rss
mobile
Ex-firefighters try to ignite a new career: a cooking show
Feeds
Shrimp and grits
Bluffton Chief Barry Turner's recipe for shrimp and grits:
• 2 pounds of shrimp
• all purpose flour
• vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion
• half a bell pepper
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• Cajun seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
Fill a pot with enough water to cover the shrimp. Bring to a boil and put the shrimp in. Cook for three minutes. Remove from heat. Peel and de-vein shrimp, saving the stock. In a separate pot, combine oil and flour to make a rue. Once it turns light brown, add chopped onion, chopped bell pepper and minced garlic. Add water until the gravy gets to the consistency you prefer. Add shrimp to gravy mixture and simmer for 10 minutes. Turner uses Cajun seasoning to flavor the dish, but said salt and pepper may be used instead. Make grits according to directions on box.
Steve Olney and Pete Sestitospent 20 years as firefighters in Rome, N.Y., where cooking firehouse cuisine was as much a part of daily life as dousing flames.
As they faced the vacuum of retirement several years ago, the longtime friends, both 47, began to think about how they would fill their time.
In late 2006, they decided they would travel to fire departments throughout the country, sampling regional fare prepared by local firefighters. They would tape their adventures, in hopes of selling the show to a television network.
And the adventure begins in Bluffton.
With help from a professional production crew who worked for free and said they believe Olney's idea could be a success, the friends taped a pilot episode Wednesday at the Bluffton Township Fire District headquarters.
The friends met their agent through Dave Lavery, a Bluffton native and professional director who suggested the shoot take place at the Bluffton Township Fire District and led Wednesday's production.
Lavery, who met Olney though a chain of friends and colleagues and was impressed by his persistence, thinks the show could have broad appeal.
Video highlights include a trip to Bluffton's Oyster Factory Park, a shrimp boat tour on the May River and a culinary contest between Olney and Bluffton Fire Chief Barry Turner. Each prepared shrimp and grits, a Lowcountry classic. Turner won -- his employees judged.
"The atmosphere of a firehouse kitchen is something that we sometimes took for granted," Olney said as the crew filmed shots of the finished meal Wednesday afternoon. "It's something that the rest of the world should be able to see. It's great entertainment."
In the coming weeks, the pair and their marketing agent will pitch a reel from Wednesday's shoot to various sponsors and television networks, including the Food Network, Olney said.
"It's guy food, so men will like it," he said. "And women like firemen for obvious reasons."
Getting to Wednesday's filming, however, wasn't without hang-ups, especially since neither Olney, who lives with his family on Tybee Island, nor Sestito, who lives with his family in Cocoa Beach, Fla., had spent much time on-camera before.
"When we got started, we were like deer in headlights," Sestito said.
By the end of the taping, however, the two seemed more natural, Lavery said.
"They're committed," he said. "I believe in them, and I believe in their idea."
Olney, whose favorite dish is scallops and vermicelli, and Sestito, who likes to cook chicken parmesan, want to sample regional food if they eventually take their show around the country. The pair, who have 10 cities lined up, hope to prepare salmon in Tacoma, Wash.; barbecue steak in Texas; and Italian cuisine in Providence, R.I.
Sestito said their status as veteran firefighters helps them fit in wherever they travel. It also helps them gain entry to sacrosanct firehouse kitchens, where non-firefighters might not have been allowed to film, they said.
"Doctors hang with doctors; lawyers hang with lawyers; firefighters hang with firefighters," Sestito said. "They allow us to come in. We have the credibility."
@Nyx.CommentBody@