The Lounge Cooking Contest Ideas Thread

[SamIAm]

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I don't want to see people posting Rachel Ray recipes

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What's wrong with Rachel's recipes?

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We can have a competition to see who can make the best meal using nothing but EVOO and nutmeg!


Anyway, I'll likely participate regardless of what we do. I like making food and taking pictures and seeing others' pictures of the same. I really didn't care much about winning the contest in the old ICOOT, but I agree that the competition aspect was likely what discouraged others. It's probably not the fact that we had a poll at the end, but rather that it became the norm to go through each entry and explain why you didn't vote for it. I don't blame people for being hesitant to put their work up for such scrutiny.

I haven't been reading the Lounge much, so I might miss the announcement when the contest goes live. I'll try to keep an eye on this thread, but I'd love an update in case I miss it.
-Sam

[katyseagull]

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In one of the foodie forums I visit we do a version where someone picks the main ingredient and people post pics & recipes. the winner of the previous week picks the winner of the current week and that person picks the theme. So for example to get things started Mrs. Utah picks the first theme (ingredient or style) then picks the winner of that week - say it's me. Then I pick next weeks theme and then judge the winner and so on.

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This is an interesting idea. What do the rest of you think about this? Any interest here? I want to see some food pictures in the lounge! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Mrs. Utah]

Ok...so I have been reading through and thinking about a cooking thread and am going to just do it.

We can tweak it as we go.

I was going to start with a poll and start with choosing the common ingredient for the first "challenge"
That will fill my need for voting. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

After that has been chosen everyone cook...whatever you want. Your own recipe or someone else's.
Post a picture, prep pics too if you want, and the recipe.
Anyone can comment, question and critique. Also a good time for anyone to throw out ideas for challenges, different ingredients or styles of cooking. Maybe spend a couple of week on that and then move on, then another poll.

Taking Nominations

Mandatory Ingredient for the first cooking challenge

I nominate Cheese. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[katyseagull]

Just "cheese"? or a specific kind of cheese? Does cheese have to be the main ingredient for the dish?

[Mrs. Utah]

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Just "cheese"? or a specific kind of cheese? Does cheese have to be the main ingredient for the dish?

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Any cheese will do. I would think that cheese should be the primary focus.
Anything, its totally open at this point.

I think that keeping it broad will make it easier and more inviting for anyone who wants to cook.
Maybe down the road the challenge choices will get more specific.

[katyseagull]

I nominate ribeye steak

[jfk]

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I nominate ribeye steak

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Cook's illustrated had a recent article about the best way to pan broil a steak (and the best candidate is a rib eye).

The key is to put the ribeye(s) in a 275 degree oven for 20 minutes before pan broiling them (assuming you want medium rare).

The magazine explained the chemistry behind it. In short, you're mimicking the aging process though the dessication. The result is an incredible uniformity of pink through the steak.

I've been pan broiling rib eyes my whole life. The first time I did this oven process resulted in the best rib eye I've made.

[SamIAm]

I agree that cheese is a good ingredient. We want to start with something easy with lots of options. It's wide enough that the fancy folk can make fancy food, but everybody can make something.

Ribeye's not going to make for a very interesting discussion. "I made a ribeye." "Me too." With cheese, everybody will have a different first ingredient, with a common second.

[fyodor]

Oh man I came to this thread too late. I just ate a sandwich that had cheese as one of the ingredients. I started with a slice of bread. Buttered it. Then some dijon. Then several thinly sliced pieces of pork that I had seasoned and bbq'd the other day. A bit of sea salt on the pork. Then some swiss cheese. Lettuce. Another layer of swiss. More bbq pork. Top with another buttered, dijoned slice of bread. Most important thing is not to slice it in half when it's done. Just eat the big fat sandwich as is. I got no pictures but it tasted great. Winner?

[Sniper]

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I agree that cheese is a good ingredient. We want to start with something easy with lots of options. It's wide enough that the fancy folk can make fancy food, but everybody can make something.

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Pizza? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

btw... what's the advantage of using a contest structure? Why not just start a "Food: What did you eat today?" thread, and encourage pictures, recipes, etc.