Student chefs compete as Boerne ISD hosts ‘Mixer’

It’s Mexican street corn dip, Rueben pinwheels, hot honey pepper poppers and savory spinach artichoke profiteroles on the menu Thursday when the Boerne Independent School District hosts its firstever “After Hours Mixer” in conjunction with the Boerne Chamber of Commerce.

From greeters to performers, chefs, singers, graphic designers and artists, it’ll be an all-BISD night as the district rolls out the red carpet for chamber members from 4-6 p.m. at Viola Wilson Elementary, the district’s newest campus, at 1313 Homestead Ridge.

Amy Hogan’s Boerne High culinary arts students will be competing in the first-ever “Taste of the BISD” with chamber attendees voting on the items they like best.

With the district for 11 years and directing the culinary program for the past nine, Hogan has seen wideeyed students walk in as ninth graders and graduate as topnotch culinary experts.

“I’ve gotten to see it open and really get to be in every level of the program and see it 

grow along the way,” she said. “It’s an awesome privilege that we have, to watch them grow not only in their skill but in their confidence.”

Two such chefs are seniors Hayden Jones and Aleah Rodriguez, who will be “floaters” Thursday, helping the others “to see who we can help out and formulate those dishes with them.”

Rodriguez said she loves Asian cuisine, “specifically Koren cuisine. I’ve been studying the bases for their sauces and noodles and everything,” she said.

You could say Jones’ specialty runs in the family.

“My specialty would be meats,’ Jones said. “My grandmother owned her own steakhouse back in the 1980s. She still does cooking and she showed me a bunch of tricks that work.”

He fancies prepping a New York strip. “I like to do it with some herb butter rather than just regular. Then when you’re sauteing it, you baste it with herb butter, rosemary, thyme — that just helps get that flavor up,” he said.

Both seniors have been in the Boerne program since ninth grade and recall their introduction to culinary as “not being fun” as far as cooking and creating, but Rodriguez said it was a great learning experience.

“ I grew up in the kitchen with my dad, he’s a home chef and all, so I learned that. But to learn the technical side and the cleanliness of it, that just helped grow my knowledge exponentially,” she said.

Rodriguez said she is looking forward to the practicum sites that have developed between the culinary school and various eateries in town.

“I’m so grateful for the opportunities that we get to even go out into town with these businesses and restaurants and learn from them,” Rodriguez said.

Currently, she is with the newest foodie spot in town, Pizza Volterra.

“He is teaching me lot that will help me when picking my college career. I originally just wanted to study culinary arts,” she said, “but he guided me toward the fact I should study both business and culinary arts. If I plan to open my own restaurant, that is the end goal.”

Jones is involved in two practicums at Boerne: culinary arts and the dist rict’s cybersecurity program.

“ But this semester in culinary, I’m with Pinchy’s (Lobster and Raw Bar), and am learning how to roll sushi and make sushi, make all our different sauces. Next semester I’ll be at Compadre’s which is more Mexican cuisine with Chef Mark,” he said.

The culinary students worked with Chef Mark Sierra at last year’s Purple Heart Gala.

“We got to serve desserts and appetizers as everybody was coming in. We even plated and took out the main course, which I found really fun,” she said.

At the Purple Heart Gala, Rodriguez said the culinary student formulated the appetizer and the desserts.

“It was a lot of the prep work in the classroom, preparing everything to be taken over the next day, making sure we had the storage for it and then we had to get it all out in a timely manner,” she said.

Hogan has enjoyed watching her students accept the task of preparing food for the chamber mixer.

“That’s been the fun part, watching them create these really cool dishes that we can’t wait to let everybody taste and see the value of their hard work,” she said.