Black Box Cooking Contest at Home

[Peter the eater]

and now for the appetizer:

basil ravioli filled with parsnip puree

the red sauce components are cherry tomatoes, tomato paste, celery and onion

plated with buffalo mozzarella

and the dessert:

buckwheat crepes with gooey sweet d'Anjou pears inside, chocolate and Chantilly.

[BarbaraY]

Wow! I hope it all tasted as good as it looks.

[Peter the eater]

I have been shopping! For this weekend I get to load up the black box. I have got some stuff but I am not sure what four items should best challenge my spouse.

Here's some of what I got:

A free-range duck breast from nearby

A bag of pecans, in the shell

some endives

A papaya from Belize (seems ripe)

frozen shrimp (pretty big ones)

3 kiwis

some radishes

"tree ripened" peaches (from Chile I think)

Any thoughts?

[judiu]

I have been shopping! For this weekend I get to load up the black box. I have got some stuff but I am not sure what four items should best challenge my spouse.

Here's some of what I got:

A free-range duck breast from nearby

A bag of pecans, in the shell

some endives

A papaya from Belize (seems ripe)

frozen shrimp (pretty big ones)

3 kiwis

some radishes

"tree ripened" peaches (from Chile I think)

Any thoughts?

←

Oh, I'd say seared duck breast with a peach-pecan sauce, endive salad with sliced radishes and shrimp with diced papaya in a papaya juice vinigarette? Maybe too simple, but tasty, nonetheless! Serve the salad in the endive leaves...

[Shalmanese]

I have been shopping! For this weekend I get to load up the black box. I have got some stuff but I am not sure what four items should best challenge my spouse.

Here's some of what I got:

A free-range duck breast from nearby

A bag of pecans, in the shell

some endives

A papaya from Belize (seems ripe)

frozen shrimp (pretty big ones)

3 kiwis

some radishes

"tree ripened" peaches (from Chile I think)

Any thoughts?

←

I would pick duck, endives, papayas and radishes.

[Peter the eater]

I have been shopping! For this weekend I get to load up the black box. I have got some stuff but I am not sure what four items should best challenge my spouse.

Here's some of what I got:

A free-range duck breast from nearby

A bag of pecans, in the shell

some endives

A papaya from Belize (seems ripe)

frozen shrimp (pretty big ones)

3 kiwis

some radishes

"tree ripened" peaches (from Chile I think)

Any thoughts?

←

I would pick duck, endives, papayas and radishes.

←

That's a formidable foursome. I like the versatile items, ones which could show up in any course, savory or sweet. Choosing the four is almost as fun as cooking them. The papaya is huge like a football. Those pecans look very enticing in their lustrous red shell.

I'll post some pictures tonight.

[Shalmanese]

I would pick duck, endives, papayas and radishes.

←

That's a formidable foursome. I like the versatile items, ones which could show up in any course, savory or sweet. Choosing the four is almost as fun as cooking them. The papaya is huge like a football. Those pecans look very enticing in their lustrous red shell.

I'll post some pictures tonight.

←

Well, duck is so versatile it can be paired with almost anything which leads to lots of interesting possibilities. Duck with Papaya Salsa? Duck with Braised Endives? Duck with Spicy Radish Relish? Who knows.

[Peter the eater]

Here are four items for our second black box:

1. duck breast

2. pecans

3. shrimp

4. endive

What will she do???

[Peter the eater]

Well here is what she did:

first course:

shrimp cornets

main course:

duck breasts seared with a coriander crust, and then

plated with sweet and sour orange sauce

braised endive

calrose risotto with peas and green onion

roasted carrots and parsnips

and for dessert:

caramelized peach upside down cake

frozen vanilla yogurt

candied pecans

pecan brittle

So what do the egullet judges out there think? Of course a real black contest box involves multiple chefs working with the same ingredients, but since we have only one kitchen and two toddlers we do what we can.

[GreekCook]

I'd call it a tie Both menus looked absolutely stunning!

[Peter the eater]

Here is the third of our at home black box challenges:

1. beef - boneless top sirloin grilling steak (700 grams)

2. artichokes

3. cantaloupe

4. fresh seafood medley- small bits of squid, octopus, shrimp, mussels, crab, etc.

What should I do?

[Emily_R]

You two are the coolest! I love this idea!

As for your ingredients this week -- they're tough. Maybe some type of cantaloupe sorbet? Perhaps with mint or lime or even cilantro as an accent flavor?

Emily

[Peter the eater]

You two are the coolest! I love this idea!

As for your ingredients this week -- they're tough. Maybe some type of cantaloupe sorbet? Perhaps with mint or lime or even cilantro as an accent flavor?

Emily

←

Right on! I would like that sorbet. I am currently looking at Bon Appetit Aug 2001 cantalope granita - the grown up snow cone. Yum.

Those artichokes might be big enough to scoop out the hairy chokes and roast the hearts - research is required.

[Peter the eater]

I'm in trouble - where is everyone?

[snowangel]

Peter, I'm looking at everything except the artichokes and thinking Asian.

[petite tête de chou]

Here is the third of our at home black box challenges:

1. beef - boneless top sirloin grilling steak (700 grams)

2. artichokes

3. cantaloupe

4. fresh seafood medley- small bits of squid, octopus, shrimp, mussels, crab, etc.

