ECC culinary students look to build a better burger
Thanksgiving dinner may have ended nearly a week ago, but Joanne Thomas-Junious is still sweating it out in the kitchen.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday, Thomas-Junious, of Hampshire, along with five other culinary students, will take part in the final round of the Elgin's Grand Victoria Casino gourmet burger recipe/scholarship contest.
As part of the competition, the casino will walk away with a winning recipe to serve to its guests at its soon-to-be opening Prime Burger House restaurant. The students who earn the top three scores will walk away with scholarships for up to $2,000. Here's the back story on Thomas' path to the finals, as well as some of the other student-recipes she'll be competing against.
Joanne Thomas-Junious
Years at ECC's culinary school: 2
Career aspiration: To own a fine dining restaurant.
Burger recipe: The "Full House" burger trio - three burgers based on classic entrees.
A steak burger with a red wine steak sauce is paired with a pork chop burger with pineapple and apple chutney and a chicken burger with truffle oil and applewood bacon.
Hardest part: "The sauces. The steak burger has two sauces that create one sauce. I have to make the stock and then the sauce and then reduce that. We can prep everything at home before the finals, so I'm spending most of my time now doing that between classes.
Home tasters: "My husband and I have three sons, ages 16, 11 and 6. So, I have four taste testers I'm always relying on."
Thomas-Junious' "Full House" burger will be pitted against five other students' gourmet recipes. They include Zac Anderson's bratwurst burger served on a pretzel roll with Düsseldorf mustard; Rebecca Rissman's chocolate hazelnut ganache dessert burger; James Scanlan's garlic-herb burger stuffed with goat cheese and topped with prawns; Harry Park's Angus beef burger marinated with thyme, rosemary and basil and served with bacon and jalapeño cheese; and Bernard LoMonaco's cheeseburger crowned with a grilled Yucatán marinated onion that's filled with shrimp.