He didn’t yell “Bam!” like Emeril, and he didn’t talk excitedly in a European accent like Wolfgang Puck. But Tom Siegel was in their company Thursday when he showed anyone who would watch and listen in the UC how to whip up a tasty meal in less than a half hour. Tom Siegel, executive chef for University Dining Services, cooks Seared Seitan and Big Sky Forest Mushroom Ragout in the UC Thursday. The demonstration was designed to show students how to cook a quick meal on a tight budget.
Siegel, the certified executive chef for UM dining services, showed the crowd how to make a Seared Seitan and Big Sky Forest Mushroom Ragout. That is, a tasty sauce with shitake, oyster and morel mushrooms with a meat substitute that beats the hell out of tofu.
Siegel, decked in a white chef’s smock and hat, stood before the crowd with two electric stoves in front of him, along with a mirror mounted above him to let the audience see his work.
His first task was one that haunts any inexperienced cook: the dice. Effortlessly, he showed the crowd how to take a shallot, a relative of the onion, and mince it into a pile of small white pieces. He explained the process – cut vertically, cut horizontally – but it was obvious that Siegel was making a hard job look easy.
The shallots were put into a thick sauce made with olive oil and cream accompanied by the mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes.
The sauce was put on the seitan, a wheat-based meat substitute that Siegel said could be treated just like beef.
Siegel worked quickly, but explained every process exactly and offered plenty of advice.
“Don’t cut your garlic too far in advance.”
“The dried mushrooms will expand three times.”
When Siegel was done, he called anyone who wanted to taste the dish to give it a try. Many obliged. And the reviews were all good.
“Excel-entree,” said Leslie Lewis, a senior majoring in nursing.
“A party for my palate,” added her friend Angie Baird, also a senior nursing major.
A party indeed, where sweet tomatoes, sultry mushrooms and creamy sauce all fight for your attention. And while the seitan does not stand out, it is a good meat substitute for those turned off by the texture of tofu.
To make things even better, the dish was made almost entirely with Montana products. With the exception of the olive oil, salt, pepper and seitan, all the ingredients were produced in Montana.
Siegel said that this was important economically for the state and important sensually for the dish.
A week before, Siegel was making almost the exact same dish for another crowd, but it was a little more critical than the one in the UC. He was competing in the Montana Competition for the Award for Culinary Excellence against four other chefs chosen from a pool of more than 100.
Siegel used lamb instead of seitan, but the rest of the dish was the same. And while the judges didn’t use the words “Excel-entree” or “party,” their sentiments were the same. Siegel won the gold.
Siegel has been working for UM dining services since 1978. He hails from upstate New York, just outside Buffalo, and says that he got his start cooking when he prepared meals for his Boy Scout troop at age 15.
He earned his cooking merit badge, then a bachelor’s degree in food service administration, then a certification as an executive chef.
Siegel said he is a chef at heart, but that the show-biz act is fun for him.
“I love to share,” Siegel said. “Anything I can show people to enhance the food they eat gives me satisfaction.”
Siegel’s cooking demonstration was the first of the monthly exhibits to be put on by dining services.
Elliot Westwater, marketing manager for Dining Services, said that the shows, which are in their third year, are meant to help students do something new in the kitchen and show that it can be done with Montana products.
The recipes are meant to be fast and relatively cheap. Siegel was able to produce his dish in about 15 minutes. And while the time saved by going to a fast-food joint for dinner may be priceless to many students, they may be able to help out their cash supply by staying home and cooking.
Surprisingly, the dish prepared at the show would cost about $2.50 without morel mushrooms, $3.50 with them, Siegel said.