What should I do?

←

Season and grill the steak as usual. Artichokes stuffed with panko crumbs and seafood medley. Grilled cantaloupe with ice cream.

[Jon Savage]

Here is the third of our at home black box challenges:

1. beef - boneless top sirloin grilling steak (700 grams)

2. artichokes

3. cantaloupe

4. fresh seafood medley- small bits of squid, octopus, shrimp, mussels, crab, etc.

What should I do?

←

Season and grill the steak as usual. Artichokes stuffed with panko crumbs and seafood medley. Grilled cantaloupe with ice cream.

←

Starter - Artichoke w/ Aoli

Main - Sauteed steak + sauce from pan deglazed w/ sherry & butter to bind + seafood risotto

Dessert- Canteloupe and cheese plate

--Are other ingredients allowed???

Edited April 1, 2007 by 6ppc (log)

[Peter the eater]

Thank you for those suggestions - it was the artichoke which gave me the most trouble. I would love to hear/see how you (petite tête de chou) would stuff one. I have very little experience with these weird and delicious edible flowers, I have only ever boiled them or did them in mom's old pressure cooker.

Here's what I did:

1. seafood pot pie

2. grilled beef with garlic roasted artichoke hearts, wild rice, steamed carrots and roasted red bell pepper sauce

3. cantaloupe granita

As for process, one of the highlights for me was successfully making a puff pastry from scratch for the pot pie. And the roasted red pepper sauce was luxurious, I did a blender mayo with one egg yolk and some olive oil, adding an equal amount of pureed pepper.

we have an electric oven but a portable butane grill

artichokes and beef ready for the grill

I pureed the cantaloupe adding water, lemon and sugar and made the ice in the pan -

easy, light and delicious.

[Peter the eater]

Some more issues:

The pot pie tasted better than it looked - I think a bigger pastry lid is a good idea, these ones shrank away from the ramekin walls and sank a bit. I was a bit worried the seafood would overcook since it was lightly pan fried first, but it was quite tender and sweet despite bubbling over as the pastry cooked. I think this would be an awesome way to serve four people a single lobster.

I followed the May 2007 Fine Cooking Magazine's artichoke article - melon balling the hairy choke out along with the inner spiny leaves, but found some leaves on the heart remained tough after cooking. And what do people do with all those discarded outer leaves once the heart is harvested? I steamed them thinking I could collect the good stuff to flavor a sauce or risotto or something, but instead snacked on them as I cooked.

The beef was near perfect. I am liking the thread Grilling vs. Broiling Steaks and considered alternate methods, but hey it was sunny outside, so maybe a broil for next time.

As for the roasted pepper, it was a new procedure for me and 100% worth the effort. The flavor of the pepper's flesh is truly transformed into something more smooth and sweet. I now know about the paper bag trick, I had just let the blackened pepper cool and peeled it with my fingers. For this process I imagine the bigger the pepper the better, since they are usually sweeter, and the peeling is probably easier. Has anyone out there tried this on a hot and tiny pepper?

I have made icy fruit granitas before and I think canteloupe has been maybe the best yet. The papaya from our last black box #2 would also be a prime candidate.

I'm thinking the wife will need her A game to best me this time.

[Kouign Aman]

I love the idea of the seafood pot pie, and have never thought of roasting an artichoke.

I think you used the leaves perfectly. Steam - dip - snack.

Thanks for sharing the game.

[GreekCook]

And what do people do with all those discarded outer leaves once the heart is harvested? I steamed them thinking I could collect the good stuff to flavor a sauce or risotto or something, but instead snacked on them as I cooked.

My favourite way of eating artichokes when I feel like something light to eat is to boil them and then peel the leaves off and dunk them in an olive oil and lemon mix, at the beginning and for the outer leaves you only get the edible bottom of the leaf but as you peel the edible part gets bigger and bigger until you get to the heart then you dunk the whole thing in the mix and devour Yum Yum

Have you noticed that if you drink water after eating an artichoke it tastes sweet?

[Emily_R]

Same way of artichoke eating here as Greekcook, except for me there is no substitute for butter with the lemon juice, and lots of salt in there... Mmmm. I could of course eat melted butter and lemon juice straight, but the artichoke leaves are a fabulous foil!

Peter -- did you use a recipe for the cantaloupe granita? And just how ripe was the cantaloupe you used -- do I have to wait til summer for a super ripe one or can I ripen up a supermarket one now...

Emily

[Peter the eater]

Peter -- did you use a recipe for the cantaloupe granita? And just how ripe was the cantaloupe you used -- do I have to wait til summer for a super ripe one or can I ripen up a supermarket one now...

Emily

←

I will rarely admit to using an actual recipe when it comes to creative cooking, but in this case the cantaloupe granita was Bon Appetit (Aug 2001, p.24) with water (from our kitchen water cooler) instead of Asti Spumante. Our two-year-olds loved the dessert but sparkling wine is still a decade or more away.

As for the cantaloupe I'd say it was medium ripe i.e. the ends yielded a little bit. I am always amazed how easy and delicious this kind of dessert is. I am eager to try other juicy and more subtle fruits, like kiwis and berries.