So, I’m actually having a hard time getting through this battle, and it’s mainly because it’s fish Oh well, I will deal with it. It’s random, but the fish are already dead and on ice – unlike old school Iron Chef, where everything was always living. *sigh* I miss Iron Chef.
Okay, Lahlou has no formal training as a chef, but big deal, he’s going to take on Cat Cora. His style is Moroccan cuisine.
Ed Levine (seriouseats.com), Antoinette Bruno (starchefs.com) and Trevor Corson (sushi food author) are the judges. Like the last overview I did, it’s interesting to note that Food Network keeps using more and more bloggers for things. Levine and Bruno are both tagged as being bloggers / editors of food sites.
All in all the judges appear to have enjoyed the dishes…
Cora’s Dishes:
Redfish skin salad with Watermelon
Refish and chips
Citrus-cured Redfish
Duo of Redfish (Souveed filet + Redfish Roulad)
Redfish Nanban Zuke
Teriyaki Redfish
Cat going with six dishes No dessert though, which is a little unlike her. Even still, many of her dishes were fun. Her Redfish and Chips were served with an inside-out potato-based fried ketchup… fritter (almost).
It’s been a long time since I saw a new Iron Chef America on television. Tonight? It’s Iron Chef Symon versus a friend and old classmate, David Adgie (this is horribly misspelled, I just know it!) in battle sturgeon.
Interestingly enough, there are new judges that I haven’t seen before – and they’re both kind of food bloggers. Random, but Iron Chef has been doing a lot as far as throwing food bloggers a bone and inviting/allowing/whatevering these people to their shows. The show before this, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, also had a blogger as a guest chef. It’s partially natural progression (I mean, foodies communicate everyone communicates online much more effectively than any other medium) so maybe FN has no choice but to allow these people onto their shows.
Sturgeon pops and immersion circulators abound in kitchen stadium. Fun. It looks like there are lots of interesting things going on, but who knows what’s going to happen. I’m sure this is not a new episode, but (sadly) haven’t been able to watch ICA in the last few weeks because I’m working on a project that actually has me working Sunday nights. *sigh* It will be done someday
Challenger Dishes:
- Carpaccio of Sturgeon
- Sutrgeon chowder with Sturgeon lobster finger
- Cedar-roasted Sturgeon смотреть русские порно фильмы
- Bacon wrapped Sturgeon with collard greens
- Smoked Sturgeon with Celery Root Hash
(Random note: The judges are complete freaking whack-jobs! None of them can decide on any of the dishes. They also tend to change their minds while disagreeing with things. Strange. The guy with the white coat? Throw him out ;-p)
Iron Chef Symon’s Dishes:
- Smoked Sturgeon Belly with Caviar, radish & lemon zest pancakes
- Sutrgeon Puttanesca
- Butter poached sturgeon with curried applesauce
- Sturgeon with Lamb sausage and bean broth
- Grilled Sturgeon with ragu
And the verdict? Well, I will have to let you watch and find out
Iron Chef Mario Batali and Chef Andrew Carmellini battled it out in Iron Chef America’s Battle Parmigiano Reggiano last night, and it was probably the best ICA battle I’ve seen in a long long time.
Carmellini, an italian-style chef born in Cleveland, and Batali had it out in an all-out battle involving a whole lot of Parmigiano Reggiano. People here in the US tend to end up eating Parmigian cheese – and this Parmigiano Reggiano that was ICA is a completely different beast. They had monsterous cheese wheels imported from Emilia-Romagna, in Italy. This is the only place that you can actually get authentic Parmigiano Reggiano – and unless it’s imported from there or some other distributor, it’s not authentic Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Alton even popped up and showed the markings from something like an Italian cheese authority, the Consorzio, who uses a wooden mallet to grade the Parmigiano Reggiano. Crazy stuff. anyway, ICA had three different types of Parmigiano Reggiano – 2 year old, 4 year old and 6 year old cheese. I’m sure these have exotic Italian names, but they didn’t disclose them on the show.
So, great battle, great ingredient, and NO SEAFOOD! I’m a huge advocate of food without fish, being allergic to both shellfish and anything else I’ve eaten that swims in the ocean, so I was very happy about this. I also enjoyed when Batali lit half a wheel of cheese on fire with some alcohol – this was to smooth the inside of it out, and make way for a pasta dish plated inside the wheel. Both chef’s pulled extremely saliva-inducing dishes – I would have loved to be there. I can dream, right? The judges didn’t really say anything bad about any of the dishes, and even mentioned how hard it would be to declare a winner. In the end, Batali won, by one or two points, beating out Carmellini in the taste category, losing one point to him in plating, and tying with him in originality. All in all, it was a fantastic battle.
Oh well, I will deal with it. It’s random, but the fish are already dead and on ice – unlike old school Iron Chef, where everything was always living. *sigh* I miss Iron Chef.
