Panther Culinary brings tasty delights to the table

Sandy Harris has been teaching culinary arts at the Creston High School for six years.

“The class is a catering service, basically,” said Harris. “In the class, we decide what we are going to make, and sometimes, the students get on the computer to find different recipes.”

The class makes dishes including stuffed manicotti, lasagna, cheese cake, chicken enchiladas, twice backed potatoes and more. The dishes can be prepared in three different sizes, 9-by-13, 8-by-8 and 8-by-4. The class prepares five meals at a time, and then sells them to the public.

Students in the culinary arts class take orders from the public and sometimes deliver the dishes, as well. The students also make out their own grocery order, get the food and put it away.

“We have five kitchens, so usually, each kitchen will make the same food,” said Harris. “Then, we sell what we need to and freeze the rest. Then if someone orders something, and we have it in the freezer, we can just take it out, put it in the oven and deliver it.”

The class teamed with Barker Implement to promote healthier food choices for the employees at Barker Implement.

“We worked in conjunction with Barker Implement and made healthier dishes and delivered them to Barker Implement,” said Harris. “The first meal we did, the students got on the Internet and found healthy recipes. For the second meal, we made chicken fettuccini, but used low-fat ingredients, and watched how much salt we put into the dish.”

Harris said she felt it was a good experience for the students to learn that what you eat, directly impacts medical problems in the future.

“We delivered the last meal to Barker Implement before the tornado,” said Harris. “I do have to say though, our meals have turned out really well.”

For more information about Panther Culinary, or to order food, call 641-782-2116.