Cooking with Jyll Everman

Hi, friends!

Last night, I got to spend two delightful hours at a cooking demonstration with Chef Jyll Everman, Next Food Network Star finalist from Season 7. My FFF (Favorite Foodie Friend) Marie and I went to The Village Kitchen Shoppe, where Jyll teaches!

 Here she is posing next to the lovely Carol from Village Kitchen Shoppe in Glendora, CA. Jyll made us her winning recipes from Next Food Network Star Challenges. We got to taste exactly what the Judges tasted when she was on the show. Kinda cool, right? Jyll has a great personality. I can see why they wanted her on the show. She is wickedly funny and a pleasure to watch. Obviously very comfortable in the kitchen, Jyll didn’t blink an eye going back and forth between her dishes, answering questions and sharing tips and tricks with us as she cooked!

So what did we learn to make?

On the menu:

Almond Joy Coconut Shrimp with Spiced Sweet Potato Mash (Hershey’s Vending Machine Challenge-Win)  Jyll did not make these for us because as you see, the menu was already loaded with chocolate and fish. She didn’t want to overwhelm us. Bless her heart!  She did walk us through how to make them though!

Rice Krispy Crab Fritters with Spicy Aioli (Kellogg’s Challenge – Win)  Hands-down, this was my favorite dish! There is not a picture of it, because frankly, I ate it too quickly and wasn’t thinking about the camera. All I was thinking was “ohhhhhmygosh… this is soooooooooooooo freakin’ good!!” I will be making this one for my family as soon as I can get to Trader Joes for fresh crab meat. To make up for not having a picture of the Crab Fritters, you get another picture of Jyll! She was very down-to-earth and super friendly.

Next up: Shrimp Po’Boy Tacos with Jyllicious Sauce (Fierce Food Fusion Lunch Truck Challenge) 

Her Jyllicious Sauce was “Thousand Island dressing with a kick”! Quite tasty and can be used in other dishes too! Plus, how can you ever go wrong with avocados and shrimp? Not possible. Jyll even walked around with extra sauce for our tacos!

Here is another taco picture.  Still trying to make up for not having a Crab Fritter picture I guess…  :-)

Grand Marnier Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting (Barefoot Contessa Cupcake Camera Challenge – Win)

After tasting these cupcakes, I can see why Jyll won this challenge. WOW! So light and delicious! Plus she got to meet and spend time with one of her idols – Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa! I imagine this would be similar to me meeting Guy Fieri. It’s on my bucket list! I’ll get there someday and hopefully I won’t geek out and make a total fool of myself. Entirely possible. I will, of course, let you know when/if that ever happens! Meeting him, I mean. Not geeking out and making a fool of myself. I share that with you all the time! Haha!

Here is a cupcake close-up. Mmmmm! It’s ok. You can be jealous. I ate them, have the recipe and I still want more!

And Finally: Chocolate Soup with Caramelized Banana Cheesecake Sandwiches (Dessert Challenge with Duff Goldman)

Chocolate Soup? Yes, chocolate soup that consists of four ingredients. Five, if you want to add liqueur at the end. It wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet, it just had a nice rich flavor to it. I was pleasantly surprised! I’ve never had chocolate soup before! The sandwiches were good, but I’m a chocolate girl. MORE SOUP PLEASE, Jyll!

So now you are probably hungry. You want her recipes too, right? Well, you should check her site: www.jylliciousbites.com for lots of recipes and more info!