Celebrity Chef Lineup Announced for 2022 KitchenAid Fairway Club

KitchenAid recently unveiled the full schedule of celebrity chefs taking the stage in the KitchenAid Fairway Club, the centerpiece of the fan experience at Harbor Shores during the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Renowned celebrity chefs Scott Conant, Stephanie Izard, and Melissa King will join KitchenAid chefs Chris Covelli and Brett Wagner in providing golf fans and culinary enthusiasts alike with the chance to ask questions and learn from the experts during daily cooking demonstrations.

Schedule

Local favorites will also be providing featured demonstrations throughout the event, highlighting their best tips and favorite KitchenAid products. The full KitchenAid Fairway Club schedule is as follows:

Thursday, May 26

1 p.m. ET –  Melissa King

2:30 p.m. – Cheyenne Galbraith, Houndstooth

Friday, May 27

  • 1 p.m. – Scott Conant
  • 2:30 p.m. – Brian Maynard, Forte Coffee

Saturday, May 28

  • 1 p.m. – Stephanie Izard
  • 2:00 p.m. – Tim Foley, Bread+Bar, Bit of Swiss
  • 3:00 p.m. – Deb Sailor, Cheese Lady

Melissa King

An award-winning chef and entrepreneur, King is known for her technical precision and ability to blend modern California cuisine with Asian flavors, Melissa is recognized as one of the best female chefs in San Francisco and a 40 under 40 Rising Star. Fan favorite and winner of Top Chef All-Stars, Melissa holds the record for winning the most challenges in the show’s history. She now serves as a judge on Top Chef and The Food Network’s Julia Child Challenge.

Prior to her television success, Melissa helmed several Michelin starred kitchens in San Francisco under acclaimed culinary legends including Dominique Crenn and Ron Siegel. She has cooked for notable figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Al Gore, and is a certified level 1 sommelier and skilled butcher. As a proud Asian American, queer woman, Melissa has raised over $50,000 for marginalized communities. She guest-stars in Sesame Street’s historic Thanksgiving episode that premiered the first ever Asian American muppet. She is set to curate the menu at the Met Gala in May 2022. Melissa is also the owner of King Sauce, a small batch sauce line and offers virtual cooking classes available in her online shop.

Scott Conant

A two-time James Beard Award-winning chef, cookbook author, and TV personality with a career spanning more than 35 years, Conant brings a deft touch and unwavering passion to creating culinary experiences with thoughtful hospitality and soulful cuisine. His portfolio of acclaimed restaurants includes Mora Italian (Phoenix, AZ), The Americano (Scottsdale, AZ and Atlanta, GA), and Cellaio at Resorts World Catskills (Monticello, NY). Conant has been a popular presence on Food Network as a recurring judge on Chopped since 2009 and frequent co-host of Beat Bobby Flay.

Stephanie Izard

James Beard “Best Chef: Great Lakes” recipient 2013, and 2011 Food & Wine “Best New Chef,” Stephanie Izard is the Executive Chef and Owner of five Chicago restaurants. She also won the coveted title of “Iron Chef” in 2017 and was the 4th winner of Bravo’s Top Chef in 2008. Izard created a retail product line called “This Little Goat,” consisting of globally inspired cooking sauces and spice mixes for home cooks, and currently ships her sweets from Sugargoat nationwide in partnership with Goldbelly.

“It is our honor to welcome such a distinguished roster of chefs to the KitchenAid Fairway Club,” said Deb O’Connor, director of global corporate reputation and community relations at Whirlpool Corporation. “Our chef demonstrations are always a fan favorite, and this might be our best year yet. We love inspiring our cooking enthusiasts to spend more time in the kitchen, and there’s no better way to do that than by learning from the experts themselves.”

KitchenAid Fairway Club

Located near the main Championship entrance, the KitchenAid Fairway Club is open to the public each day of the Championship and serves as the main experience center for fans to embrace their love for making. From samples at the KitchenAid Cafe and the opportunity to use our small appliances to the “putt for paint” contest where fans who make a putt on a Stand Mixer-shaped green could win a custom painted stand mixer, there’s something for everyone at the Fairway Club. Chefs Covelli and Wagner will be on hand all week to share recipes and answer your culinary questions.

Unique Culinary Fan Experiences

KitchenAid always brings unique, culinary fan experiences to this historic and prestigious senior major, and 2022 will be no different.

https://www.facebook.com/SeniorPGAChampionship/videos/402383484802115

For more updates and information about the KitchenAid Fairway Club activities, fans can follow @KitchenAid_Golf on Twitter.

For more information about the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship or to purchase tickets, visit SrPGA.com.

About KitchenAid

Since the introduction of its legendary Stand Mixer in 1919 and first dishwasher in 1949, KitchenAid has built on the legacy of these icons to create a complete line of products designed for those with a passion to make. Today, the KitchenAid® brand offers virtually every essential for the well-equipped kitchen with a collection that includes everything from countertop appliances to cookware, ranges to refrigerators, and whisks to wine cellars. To learn more, visit KitchenAid.com or join us at Facebook.com/KitchenAid and Twitter.com/KitchenAidUSA

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The Cake Boss Cooks!

