East Naples firefighter sizzles on Regis & Kelly; advances in cooking competition

Submitted by Live! with Regis and Kelly

East Naples firefighter Craig Weinbaum, 38, cooked on Live! with Regis and Kelly on Friday and his dish — grilled ahi tuna kabobs with mango salsa — earned him a place in the top five firefighter chefs in the summer Coast-to-Coast Fire House Cook-off. Now, Weinbaum needs online votes this weekend to the next round. The two firefighters who get the most viewer votes will return for the final cook-off on Friday, August 20. To vote, visit regisandkelly.go.com/recipes.html

NAPLES — East Naples’ cooking fireman made it one more step up the ladder.

Driver engineer Craig Weinbaum, 38, cooked on Live! with Regis and Kelly on Friday and his dish — grilled ahi tuna kabobs with mango salsa — earned him a place in the top five firefighter chefs in the summer Coast-to-Coast Fire House Cook-off.

Now, Weinbaum needs online votes this weekend to the next round. The two firefighters who get the most viewer votes will return for the final cook-off on Friday, August 20.

To vote, click here.

“It was a lot of fun,” Weinbaum said. “After I don’t know how many thousands of entrants that they had, being in the Top 11 was pretty cool. Now it’s the Top 5, potentially the Top 2 if people vote for me and then I could potentially come back and win the prize. The whole thing is kinda wild — I’m just a normal guy and the fact that this is happening is pretty awesome.”

Voting opened after the show aired Friday morning and ends Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. The final cook-off will air on the Friday, August 20 show on ABC at 9 a.m.

Weinbaum’s day on the show started at 7:30 a.m., when show staff met him at his hotel and brought him to the studio. Someone had already purchased all the food he needed and it was time to prep the food.

He had to cook 30 portions for the audience, seven portions for different parts of the show and also Regis and Kelly’s meals — and it was the first time he’d prepared that much of this particular dish, Weinbaum said.

He was a little nervous, Weinbaum said, but not too bad. Overall, the experience was “kind of surreal, and it’s still a bit of a blur.”

While he was in New York, Weinbaum also visited Ground Zero for the first time to pay his respects.

“It’s something that a lot of firefighters want to do and it was the first opportunity I’d been in New York to do it,” he said.

He visited the site, which is a large open area under construction right now, and also FDNY Engine 10, Ladder 10, a firehouse that lost six firefighters on 9/11.

Now, Weinbaum hopes that viewers will vote him into the cook-off’s top two so he can travel back to New York next week for the final showdown. There, he would cook his meal again and be judged by the audience and three judges. The winner gets $10,000 and their recipe published in Better Homes & Gardens.

“I want to thank everybody for voting in the past and I really need a big push for this weekend,” he said. “They can vote once each day. If they want a local boy up there cooking again, send me up there.”

Firefighter Craig Weinbaum’s Grilled Ahi Tuna Kabobs with Mango Salsa

Ingredients

6 ounces Fresh Ahi Tuna (cubed) per person

3 to 5 fresh mangos depending on size

1 large or 2 medium red onions

3 red bell peppers

2 yellow bell peppers

1 fresh jalapeno pepper

1 package of cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1/4 teaspoon (pinch) cayenne pepper

Preparation

■ Prepare Mango salsa in a glass bowl (anything but metal) by combining: Mangos cubed 1/2 inch, 1 jalapeno diced, 1/3 of a red onion diced small (save the rest for larger cuts for the kabobs), 1/2 of red pepper diced small (save the rest for larger cuts for the kabobs), 1/3 cup of fresh cilantro (save remaining for garnish), rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper, cayenne pepper (heat tolerances vary). Refrigerate.

■ Preheat Grill to medium heat, approximately 400 degrees

■ Prepare kabobs by playing cubed tuna remaining salt, pepper, olive oil in a glass bowl. Stir and let marinate while prepping vegetables.

■ Cut remaining red peppers, yellow peppers, and red onions into approximately 2-by-2-inch squares.

■ Skewer each item alternating colors and type of vegetable with tuna in-between. Leave space for even cooking.

■ Turn one side of the grill to low, place kabobs on grill, cook for approximately 3 minutes, then flip for two more minutes (for medium rare) depending on desired doneness. Try to avoid charring and overcooking the fish.

■ Remove from grill, serve on a plate with skewer. Spoon approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons of mango salsa over the kabobs and sprinkle remaining fresh cilantro to garnish. Serve over cooked brown rice.

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