Issaquah school district competition has a taste of "Iron Chef"

Preston Burk, 16, carefully smeared the cream cheese around the banana chunk, placed neatly on a square of the special ingredient, and smiled a wide, boyish smile.

Burk, a special-needs student at Skyline High School, was "Iron-Chefing."

He was among two teams of two competing in a classroom exercise modeled after the popular Food Network show, in which chefs are given a key ingredient and a time limit to prepare dishes to be judged.

The school competition's special ingredient? Pasta. Burk and teammate J.T. Thornton, 18, watched as education assistant Joanna Staikos showed them how to close the pasta up to form a ravioli, which was then deep-fried and doused with honey and caramel.

It was a dessert the judges were sure to love, Staikos said.

Burk and Thornton took part in the "Iron Chef"-style competition this week during which two teams of special-education students from the Issaquah School District each prepared a two-course menu and presented their cuisine to a panel of judges.

Skyline teacher Mary Sullivan organized the competition; she and her students often watch the Food Network to learn basic life skills such as cooking.

Recently, the cable channel has featured everyday cooks in video clips titled "How Do You Iron Chef?" in which people compete in their own "Iron Chef"-style competitions.

So Sullivan thought, why not her students?

Wednesday's classroom event was taped by the school's TV-production class, which will edit the footage and submit a clip to the network.

The two teams were composed of Burk and Thornton, who attend Skyline, and Jacqueline Frizzelle, 20, and Anya Power, 21, who are part of the district's transitional program for special-needs students between the ages of 18 and 21.

The judges included a manager from Sur La Table, a kitchen and housewares store; two district administrators who oversee special-needs programs; and a Skyline secretary.

The competition is just one of the many ways special-needs students learn and grow, said Stacy Burk, Preston's mother.

Some of the students already enjoy helping out in the kitchen, and a competition such as this gives them confidence and shows them that they can do new things, parents said.

But some of the students were reluctant at first.

"J.T. didn't want to do it," said his mother, Renee Thornton. "He likes things that are routine and comfortable. But this is a great way for him to see that deviating from the routine can be a positive experience."

For their entrée, Burk and Thornton — with some help from Staikos — made skillet lasagna with pasta, spicy sausage, tomato sauce and cheese. The banana-and-cheese ravioli was their dessert course.

Frizzelle and Power, with the help of education assistant Leslie Altier, made pasta salad with a Creole mustard vinaigrette as their first course. For their entrée, they made Crawfish Monica, a penne-pasta dish with a cream sauce of garlic, basil and chunks of crawfish tails.

The chefs had nearly two hours to complete the task.

The judges tasted each dish, commenting on the presentation and flavors in each. In the end, they couldn't decide which team had the best menu, and they awarded first prize to both.

"This was very special for them," said Karen Frizzelle, Jacqueline's mother. "It's a way for them to feel like, 'We count. What we do is important.' "

Rachel Tuinstra: 206-515-5637 or rtuinstra@seattletimes.com