Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Chop Challenge



For breakfast this morning, I enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a banana, not pictured.


Lunch was provided by a drug rep today at work. I had a chicken salad wrap with a salad with dried cranberries, goat cheese, walnuts, and a really good (and very unhealthy) balsamic vinaigrette.

I forgot to take a picture until I was finished... But trust me. It was good! And free lunch is always better then regular lunch.

I also scheduled my appointment for my laser hair removal for next Thursday. I'm super excited. Bye Bye Razors!!

Now for dinner...

Last night while watching Chopped, Huck decided we were going to have a chopped challenge at home. On the show, chefs are give a basket with 3-4 mystery ingredients they must incorporate into one dish. They use some pretty crazy combinations on the show, so I was scared to see what Huck was going to buy.

Here are the rules:

  1. I had one hour to cook
  2. I couldn't use the internet to look up recipes
  3. I had to use all the ingredients in the basket.
  4. I can use anything in the pantry or fridge. 

He place all the ingredients into a "basket".
I'm still red from the gym in all these pictures.

I opened up my basket and was really surprised with what I found inside. 


Artichoke... 


Sharon Fruit...


Catfish... 


And Won Ton Wrappers.... 


I have never tried Sharon fruit before. Really, I had no idea what it was or what it tasted like. The texture was similar to a plum and tasted like an apple with a hint of cinnamon... Kind of. :)  

I have never cooked a fresh artichoke before, either, and really had no idea how to cook it. I cut the artichoke in half, removed the choke, and boil one half and baked the other half at 450 degrees. I'm not sure if I did not cook it properly, but it was very woody/tough.  



I went over my one hour time frame by 3 minutes, but I made a three coarse meal instead of just one dish. 

For my first course, I made a Sharon Fruit and Fish Won Ton Soup. I chopped some of the Sharon fruit, ginger, garlic, and catfish together in my Slap Chop. I added about a teaspoon of the mixture to each won ton wrapper and sealed them shut with a little egg whites. I cooked the won tons in two cups of beef stock for 3-5 minutes . 

For the main course, I dipped the fish in an egg wash and breaded them with Panko bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. I cooked them with vegetable oil until done. 

For the side dish, I made a vegetable medley with broccoli, sugar snap peas, Sharon fruit, chickpeas, and teriyaki sauce. Meghann at Meals and Miles had a recipe with vegetables and chickpeas last week. For some reason it came to mind when I was trying to figure out what to do. 

And last but not least, dessert. I finely chopped some of the Sharon fruit and added them into the Won Ton wrapper and pan fried in a little oil. I then added a little water and covered with a lid so the won ton could steam. I served them with melted chocolate and powdered sugar. 

 This fish was so crispy! I think it was my favorite part.

 I did not like the artichoke. I am not sure if I just didn't cook them right, but they were way to woody. I just added a few pieces to the soup. I would have been Chopped for sure!



I presented the food to Huck Chopped style. 



I really do not have a recipe since I was throwing stuff together, and winging it as I was going. I plan to research the proper way to cook an artichoke, though.

I think the dessert would be really good with strawberries instead of the sharon fruit. Sounds like a good Valentines Day dessert.

Recap 


Tonight was a lot of fun. I cooked with food I wouldn't normal use and experimented with different techniques. Huck told me he wants to do this again next week. He enjoys challenging me and seeing what I can come up with.

My soup was chopped but the fish and veggies were both winners. I asked him where my $10,000 was :)

Well this is my third WIAW Love Your Veggie Month and first Chopped Challenge all in one.

If anyone has a recipe for Sharon Fruit or Artichokes, please share!!

2 comments:

  1. i've ALWAYS wanted to do a chopped challenge in real life! how funnn!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was so much fun! You should try it! It is a great way to try new foods or regular food different ways.

    ReplyDelete

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