{"id":9797,"date":"2016-01-08T08:23:55","date_gmt":"2016-01-08T15:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=9797"},"modified":"2016-01-09T23:51:35","modified_gmt":"2016-01-10T06:51:35","slug":"northern-chef-takes-culinary-skills-to-bobby-flay-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2016\/01\/northern-chef-takes-culinary-skills-to-bobby-flay-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern chef takes culinary skills to Bobby Flay show"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Flay\"<\/a>

Northern Hotel<\/p>

Don’t take a knife to a gun fight, they say. But to a cooking contest? That’ll work. Tim Freeman, executive chef at the TEN restaurant in the Northern Hotel, appears Jan. 21 on “Beat Bobby Flay,” on the Food Network.<\/p><\/div>\n

Tim Freeman, executive chef at the Northern Hotel\u2019s TEN restaurant in downtown Billings, wasn\u2019t a fan of Bobby Flay growing up. In Flay\u2019s television shows and in his best-selling books, Freeman said, he came across as arrogant and cocky.<\/p>\n

But on Jan.21, Freeman will appear on Flay\u2019s cooking show, \u201cBeat Bobby Flay,\u201d on the Food Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything comes back around again,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cHere I was, 37 at the time, looking Bobby Flay in the eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flay\u2019s Food Network show pits two chefs against each other to create a dish containing a secret ingredient of Flay\u2019s choosing. The winner gets to challenge Flay with his or her surprise signature dish.<\/p>\n

When Freeman had the chance to meet Flay, he discovered the Food Network chef wasn\u2019t at all like the person he expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very nice guy, very easy to talk to,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cHe was just a chef.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, a very busy chef. While meeting Freeman to welcome him on his television show, he was answering phone calls, receiving and replying to emails and talking with his assistant.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was everywhere,\u201d Freeman said, and he figured this was a good sign for the competition. At the time, Freeman thought, \u201cThis could work out perfect for me. His head is not in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between takes during the filming of the show, Freeman had the chance to speak with Flay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked, \u2018Why aren\u2019t you on a beach somewhere drinking margaritas and enjoying your life?\u2019 He said to me, \u2018I owe it to the people who got me where I am. If I were to stop working, they would stop working.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CapreAir_Variable\"<\/a><\/div><\/div>An executive producer on many of the Food Network\u2019s shows, Flay presides over a sprawling empire. It\u2019s a beast he has to keep feeding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gained a new level of respect for him,\u201d Freeman said.<\/p>\n

Freeman began cooking at age 14. He grew up as the oldest of three boys. He recalls opening the fridge and seeing nothing to eat, but his mother could open the same fridge door and whip something up for the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe could throw a couple ingredients together and make something pretty darn good,\u201d he said. Freeman fondly recalls time spent in the kitchen with his mother. \u201cWe could cook together,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was therapeutic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman didn\u2019t know his biological father. His mother, who died in a car accident 16 years ago, left his father when she was pregnant \u201cout of fear for her life,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cHe beat her up, kicked her in the stomach. This was a nightly thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman has an intense love of cooking, a passion he wants to share with others. Growing up the son of a battered woman, he knows how important a basic skill, like cooking, can be in changing a person\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps people take care of themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cIt instills self-respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Woods\"<\/a>

Anna Paige<\/p>

One of Freeman’s dishes: A Walk In The Woods\u2014 mushroom soil, foraged mushrooms, pine salt, trout roe, duck terrine, fresh burgundy truffles.<\/p><\/div>\n

The process of cooking can teach integrity, respect, time-management, budgeting and self-sufficiency, among other life skills. And cooking requires tools and equipment, ingredients, time, and the knowledge of what to do to put together a successful meal.<\/p>\n

In partnership with the Center for Children and Families, Freeman will be conducting cooking lessons for battered women and youths who are aging out of the system. The center is a Billings-based advocacy nonprofit focused on the well-being of children in foster care and state treatment, single moms and pregnant women in crisis.<\/p>\n

Though clients of the center receive much support as they make the transition back into the community, they can lack basic knowledge of nutrition and cooking skills.<\/p>\n

Classes will focus on cooking basics, and equipping participants with skills to be able to enter the workforce and join a kitchen. \u201cWhen I teach classes, I\u2019m thinking about how this person can better their life. I\u2019m getting the chance to change someone\u2019s story,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cI lived through it. You can change your story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman\u2019s favorite place to eat is at home. \u201cI like to cook my food. I like my wife to cook my food. I like my kids to eat our foods.\u201d Growing up, he recalls a diet of hot dogs, bologna, PBJ, and chicken nuggets.<\/p>\n

Given the opportunity, Freeman\u2019s 2-year-old son eats Thai food, Spanish dishes, European-inspired cuisine, Indian food and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing he doesn\u2019t eat,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cHe loves to watch me cook.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family is sanctuary for Freeman, his grounding force. \u201cMy wife and I talk so much about making our family strong, because neither of us had that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want to know if Freeman came out on top? You can catch him Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. MST on Season 7 of the Food Network\u2019s \u201cBeat Bobby Flay.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tim Freeman, executive chef at the Northern Hotel\u2019s TEN restaurant in downtown Billings, wasn\u2019t a fan of Bobby Flay growing up. In Flay\u2019s television shows and in his best-selling books, Freeman said, he came across as arrogant and cocky. But on Jan.21, Freeman will appear on Flay\u2019s cooking show, \u201cBeat Bobby Flay,\u201d on the Food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":9798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3623,3624,217,3621,3622],"class_list":["post-9797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diversions","tag-bobby-flay","tag-food-network","tag-northern-hotel","tag-ten-restaurant","tag-tim-freeman","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}