Iron Chef OOT 3/8-3/18

[StevieG]

Ginger has been a poll nominee, but not selected as the secret ingredient

Post number two of this thread includes links to all past IC OOT weeks, with secret ingredient as link text

[geormiet]

Appetizer:

Seared scallops with shaved asparagus and mixed green salad, with asparagus orange vinagrette.



Recipe:
Mixed greens consists of salad mix, carrots, and asparagus which has been blanched and shaved with a peeler.

Vinagrette is made by sauteing shallots and asparagus in olive oil, then blending, adding fresh orange juice and seasoning.

Scallops are seared, and plate is garnished with orange wedges.



Entree:

Asparagus stuffed chicken, with red pepper coulis and mushroom risotto.



Recipe:

Bone out whole chicken leg, dry and season with pepper, salt, and paprika. Blanche asparagus tips, and roll up with the boneless chicken leg. Season and roast in the oven until finished.

Red pepper coulis: Roast red peppers, then saute with onions in oil, then blend until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin.

Mushroom risotto has butter, onions, rice, chicken stock, and shitake mushrooms.

[StevieG]

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Seared scallops with shaved asparagus and mixed green salad, with asparagus orange vinagrette.


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The scallops look good.

Your recipe says that you peeled the asparagus after blanching - was that difficult? I did something similar when I cooked, but I did a peel first and then steamed, thinking it was easier to work with the stiffer raw veggie.

This is your first entry for you, right geormiet? Well done!

[Mrs. Utah]

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This is your first entry for you, right geormiet? Well done!

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Nope, this is from the first IC-cabbage

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Appetizer: Potato crepe with apple and red cabbage
Entree: Pork and red cabbage dumplings, with red cabbage salad with asian vinagrette.


Here are the recipes:

Potato crepe - boiled a potato until soft, then peeled and mashed with a fork. Added a small amount of flour, 2 eggs, 3 egg whites, and cream until it reaches the consistency of thin pancake batter. Cook in a hot skillet with oil until brown.

Fill crepe with apple and cabbage, top with sour cream and dust with nutmeg.

cabbage and apple filling

julienne cabbage and apple. toss together with sugar, apple vinegar, salt, white pepper, nutmeg, and then enough mayonaise to bind the ingredients.



Pork dumplings

Mix ground pork, chopped garlic, chopped ginger, green onions, cilantro, red cabbage, black pepper, and soy sauce. Fill wonton wrappers, and pan fry, adding water until steamed and cooked throughout.

red cabbage salad

Julienne carrot, red cabbage, mix with bean sprouts , green onions, and chopped peanuts. Toss together with oriental vinagrette (1 part rice vinegar, 3 parts oil, a little sesame oil, honey, tobasco, black pepper, crushed garlic and ginger).


Here are the pictures:




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[StevieG]

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This is your first entry for you, right geormiet? Well done!

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Nope, this is from the first IC-cabbage



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In that case, welcome back after the long absence.

[geormiet]

Thanks stevie.

Yes, it was actually difficult to shave the asparagus. I have a good peeler though and they weren't blanched very far, so it was doable. Next time though I was already planning on trying your method.

[StevieG]

<font color="green">Asparagus Tapas</font>

I took advantage of early Spring weather in Baltimore to make sangria, grill, and cook asparagus Iron Chef style.


So here are what I considered as the "starter tapas"

Cream of White Asparagus
Serrano Ham with Idiazabal Smoked Sheepsmilk Cheese, Wrapped With Asparagus Ribbon
Asparagus Liquid Ravioli




Cream of White Asparagus

2-3 cups of white asparagus
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1 T butter
1 T flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/8 t salt
white pepper to taste
ground coriander

White asparagus has a stringy exterior that is tough to chew, so peel the outside. It should go from having a dull finish to a satiny surface.



Steam the asparagus. Puree, adding chicken stock to help make it liquid and smooth.



Next, heat butter, and add flour. Coat all flour with the fat, then add milk and cream, salt and pepper. Bring to the point of boiling. The base should thicken. Add vegetable and the rest of the stock, and bring to boil again. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

I served the soup in small cups and topped with ground coriander for a subtle addition of color and flavor. See photo above.


Serrano Ham with Idiazabal Smoked Sheepsmilk Cheese, Wrapped With Asparagus Ribbon

Right after the ingredient announcement, loose passive posted a recipe for roasted asparagus wrapped with pancetta. I decided to play on that by inverting it to make a tasty cold platter for the tapas. I rolled up paper thin slices of serrano ham, then topped them with a strip of Idiazabal, a smoked cheese made from sheeps milk in the Basque region.

To invert it, I wrapped this combination in "asparagus ribbon". Basically, I used a vegetable peeler to strip some off of asparagus I was going to steam and puree for other dishes, then I steamed it to make the ribbon pliant.



Here is the assembly area:



And finally I completed the plate with olives:




Asparagus Liquid Ravioli

For the bath:
4 cups water
1 tsp calcium chloride

For the liquid ravioli:
1/2 cup pureed asparagus
2/3 cup water
1/2 tsp sodium alginate
salt
1 shallot

First make the bath by stirring the calcium chloride into the water in a baking dish.
Mix until it dissolves completely, and then chill.

Next, mix the water and sodium alginate in a small sauce pan. Use an immersion
blender (hand mixer) to completely mix the two. The result is a watery gelatin.
Bring to a boil, stir the whole time, then let this cool.

Once the alginate is cool, mix in the asparagus puree. Use the immersion blender again to get a thorough mix.

Mince the shallot and saute ntil browned.

Using a measuring spoon with a hemisphere shape, scoop out the asparagus mixture, then gently turn it into the calcium chloride bath. The mix will gel up and float. See the photo. After 30 seconds or so spoon them out and rinse them off.



Season the asparagus liquid ravioli with salt (I have a rabbit ear sea salt grinder, and I gave it a squeeze over the spoon). Then sprinkle with the shallot. Serve immediately.

[Mermade]

Damn Stevie G! Look at you getting all El Bulli-like. Wow.

[geormiet]

wow stevie, very nice. I've never seen liquid ravioli before but my roommate was explaining it to me, i'm very impressed.

BTW i used to live in baltimore (I went to Peabody) - whereabouts do you live?

[StevieG]

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BTW i used to live in baltimore (I went to Peabody) - whereabouts do you live?

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I live in the northern part of town, nestled right between Hampden and Johns Hopkins Homewood campus.

What do you play? How long ago were you here (only been around a few years myself)?