Here’s what I learned about Buddy Valastro aka the Cake Boss and star of TLC’s Cake Boss and Kitchen Boss, after meeting him and watching him cook a fantastic meal for the five grand winners of the KitchenAid Make the Cut Sweepstakes by hhgregg at the Senior PGA several summers ago in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The first is that he’s warm and witty, the second he can whip up a multi-course dinner in an amazing short period of time, and the third is he doesn’t measure.

Chopping up a big pile of pancetta (a type of Italian bacon and no, we didn’t learn how much), he adds it to a big pot (“I like to cook family style”) along with finely chopped shallots and minced garlic.

“If you don’t have shallots, you can use onions,” he says. “It ain’t gonna kill you.”

Next come the tomatoes that the Valastros can each fall – some hundred bushels and a large pile of basil – an ingredient he describes as the most important.

“When you cut it,” he says. “It releases all the flavors.”

And next – well, let’s just say it was lucky there wasn’t a heart specialist in the group.

“You’re going to go crazy when you see how much salt I put in this,” he says, scooping up what looks like a huge handful of salt from a bowl and throwing it into his pasta sauce. “But believe me you need it.”

Watching Valastro, we all wonder how much salt he used.

“I don’t measure,” he says after someone asks. “I ain’t going to lie to you.”

Indeed, when Buddy cooks, several of his crew watch him, trying to estimate the amounts he uses to translate them into recipes for his food shows and cookbooks.

“Anytime I cook with tomatoes, I always put in a little sugar,” he says. “Maybe because I’m a baker, maybe because I’m a sweet guy.”

He also likes to keep a piece of bread nearby to dip in the sauce to taste for seasoning.

While he’s talking, he brings us up to speed on Cake Boss, the reality show based upon Carlo’s Bakery, his fourth generation bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. There are now more Carlo’s Bakery locations as well as Carlo’s Bake Shop Vending Machines including one in Las Vegas.

“It’s pretty wild,” he says. “I do a life sized Betty White cake.”

Next, he adds cream to the pasta sauce so the red turns pink.

“Sometimes I do what my dad used to do which is whip the cream before adding it,” says Valastro. “This is old school Italian.”

After throwing in a “smidge” more basil and telling us we can add as much cream as we want, we get to eat the sauce after he ladles it over bowtie shaped pasta.  Served with a round of polenta, a caprese salad – freshly made mozzarella layered with tomatoes and basil leaves and drizzled with olive oil, Buddy starts on the cannoli – rolled pastry shells stuffed with a thick rich cream made of ricotta cheese, cream, sugar and a touch of cinnamon oil.

“Don’t be cheap with the cannoli cream,” he says, using a pastry bag to extrude a large amount into the rolls. “The trick to making the rolls is lard. But it’s hard. You have to fry them and wind them around a stick. I did a demo of it once at DisneyWorld and I was like stressing. This is one of the recipes in my book that I say good luck. Better to buy some good shells somewhere.”

Buddy Valasco with big smile.

When Buddy finally is finished cooking a meal that seems like it should have taken days – the elapsed time is about an hour — he has produced a warm tomato basil soup, garlic cheese bread, veal picante, the pasta dish, the caprese salad, polenta as well as cannoli for dessert.

“I want to bring back a time,” he says in closing, “I want to let the basil talk, the garlic talk, I want to cook from the heart.  That’s what it’s all about.”

Caprese Salad

  • 2 ripe tomatoes, cut 1/4″ slices across the equator
  • 1 pound best quality fresh mozzarella cheese, cut 1/4″ slices
  • Fresh whole leaves of basil, approximately 15-20 leaves of assorted sizes
  • Best quality flavorful extra virgin olive oil, as needed
  • Coarse salt
  • Coarse grindings black pepper

 On a serving platter, lay down the slices of tomato and sprinkle with salt. Allow to rest 5-10 minutes until tomatoes exude some juices. Lay mozzarella on top of the tomatoes, season with sprinklings of salt and grindings of pepper.

Drizzle olive oil to taste over all. Oil will mingle with the tomato juices to create a flavorful sauce.

Scatter fresh basil leaves decoratively over all.

Pasta with Pink Sauce

  • ½ pound pancetta
  • 2 – 4 shallots
  • 28-ounce can Italian tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • 1 to 3 cloves garlic
  • ½ cup or more fresh basil
  • ¼ to ½ cup grated Romano cheese
  • ½ to 1 cup heavy cream
  • Salt, pepper and sugar, to taste
  • 1 pound farfalle or bowtie pasta

Finely slice up the shallots and garlic. Cut the pancetta into chunks. Sauté the shallots over medium heat.

After a couple of minutes add in the garlic and the pancetta. Cook for a few minutes and then add tomatoes.

Add a dash of sugar, salt, pepper and bring it to a roaring boil for about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and let it cook for another 5 minutes.

Next add the heavy cream. You can cook your pasta at any time but you only want to cook it al dente because it’ll continue to cook in the pan with the sauce.

Cook for another couple of minutes. Then drain the farfalle and dump it right into the pink sauce.

Cook it at high heat for another minute so that it absorbs the sauce. 

Finish with fresh basil and some grated Romano cheese.