you have not made your donation to the soup kitchen
this month.... please make an effort to do so... the better the weather the
easier it is to get caught up in our own lives... and forget that some people
depend on our charity for their very existence. </p>
<p>Chef Bob Ballantyne<br>
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering<br>
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA</p>
<p>Patiently waiting for one TV chef I consider to be normal, <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html">
Iron Chef Cat Cora</a>, to show up and help in Soup Kitchen Stadium!</p>
</body></html>
