Chef Mike Castaneda Cooking Demo

USO is known worldwide for delivering first-class entertainment programming, bringing celebrities with a variety of talents to U.S. military service members and their families. USO operations in Oklahoma were proud to showcase Chef Mike Castaneda over the course of three days, and three military installations. Chef Mike Castaneda is an award-winning chef and U.S. Army veteran named one of the Top 10 Cooks in America by Food Network. Known for his creative approach to modern comfort food, he has cooked for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Royals, and national touring bands.

With his first demonstration at Fort Sill on Nov 18th, Chef Castaneda prepared his recipe for butter chicken to an audience of 70 initial entrance trainees and Marines. U.S. Army Specialist Gaveline wrote down every step in his notebook, stating with a huge grin, “I can’t wait to cook this for my girlfriend back home”. A second program hosted military spouses and service members to the USO who were delighted to have direct conversation with the chef.

Day two of Chef Castaneda’s tour was to Tinker AFB where the audience consisted of Airmen from Tinker AFB and from the Oklahoma Air National Guard 137th Special Operations Wing. In the audience, there was a service member who cooked overseas and connected with Chef Castaneda through shared experiences.

For the final day, Chef Castaneda provided the demonstration experience to over 50 Airmen at the Oklahoma Air National Guard 138th Fighter Jet Wing in Tulsa, OK. The audience enjoyed his dish and were invited up for second tastings. At the close of the event, an attendee said, “she had to have the recipe”.