Adam & Tricia's Steel Chef Challenge: The Inaugural Bout

It's no secret that I have an affinity for cooking, dining and food porn, and lately, Adam and I have been hooked on the biggest food porn purveyor of them all; "The Food Network." Perhaps it's because it provides that bit of mindless entertainment without terrible people degrading themselves and one another for a shot at 15 seconds of the creepiest type of fame imaginable.

A few weeks ago, we watched a mini-marathon of "Iron Chef: America," that featured an episode with peppers as the Secret Ingredient (no, not that peppers) and another with Bill Murray in the audience. Also, what the hell was Bill Murray doing in the audience?

The competitive streak that I try to suppress flared up and I suggested to Adam that we should have our own version of "Iron Chef" at home. He immediately bit, and we laid our own ground rules:

• Because of space issues, we would have to cook at different points. We chose successive Sunday nights. Adam would cook May 31 and I would cook June 7.
• Each Steel Chef - as I have now duped it - would choose the ingredient for the other, with the requirement of three dishes, each.
• Naturally, the dishes would have to be meat-free.
  
• Friends would be welcome to act as judges, but outside judges are not necessary, as we have a total of, like, four friends down here, and cannot always guarantee when they will be available.
  
• The bill for ingredients cannot be outrageously expensive. The idea is to challenge our creativity, to experiment with new dishes and enjoy a lightly competitive activity, not to blow whatever meager savings we have on a $45 bottle of truffle oil from Whole Paycheck.

I chose pineapple for Adam. He came through the challenge with flying colors, presenting an amazing meal of:

• Pineapple, mango and papaya salsa with fresh mint and chopped red onion, served with blue corn chips. This was my favorite dish.
  
• Pineapple and cheese enchiladas, which go together much more harmoniously than you might expect.
• Pineapple smoothie, with blended orange juice, pineapple and vanilla ice cream, which paired beautifully with the warm pineapple cobbler.

My dear friend, K.B., served as the guest judge that evening and arrived armed with a pineapple spritzer for Adam and a delicious pineapple rum smoothie for "the ladies." (P.S. Having a bartender as your girl is tots awesome). I believe it's fair to say that Adam's delectable offerings only increased my fondness for the spiky fruit and he was the clear winner of the evening.

The next day, Adam revealed my secret ingredient: almonds. This is a great one to work with, since it transitions wonderfully from sweet to savory dishes.

For my menu, I prepared:

• A beautiful Tuscan almond salad with freshly crumbled feta, diced granny smith apple, dried cranberries, matchstick carrots, toasted slivered almonds and light olive oil and vinegar dressing. Adam said it was among the best salads he's had. The recipe was adapted from one I found online, minus the bacon bits and onion.

• Black bean burritos, with toasted slivered almonds, quick barley, cheese (just a little) and a healthy side of tequila lime salsa and guacamole (and sliced avocado for garnish). These were delicious, with the almonds adding a nutty crunch that was accounted for, but did not overwhelm the dish.
  
• Dessert was an almond, apple cinnamon bread, served warm with vanilla ice cream. This was good, but the wonky cook times on our oven meant it turned out a bit more dry than I think a fruit bread should be.

Sadly, I do not have images of every dish presented for this first round of the challenge. Adam had them stored on his glorious new iMac, which some &*%^ saw fit to waltz into our apartment and "borrow without asking" three days after purchase.

They also took my iPod and related accessories, including the cable that I could use to connect my phone to my computer for easy download of images. Blerg. (Incidentally, I hope whomever winds up with my iPod and workout arm band appreciates my awesome mix skills and develops a horrible skin reaction from all of the cat dander. I also hope the iMac goes all "Hal from 2001" and seeks to destroy its new "owners.")

Round two of Steel Chef will likely commence in August, as June and July will be filled with flights home to see the folks in Michigan and the quest to move into an apartment that doesn't make me contemplate a new lifepath.


Ideally, we'll have a larger working space in the new kitchen. AND I've got two rad people (a work colleague and her husband) chomping at the bit to be judges. Should be a wonderful second round.