Battle Chickpea

After a long break, on July 27th, Iron Chef returned with Battle Chickpea!  Pinch-hosted by Steve with guest judges Sam and Guille, who are leaving us forever.  The ingredient was chosen in honor of Jeff leaving for Palestine, but turns out he's a liar and will not be leaving just yet (glad he's home and safe, though).  I knew we should have done Battle Guinea Pig!

Great turnout this round with old and new faces and (an always) surprising balance of dishes

For starters, veterans Elizabeth and Max's, umm, I wanna say... Bull Penguin Zipper Balls

Rachel and Jeff's Lemony Couscous with Chickpeas

Lucero's delicious Garbanzo with Dry Fruit & Sweet Pepper Sauce

Actual newcomers Emily and Dan made a strong showing with their Cabbage Chickpea Curry

Bryan's Chicken Chickpea Creole warmed our insides

Rounding out the night's meal was John and Caitlin's decadent  (the flash drowned out the name so I'm going to say) Chocolate Chip Garbanzo Bonanza

It was a hard fight and a hard choice for our judges.  In the end, there can be only one, and Jeff and Rachel (I guess that's two) are this month's champions!

Look how excited Rachel is!

And then BLURRY DANCE PARTY!