Iron Foodie 2010

I just recently joined the Foodie BlogRoll (I know, I'm a little late on this one!) but I've discovered some cool new contests and food bloggers through it!  So in the next few months or so, I'm sure you'll be seeing me post about contests, such as this one... Iron Foodie 2010.

What is this contest all about?  Well, only 25 contestants are chosen and the lucky 25 get to receive a goodie box of 8 "secret ingredients" from Marx Food Stores (lots of great stuff there so I highly recommend you check them out!).  And with 3 of those 8 ingredients, the contestants must come up with a dish!  Kind of like Iron/Top Chef! Cool huh?

And the winner receives a $200 gift card to Marx Foods!  I'm in on that!

Well, narrowing down to 25 is going to be tough.  We were given these select questions to answer in order to be considered:


Why do you want to compete in this challenge?

Limitations of time/space notwithstanding, whose kitchen would you like to spend the day in & why? Julia Child, Thomas Keller, Ferran Adria, James Beard, Marie-Antoine Careme, or The Swedish Chef?
 
What morsel are you most likely to swipe from family & friends’ plates when they aren’t looking?
 
Sum your childhood up in one meal.
 
The one mainstream food you can’t stand?

And the following are my answers:

Why do I want to compete in this challenge? From the get-go, I'm a majorly competitive person.  You say the word "challenge" and I'm there.  But I most wanted to do this competition, just like any competition (such as Project Food Blog from Foodbuzz, for instance)  to broaden my blogging capabilities.  It's always a challenge to find new things to blog about, interesting aspects of food/meals, and the element of surprise with the secret ingredients is completely thrilling to me. Whose kitchen would I want to spend the day in and why? The chefs to choose from are quite amazing and it's hard to just pick one... but I think out of all of them, I'd definitely have to say Thomas Keller.  Why?  Why not?!  I think I would want to know how Thomas Keller works.  How he functions.  Is he calm?  Is he frantic?  Is he an ass?  I think my main reason for picking him is because Thomas Keller's food is the type of food that I want to cook if and when I become a chef.   What morsel of food am I sneaking away from Andy's plate? Hands down... it's chicken.  Any way it's fixed - fried, baked, shredded... if he's not looking and there's some on his plate... I'm taking it.  And he usually catches me, but still just smiles and lets me do it anyway! See... I love me some chicken. What is the one meal that sums up my childhood? Filipino Chicken Adobo.  My mother doesn't make it as often as she used to, but when she does, everyone in the family knows it.  It's the one meal that people will stop what they're doing and come sit around the table for.  Because it is that good.  It's a humble meal, simple and delicious - like my childhood. The one mainstream food that I can't stand? I can't stand a lot of mainstream things, but if I were to choose... it would be bleu cheese.  There... I admitted it.  As much as I want to fit in and say that bleu cheese is delicious and pleasing... I just can't.  I can't get over the fact that it's just... it's just... stinky cheese.  But I know I'll keep trying it in different things... and I know that my tastebuds will continue to say "damnit she's done it again."   Well... I hope my answers were interesting enough to be eligible, but at the same time... I hope you all learned a little more about me, and hey... if you want to be my stiff competition and are part of the Foodie BlogRoll... click on the badge above and get started!

Project Food Blog: Challenge #3

Hot diggity!  I never thought I would even make it past Challenge #1, and here I am, at Challenge #3!  All thanks go out to you guys!  Without your votes, I wouldn't be here, and I GREATLY GREATLY appreciate the love!

Challenge #3 is as follows:

"You'll be asked to channel new and exotic flavors for a luxurious dinner party menu. Voters will pick which feast they'd like to RSVP to." 

One thing I love about cooking, is the end result of feeding people.  So naturally, I love to have people come over and eat!  And of course, my co-workers, jumped right on the bandwagon to come on over!

I blogged earlier this week that my favorite season was now upon us - the fall!  And so it's truly the fall season that inspired this menu.  I wanted to bring out something that my guests would enjoy, and would be new to them.  Turns out, 3 of my guests had NEVER had duck before, so that just made this main course all the more perfect!

 

The first course was just a group appetizer:  Carmelized Onion Dip w/ House Made Pita Chips.  I love the simplicity of this and it allowed for the guests to "share" and converse with eachother before the other courses rolled out.

Second course was a simple salad of Arugula, Baby Greens, and Watercress.  Topped with freshly sliced strawberries, goat cheese, and a raspberry vinaigrette.  It was a nice refreshing salad that brightened up the palette and had a great depth of flavor. 

Main course was the entree of Roasted Duck Breasts with a Pomegranate-Chile sauce.  Served with a brown rice pilaf that included golden raisins, dried apricots, and walnuts.  There was also a side of sauteed swiss chard.  The "Duck Virgins" said that they really enjoyed their first experience with duck and one of them even said that duck may be their new favorite!  Score!

 

The fourth and final course was the dessert:  Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Caramel Bourbon Sauce & freshly made Whipped Cream.  This was a perfect night cap to end the dinner.  The cheesecake was thin and light, with an Oreo crust that matched perfectly with the pumpkin cheesecake layer.

At the end of the dinner, I asked everyone what their favorite course of the meal was, and it was a unanimous vote that the Duck definitely reigned supreme.  I'm glad, because personally, it was my favorite as well!

I want to thank my awesome sister, Frances, for decorating our back deck, also!  She did such a great job and really made it look elegant and classy!  My guests were awesome and at the end of the day, all you need are great friends and great food to have an amazing time!

 If you guys dug the menu and found yourself drooling the whole time, please please please, don't hesitate to vote for my entry in Challenge #3 of Project Food Blog (you can either click the link or check out the right sidebar to vote!)!  And thank you thank you SOOOO much for getting me this far!  You guys are awesome!