Black Box Cooking Contest at Home

[Peter the eater]

I have entered into a serious cooking competition which pits spouse against spouse, so I guess the worst case scenario is I'll come in second.

This weekend my wife is bringing home four secret groceries: a protein chunk, a fruity/veggy item, a carbo-thing, and a whatever wildcard ingredient. We have not yet agreed to all the rules, but I'm sure I'll find a scorecard template on-line or something within the next 48 hours to guide us.

I will post ingredients, process photos, results, etc. assuming someone out there gives a rat's ass.

Has anyone else out there done this domestically? I am stoked.

[Chris Amirault]

I've never done it -- I'd kick dinner butt and then lose miserably in the end because of my baking idiocy -- but I'm dying to hear more!

[highchef]

Oh, but does your wife have e-gullet?

tell us what she brings home and you'll have a great meal.

[Dana]

Sounds like fun. Who's judging?

[Abra]

How come she gets to do all the picking? Maybe you could each come up with two items. Whoever shops definitely has the advantage.

[Peter the eater]

I'll post the ingredients tomorrow Friday March 9th by 10pm Atlantic time, pics too if I can figure out how.

I have never really cooked competitively nor even as a job but I am curious to learn if that changes things. Will my mojo be sapped?

I get to sleep on it, and serve it up for Saturday dinner. We will be self-judged (just like ultimate frisbee) yet I hope you-all out there in egullet land will chyme in.

until tomorrow . . .

[Peter the eater]

How come she gets to do all the picking?  Maybe you could each come up with two items.  Whoever shops definitely has the advantage.

←

this weekend she shops, I cook. Next weekend the reverse. Otherwise we need babysitters.

[Kouign Aman]

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[wattacetti]

I have entered into a serious cooking competition which pits spouse against spouse, so I guess the worst case scenario is I'll come in second.

←

Well, no. If you lose, you will be mocked mercilessly (and eternally) on how you came in second. If you win, your will never be forgiven for having achieved victory. Long will be the remembrance of this day of infamy.

But I digress… I've done something like this before and it's a great feeling knowing that you've soundly and unanimously whipped the collective a$$es of your competitors. Then again, I wasn't competing against a spouse.

I hope you post whatever you can (photos, techniques, descriptions - all good), as I and others will be eagerly playing armchair QB over this culinary endeavor.

[Henry dV]

Anyone else smell a divorcey kinda smell ??

Best of luck BTW, look forward to the Contest.

[Peter the eater]

So here it is, the four items in the foreground:

Bison (local, lean, fresh and ground)

Parsnips

Buffalo Mozzarella

Red D'Anjou Pears

The stuff in behind is "the pantry" - much of which could easily be elevated to feature black box item. There are plenty of grains and supportive produce, as well as oils, nuts, dairy, spices, etc.

I have a few inklings but will sleep on it before committing.

So bring it on!

What should I do?

[Chris Amirault]

Two thoughts.

Make a bison chili with cinnamon, clove and allspice up front of the cumin, ancho and a little bit of chipotle, and serve it over the roasted parsnips (chili on baked potatoes).

Poach the pears in marsala or, failing that, port, halve them, and then broil them with slices of the cheese atop.

[nikkib]

Mozzarella topped Bison burger with a pear and red onion compote( pear, red wine, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, clove of garlic and a sliced red onion reduced in a hot pan for about 15mins) You could either serve the Parsnips as chips with the burger or as a mash or try a curried parsnip soup? I've made curried parsnip and apple soup before - maybe it would also work with the pear?

[maggiethecat]

Make a bison chili with cinnamon, clove and allspice up front of the cumin, ancho and a little bit of chipotle, and serve it over the roasted parsnips (chili on baked potatoes).

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I think this is a great idea, but anchos and chipotles may be hard to source in Halifax. I may be wrong, but when I'm in Ottawa, my nation's capital -- with lots of Latin American diplomats lurking -- it's tough to find anything more exotic than a jalapeno.

But you could probably get the ingredients for a bison enpanada, with fine-grated parsnip salsa. Grill the pears with vanilla sugar, topped with the mozz.

[maggiethecat]

Mozzarella topped Bison burger with a pear and red onion compote( pear, red wine, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, clove of garlic and a sliced red onion reduced in a hot pan for about 15mins) You could either serve the Parsnips as chips with the burger or as a mash or try a curried parsnip soup? I've made curried parsnip and apple soup before - maybe it would also work with the pear? 

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Now yer talkin'! I think the bison, which is super lean, might need a little fattening up, but this sounds like a dinner I would adore.

[maggiethecat]

Or you could combine all the ingredients into a pasty and dip in ketchup.

