Things Are Heating Up For California Caterer.

Do you remember that Top Chef Quaker Oats Challenge I asked you all to vote on a while back? Well here's the skinny:

Our fellow Foodie friend Maurice "Ben" Larimer made it to the finals and then he won the cook-off event with his Oatmeal Crusted Chile Relleno. He used a combination of Poblano/Pasilla peppers to keep things lively! The Chiles are stuffed with an Oatmeal Goat Cheese, Mango, and Grilled Chipotle Shrimp Stuffing, and are topped with a Green Chile Ranchero Sauce. Even the description is enough to get your mouth watering! ?Top Chef Winner Hosea loved the dish?, says Larimer, ?and so did Annie from Quaker Oats and Nikki?

The grueling day began at 7am with a walkthrough of the small outdoor kitchen. At 9am the dinner bell sounded and it was off to the races; only 45 minutes to complete the entire dish. Ben tells us that his best time so far was 47 minutes during his home trials. It seems as though Ben had found his groove and managed to complete and plate the dish with 2 minutes left to spare. I can?t imaging cooking Chile Rellenos start to finish is such a short time. Incidentally, Chef Larimer was the only male contestant out of the ten semi-finalists.

This cook-off is scheduled to air on bravotv.com on Monday, April 6th in its entirety. So be sure to check that out!

When Maurice ?Ben? Larimer is not whipping up prize winning dishes in record time he puts his 21 years of culinary experience to good use at CocoMoe?s Catering in Red Bluff California.

With his passion for food and perfection Ben has acquired a reputation for amazing food, and an incredible sense of what foods fit best for your event. His experience dates back to 1986 when his first job was a dishwasher/prep cook in a small restaurant in Oklahoma. From there he has apprenticed under 2 separate chefs 1 Spanish, 1 Italian for a total of 4 years. After working in the industry for a number of years, Ben decided to give catering a try.

CocoMoe?s has catered for many celebrities including the likes of, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Trace Adkins, Colin Raye, The Beach Boys, Jesse Colin Young and The Youngbloods, George Thorogood and The Destroyers. Also businesses and groups such as the Redding Rodeo Association, Shasta Regional Hospital, Wal-Mart Redding , and their most important accomplishment to date, over 11,000 Marines at 29 Palms Marine Base. As well as many residents of the Northstate here in California.

To learn more about Larimer and his catering business, you can log on to www.cocomoes.net