Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / May 14, 2015, edition 1 / Page 10
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Chef Nikki Miller-Ka begins to prepare "Inside/Out Grilled Cheese Sandwiches" in front of a television camera crew and live audience as part of the $20 Challenge with Chef Nikki on Saturday, May 22, at the Dixie Classic Fair Farmers Market in Winston Salem. Each challenge, Chef Nikki shows how to prepare a meal for just $20 using ingredients she buys that day; the bread, cheese, and butter used to prepare the sandwiches total $9.62. Award winning Chef Nikki Miller-Ka shows how to prepare a meal for just $20 using ingredients she buys that day at the Dixie Classic Fair Farmers Market. Photos by Erin Mizelle for the Winston-Salem Chronicle. Chives and onions are sliced and diced and ready to be used in Chef Nikki's "5 Onion Soup." \ . ? ? Local chef shows how $20 goes a long way BY CHANEL DAVIS THE CHRONICLE Walking through the Dixie Classic Farmers Market you never know what you're going to get, both in produce and atten dees. Among the different varieties of produce and the diverse attedees, you may be standing next to one of the region's finest chefs trained in classical French cuisine. She may be picking out produce for her next meal, and if you hang around long enough, you can see, and smell, the fruits of her labor. That's because Nikki Miller-Ka is back with the city's $20 Challenge, in which Miller-Ka demon strates to attendees how to stretch their bucks without sacrificing the quality of food made. Miller-Ka is a private chef, food blogger, podcast host and food tour guide for Taste of Carolina Gourmet Food tours. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from East Carolina University and a Culinary Arts degree from Le Cordon Bleu-Miami. She said the idea for the challenge came from Winston-Salem Marketing and Communications Director Ed McNeal. He gave me the gener al idea, and I was like 'OK I'm in.' It wasn't really a question. When we sat down and put out what we were going to do, I was thinking this is a huge proj ect. In 2014 we did nine episodes; the second and fourth Saturday of the month," Miller-Ka said. "When I first walked into the farmers market, I immediately started smil ing. They had my name up, a whole table set-up with the mirror so that people could see, the camera crew was there and so was City Council." McNeal said the market was working to get a younger demographic to come out and that Nikki was just the person to do it. "She's one of the best food bloggers and social media people in our area. I knew that, being a Cordon Bleu trained chef, she had the food side for it and I knew that she has a won derful personality to be able to get in there and meet new farmers and pro ducers to make good televi sion," he said. The concept behind the challenge is to prove that it's possible to eat locally grown and healthy food while staying within a fam ily's grocery budget. Miller-Ka will cook the food she's picked for a family of four using no more than $20 that day at the fanners market. "I was thinking I better come up with something. I still feel like that, and this is year two, after doing our first episode. I walk in there blind. I make it up as I go and hope to the good Lord that it comes out good," she said. McNeal said that last t,' year, the market saw an increase in young adults and young families coming out. We saw times where people would come in to the market and they'd be looking around. They'd ask 'Hey, where's the show that I saw online? We give a lot of that credit to Nikki because she is that great figure that folks remember, and I think she engages them well," he said. The local chef said that she doesn't typically cook foods that she doesn't want to eat and keeps that, and her budget, in mind when shopping at the market. "I get to the market at 8:30 a.m. and I see whose there and who has what. I have a little notebook and I write down what everyone has and for how much. I i look at the quantity, quality and my budget. That's how I determine what I'm going to buy," Miller-Ka said. "When I do decide I going to get this item from this person I tell them who I am, what I'm doing and ask them to put it aside for me so it doesn't get gone." The challenge is held on the first Saturdays in May, June, August and September beginning at 10 a.m. and will be videotaped for WSTV and the city's Youtube channel. Miller Ka posts the recipes on her food blog, NikSnacksOnline.com. It began May 2, with her cooking Inside Out Grilled Cheese sandwich es, five onion soup and salad greens with a french vinaigrette. Miller-Ka said that she typically has left overs from anything she makes, once she decides exactly what she's making. Because she never knows what will be at the market, she doesn't really have a menu in advance. "I just start buying things and hoping that it comes together. I hate that because I'm a planner but sometimes halfway through it just clicks*. I get most of my inspiration from trade publications and magazines," she said. "Looking at the pictures and words on the page help me think of what I want to do." Miller-Ka is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Winston Salem Jaycees and Girl Scouts of the USA. For her, it's her way of giving back. Along with volunteering her services at silent auc tions and volunteering at a food bank to combat food insecurities. "I feel like my name and my brand have power. I want to make my name and my brand more powerful by partnering with other brands and agencies to get the message across that food is for everyone." Which. is one reason that the $20 Challenge is so important to her. It allows her to teach residents a life skill, or lifestyle for some, that fits their individ ual needs while stretching their dollars. "This day and age it's not about having an Andrew Jackson in your pocket. There's people who are using SNAP benefits, EBT, seniors who are on a fixed income in our com munity," Miller-Ka said. "Those are restrictions that you have no control over and you have to figure out what you're going to do within those parameters. If someone like me can come in and show them how to make it work, then it bene fits everyone." If you go -The Dixie Classic Fanners Market, estab lished in 1974, is the oldest farmers market in Forsyth County, according to a media release. It's open at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds every Saturday year-round from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Enter through the parking area off 27th Street. 1 " :;v-?J Pre-College Program NC-MSEN \ / \ ? ntmuttnouM / vy, BmhI The Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (CMSTE) NC Mathematics and Science Education Network (NC-MSEN) 2015 Summer Scholars Pre-Colleae Program Voted 2nd in the 2014 Winston-Salem Journal Newspaper Readers Choice Awards for Best Summer Camp For Middle and High School Students (grades 6-12) who are interested in pursuing careers in science, mathematics, technology, engineering, and teaching. ? Promoting Excellence in Mathematics and Science Education ? Academic Instruction & Activities in Mathematics & Science ? Field Trip: Atlanta, GA - Atlanta University Consortium Center (Clark Atlanta, Spelman & Morehouse); MLK National Historic Park; Georgia Aquarium; World of Coke; CNN Center/Olympic Park; Six Flags Over Georgia 11015 Summer Program Dates: June 15 -26,2015; 8:00a.m.-5:00p.m. Residential & Non-Residential options available Deadline for enrollment: Residential - May 8,2015; Program onlv-no trio - June 5,2015 Payment Options are available For further information about the program and online enrollment please refer to the website: www.wssu.edu/ncmsen and select Summer Scholars or call 336-750-2995.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 14, 2015, edition 1
10
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75