Sunday, February 3, 2013

Battle (Superbowl) Chips

A great showing at Iron Chef XX*, hosted by Sam and Guille (with guest judge Jeanne), with Superbowl Sunday struggling to compete with the attention paid to the deliciousness laid out.



There were too many amazing dishes to go into detail about all of them but the Honorable Mentions were:

Best Use of Chip:

Steve's Shrimp Chips, took a week to make and were excellently produced.

Best Presentation: 

Both Jason's Field of Chipped Dreams (blue corn chips for the Ravens and golden chips for the 49ers) and


Brian's Mexican Chip Casserole nailed the spirit of the event.

Most Creative: 
Both John and Caitlin's Frito Pie Consomme (which tasted disturbingly like Frito Pie) and 

Carmin and Will's That's Nacho Dessert! were totally innovative uses of the secret ingredient and totally impressed the judges.

But the overall win went to the newcomer's Rodrigo and Sarah (and Matteo) for their exceptionally balanced Camarones a la Diabla! Congratulations to the New Tucson Iron Chef (of the month ...).


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* I actually I have no idea how many Iron Chef Battles we have had, but XX is a nice round Roman numeral.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Battle Greek Yogurt στο σπίτι των Jason and Megan

On September 22, 2012, at the home of Jason and Megan (and occupier baby Finn), the Battle was on for who could make the most amazing and edible Greek Yogurt thing. It was a battle of perfect proportions, and the night's dishes complimented each other like it had been planned (but, of course, knowing this group, that didn't actually happen).


At the front of the line was the GazpacHulk! from Will and Carmin, an appropriately green Greek yogurt based soup:

The next thing loaded onto the plates was the brilliantly named "Persephone's Hearts" - a deconstructed Greek salad amuse-bouche featuring a deep-fried tzatziki ball drizzled in Romesco from Guille (and Sam):



Steve followed with his filling Indian Spiced Pork, Tofu, and Yogurt Sauce:

and was followed in turn by Jon and Caitlin's spicy, earthy, and red yogurt soup:
Jon and Caitlin's Soup

The competition was rounded out by Elizabeth and Max's French Yogurt Cake.
Elizabeth's Yogurt Cake


As is so often the case, the Hearts won the night. Guille reports that he was inspired by some Southern lady on some cooking show that "when in doubt, deep fry it" (because, you know, Megan's Southern and stuff, so there was an attempt to appeal to the judges). Sam claims credit for the idea to put some red sauce on it, and arranged the Hearts' little olive nubs, but otherwise, of course, had no hand in the cooking. The dish itself was a leaf of butter lettuce, atop which was nestled two halves of a kalamata olive, two halves of a cherry tomato, a strand or two of red onion, chopped cucumber, feta cheese, greek vinegrette, a deep fried tzatziki nugget (tzatziki, of course, made of Greek Yogurt, garlic, cucumber, and other stuff maybe), and romesco sauce setting the whole thing off.

After much enjoyment of food, the table was cleared and the assembled cast sat down to play Cards Against Humanity. And Sam is still mad because someone stole her phone and posted "I beat kids with ass cancer" on her Facebook while she was getting another drink. Also Steve notes, YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS. That's all until next month!

Battle Almond with Carmin and Will

On August 11th, our heroes returned to Carmin and Will's for a cozier battle.

Megan and Jason once again took the prize with their decadent Coconut Almond Pie.

Recipes:
  • Coconut Almond Pie by Megan and Jason (no recipe yet)
  • Thai Panang Curry with Beef with Almond Basmati by Steve
    • Used Almonds instead of Peanuts and Almond Oil in the curry.  The Almond flavor comes through a day or two after.
Pictures to come...

Battle Green Chile with the Medina Clan

Battle Green Chile, held July 7th at newcomer Aubrey Medina's parent's house, was one of the biggest gatherings yet.  Featuring some of the regular cast and crew as well a large contingent of Aubrey's family.

Going up against a gauntlet of approximately 37 casserole dishes, Carmin Chan is once again emerged victorious with her take on Corn and Green Chile Chowder with Green Chile Cornbread.

Recipes:

Monday, June 11, 2012

Battle Egg with Carmin and Will

The May 2012 Iron Chef :Egg competition was fun -- if not a bit smaller than usual.  We had 3 motivated teams participate, including 2 first-time Iron Chef-ers.  Despite our smaller ranks, we made the best of it and enjoyed multiple portions of the tasty treats.

From the runners-up we had a Spanish-style omlete made with eggs, potatoes and chorizo and the other team made fluffy, egg-shaped pancakes with whipped cream and apple compote.  However, the winning team (with one of my work colleagues, Aubrey Medina) made an amazing raviolo dish with homemade egg pasta and egg yolk embedded inside.  When we cut open the raviolis the hidden yolks burst into a delicious sauce, mixing with the other filling ingredients and the brown butter glaze.  Delicious!  

Despite only being their first time at the Iron Chef competition, Aubrey's winning team brought their A-game!

Update: The first prize dish started with this recipe here, but minus the truffle, and with added mozzarella, pressed garlic, chili powder, and prosciutto to the ravioli filling.  Rather than sautéing in butter, a garlic infused browned butter was drizzled on top of each one after leaving the water, and then sprinkled with a bit of parmesan.  Cooking them for a bit longer than 2 minutes works a bit better and even longer for a thicker “runny” yolk.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Battle Zucchini at Chateau de Schissel

Our bout with zucchini on April the 10th was a hard fight, but our iron chefs did indeed overcome!

Carmin and William Chan bested the other competitors in this round with their delicious Zucchini Pasta.

Once again, unfortunately pre-battle pictures were unavailable, as well as pics of dishes by the late-comers, whose names escape me (please write them in the comments).

Carmin and William Chan's blue ribbon Zucchini Pasta! ...salad.  The dish was based off on this recipe.

Guille's Carmelized Zucchini with Duck Confit Pizza

Steve's Panko Fried Zucchini with Balsamic Tomato and Basil (or Zucchini Bruschetta if you want to completely wrong about it).
For the Zucchini, follow this recipe but cut them into large coins: http://bit.ly/nbmtB
For the Balsamic Tomato and Basil topping, follow this recipe: http://bit.ly/L4HjS4

The Schissel Dining Room

Everyone stuffing their faces.  Guille is a teapot.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Battle Rice at Sam and Guille's

Held on March 10th, this battle's secret ingredient made for some truly delicious creations.

Newcomer Jason Schissel took home the gold with a fantastic Orzo and Wild Rice Salad.

Unfortunately we were not able to get pictures of the food before they were ravaged.


Rice Salad... Orzo you think! Jason's winning dish was made from the following recipe, but with craisins instead of currants, with added feta, tomatoes, spinach and vinegar to taste. Click here for the recipe.


Elizabeth's refreshing Vegan Fruit Sushi


Hector and his lady friend made a spectacular showing with a Seafood Paella.


Max also brought a great Seafood Pealla and next to it is a cup of Will and Carmin's tasty Horchata


Steve's Peanut Coconut Sticky Rice Mochi. Click here for the recipe.