Hector Colon is Featured at Second Harvest Guest Chef Event

Hector Colon is the Executive Chef/Director of Culinary Operations for SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove and Aquatica. His skills make him a sought-after chef, and he’s using his amazing food talents to raise funds for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Thursday, September 19, 2013 at the Morgan & Morgan, PA Hunger Relief Center at the Second Harvest Food Bank center, 411 Mercy Drive, Orlando, FL 32805. Chef Colon makes some incredible dishes, including Duck Confit over Wild Mushroom Grits (read about it and get the recipe here).

The Guest Chef Event, held monthly with local chef-celebrities, is a unique event for a select group of diners. Each event is limited to 100 diners. What’s especially unique is the live video feed from the kitchen to the dining room so guest can see all of the action. Also of special note, culinary students work alongside the guest chefs preparing each course as part of their Second Harvest culinary training core curriculum.

On the menu for the $50-a-plate fete?
Appetizer
Lobster tamale
Sweet Corn Buttered Lobster and Caribbean Spices on a Traditional Corn Husk
Chipotle Avocado Cream

Salad
Baby Greens
Watercress, Feta, Toasted Sun Flour Seed Pomegranate and Mango
Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Entrée
Costillas en Vino Tinto
Boneless Short Rib in Red Wine
Celery Root Puree Chimichurri Sauce Fried Yucca and Brocoline

Dessert
Vanilla Bean Milk Chocolate Flan
Roasted Sweet Coconut Candy and Bourbon Maple Syrup

Proceeds for the event go back into the Second Harvest Food Bank hunger relief program, because one in 5 Floridians don’t know where there next meal is coming from.

As a child growing up in Central Florida, I experienced hunger more times than I like to remember. My brother and I used to joke about having a “jam sandwich.” To make it, you take two pieces of bread, and “jam” them together.

Our family did not have the resource of Second Harvest back then. (The Central Florida branch was founded in 1986.) Thanks to the Guest Chef event, and other fund-raising efforts, more than 550 nonprofits will receive assistance in our area through the Central Florida Second Harvest Food Bank to help kids who are like I was, who need help from the community to have more than than a “jam sandwich” as a meal.