Chef Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen was the keynote speaker at this year’s National Restaurant Association show in Chicago. He reminded those in attendance, “The future of this country and the future of this planet, believe it or not, are in your hands. Let’s make sure we all want to create a better world because we can.”

At this show, anything one would need for a restaurant is on display. Technology is playing more of a role in the industry with emphasis on reducing costs. Labor and food/products are the major ones for a food service operation. BUNN from Springfield and local Chef Nina Rossini were among the exhibitors.  

BUNN is an international leader in beverage technology and this year introduced Premia. BUNN Premia is their new commercial, high-performance brewer that automatically grinds, brews and manages freshness for optimal coffee availability during peak times while reducing waste during slower dayparts. The system automatically monitors freshness and drains expired coffee and brews to refill the reservoir, so coffee is available for instant dispensing and thus reduces labor.

Customers can fill most large cups in approximately 10 seconds without having to wait for grinding and brewing. There is an intuitive touchscreen for push-and-hold fast dispensing. Consumers can customize individual beverages with the ability to mix and match coffee varieties. The brewer is connected to BUNNlink®, which remotely monitors and communicates with connected equipment. Operators will know what was brewed, dispensed and drained by coffee blend through all dayparts. Two-way communication allows for remote updates to the machine, such as software and recipe updates, graphics and configuration files, reservoir schedule management and other key machine data.

Chef Nina Rossini was at the Chicago show exhibiting Eloma combi ovens. Nina is a former culinary arts instructor at Lincoln Land Community College, executive chef at the Illinois Executive Mansion and longtime food service director at the Dominican Mother House. She now travels the United States training and demonstrating Eloma equipment. Eloma is a German company that has been producing high quality kitchen equipment since 1975. A combi oven is a versatile kitchen appliance that combines the features of a convection oven and a steam oven. In convection mode, the oven uses dry heat circulated by fans to bake, roast or crisp food. It’s perfect for baking bread, making French fries or achieving a crispy texture. With steam mode, the oven injects precise amounts of steam into the cooking chamber. This raises the humidity level, locking in flavors and moisture. Steam mode is ideal for poaching vegetables or seafood. Finally, in combination mode, you use both convection and steam together. This duo produces moist and flavorful meats and vegetables, while still browning from the dry heat. Eloma has a new, very cool tabletop model called the COMPACT PRO. It is designed for smaller commercial installations, convenience stores, schools and fine dining. It has a timer function, built-in recipes, touch screen and automatic cleaning. For more information visit elomausa.com.

Food waste is a global problem. An estimated one-third of all the world’s produce goes uneaten, equal to about 1.3 billion tons, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature. In researching this article, I was intrigued by a software application called Winnow. The software tracks food waste using scales and cameras with AI to analyze what gets thrown away, helping chefs make more informed decisions around purchasing, portion sizes and menu planning. 

The way it works is simple: The garbage cans in the kitchens of Winnow’s clients are equipped with scales and cameras that record information about what food and how much of it is thrown away. That information is compiled into daily, weekly or monthly reports that chefs can use to adjust the amount of groceries they buy. For example, if the data shows people are always throwing away parts of their dessert, maybe the cake slices need to be smaller, or if there are lots of tomatoes in the trash, it could be time to offer the salad without or reduce the number of tomatoes.

My thanks to Desiree Logsdon, Brandi Goodin and Chairil McCalin from BUNN and Gary Meehan and Chef Nina Rossini from Eloma for their assistance with this article.    

The Weber Grill is not just for hamburgers and hot dogs. Below is a recipe from the Weber people for grilled banana splits drizzled with chocolate fudge sauce. Sounds Yummy!

Grilled banana splits drizzled with chocolate fudge sauce

Ingredients

Sauce

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Banana splits

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 6 large, firm but ripe bananas 
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Vanilla or cherry ice cream
• 6 maraschino cherries

Directions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat on the stove, bring the cream, corn syrup, sugar and cocoa powder to a boil, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat, and add the chopped chocolate and butter. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool and thicken.
2. Using a handheld electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream until the trail from the beaters is just visible, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (350° to 450°F).
4. Cut each banana lengthwise in half (do not peel), and then brush the cut side with the melted butter. Grill the bananas, cut side down, over direct medium heat, with the lid closed, until warm and nicely marked, 2 to 3 minutes (do not turn). Remove from the grill, cool slightly and gently peel the bananas.
5. If necessary, rewarm the sauce in a microwave oven on high power in 15-second increments until warm, but not hot. Place two banana halves (you may need to cut them in half to fit your bowl) in each of six bowls or sundae dishes. Add scoops of ice cream, the warm sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. Serve immediately.

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.