How did you get interested in cooking?
I started cooking for the 10 guys on my shift a long time ago, and it became a routine every third day. Plus, I love to eat.
What’s your favorite thing to cook at the fire station?
It’s a hybrid red beans and rice, jambalaya and gumbo. We nicknamed it “beans,” and it goes great with cornbread. I only cook it when it’s cold outside.
What’s your favorite thing to cook at home?
I love cooking just about anything on my smoker and Kamado Joe ceramic egg.
Best cooking tip:
When cooking meats and poultry, let them rest a little while before serving.
Favorite restaurant:
The Bright Star.
How are you preparing for Iron City Chef?
Going into unchartered waters with this type of competition, from cooking for 300 to possibly preparing a dish in the finals with unknown ingredients presented, I’ve been basically just thinking of mass producing the two dishes the crowd will eat because I never write down the recipe for a dish I’ve made in the past. Plus, I’m watching the original “Karate Kid,” because you can do anything after you watch that classic.
Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Pegues may draw inspiration not just from “The Karate Kid” but from a celebrity chef he met a few years ago.
“Paula Deen came out to the station, and a few of us got the honor to meet her and cook along with her,” he said.
He’s also been on Fox 6’s “Flip My Food” show.
“Chef Jeff Henderson and I cooked together for his TV show that they filmed at the station last fall,” Pegues said.
Ingredients:
- Boneless chicken breasts (flattened to about ¾ inches)
- Brine for chicken: ½ cup sea salt and ¾ cup sugar
- Fresh baby spinach
- Tomato
- Sliced provolone cheese
- Onion rolls
- Your favorite condiment
Directions:
- Mix brine with water in a container and marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Remove chicken from brine and rinse.
- Grill chicken on the grill until done. Place cheese on top of chicken to melt.
- Place chicken on the split onion roll. Top with baby spinach, tomato and condiment.
Here’s what the contestants plan to serve in the first round of this year’s Iron City Chef cooking competition.
Guests will sample each chef’s food and then vote for their favorite. The top two vote getters will move on to face each other in the finals.
• Lee Currie was choosing between two menus at press time: Boston butts with macaroni and cheese or meatloaf with mac and cheese and turnip greens. Either way, he’s adding fried cornbread. For dessert, he’ll make a cobbler.
• Alexander Glover will dish up pasta shells stuffed with beef, Italian sausage and cheese and topped with a red sauce. He plans to offer key lime pie for dessert.
• Edward Pegues will stir up shrimp and grits as his main course with banana pudding for dessert.
• Trey VanHooser will serve herb-roasted roulade stuffed with apple chutney, goat cheese and mashed potatoes with focaccia bread and, for dessert, bananas Foster bread pudding