[Peter the eater]

Some very compelling ideas!

I must say I am vacillating on the bison, so to speak. Sometimes I love the idea of limiting texture to highlight a flavour like in a classic puree (hello parsnips!) but ground bison? Hmmmm, treacherous wife. And whats with the buffalo mozzarella, is this a play on words?

I will not sleep easily tonight.

[maggiethecat]

Your wife is gaming you, Big Time. I love it. But I have to say her box is challenging. I am going to follow the contest (Picures please!) avidly.What would amuse me a bunch is if you both provide the same menu.

[Peter the eater]

The black box:

Bison (local, lean, fresh and ground)

Parsnips

Buffalo Mozzarella

Red D'Anjou Pears

OK here's what I did:

appetizer:

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11735918..._4330_35626.jpg

parsnip ravioli with tomato and buffalo mozzarella

main course:

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11735918..._4330_14195.jpg

bison moussaka and tzaziki

dessert:

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11735918...4_4330_4502.jpg

pear chocolate buckwheat crepe

I have lots of pictures but I am not sure I'm posting them here properly, so I'll try again later.

[Emily_R]

Bison moussaka -- pure genius!!! Sooooo... How was it all? What scoring system did you decide on? And what treacherous ingredients do you have planned out for your wife?

Emily

[Peter the eater]

Here are few details of the endeavor:

I boiled and then pureed parsnips to fill the pasta, which I made fresh

(and green with basil) The sauce was tomato, celery, onion, garlic and black

olives (foreshadowing the Greek entree) The idea was to have a red sauce on

a green pasta with white filling. Rough chunks of mozza were laid on top and

allowed to melted a bit.

For me, moussaka usually means ground lamb inside an eggplant casserole

but I think the bison worked really well - and I could bake it ahead of time. I used lots of

garlic, scallions, onions and shallots. The eggplant slices were baked first

on a sheet, and béchamel sauce poured into the dish after the meat and

veggie layers are assembled. There was no cheese on top, just some freshly

planed nutmeg. Tzaziki was easily made by dicing a field cuke and tossing it

a yoghurt/lemon juice/olive oil/garlic/dill dressing. Very bright and juicy beside the

rich meat.

I made basic crepes with just a bit of ground kasha (toasted buckwheat)

thrown into the white flour. Pears were chopped up and sautéed in butter and

brown sugar with a bit of vanilla. Dark chocolate sauce and a bit of whipped

cream topped it all off.

The issues:

The fresh pasta and sauce tasted great together, parsnip is a worthy

filling! There were some big pieces of basil in the dough which can cause

the ravioli to leak if the pasta is rolled too thin. The mozza is very

delicate - I think it is best eaten on top as is.

The ground bison was very tasty but extremely lean and required a fair bit

of oil to brown it up in the pan. I really liked being able to make it early

then let it rest. I used a 3" diameter rosti ring (big round cookie cutter)

and a spatula to lift the warm round portions onto the plate. My casserole

will be less shallow next time, I think a taller cylinder would be more

appealing.

Dessert was relatively fast and easy. A few teaspoons of kasha from the

mortar and pestle were enough for four crepes although next time I might try

actual buckwheat flower instead.

[ludja]

The black box:

Bison (local, lean, fresh and ground)

Parsnips

Buffalo Mozzarella

Red D'Anjou Pears

OK here's what I did:

appetizer:

...

parsnip ravioli with tomato and buffalo mozzarella

main course:

...

bison moussaka and tzaziki

dessert:

...

pear chocolate buckwheat crepe

...

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This is a wonderful menu; chocolate and pears are a nice combination! How did your wife like the meal? You should be having some fun this week coming up with ingredients for her. Have you decided on them yet?

edited to add: I'm not a pro on posting photos, but since you have already loaded the photos into imagegullet it should be simple The way to easily do this is in the section of the post where you want the photos, click on the "IMG" tool listed above the message (other tools are "B" for bolding, "I" for italicization, etc). You will be prompted for the URL to your jpg photo loaded into image gullet. I'm less familiar on sizing issues but you should be able to make your images a little bit larger in whatever photo/image processing program you use. If you've surpassed the 24 hr window for editing your original post with the jpg links in them you can just place them in a new post.

Edited March 12, 2007 by ludja (log)

[GordonCooks]

Make Love, not War

[Peter the eater]

Lets try this again.

Here's the starting point: bison, pears, parsnips and buffalo mozzarella up front, pantry behind.

[Peter the eater]

a pack of ground bison and lots of yummy alliums.

sliced eggplant ready for baking.

onions, scallions, shallots and garlic sizzling and about to be joined by the bison

assembled moussaka going in to the oven

cooked and cooling

plated with tzaziki