Pittsford Mendon graduate Carla Contreras, a private chef and founder of Red Clog Kitchen, competed on the Food Network show, “Chopped,” Aug. 7.
The show features four chefs that compete in three rounds: appetizer, entree and dessert. In each timed round, the chefs are provided with three to five incongruous ingredients and are required to combine all ingredients into a single dish.
“It all comes down to technique; anything can be made to taste delicious with it,” said Contreras. “You always have to be humble; the minute you think you are a superstar, you stop learning. Constant learning is what makes being a chef the best job in the world.”
In the episode, “Cake Walk,” Contreras used carrot cake in the first round, along with kosher shrimp, to prepare an Asian flavored appetizer. In the second round, she used ground turkey as the prize ingredient in her dish of turkey tacos with guajillo cardon salsa and pickled green beans. The third round required the chefs to prepare a dessert using caramel corn. Contreras ended the competition as a finalist.
Contreras’ passion for cooking started when she was a child — her family tilled its own backyard garden, shopped the local farmers market every Saturday, and frequented the fish market, butcher and bakery.
“We’d eat the middle out of the hot Italian bread before we even got home,” she said. “I believe that food is love, and coming from an Italian family, it is more than love — it’s life. Becoming a chef and culinary educator was a natural extension of who I am.”
Contreras has been a chef for the last 15 years in New York, Boston and San Diego, working for Marriott Hotels and Whole Foods. In 2011, she began teaching at the Institute for Culinary Education and launched Red Clog Kitchen.
“I’ve built RCK around my passion for cooking, events and teaching,” she said. “Red Clog Kitchen’s mission is to look good, feel good and cook even better.”
When she made the shift to become a private chef, Contreras said, she immediately became aware of the correlation between cooking healthy and weight management. Her clients started losing weight, and Contreras shed 45 pounds.
“That’s when I realized I could change people’s lives,” she said.
Pittsford Mendon graduate Carla Contreras, a private chef and founder of Red Clog Kitchen, competed on the Food Network show, “Chopped,” Aug. 7.
The show features four chefs that compete in three rounds: appetizer, entree and dessert. In each timed round, the chefs are provided with three to five incongruous ingredients and are required to combine all ingredients into a single dish.
“It all comes down to technique; anything can be made to taste delicious with it,” said Contreras. “You always have to be humble; the minute you think you are a superstar, you stop learning. Constant learning is what makes being a chef the best job in the world.”
In the episode, “Cake Walk,” Contreras used carrot cake in the first round, along with kosher shrimp, to prepare an Asian flavored appetizer. In the second round, she used ground turkey as the prize ingredient in her dish of turkey tacos with guajillo cardon salsa and pickled green beans. The third round required the chefs to prepare a dessert using caramel corn. Contreras ended the competition as a finalist.
Contreras’ passion for cooking started when she was a child — her family tilled its own backyard garden, shopped the local farmers market every Saturday, and frequented the fish market, butcher and bakery.
“We’d eat the middle out of the hot Italian bread before we even got home,” she said. “I believe that food is love, and coming from an Italian family, it is more than love — it’s life. Becoming a chef and culinary educator was a natural extension of who I am.”
Contreras has been a chef for the last 15 years in New York, Boston and San Diego, working for Marriott Hotels and Whole Foods. In 2011, she began teaching at the Institute for Culinary Education and launched Red Clog Kitchen.
“I’ve built RCK around my passion for cooking, events and teaching,” she said. “Red Clog Kitchen’s mission is to look good, feel good and cook even better.”
When she made the shift to become a private chef, Contreras said, she immediately became aware of the correlation between cooking healthy and weight management. Her clients started losing weight, and Contreras shed 45 pounds.
“That’s when I realized I could change people’s lives,” she said.
